Travel and vacations - >>ITG Current Events<< Switzerland: Heidi Musical World-Premiere

Extract from Peter M. Geiser's Internet Travel Guide to Switzerland
(http://www.pmgeiser.ch/switzerland)
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Johanna Spyri's moving story of Heidi, the Swiss mountain girl who has to go
and live an the big city of Frankfurt, is known all around the world. Now for
the first time it has been made into a musical, played on an open-air stage in
the tiny Swiss town of Walenstadt
(http://www.pmgeiser.ch/switzerland/i...d=SGWalenstadt).

Instead of a linear retelling of the book's story, the producers entwined
Heidi's experiences with the largely sad life of her creator Johanna Spyri. On
one side of the bisected stage, Johanna Spyri tells her tuberculosis-ridden
son Bernhard Heidi's story, on the other side of the stage, her fictional
characters come to life. While both stories develop, their realities merge,
sometimes moving on symbiotically, then again diverging most violently,
bringing pain to one protagonist, perfect joy to the other.

The world-premiere on July 23, 2005, received excellent reviews for its
professional staging and performance. Score and text were written by Steven
Keeling and Shaun McKenna, famous for their London West-End productions. All
major roles are sung by the crème de la crème of Switzerland's musical
artists.

Although the production is sung in German and no English performances are
currently planned, visitors should find the musical truly worth their while.
The musical's artful turnes and its unique setting with the Walensee and the
impressive face of the Churfirsten mountain as background create unforgettable
memories.

To visit the performance, you do not need to stay in Walenstadt itself. For a
nice hotel location, Zurich (http://www.pmgeiser.ch/switzerland/index.php?
id=ZHZuerich), Rapperswil (http://www.pmgeiser.ch/switzerland/index.php?
id=SGRapperswil), Bad Ragaz and Chur are reasonably close (20 - 60 minutes by
train). There are special train connections for musical visitors.

WWW-Version
http://www.pmgeiser.ch/switzerland/i...tHeidimusical:

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Sibylle Dussy

Peter M. Geiser's Internet Travel Guide
China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Macau, Hong Kong,
Switzerland, etc.
http://www.pmgeiser.ch

Mineral Waters of the World
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