Schedule 2026/27 Season Preview

Director Lotte de Beer: „’The only thing stronger than hate is love.’ was the motto at this year’s Super Bowl: And our new productions for the upcoming season also revolve around love. Because what do we need more right now than that? We show love in all its forms: Love between friends, romantic love, sexual love, passionate love, but also disappointed love. Our opening premiere is „Ronja Räubertochter“. The strong, brave, independent Ronja even befriends the son of her family’s greatest enemy. We bring the world-famous book by Astrid Lindgren, which was my favorite book as a child, to the stage as a large-scale music theater piece for the whole family. In the operetta „Der Opernball“ we are drawn into the problems of several couples. Young or old, everyone struggles with their feelings, with love, with disappointment, with affairs and with reconciliation. Our world premiere, a brand-new piece: „Zur heißen Zitrone”. It shows conflicts, arguments, and the life and love stories of a garden allotment community. It will be hilarious and feature great Austropop hits from Georg Danzer to Bilderbuch from Ernst Molden to Maria Bill and Frau Thomas & Herr Martin. „Austria in a Nutshell”. In the hit musical „Hello, Dolly“ a matchmaker takes center stage. But what happens when Dolly wants to find a partner herself? The question: How do we arrange our love relationships? is especially relevant today in the age of online dating. In „Così fan tutte“, Mozart and Da Ponte take a rather cynical view of love. They show a fidelity experiment that leaves no one unscathed. It’s as if love is both a battle and a playground for the sexes. The legendary stage designer Richard Peduzzi creates a poetic and almost naive set for us, which gradually falls apart. Things get quite sinful in our double bill: „Die sieben Todsünden“ and „Gianni Schicchi“. Kurt Weill confronts us with sins from envy to lust. And Puccini shows us that we can also laugh about it. A pretty healthy way to deal with our own weaknesses. It gets even more sinful in the musical „Chicago“, when two murderesses love one thing above all: themselves and their immoral fame. How far would you go for a bit of fame and the love of the audience? Love between two people in all its forms is also explored by the Vienna State Ballet. But Alessandra Ferri can tell you more about that. We have two beautiful premieres: „Masterpieces for Two“, which is a compilation of historic pieces, that were created just for two people, and it explores love and relationships in all forms. The other premiere, „Carmen Suite“, which also includes a new creation by Eno Peci. It really is „Carmen“ but in an iconic version that was created for the Bolschoi and the national ballett of Cuba and we are really privileged to have it on our stage. Ten different couples at the same time are shown on stage in a production by our new studio. „Reigen“, this is an opera based on the world-famous play by Schnitzler where all social classes mix and end up in bed together. It is being staged by our new studio director Annette Dasch. So, as you can see, we love music theater in all its forms. But we love you even more. Come and visit us. We look forward to seeing you!”