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over 28.000.000 Visitors worldwide
23 Countries
over 25.000 Shows worldwide

VBW International - The Vienna Licensors of Premium Musical Productions

Take part in our success: we offer exclusive licenses of our cutting edge musical productions to leading stages all over the world. At home in Europe’s music capital Vienna. At work on a global scale with leading international stages.

 

 

Der Besuch der alten Dame ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     Don Camillo und Peppone ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     Elisabeth ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

 

Rudolf ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     I am from Austria ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     Rebecca ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

 

Tanz der Vampire ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     Schikaneder ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien     Mozart ©Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

Our passion for setting the stage for the stars has gained us international star status in our own right: as the only musical producer in German-speaking countries exporting in-house productions successfully all around the world.

The name Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW) is synonymous with musical theatre of the very highest quality. The Viennese company stages top-class opera and musical productions at its four historic theatres: the Theater an der Wien (built 1801), the Raimund Theater (1893), the Ronacher (1872) and the Kammeroper (1953). Every year, up to 600,000 people from Austria and abroad attend performances at these theatres, with about 500,000 of them enjoying Austrian and European German-language premieres of hit international musicals at the Raimund Theater or the Ronacher.

 

VBW attracts the most talented artists in the international musical scene – directors, choreographers, set designers, composers and librettists – to create outstanding in-house productions. Being one of Europe’s largest multi-genre theatre enterprises, VBW even has its own 80-piece orchestra. The top international quality of its productions means that it plays a key role in upholding Vienna's reputation as a centre of culture and music.

 

The Theater an der Wien is one of the world's leading opera houses. It was built by actor and impresario Emanuel Schikaneder who was also Mozart's librettist. After decades as a musical venue it reopened as an opera house in January 2006 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. Regular performers have included Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Robert Carsen, Thorsten Fischer, Peter Konwitschny, Placido Domingo, José Carreras and Cecilia Bartoli.

 

Since  2012/13 the Theater an der Wien has also staged productions at the Kammeroper, giving its Young Ensemble (JET) the chance to showcase their exceptional talents.

 

The Raimund Theater and the Ronacher are dedicated to first-class long-running musicals, created in Vienna by artists of the highest international standing such as Sir Trevor Nunn, Stephen Schwartz, Vincent Paterson, John Malkovich, Roman Polanski, Francesca Zambello, Peter J. Davison, Patricia Field, Anthony van Laast, Anthony Ward, Hugh Vanstone, William Dudley, Frank Wildhorn, David Leveaux, Harry Kupfer, John O’Connell, Dave Stewart, Hans Schavernoch, Mark Fisher, Yan Tax and Sue Blane.

 

Since 1992, VBW has been producing its own original musicals and began exporting them in 1996. Hit musicals such as ELISABETH (the world’s most successful musical production of German-speaking origin), DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, MOZART!, REBECCA, RUDOLF, THE VISIT, SCHIKANEDER, DON CAMILLO & PEPPONE and I AM FROM AUSTRIA have made the “Viennese musical” a globally renowned brand and have brought drama, emotion, thrilling dance sequences, breathtaking set design and of course first-class music by world-famous composers to top stages in 23 countries from Finland to Japan, and even to Broadway, where they have been performed in 18 languages and been seen by over 28 million people.

 

VBW productions have been delighting audiences for over 50 years. We are constantly developing new ideas to attract our audiences of tomorrow – children, young people and non-traditional theatre-goers.

 

The latest original musicals by VBW are SCHIKANEDER – THE TURBULENT LOVE STORY BEHIND THE MAGIC FLUTE with music and lyrics by WICKED composer Stephen Schwartz, book by Christian Struppeck, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, and I AM FROM AUSTRIA, a witty and charming story of love, friendship and family based on the greatest hits of the legendary Viennese singer-songwriter Rainhard Fendrich.

 

The combination of superlative artistic standards in historic theatres has made Vienna one of the musical capitals of the world, rivalling London and New York. Musical productions by VBW guarantee long runs, rave reviews and audiences captivated by the magic of state-of-the-art musical theatre.

 

VBW: A European player on a global market. 

Dance of the Vampires

  • World premiere:

    1997 Austria / Vienna (Raimund Theater/VBW)

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Michael Kunze

  • Music & additional material:

    Jim Steinman

  • Musical supervisor & Arrangements:

    Michael Reed

  • Orchestrations:

    Steve Margoshes, Michael Reed (2009)

  • Based on:

    Turner Entertainment Co.’s motion picture The Fearless Vampire Killers, produced with the kind permission of Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures Inc. directed by Roman Polanski and written by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski

  • Director:

    Roman Polanski, Cornelius Baltus (2009, 2017)

  • Choreography:

    Dennis Callahan

  • Set Design:

    William Dudley (1997), Kentaur (2009, 2017)

  • Costume Design & Make Up:

    Sue Blane (1997), Kentaur (2009, 2017)

  • Lighting Design:

    Hugh Vanstone

  • Sound Design:

    Richard Ryan (1997), Matthias Reithofer (2009), Thomas Strebel (2017)

  • Musical Director:

    Adrian Werum (1997), Caspar Richter (2009), Koen Schoots (2017)

  • Countries:

    Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, USA

  • Language Versions:

    Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Slovak

almost 10.000.000 Visitors worldwide
15 Countries
9.700 Shows worldwide

Don Camillo & Peppone

  • World premiere:

    2016 Switzerland / St. Gallen (VBW in co-production with Theater St. Gallen)

  • Stage Rights:

    © 2008 AHN & SIMROCK Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH, Hamburg,

    www.ahnundsimrockverlag.de

     

    Licensing: VBW International GmbH in cooperation with AHN & SIMROCK Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH (except USA, Great Britain and Australia)

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Michael Kunze 

  • Music:

    Dario Farina 

  • Musical Supervisor & Orchestrations:

    Koen Schoots

  • Based On:

    Il Mondo Piccolo by Giovannino Guareschi

  • Director:

    Andreas Gergen 

  • Choreography:

    Dennis Callahan 

  • Set Design:

    Peter J. Davison 

  • Costume Design:

    Yan Tax

  • Lighting Design:

    Michael Grundner

  • Sound Design:

    Thomas Strebel

  • Puppet Design:

    Stefan Fichert

  • Musical Director:

    Koen Schoots

  • Countries:

    Austria, Germany, Switzerland

  • Language versions:

    German 

almost 150.000 Visitors worldwide
3 Countries
180 Shows worldwide

Elisabeth

  • World Premiere:

    1992 Austria / Vienna (Theater an der Wien/VBW)

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Michael Kunze

  • Music & Orchestrations:

    Sylvester Levay

  • Choreographer:

    Dennis Callahan

  • Set Design:

    Hans Schavernoch

  • Costume Design:

    Reinhard Heinrich (1992, 2003), Yan Tax (2012)

  • Lighting Design:

    Hans Toelstede (1992, 2012), Andrew Voller (2003)

  • Sound Design:

    Erich Dorfinger (1992, 2003), Thomas Strebel (2012)

  • Video Design:

    Thomas Reimer (2012)

  • Countries:

    Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland

  • Language versions:

    Czech, Dutch/Flemish, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Korean, Swedish

almost 12.000.000 Visitors worldwide
14 Countries
almost 9.000 Shows worldwide

I Am From Austria

  • WORLD PREMIERE:

    2017 Austria / Vienna (Raimund Theater/VBW)

  • MUSIC & LYRICS:

    Rainhard Fendrich

  • BOOK & IDEA:

    Titus Hoffmann

  • BOOK & CREATIVE DEVELOPLMENT:

    Christian Struppeck

  • MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS & SUPERVISONS:

    Michael Reed

  • ORCHESTRATIONS:

    Roy Moore & Michael Reed

  • DIRECTOR:

    Andreas Gergen

  • CHOREOGRAPHY:

    Kim Duddy

  • SET DESIGN:

    Stephan Prattes

  • COSTUME DESIGN:

    Uta Loher & Conny Lüders

  • LIGHTING DESIGN:

    Andrew Voller

  • SOUND DESIGN:

    Thomas Strebel

  • VIDEO DESIGN:

    Sönke Feick

  • Music Director:

    Michael Römer

  • Countries:

    Austria, Japan

  • Language Versions:

    German, Japanese

almost 774.000 Visitors worldwide
2 Countries
over 560 Shows worldwide

Mozart!

  • World premiere:

    1999 Austria / Vienna (Theater an der Wien/VBW) 

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Michael Kunze 

  • Music & Orchestration:

    Sylvester Levay 

  • Director:

    Harry Kupfer, Dennis Callahan (Co-Director 2015) 

  • Choreography:

    Dennis Callahan 

  • Set Design:

    Hans Schavernoch 

  • Costume Design:

    Yan Tax 

  • Lighting Design:

    Franz Peter David (1999), Jürgen Hoffmann (2015) 

  • Sound Design:

    Tony Meola (1999), Thomas Strebel (2015) 

  • Video Design:

    Thomas Reimer (2015) 

  • Musical Director:

    Caspar Richter (1999), Koen Schoots (2015) 

  • Countries:

    Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Sweden

  • Language versions:

    Czech, Flemish, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Swedish 

almost 2.500.000 Visitors worldwide
10 Countries
over 2.400 Shows worldwide

Rebecca

  • World premiere:

    2006 Austria / Vienna (Raimund Theater/VBW) 

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Michael Kunze 

  • Music & Orchestrations:

    Sylvester Levay 

  • Musical Supervisor:

    Seann Alderking 

  • Based on the novel:

    Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 

  • Director:

    Francesca Zambello 

  • Choreography:

    Denni Sayers (2006), Simon Eichenberger (2011)

  • Set Design:

    Peter J. Davison 

  • Costume Design:

    Birgit Hutter 

  • Lighting Design:

    Andrew Voller (2006), Mark McCullough (2011)

  • Sound Design:

    Hendrik Maassen 

  • Video Design:

    Sven Ortel 

  • Musical Director:

    Caspar Richter 

  • Countries:

    Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland

  • Language versions:

    Czech, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Swedish 

over 2.100.000 Visitors worldwide
12 Countries
over 2.400 Shows worldwide

Rudolf – Affaire Mayerling

  • World premiere:

    2006 Hungary / Budapest

  • Book & Lyrics:

    Jack Murphy

  • Additional Lyrics:

    Nan Knighton

  • Music:

    Frank Wildhorn

  • Story by:

    Frank Wildhorn & Phoebe Hwang 

  • Concept by:

    Frank Wildhorn & Steve Cuden 

  • Orchestrations:

    Kim Scharnberg 

  • Arrangements & Additional Orchestrations & Musical Supervisor:

    Koen Schoots 

  • Based on the novel:

    A Nervous Splendor by Frederic Morton 

  • Director:

    David Leveaux 

  • Choreography:

    John O'Connell 

  • Set Design:

    Mike Britton 

  • Costume Design:

    Laura Hopkins 

  • Lighting Design:

    Patrick Woodroffe 

  • Sound Design:

    Hendrik Maassen 

  • Musical Director:

    Caspar Richter 

  • Countries:

    Austria, Hungary, Japan, South Korea

  • Language versions:

    German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean 

almost 581.000 Visitors worldwide
4 Countries
750 Shows worldwide

Schikaneder

  • World premiere:

    2016 Austria / Vienna (Raimund Theater/VBW)

  • Music & Lyrics:

    Stephen Schwartz

  • Book:

    Christian Stuppeck

  • German Version:

    Michael Kunze

  • Orchestrations:

    David Cullen

  • Vocal Arrangements:

    Koen Schoots & Stephen Schwartz

  • Director:

    Trevor Nunn

  • Choreography:

    Anthony van Laast

  • Set and Costume Design:

    Anthony Ward

  • Lighting Design:

    Paul Pyant

  • Sound Design:

    Gareth Owen

  • Video Design:

    Ian William Galloway

  • Musical Director:

    Koen Schoots

The Visit

  • World premiere:

    Open Air Production: Switzerland, Thun, 2013
    Theater Production: Ronacher, Vienna, 2014

  • Original Producer of the Open Air Production:

    Heimatland Verlag und Thunerseespiele

  • Original Producer of the Stage Production:

    Vereinigte Bühnen Wien

  • Stage Rights:

    VBW International GmbH in cooperation with Heimatland Verlag and Thunerseespiele

     

    Diogenes Verlag, Zürich

  • Book & Creative Development:

    Christian Struppeck 

  • Lyrics:

    Wolfgang Hofer 

  • Music:

    Moritz Schneider & Michael Reed 

  • Arrangements & Musical Supervisor:

    Michael Reed 

  • Orchestrations:

    Michael Reed, Roy Moore & Martin Gellner 

  • Based on the play:

    Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt 

  • Director:

    Andreas Gergen 

  • Choreography:

    Simon Eichenberger 

  • Set Design:

    Peter J. Davison 

  • Costume Design:

    Uta Loher & Conny Lüders 

  • MakeUp:

    Ronald Fahm 

  • Lighting Design:

    Mark McCullough 

  • Sound Design:

    Thomas Strebel 

  • Musical Director:

    Koen Schoots 

  • Countries:

    Austria, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland

  • Language versions:

    Dutch, German, Japanese 

over 230.000 Visitors worldwide
5 Countries
over 250 Shows worldwide