About the work
The Birds of Alfred Hitchcock is a musical by William Ward Murta, for many years the musical conductor of Theater Bielefeld, who wrote the music, book and lyrics; he prepared the German version together with Constanze Grohmann. It premiered at Theater Bielefeld on 25 September 2010, directed by Kay Kuntze, with Katharine Mehrling as Tippi Hedren and the composer conducting the Bielefeld Philharmonic. Murta wrote the score for large orchestra in the style of the classic Broadway musical. The rights are held by Gallissas Theaterverlag.
Plot
The musical does not retell the horror film The Birds but the story behind its shooting. Tippi Hedren, a New York model with no acting training, is signed by Universal, and Alfred Hitchcock casts her in the lead of his new film. His early support turns into possessive control, which reaches its low point in the days-long filming of the attic scene with live birds and drives Hedren to the brink of collapse, until she frees herself from his hold. Around her are members of the film crew such as Hitchcock's assistant Peggy Robertson, screenwriter Evan Hunter, bird trainer Ray Berwick and the actress Jessica Tandy.
Cultural significance
The musical dealt with a director's abuse of power over his leading actress years before the #MeToo debate. The Bielefeld premiere audience received it enthusiastically, and the Neue Westfälische singled out the catchy music and Mehrling's nuanced Hedren. In 2026 it returns to Theater Bielefeld in a revised version and a new production.