Theater des Westens

The theatre was founded in 1895. The construction of the present building began in 1896, designed by Bernhard Sehring. It was opened on 1 October 1896 with a fairy tale, Holger Drachmann's Tausendundeine Nacht. From 1898 the house was used for opera, from 1908 for operetta. Enrico Caruso's first appearance in Berlin was in 1905 in Theater des Westens. In 1910, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes performed Carnaval on Schumann's music in a choreography by Mikhail Fokine. Anna Pavlova appeared with the Ballets Russes in 1914. From 1922, the house was again used as an opera house, called "Große Volksoper" (Great People's Opera), under the direction of conductor Leo Blech. Short lived, the opera house closed in 1924. From 1921, the cabaret theatre in the basement was directed by Trude Hesterberg. It was closed in 1928, but reopened in 1931 by Friedrich Hollaender as . Performers included Marlene Dietrich, Curt Bois, Bertolt Brecht, Erich Mühsam and Theo Lingen. The theatre was reopened on 23 December 1934 as the with Albert Lortzing's Der Waffenschmied. It presented as part of "" (light entertainment), directed by Karl Jöken and his wife Edith Schollwer. Examples include performances such as , , and . It had to be closed after an air raid in 1944. ==Städtische Oper==

After World War II the building served as Berlin's opera house called , because the Deutsche Oper Berlin had been destroyed in 1943. Operas by Werner Egk, Boris Blacher and Luigi Nono were premiered during this time, including Hans Werner Henze's on 23 September 1956. ==Musical==

'', 1961, beginning of musicals in Germany When the opera was moved to a new building in 1961, the Theater des Westens specialised in operettas and the new musical. The opening and first musical production was Loewe's My Fair Lady on 1 October 1961, In 1978, the stage technology was improved. In 1981, a restoration of the interior was begun according to the architectural plans of Bernhard Sehring, the facade was restored in 1988. Renovations which began in January 2003 were estimated to have cost 10 million Euros. On 26 September 2003 the theatre opened again with Les Misérables. Stage Entertainment has no ensemble but presents productions of German and international companies. ==Premieres==

• Leon Jessel: Die beiden Husaren (1913) • Jean Gilbert: Die Frau im Hermelin (1919) • Leon Jessel: Schwalbenhochzeit (1921) • Eduard Künneke: Die lockende Flamme (1933) • Walter Goetze: Der goldene Pierrot (1934) • Werner Egk: Circe (1948) • Boris Blacher: Ein preußisches Märchen (1952) • Luigi Nono: Der rote Mantel (1954) • Max Baumann: Pelleas und Melisande (1954) • Hans Werner Henze: König Hirsch (1956) • Oskar Sala: Paean (1960) • Boris Blacher: Rosamunde Floris (1960) • Rio Reiser: Robinson 2000 (1967) • James M. Barrie: Peter Pan (1984) • : Eins, zwei, drei (1989) • Jürg Burth / Ulf Dietrich: Blue Jeans (1994) • : 30–60–90° durchgehend geöffnet (1999) • Burkhard Driest: '''' (2000) • Konstantin Wecker: Schwejk it easy! (2001) • Rob Bolland und Ferdi Bolland: 3 Musketiers (2005) • / : '''' (2008) ==Literature==

• , Dissertation by Detlef Meyer zu Heringsdorf, published by Deutsche Oper Berlin 1988, • , published by the Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnenangehöriger Verlag: Bühnenschriften-Vetriebs-Gesellschaft ==References==