Wiener Musicals and Their Developments

Musical theatre is a global art form that is constantly shaped by local contexts. In Vienna, the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien produce musicals that are particularly popular in Japan, which is their oldest and largest overseas market. This book provides a transnational history of Viennese musicals from 1945 to 2019, examining how institutional forces, municipal cultural politics and audience expectations have shaped this phenomenon in both Vienna and Japan. Drawing on theatre studies, art sociology and comparative cultural studies, the analyses cover post-war performances at the Volksoper and Theater an der Wien, Vereinigte Bühnen Wien productions ranging from Elisabeth to I Am From Austria, and their adaptations by the Takarazuka Revue and T_h_ in Japan, as well as subsequent developments such as Marie Antoinette. This publication sheds light on an important facet of global musical theatre today, and will therefore appeal to scholars and anyone with an interest in musical theatre beyond Broadway and the West End.