Sound Designer

Follies, one of Stephen Sondheim’s most personal and touching musicals, will have its first production at the Vienna Volksoper in a production by Martin G. Berger. The Chekhovian work with quotes from the music of the 1920’s to 40’s tells the story of two couples struggling with their life decisions and takes a nostalgic look at a glamorous and supposedly carefree past.

Follies

Volksoper Wien

With this new production of the operetta classic The White Horse Inn, director Jan Philipp Gloger sets out in search of the contemporary aspects of the piece, which he recognizes above all in the theme of tourism. Come with us to the region of the Salzkammergut and take a look behind the façade of the traditional eponymous hotel!

In the White Horse Inn

Spring Awakening is a powerful rock musical about growing up, generational conflict, and the turmoil of awakening sexuality. Winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Grammy, it redefined Broadway’s themes. Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play Frühlings Erwachen, it criticizes social morality while exploring sexuality and repression. Wendla, Melchior, and Moritz face strict parents and teachers as well as unanswered questions about love and desire, with devastating results.

Spring Awakening

Jon is a promising musical composer and lyricist, works as a waiter in New York and has been dreaming of a career on Broadway for years. Despite intensive work and the clear vision of reforming musical theater and bringing it up to date, the big breakthrough is a long time coming. Shortly before his 30th birthday restlessness begins to take hold of him. He fundamentally questions his life choices and feels pressure from all sides: his girlfriend Susan longs for a tranquil family life , his childhood friend Michael wants him to get an office job with a secure income … panic.

tick, tick... BOOM! is semi-autobiographical, existential and innovative. Originally performed on stage from 1990 as a one-man show by Larson himself, it was posthumously re-adapted as a three-person play in 2001, and gained wider notoriety no later than 2021 through its award-winning Netflix extension into a feature film. Larson himself was a door-opener and pioneer for a new kind of musical: close to the issues of young people, close to the music of the time. With a pointed staging of the version for three actors, the Volksoper is also breaking new ground and proving once again that it is a creative place with its finger on the pulse.

tick, tick... BOOM!

Johann Strauss worked on a ballet based on the well-known fairy tale of Cinderella at the end of his life. Only a fragment of the piece survived. Axel Ranisch and Martina Eisenreich have created their own work inspired by this: In Vienna, 1899, Strauss is working on his ballet, but who is the mysterious librettist? And what does Ida Grünwald have to do with the project, when she is supposed to be merely typing the libretto? The story behind the creation of the Johann Strauss ballet, its storyline, and an unusual Cinderella narrative set in our present day – this fairy tale opera blends timelines and explores themes of self-discovery, emancipation, creativity, and the power of imagination.

Vienna, 1899: Johann Strauss is working on a new ballet. A competition is held to find a suitable libretto, but only one truly sparks the composer’s imagination...

The Cinderella Ballet: The talented seamstress Grete works in her stepmother’s fashion salon. Grete dreams of designing her own clothing, but her stepsisters, Yvette and Fanchon, mock her relentlessly. When the painter Leon enters the salon, everything changes.

Cinderella's Dream

Two French villages 100 years ago have been at loggerheads for generations, although nobody knows exactly why. It is the children who are fighting this battle. They regularly meet in the forest and fight each other. However, the fact that clothes are torn and buttons are cut off in the process infuriates the parents, who give the children a hard time about it. The gang of rascals must therefore show all kinds of ingenuity in order to continue the brawls.

The stage version, written by Johanna Arrouas, is based on the classic children’s book by Louis Pergaud and the iconic film version. Well-known chansons convey the French savoir vivre.

The War of the Buttons

Ruth Brauer-Kvam: “No one shaped pre-war operetta like Fritzi Massary. She fought her way up to the Olympus of operetta like no other. She was the celebrated star of the Metropol Theater in Berlin. There she met the famous actor Max Pallenberg, a master of his art. Two people couldn't be more different, and that's why their love for each other was so great. These birds of paradise flew high and fell low. We want to tell her story filled with music, Jewish humor, feathers and sequins. Drama meets operetta, Palfrader meets Brauer. A tribute to the artists who inspire us!”

A little bit trallalala

Operetta has always been an escape from everyday life into a dream world. But what if what is happening in the world is so terrible that it can no longer be forgotten? In the first months of 1938, current political life intrudes into the Volksoper during rehearsals for the operetta Gruß und Kuss aus der Wachau. What do intolerance, discrimination and fascism do to the staff of the Volksoper?

In the course of rehearsals, the seizure of power by the National Socialists brings about serious changes for the Volksoper: dismissals follow at all levels of the house. A captivating look into the mirror of the past can also mean a confrontation with a painful period in the history of the Volksoper. We don't want to avoid that. By telling the story of the Volksoper staff, we preserve the memory of ALL victims. At the same time, we do not lose sight of the actions of the perpetrators, which could happen again at any time, but we also remember the countless people who did not raise their voices.

Let 's forget the world - Volksoper 1938

“I was already warned that I would have to fear for my life,” Carmen declares—foreseeing her own doom—in the finale of Bizet’s “opera of all operas” (as Nietzsche once called it). A few minutes later, she is dead, stabbed by the man who was still her lover only moments before, the soldier Don José. The team behind Killing Carmen—Nils Strunk, Lukas Schrenk, and Gabriel Cazes—asked themselves from which perspective this opera, after its many adaptations (including pop-cultural ones) throughout the 20th century, could be retold once again. These three exceptional artists, who for years have devoted themselves to daring and high-energy reinterpretations of the classics, continue the opera’s story: What happened after Carmen’s murder? What void did she leave behind?

Killing Carmen

Just as William Shakespeares’ Romeo and Juliet are born into rival families, Maria and Tony are linked to rival gangs. Tony is a Jet, a gang of white American youths led by his best friend Riff. Maria’s brother Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks, a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants. Maria and Tony fall in love, the gangs fight, Tony happens to kill Maria’s brother. Maria, who still loves Tony, agrees to elope with him. But Tony receives a fake message saying that Maria is dead ...

Sound Designer

Martin Lukesch

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 27, 2025 - Jun 20, 2026

West Side Story · Volksoper Wien

Apr 18 - May 27, 2026

Follies · Volksoper Wien

Past events

Apr 18 - May 27, 2026

Follies · Volksoper Wien

Mar 1 - Apr 23, 2026

In the White Horse Inn · Volksoper Wien

About

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