Early history The theater is named after the Austrian dramatist
Ferdinand Raimund, it was built by an association of 500 residents of the municipality of Mariahilf. It is designed by Franz Roth and opened on 28 November 1893, fully lit by electricity. Raimund's play
Die gefesselte Phantasie opened at the theater (Though its first performance was on 27 November 1893). The theatre mainly presented German folk dramas and plays. In 1908 it turned to
operetta, with
Johann Strauss'
The Gypsy Baron. Other premieres included
Robert Stolz's
Das Glücksmädel and
Dreimäderlhaus, set to various pieces of music by
Franz Schubert; this was performed more than 1200 times between 1916 and 1927. As the theatre was spared bombing damage during
World War II, the theatre re-opened promptly on 25 April 1945 with
Dreimäderlhaus. In 1948,
Rudolf Marik took over as director for almost 30 years, transforming it into an internationally recognised theatre of the German-speaking world exclusively staging operettas with stars such as
Johannes Heesters,
Marika Rökk, and others. Many well-known actors started their careers at the Raimund Theatre, including
Hansi Niese,
Paula Wessely,
Attila Hörbiger, and
Karl Skraup. After 1976 the theatre was occasionally used for
musicals, such as
Kurt Weill's
Lady in the Dark.
Renovation In 1985 the theatre was renovated, re-opening with the gala
Seinerzeit; since March 1987 it has formed part of the
Vereinigte Bühnen Wien.
A Chorus Line was followed by
Les Misérables in 1988 and
Phantom of the Opera in 1990, which transferred from the
Theater an der Wien. In 1993, on the anniversary of its opening, the German-language version of
Kiss of the Spider Woman was premiered. This was followed by the Austrian premiere of
Grease in 1994 and the European premiere of Disney's
Beauty and the Beast in 1995. Autumn 1997 saw the world premiere of
Dance of the Vampires in
Roman Polanski's production. After
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and a new production of
Hair in September 2002,
Wake Up was premiered, being the first musical by
Rainhard Fendrich and
Harold Faltermeyer. On 11 March 2004
Dave Stewart's rock musical
Barbarella had its world premiere. This was followed in 2005 by the German-language version of
Romeo & Julia, a musical by
Gérard Presgurvic based on Shakespeare. In September 2006, the new musical
Rebecca, by
Michael Kunze and
Sylvester Levay, premiered at the theatre. On 24 January 2008 the musical
We Will Rock You featuring the music of
Queen opened at the Raimund with its largest ever advance ticket sale of 90,000. Original Queen members
Roger Taylor and
Brian May joined the cast on stage for the finale. After "We will rock You", The Musical "Rebecca" came back for a short season from September until the end of December 2008. On 26 February 2009, the theatre opened with a new production of the "VBW", the musical "Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling". This production was a "Try-out" at Budapest and then it moved to Vienna. In March 2010 a musical with songs by Udo Jürgens, an Austrian songwriter and entertainer, called "Ich war noch niemals in New York" opened and is going to stay until the end of June 2012. In September 2012 the musical
Elisabeth will return for the third time to Vienna, but for the first time at Raimund Theatre. From 1992 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2005 the musical took place at the famous
Theater an der Wien. == References ==