The Visit premieres in Germany

Based on the worldwide hit stage play of the same name, it was adapted as a musical in 2013 by the international author team of Moritz Schneider & Michael Reed (music)/Wolfgang Hofer (lyrics)/Christian Struppeck (book & creative development) for the Lake Thun Festival in Switzerland. The world premieres of the open-air and theatre versions in Thun and at the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien were followed by performance runs in Japan, and in 2020 the musical will be staged in Germany for the first time. In previous seasons, Tecklenburg, Germany’s largest and best-known open-air musical stage, has showcased the hit VBW productions MOZART! and REBECCA, while this summer DON CAMILLO & PEPPONE is on the programme. The premiere of THE VISIT is planned for 24 July 2020.

VBW Artistic Director of Musicals Christian Struppeck: “THE VISIT – The Musical is an opulent musical thriller based on a classic of world literature. Today, Dürrenmatt’s subject matter is more relevant than ever, which makes it even more exciting that, following performance runs in Switzerland, Vienna and Japan, our valued partners at the prestigious Tecklenburg Open Air Festival will be presenting this musical drama. There could be no better opportunity for this very special work to make its German premiere.”

VBW Managing Director Franz Patay: “This licensing continues two of the VBW’s highly successful partnerships in Germany and Switzerland: on the one hand with the Lake Thun Festival, where the musical premiered in 2013 under the guidance of Christian Struppeck, and with the Tecklenburg Open Air Festival, who have staged a number of works from our portfolio. Long-lasting cooperative partnerships like this demonstrate once again the trust international producers place in our musical know-how.”

A musical based on a classic of world literature

THE VISIT - THE MUSICAL is based on the stage play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and tells the story of the billionaire Claire Zachanassian, who returns to her impoverished hometown of Güllen after years of absence and promises its citizens a gift of two billion euros – under one condition: the death of her former lover, Alfred Ill. The authors have transformed Dürrenmatt’s dramatic story into a gripping modern musical thriller that rocks its extravagant tunes and nail-biting, on-the-nose lyrics.

VBW International – a major success story

Since 1996, the VBW have been exporting in-house productions to Japan and around the world, including smash hits like “Elisabeth”, “Mozart!”, “The Visit”, “Don Camillo and Peppone”, “Rebecca”, “Rudolf” and “Dance of the Vampires”. A total of 25 million viewers have seen VBW musicals in 21 different countries and in 16 different languages.