Liliom

Budapest, 1909: Ferenc Molnár writes his “suburban legend” in three weeks, sitting at his usual table in the literary Café New York, next to the military band that plays there every evening. The premiere was a flop. The audience had come for something light and was thrown by the mixture of fairy tale and social drama.

The breakthrough came in 1913, with the first Vienna production. The writer Alfred Polgar had translated the Hungarian original into an Austrian idiom, moved it to the Vienna Prater and added a prologue. Liliom went on to conquer Berlin, London and New York, was filmed several times, and in 1945 became the basis for the musical Carousel.

Performed in German. Cast, production team and tour dates are listed on the German page.