Simsalabim – Das magische Leben des Dr. Schreiber

Lyrics by Martin G. Berger, Book by Dirk Laucke, conceived by Jens Luckwaldt (G)

soloists; mixed chorus; children's choir; ballet;
1(=picc).1.3(II=bcl,II=asax).1-2.2.1.0-dr set.perc-gtr-kbd-strings(6.5.4.3.2)

Whilst preparing for one of his spectacular performances, the illusionist Kalanag – alias Helmut Schreiber – looks back on his dazzling life. His middle-class parents attempt to dissuade the young Helmut from his passion for magic, burning his book of magic tricks and inviting the travelling performer Ernest Thorn to their home. But instead of dissuading Helmut from a miserable life as a showman, Thorn has no option but to acknowledge the boy’s skill. Shortly after the First World War, Helmut performs magic in military hospitals for the wounded, where an officer promptly bestows upon him his stage name, Kalanag. But the Magic Circle, the organisation of German amateur and professional illusionists, refuses to admit the ambitious novice. Helmut/Kalanag moves from his native Swabia to the bustling city of Munich, where he carves out a career in the burgeoning film industry together with his flatmate Max – Max as an actor and Helmut behind the scenes.

When his girlfriend Ruth, daughter of the aircraft manufacturer Junkers, becomes pregnant by Helmut, he flees to Berlin and never returns. There he advances to become a film production manager. In his private life, he performs magic for influential figures in government and administration. When the National Socialists come to power, he proves himself to be an agile entertainment manager. Kalanag’s leadership role claims former comrades as victims: now president of the Magic Circle, he ‘purges’ the magicians’ guild of its Jewish members; and Max’s flight into exile offers an opportunity to seize his share in their joint film company...

After the war, Kalanag quickly works his way back to the top. Magic becomes the foundation of a second career. Whilst Germany still lies in ruins, he stages an astonishingly opulent show in Hamburg, featuring magic acts, music and girls. Always centre stage: Kalanag and his art of illusion. At his side in the theatre, as well as in life, is the former film extra Anneliese – now named Gloria and, self-assured and platinum-blonde, the dream girl of a post-war audience hungry for distraction. The power couple tours the world, every evening sawing virgins in half and making cars vanish into thin air. Curious journalists who ask about Kalanag’s Nazi connections or the mysterious financing of his tours are skilfully fobbed off.

Nevertheless, the glittering façade eventually begins to crumble. Frustrated by her supporting role, Gloria not only discovers that Kalanag is taking advantage of her in business – she also learns of his illegitimate child, who, to make matters worse, bears the same name as their daughter: Brigitte. Gloria abandons the marriage and the show. Kalanag wants to capitalise on the still-new medium of television, but he and his tricks look outdated on the small black-and-white screen. His heyday is over. Kalanag now performs only in his Swabian cousin’s provincial café. In quiet moments, the ghosts of his past haunt him – all those he has disappointed and betrayed. Despite everything, he refuses to admit his guilt. Kalanag’s light fades. His biography remains a source of fascination and a warning to posterity.

Is everything just an illusion? The great Kalanag, alias Helmut Schreiber, is the darling of the international magic world. He knows how to wrap the audience around his agile fingers and juggle with the emotions of the audience as an entertainment artist. In the midst of the ruins of post-war Germany, he makes cars disappear in a mega show on stage, saws his partner Gloria to pieces and makes milk and honey flow in the ‘Miracle Bar’. But behind the curtain, the shadows of a dark past are lurking. Memories flash up of a betrayed Jewish friend in the film business; of the political purge of the Magicians’ Association; of a gig on the Obersalzberg. Can Kalanag, the master of staging, succeed in his greatest trick: will his guilt vanish into thin air?

Simsalabim - The Magical Life of Dr Schreiber is a new musical theatre work, a mix of magic revue, political thriller and psychogram about a seductive and controversial figure in German history. Between great ballads, swing numbers and musical pyrotechnics, we are also confronted with the question of social responsibility on and beyond the stage: if everything were possible – what would you do?
Staatsoperette Dresden