Elena Kats-Chernin: Simsalabim musical a hit in Dresden

(May 2026)

With Simsalabim – The Magical Life of Dr Schreiber, composer Elena Kats-Chernin presents her first full-length musical, premiered to acclaim in Dresden on 16 May and running through June, with further performances already scheduled next season. Commissioned by the State Operetta Dresden, and created in collaboration with author Dirk Laucke and lyricist Martin G. Berger, after an idea by Jens Luckwaldt, this dynamic, catchy musical theatre spectacle blends revue, magic show and historical drama to tell the story of a controversial figure in the international entertainment industry. Known as the ‘court magician of the Nazis’, Helmut Schreiber entertained the National Socialist leaders under his stage name Kalanag and produced propaganda films. After the war he reinvented himself as one of the world’s most successful illusionists who had to make his earlier life disappear. The production in Dresden was in the hands of Matthias Reichwald, with the State Operetta’s Music Director, Michael Ellis Ingram, conducting.

> Visit the Dresden Staatsoperette website
> Watch a video interview at rehearsals with the composer

Simsalabim explores the social responsibility of art and entertainment. Was Kalanag-Schreiber an admirable showman and pioneer of the art of magic, or was he a ruthless egomaniac, an opportunist, a perpetrator? Behind the scenes of his glittering career, the shadows of the past lurk: colleagues from the trade whom Kalanag has eliminated as a leading official of the German Magicians’ Guild; his former friend Max, who fled into exile because of his Jewish heritage and whom Kalanag cheated out of his shares in their joint film company; the disowned daughter, whom he gave the same first name as his legitimate child. At the operetta’s close, Kalanag asks the audience “What would you do?” posing the crucial question: which of us is prepared to take a moral stand and give truth precedence over illusion?

“…a spectacular show – captivating and thrilling, yet profound and thought-provoking… a dazzling tour de force tracing the life of the famous post-war magician… Grand numbers, short songs, dance and melodic magic are united in this composition, which is imaginative, substantial and effective…”
Sächsische Zeitung

“A musical brimming with magic! After all, it’s about the life of a magician. But it’s also a musical about the depths of human depravity, for this magician was, on the one hand, Hitler’s favourite magician and, on the other, was able to continue his career virtually unscathed in post-war West Germany. What dramatic material … lively music fills the pit and hints of the Charleston are in the air. The title song ‘Simsalabim’, which pops up every now and then, becomes a real earworm, and just before the interval the spectacle takes on a poignant depth: Dr Schreiber, alias Kalanag, has curried favour with the Nazi regime, posing in front of a sea of red flags, whilst klezmer quotes are drowned out in a cacophonous mix of sounds.”
Neue Musikzeitung

“It’s wonderful how everything comes together in this new, gripping, cleverly crafted musical that never drags for a single second … It’s also lovely to see how the production is almost constantly accompanied by music, driven along with verve and lovingly crafted by Michael Ellis Ingram, together with the orchestra and choir. Every note is spot on: 1920s pop, tango, jazz, imitating post-war hits yet retaining its own unique character … it brings to mind the once revolutionary fusion of politics and entertainment in the musical ‘Cabaret’. One could not pay a greater compliment to this new, thoroughly successful musical theatre production.”
Die Welt

“The music is sensational. Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin has developed a style all her own, lending just the right atmosphere to the rapidly intertwining narrative threads; she skilfully weaves swing into Charleston, tango into ballad, and a tap dance number into marching rhythms, captivating the audience with the magnificent opening featuring the title song and the deeply reflective finale with ‘What Would You Do?’ - a moving song that touches on implications for the current situation in Germany… ‘Broadway in Dresden’ is the State Operetta’s rather bold tagline. With this world premiere, that promise is emphatically fulfilled. ‘Simsalabim’ possesses the key qualities needed for export to the epicentre of musicals. The audience cheered.”
Musical Today

> Further information and full synopsis

Elena Kats-Chernin is one of the most versatile and cosmopolitan composers of our age, born in Uzbekistan, resident in Australia, and highly active on the European stage as well as in the world’s concert halls. Recent projects have included a new operatic adaptation of The Wind in the Willows in Kassel, music for the silent film Varieté in Brussels, and a double concerto for violin and cello premiered with the Melbourne Symphony. Her acclaimed children’s operas enjoy frequent stagings and revivals, including three scores commissioned by the Komische Oper in Berlin: Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs (2015), Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (2019) and Nils Holgersson’s Wondrous Adventures (2023).

Photo: Dresden Staatsoperette / Lutz Michen

>  News Search