Isabel Weicken

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Isabel Weicken (born December 29, 1950 in Detmold , North Rhine-Westphalia ) is a German actress , singer and musical artist .

Life

Origin and education

Isabel Weicken comes from an old Spanish noble family on her mother's side . She first trained as an art teacher . She then completed her acting training at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen (acting, pantomime , dance and singing). Her first appearances as an actress were in Bad Gandersheim (1970), where she also made her debut, and in Wunsiedel (1971–1972) while she was still studying .

Beginnings and first musicals

Her first permanent engagement was at the Stadttheater Heidelberg from 1972 to 1973 , where she received a two-year contract after completing her training. From 1973 to 1976 she was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Bremen City Theater . As a stage actress, Weicken began with works of classical theater literature. She appeared in Shakespeare plays (Viola in Was ihr wollt , Desdemona in Othello ), took on various roles in works from the turn of the century and in modern times (Chekhov, Brecht), but also played in comedies and tabloid comedies. She never played her first musical role at the Stadttheater Heidelberg on Sunday (after the film with Melina Mercouri ; director: Andrea Breth ). In 1975 she also played during her engagement in Heidelberg in the Brecht / Dessau music theater piece The Condemnation of Lukullus .

In 1975 she moved to Austria , where she took Vienna as her permanent residence. There she had first engagements in the Theater an der Wien (1975, in the musical Billy by John Barry and Don Black), in the Cabaret Simpl and at the Volkstheater Wien (from 1976). In 1979 she took on the role of Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago at the Theater an der Wien (director: Helmuth Baumann ). In 1980 she appeared in this musical as Velma together with Rainhard Fendrich in the Theater an der Wien.

Musical actress

She had her final breakthrough as a musical performer in German-speaking countries in 1981 with the title role in the German-language premiere of the musical Evita . The premiere took place in January 1981 in the Theater an der Wien; her partners were Reinhard Glemnitz (as Juan Perón), Alexander Goebel (as Che) and Lilo Raab (as Peron's lover). Weicken sang, "vocally with profound depth and distinctive heights" that corresponded to the role, the "demanding part with charm and cool brilliance"; in the scenes of illness and death she understood how to “truly touch human beings” and offered an “admirable” overall performance “in play and unreserved commitment of her person”. She was the first German-speaking Evita to appear in this role in Berlin (from October 1982, at the Theater des Westens ) and Munich (at the Deutsches Theater ); in Berlin, where she alternated with Daniela Ziegler in the title role, she brought her role over the ramp "with determined energy."

In the further course of her career, Weicken repeatedly took on musical roles. From January 1991 she played in the Berlin Theater des Westens in the musical Grand Hotel , u. a. with Leslie Caron as partner, the role of the lesbian companion of the aging ballerina Eliszaweta Gruschinskaja. From the mid-1990s she had a guest contract as Archduchess Sophie in the revival of the musical Elisabeth in the Theater an der Wien (director: Harry Kupfer ); she alternated in this role with Else Ludwig . In 1998 she took on the role of "Mama Morton" in the Chicago musical at the Theater an der Wien . With this role she then made guest appearances in Berlin (1999), Munich (2000), Basel (2000) and Düsseldorf (2001). In 2003 she was engaged as a guest at the Stadttheater Baden for the role of Duchess Maria von Dene in the musical Me and My Girl . In 2004 she joined the Vienna Chamber Opera as Joanne in the musical Company by Stephen Sondheim on; their partners were u. a. Carin Filipčić and Sergio-Maurice Vaglio .

Theater roles

From 1984 (according to other sources: 1983) to 2005 Weicken was a permanent member of the ensemble of the Vienna Volkstheater, where, parallel to her career as a musical performer, she increasingly turned to spoken theater and appeared in numerous classical and modern roles, among others. a. as " Lady of the Camellias " (Alexandre Dumas), as Jenny (in Brecht / Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper ), in the Fallada review Little Man - what now? and in 1994 as Kate in the Austrian premiere of the play Lughnasa - Zeit des Tanzes by Brian Friel . In 2001 Isabel Weicken played at the Vienna Volkstheater a. a. in the world premiere of the one-person piece Mango (text: Elisabeth Wäger ). In 2003 she was the Marquise de Merteuil in the two-person piece Quartet by Heiner Müller , a production as part of the Wiener Festwochen . She had other important roles at the Vienna Volkstheater in Ariane Mnouchkine's play Mephisto based on the novel by Klaus Mann (premiere: October 2004, as the “eccentric, internationally established diva” Carola Martin), with a happy ending (premiere: January 2005, as “Die Lady in Gray ”) and in the world premiere of Gustav Ernst's commissioned work Lysistrate (premiere: May 2005).

Engagements from 2005

In the 2005/06 season she played the role of Jacqueline in the musical La Cage aux Folles at the Vienna Volksoper . She also took on this role in the revival in the 2006/07 season. From 2006 to 2008 she sang and played the role of “Public Opinion” in the operetta Orpheus in der Unterwelt by Jacques Offenbach at the Vienna Volksoper . In the 2008/09 season she was Wilhelmine Kuhbrot, called “Pennant”, in the Künneke operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda at the Vienna Volksoper . In summer 2009 she played the role of housekeeper Mrs. Pearce in the musical My Fair Lady (director: Helmuth Lohner ) at the Mörbisch Seefestspiele . From June to September 2013, and again from October to December 2014, Weicken played Frau Pusebach in the operetta Frau Luna at the Vienna Volksoper . 2014–2015 she appeared in one of the leading roles at the Wiener Kammerspiele in the revue Schön, schön schön (director: Franz Wittenbrink ).

Weicken also appeared as a guest at numerous summer festivals in Austria. She also went on a multi-month theater tour through Germany and Switzerland with Michael Heltau with the play Der Leibgardist by Franz Molnar . She also performed with self-written solo programs and her own recitals.

Television appearances

Isabel Weicken was seen on television in 1984 in the ORF production Ein idealer Gatte (based on Oscar Wilde ) alongside Klaus Wildbolz , Michael Heltau and Andrea Jonasson (director: Hans Jaray ). see. She also worked in the television film Heldenfrühling (director: Michael Kehlmann ) and in various television series, including Wildbach (1993), Der Salzbaron (1994; director: Bernd Fischerauer ) and SOKO Kitzbühel (2002). She also had television appearances in several shows, including Dalli Dalli and in "The Peter Kraus Show".

Private

Weicken lives in Vienna. She is married to the medical doctor and former university professor Jörg Birkmeyer (* 1941). In 2013 Isabel Weicken published her first children's book, The Secret of Amelie and Noah . In the early 1980s, Weicken was the victim of a brutal, planned violence while appearing as Evita in Vienna. Weicken was beaten up, had to be treated in the hospital and could not sing several Evita performances. This was supposed to give her then second cast, Vera Gutmann, the chance of stage success. However, the background to the crime could never be fully clarified.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Wilhelm Kosch (Ed.): German Theater Lexicon. Volume V: Uber – Weisbach. De Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2000, ISBN 3-907820-40-1 , p. 3079. Retrieved from De Gruyter Online

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Isabel Weicken . Vita. In: Program for the resumption of Elisabeth . Theater an der Wien. 1st edition, September 1996
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Isabel Weicken . Vita. In: Program for the musical premiere in Chicago . Theater an der Wien. 1st edition, September 21, 1998
  3. ↑ Irene-Marianne Kinne: EVITA . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Edition April 4, 1981. Page 295/296.
  4. ^ Klaus Laskowski: EVITA . Performance review. In: Orpheus . Issue November 11, 1982. Page 910/911; there to Weicken on page 910.
  5. ↑ Me and My Girl, Baden . Cast for the premiere in March 2003. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  6. ↑ Nadine Müller: Relationship problems in the Vienna Chamber Opera: "Company", the search for the perfect relationship . Performance review. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  7. ↑ Lughnasa - Time of the Dance . Cast for the premiere in January 1994. Accessed October 16, 2017
  8. ↑ Happy ending . Cast of the premiere in January 2005. Retrieved on October 16, 2017
  9. ↑ Mephisto . Cast of the premiere in October 2004. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  10. ↑ Volkstheater: Ariane Mnouchkine's stage adaptation of Klaus Mann's exile novel "Mephisto": The artist as (un) political actor in the Nazi state . Performance review. In: Wiener Zeitung of October 12, 2004. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  11. ↑ Lysate rate . Cast for the premiere in May 2005. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  12. ↑ a b Isabel Weicken - Mrs. Pearce . Vita. Archive of the Mörbisch Seefestspiele . Retrieved October 16, 2017
  13. ↑ a b c Isabel Weicken . Vita. Official website "Der Wiener Salon". Retrieved October 16, 2017
  14. ↑ An ideal husband . Plot, cast and photos of the scene. ORF.at. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  15. ↑ Dinner: Isabel Weicken sings Weill's works . Event notice. From Onetz.de on September 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  16. ↑ a b c d Bolshoi assassination attempt was an act of revenge . Nachrichten.at of March 7, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  17. ↑ a b c EVITA SCANDAL IN VIENNA . In: New York Times, January 13, 1983. Retrieved October 16, 2017
  18. ↑ Reinhold Henke [director], Adolf Poindl [moderation], ORF [producer]: Attack on Isabel Weicken (Evita) in Vienna, Mittagsjournal 1982.03.15. In: Austrian Media Library / Technical Museum Vienna. ORF, March 15, 1982, accessed on December 25, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Weicken, Isabel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actress, singer and musical artist
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Detmold , North Rhine-Westphalia