Bernhard Theater

Entrance to the theater from Sechseläutenplatz

The Bernhard Theater is a private theater founded in the center of Zurich .

history

In 1941 the Swiss actor Rudolf Bernhard opened the theater named after him in a building built in 1925 between the opera house and the Utoquai. On December 19, 1941, the curtain opened for the first time in the former "Grand Café Esplanade" with the cabaret revue Härzlig welcome . Bernhard felt obliged to the light muse, mostly comedies were shown, he himself often appeared as a comedian. Up until 1962, the public saw prominent Swiss artists such as Heinrich Gretler , Peter W. Staub , Emil Hegetschweiler and Walter Roderer in almost 7,000 performances . Maria Schell made her stage debut here, Hans Moser and Heinz Rühmann could be won as guests.

After Bernhard's death in October 1962, the brothers Eynar and Vincent Grabowsky took over the management of the house and expanded the program to include chanson evenings, musicals and travesty shows. Together with Hans Gmür and Karl Suter , Eynar Grabowsky launched the so-called “Bernhard Apéro ” in 1974 , which featured prominent guests every week.

In 1981 the building was demolished in order to expand the opera house. "Kaufleuten" was played in the restaurant for three years before the theater reopened on December 27, 1984 on Sechseläutenplatz . Eynar Grabowsky died of suicide in 1995 and left the unsubsidized theater heavily in debt, so that in 1999 bankruptcy proceedings were opened against the "Bernhard Theater AG". The theater business could, however, be continued by the "Society for the Promotion of the Bernhard Theater" until mid-2000. With the 2000/01 season, Hans-Heinrich Rüegg took over the position of director, but had to throw in the towel at the end of the 2001/02 season due to financial problems. Daniel Lüscher and Peter Kyburz became new leaders; even they did not succeed in breaking even.

The rental of the Bernhard Theater is currently in the hands of the Zurich Opera House. The actress Hanna Scheuring has been the director since October 2014 .

Others

The theater has almost 400 seats in so-called consumption seating and a restaurant. The theater hall is rising in several stages. The house is used by theater groups, touring stages and solo artists. The program includes stand-up comedy shows, comedies, detective pieces, (children's) musicals and musical comedies. There are still the "aperitifs".

The building, newly built in 1984, is popularly known as Fleischchäs (“meat cheese”).

literature

Tanja Stenzl: Bernhard Theater, Zurich ZH . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 1, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , pp. 177-179.

Web links

Commons : Bernhard Theater - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Website of the Bernhard Theater

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e website of the Bernhard Theater
↑ ^a ^b Jan Strobel: From Grand Café to «Fleischchäs». In: Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich from February 13, 2013, accessed on March 13, 2016
^ ^A ^b Wilhelm Kosch: Deutsches Theater-Lexikon , Volume VII, p. 3895 f., December 2011, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-11-026901-7 .

[rb-1] website of the Bernhard Theater

[bt-2] Jan Strobel: From Grand Café to «Fleischchäs». In: Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich from February 13, 2013, accessed on March 13, 2016

[wk-3] A ^b Wilhelm Kosch: Deutsches Theater-Lexikon , Volume VII, p. 3895 f., December 2011, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-11-026901-7 .