Kurt Weill’s first Broadway smash, Lady in the Dark, will make a grand entrance at Volksoper Wien on 4 December with a run of ten performances through the end of January 2022. This highly-anticipated production marks the Austrian premiere of Roman Hinze’s German translation of the groundbreaking musical. Director Matthias Davids returns to Lady in the Dark after guiding the acclaimed German production at Staatsoper Hannover in 2011. Maestro James Holmes, a recipient of the Weill Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, will conduct. Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellow Davide Levi will assist Holmes as he prepares for the upcoming production.

“I am delighted to be able to conduct this remarkable score in the theatre for the first time,” reflects Holmes. “I hope that by presenting it at the Volksoper we can help to promote Weill’s Broadway repertoire in Europe and confirm his place as a uniquely innovative composer of musical theater on both sides of the Atlantic.” Director Davids exclaims: “Lady in the Dark is still up-to-date, even after eighty years. It’s an inspiring show in the brilliant way it puts words, music, and movement together. Dancers must sing… singers must speak… actors must dance… what a challenge!”

Since its Broadway premiere in 1941, Lady in the Dark has shaped an important subgenre of stage and film musicals about personal discovery. The six-minute video In Focus: Lady in the Dark traces some of that history and offers a vivid introduction to the pioneering musical, with informative interviews and charming performances by Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Ted Sperling, and Victoria Clark.

Rehearsal photos of the creative team from “Konzeptionsgespräch” (conceptual discussion) by Barbara Pallfy/Volksoper Wien

Watch the six-minute video In Focus: Lady in the Dark