Dresden (dpa/sn) - Actor and cabaret artist Wolfgang Stumph is celebrating a special anniversary next Tuesday. For the 100th time, the 76-year-old gives his opinion on politics and society while slacking off, as the prison guard frog in "Die Fledermaus" in the Dresden Semperoper. "Of course I still stick to the libretto and the dramaturgy of the play," he told the German Press Agency just under a week earlier. The piece, which premiered in Vienna in 1874, is considered the "queen of the operetta" and is one of the most frequently performed music theater works in the world.
Stumph is already familiar with the world-famous opera stage from the GDR era, including as a guest on Gunter Emmerlich's show "Showkolade". The speaking role as "Saxonian Frog" in Günter Kremer's operetta production was his debut in music theater. The premiere was on December 18, 2003, it will soon be the 20th year.
"As a Dresdener, you can't resist the Semperoper's offer for this role," said Stumph. Over time, the frog turned grayer, "my stupidity stayed." And so he comments on topics "that move me and the audience at this time" on stage. "In the 101st performance on New Year's Day we'll have Qatar behind us and hopefully not a hangover."
The musical comedy of mistaken identity can be seen on average seven times per season from November to the beginning of January. "A turn of the year in the Semperoper without "Die Fledermaus" would be like Christmas without "The Nutcracker"," said Semperoper director Peter Theiler. On November 22, the curtain for the cheerful "champagne operetta" will rise for the 100th time - and in 2023 the Dresden production will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
