About the work
The 3 Musketeers is a musical with music by Rob and Ferdi Bolland and a book by André Breedland, premiered in the Netherlands in 2003. The German-language premiere followed in Stuttgart in 2005, later in Berlin. It is based on Alexandre Dumas's adventure novel The Three Musketeers.
Plot
The young, impetuous d'Artagnan travels to Paris to become one of the king's musketeers and befriends the famous trio Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Together they become entangled in the intrigues of the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu and the seductive, dangerous spy Milady de Winter. While d'Artagnan fights for the love of Constance, the musketeers defend the queen's honour against a political conspiracy. With courage, sword, and the motto "All for one and one for all," they triumph over their enemies.
Cultural significance
The 3 Musketeers brought the classic cloak-and-dagger material to the German-language stage as an opulent pop musical and was especially successful in Stuttgart and Berlin. The Bolland brothers, known as producers of Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, combine catchy rock and pop numbers with grand show scenes. The work belongs to the wave of European spectacle musicals of the 2000s based on literary sources.