Michael Kunze

Michael Kunze comes from an Austrian family, was born in Prague and grew up in Germany. After studying law and earning his doctorate, he began working as a songwriter. When he was dissatisfied with the production of his songs, he produced them himself. He quickly became a successful songwriter and an internationally known pop producer. Over six hundred chart successes, including two number one hits in America, earned him 79 gold and platinum records, an Echo Lifetime Award and the US Grammy. Stars who owe him hits include Gilbert Bécaud, Peter Alexander, Nana Mouskouri, Gitte Haenning, Peter Maffay, Julio Iglesias and Sister Sledge. He also penned over 100 Udo Jürgens lyrics, including "Griechischer Wein" and "Ich war noch niemals in New York". In addition, he developed lasting TV formats and wrote, among other things, the "Peter Alexander Show" for ORF. In the 1980s, he moved from the recording studio to the theater. Initially, he worked on German adaptations of international musical successes such as EVITA, CATS, DAS PHANTOM DER OPER, Disney's DER GLÖCKNER VON NOTRE DAME, DER KÖNIG DER LÖWEN, MAMMA MIA! and WICKED. He has been developing original musicals since the 1990s. Already with his first work ELISABETH (music: Sylvester Levay), he advanced to become the internationally most performed German-language playwright. His subsequent works TANZ DER VAMPIRE (Jim Steinman), MOZART!, REBECCA, LADY BESS and MARIE ANTOINETTE (all set to music by Sylvester Levay) also became international successes. He is considered the creator of the DramaMusical, a new genre of musical theater. He was the only librettist from the German-speaking world to reach Broadway. His pop oratorios DIE ZEHN GEBOTE and LUTHER (music: Dieter Falk) filled large European halls. In 2017, his work DON CAMILLO & PEPPONE (music: Dario Farina) was shown at the Ronacher. His musical MATTERHORN (music: Albert Hammond), premiered in St. Gallen in 2018, deals with the highly topical subject of the threat to nature posed by man. His works have been and are being performed in Paris, Moscow, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo. In addition to musical librettos, he has written several non-fiction books, a play about Bertolt Brecht's wife (LENYA), political cabaret texts for the Munich Lach- und Schießgesellschaft, and the book for the opera RAOUL (music: Gershon Kingsley). In addition, Michael Kunze is the author of scientific treatises and books of legal history. The Göttingen Academy of Sciences honored him for this in 2016 with the Brothers Grimm Medal. He is currently working on a non-fiction book on legal history entitled DAS UNSICHTBARE RECHT. Michael Kunze is a member of the US Dramatists Guild, Inc.

Sylvester Levay

Sylvester Levay was born in Hungary and came to Germany in the early 1960s. From 1963 to 1972 he worked with various orchestras throughout Europe. He moved to Munich and made a name for himself as a composer, conductor, pianist and arranger. While working with stars such as Udo Jürgens, Gitte Haenning, Katja Ebstein, Penny McLean and Donna Summer, he met Michael Kunze. They had their joint international breakthrough in 1975 with the hit "Fly, Robin, Fly", for which they received a Grammy Award in the category "Rhythm and Blues". Other hits followed, such as "Get Up And Boogie" and "Lady Bump." Between 1977 and 1980, Sylvester Levay composed and produced for internationally known artists such as Elton John, Donna Summer and Sister Sledge. As a new challenge, he then concentrated on composing film music. His classical music training and experience as a rock and pop composer made him a sought-after composer in Hollywood within a few years. Sylvester Levay lived and worked in Hollywood for 20 years. During this time, world stars such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas were among his clients. He is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts Sciences (NARAS) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) and lectured on film composition at the American universities UCLA and USC. In German television productions, Sylvester Levay wrote the music for the "Golden Lion", the "German Television Award", the "Bambi" or the television series "Medicopter 117", among others. In Hollywood, he set the successful series "Airwolf" to music. Since the 1990s, he has created the musicals HEXEN HEXEN, ELISABETH and MOZART! with Michael Kunze. Again he was internationally successful, especially with ELISABETH, which has been performed in 14 countries so far. Commissioned by the Japanese production company TOHO, Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze created the musical MARIE ANTOINETTE, which premiered in Tokyo in November 2006 and had its German-language premiere in Bremen in 2009. Also in 2006, REBECCA, based on the novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, enjoyed great success in Vienna and was subsequently seen in 12 countries. In April 2014, his latest collaboration with Michael Kunze, the musical LADY BESS premiered in Tokyo and was followed in 2016 by his pop musical THE CREST OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. Titled SYLVESTER LEVAY & HIS FRIENDS - THE MUSICALS OF KUNZE & LEVAY IN CONCERT, a series of gala concerts featuring the songs of Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze were held at the Shanghai Culture Square Theatre in China in September 2019. This was followed by the German premiere of LADY BESS in St. Gallen on February 19, 2022.

Gil Mehmert

Simon Eichenberger

Choreography

Training: Swiss Chamber Ballet in Zurich. Choreographies: among others. DIE 13½ LEBEN DES KÄPT'N BLAUBÄR/Tour; SOUTH PACIFIC, INTO THE WOODS/Staatstheater Kassel; GIGI, POLNISCHE HOCHZEIT/ Oper Graz; KISS ME, KATE/Salzburger Landestheater; DÄLLEBACH KARI, GOTTHELF - DAS MUSICAL, TITANIC (co-director), DER BESUCH DER ALTEN DAME/ Thunerseespiele, Ronacher; DIE SCHWEIZERMACHER/Zurich; REBECCA/St. Gallen, Stage Palladium Theater Stuttgart; CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, WINTER WONDERETTES/Kammerspiele der Josefstadt; DINOSAURIER! - THE MUSICAL, GRIMM! /Theater der Jugend; SEVEN IN HEAVEN (UA), SHOW BOAT, THE WHO'S TOMMY, GRAND HOTEL (ÖEA), IN 80 TAGEN UM DIE WELT (UA, Deutscher Musical Theater Preis 2017)/Landestheater Linz; CANDIDE/Staatsoper Hannover; DAS WUNDER VON BERN (UA, Deutscher Musical Theater Preis 2015)/ Stage Theater an der Elbe; DIE KOMÖDIE DER IRRUNGEN/Salzburger Festspiele; IO SENZA TE (UA)/Zürich; VIKTORIA UND IHR HUSAR/Seefestspiele Mörbisch; WAHNSINN - DAS MUSICAL (UA)/Tour; DIE DREIGROSCHENOPER, DER MANN MIT DEM LACHEN (UA)/Staatsoperette Dresden. Direction and choreography: WEST SIDE STORY/Staatstheater Schwerin; ROCKY HORROR SHOW/Zwingenberger Schlossfestspiele; FOREVER YOUNG/Landestheater Linz; DAS DSCHUNGELBUCH (UA)/Luisenberg Festspiele; KNIE - DAS CIRCUS MUSICAL (UA)/Switzerland. Most recently directed DER KÖNIG UND ICH/Seefestspiele Mörbisch.

Yan Tax

Yan Tax studied fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Breda. His credits at theatres in the Netherlands include CYRANO DE BERGERAC, JOE, ELISABETH, CISKE DE RAT and SUNSET BOULEVARD. He was costume designer for  ELISABETH, MOZART!, TITANIC, 3 MUSKETEERS and ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK in Germany and Austria, and for TINTIN and DAENS in Belgium. Yan Tax has designed costumes for productions by the Amsterdam Theatre Group, the National Theatres of Brussels and Amsterdam, and for numerous operas in places as far-flung as Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Berne, Zurich, Florence, Sydney, San Francisco, Vienna, Frankfurt and Helsinki. He was also costume designer for the Dutch TV series “Willem van Oranje” and “Wilhemina” and for films like “Wings of Fame”, “Spetters”, “Left Luggage”, “Discovery of Heaven” and “Black Book”. In Belgium and France, he designed costumes for DAENS, ELINE VERE, LE HUITIÈME JOUR, MINA TANNENBAUM and LA CHAMELLE. He was nominated for a Tony in New York for his outstanding work on CYRANO DE BERGERAC and won the EuropaCinema Award for Best Costume Designer. In Germany, he won awards for Best Costumes in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004 for ELISABETH, MOZART!, TITANIC – THE MUSICAL und 3 MUSKETEERS. In 2008, he was nominated for a Lola for “Black Book” and in 2014, he won the Austrian Musical Theatre Award for the 20^th anniversary production of ELISABETH at the Raimund Theater. After collaborating with director Harry Kupfer on the hugely successful production of DER ROSENKAVALIER at the Salzburg Festival in 2014, Yan Tax went on to work with him on MOZART!, then on PARSIFAL in Tokyo, DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG in Helsinki and A LIFE FOR THE TSAR  in Frankfurt.

Michael Grundner

Michael Grundner trained in Vienna, London and New York. His most recent credits include LES MISÉRABLES, TOMMY and INTO THE WOODS at the Landestheater Linz, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at the Raimund Theater in Vienna, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna, the Staatsoperette Dresden and the Deutsches Theater in Munich, TOSCA and AIDA at the Opernfestspiele St.Margarethen, FLASHDANCE and WEST SIDE STORY at the Theater St.Gallen and FLASHDANCE and SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER in Amstetten. He is the lighting and video designer for all José Carreras’s gala concerts. In 2014, he won Best Lighting Designer for FLASHDANCE.

Michael Römer

After studying in Bremen, Hanover and New York, he worked as a music educator, chamber musician, concert pianist and conductor. This was followed by solo performances with various orchestras and as a partner in chamber music ensembles, as well as recitals with soloists from various state operas; also with a focus on modern music (including collaboration with Karlheinz Stockhausen). As a conductor and répétiteur, he has worked on over 50 different (premiere) performances and premieres in Vienna and abroad. He has also been a guest lecturer at several musical schools and universities. Since the 2000/2001 season, he has been a permanent conductor at the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, where he has been in charge of the rehearsals of numerous plays as well as the ongoing productions. In addition, he works as a pianist and consultant for many national and international auditions. Currently he is part of the music direction of the VBW. Most recently, he was Musical Director of WE ARE MUSICAL, the opening gala of the Raimund Theater and the concert performances of ELISABETH at Schönbrunn (2019 and 2022). As a supervisor, he oversees versions of ELISABETH, MOZART! and REBECCA in many countries for VBW, among others. In 2022/23, he will follow with the musical direction of Disney's THE HUNCHBACK at the Ronacher.