About the work
Simsalabim – Das magische Leben des Dr. Schreiber (The Magical Life of Dr Schreiber) is a new musical commissioned by the Staatsoperette Dresden, where it receives its world premiere on 16 May 2026. The music is by the renowned opera and film composer Elena Kats-Chernin, the book by the playwright Dirk Laucke and the lyrics by Martin G. Berger. It tells the life of the magician and film producer Helmut Schreiber, known as Kalanag – a subject poised between magic revue, political thriller and psychological study.
Plot
The great Kalanag is the darling of the international world of magic, a master at winning over his audience. Amid the rubble of post-war Germany he makes cars vanish and saws his partner Gloria in half in opulent mega-shows. Yet behind the curtain lurk the shadows of a dark past: as head of production at the Bavaria film studio, Schreiber built a career under National Socialism and profited from his proximity to power – at the expense of his Jewish business partner. After the war he conceals his entanglements during denazification. The musical asks whether the master of illusion can pull off his greatest trick: making his own guilt disappear.
Cultural significance
The work combines grand spectacle with a serious reckoning over collaboration, responsibility and memory, mirroring a chapter of German history through one dazzling biography. Based on two years of research, it is anchored as a world premiere at the Staatsoperette Dresden – Germany's only independent operetta theatre. With its mix of ballads, swing numbers and show-stopping spectacle, Simsalabim places the question of social responsibility at the heart of popular music theatre.