The Exorcism Continues: “Frau Luna” Back in Berlin

Exciting news from Berlin: the beloved production of Paul Lincke’s Frau Luna at Tipi am Kanzleramt is coming back. In all of its glitzy glory. And with that superlative cast.

“Never say never” a new press release states and announces that this operetta will be revived, ten years after the premiere in October 2016 of the Bernd Mottl production. The new opening night date is 24 January, 2026.

There have been many revival requests over the years, but the answer was always evasive: too expensive, too difficult to get the many original cast members back together again etc.

Cruising the Tiergarten
And it is, indeed, a huge cast that travels from late 19^th century Berlin to the moon, with a self-made balloon designed by the protagonist of the story, Fritz Steppke. Who then falls in love with the goddess of the moon, but eventually returns home to his ‘girl’, Marie.

The roles will again be taken by Benedikt Eichhorn as Steppke, Sharon Brauner as a jazzed-up Marie, Andreja Schneider plays the title role, Tobias Bonn is her first minister Theophil who flirted with Frau Pusebach on a moonless night in Tiergarten, a cruising park in Berlin that Theophil visited incognito. (As did Frau Pusebach.) She, in turn will be played by Christoph Marti.

Other stand out cast members are Cora Frost as Venus, Ades Zabel as Fräulein Groom, Gustav Peter Wöhler as Prinz Sternschnuppe. Sadly, the incomparable Anna Mateur as a knock-out maid “Stella” has been replaced by Franziska Traub.

Christoph Marti as an Alternative Frau Luna
Another novelty is that Marti will not only play Frau Puseback, as a cross-dressed spectacle, but also Frau Luna herself from 3 to 20 March, 2026, replacing Andreja Schneider. Parallel to this, Ades Zabel will play Puseback, which should certainly be more than interesting, you could say it’s a redefinition of the role. (Fausto Israel slips into the role of Fräulein Groom for these dates.)

The silvery stage design is by Friedrich Eggert, the stunning costumes by Heike Seidler. Christopher Tölle is again in charge of the choreography. Musical arrangements are by Johannes Roloff, who will conduct the “Mondphilharmoniker” himself.

In the new book Glitter and be Gay Reloaded, which has Christoph Marti on the cover, this production is described as an queer “exorcism” that tries to erase the heteronormative ghosts of Ingeborg Hallstein and the 1970s operetta format seen on German television. Let’s just say: it is a very successful exorcism!

Waiting for the DVD Version
Bottom line: it is wonderful news that this production comes back to Berlin for a fourth en-suite block of performances, while at the same time the Komische Oper is reviving its famed Oscar Straus productions of Die Perlen der Cleopatra and Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will, both with Dagmar Manzel and Adam Benzwi. At BKA Theater the Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre is still shown regularly, in its fouth year (!), next up in May. Meanwhile, the Deutsche Oper offered another Straus operetta recently, Die lustigen Nibelungen rewritten and presented as Ab in den Ring! by the collective tutti d*amore. That was the only truly new operetta production this season.

In a way, Berlin mostly lives off its past operetta glory. But who cares if that past is as glorious as this Frau Luna? What would be even more glorious would be a DVD version of the filmed performace that was streamed during Corona times. It has the benefit of Anna Mateur still in the cast.

For more details and performance dates, click here.