Der Palast (Season 2)
Berlin, capital of the GDR, 1990 – a time of seismic change in Berlin. Following the fall of the Wall, the Palast faces an uncertain future. Under the demanding leadership of ballet director Regina Feldmann, three aspiring dancers—Luise, Lukas, and Karla—fight for their place on the world’s grandest revue stage, unaware of the theater’s impending closure. Meanwhile, Feldmann battles a West German director’s plans to convert the Palast into a casino, determined to preserve its artistic heritage.
Creation and stage-producing of lavish revue dance scenes and production numbers in a stage-to-tv drama production for German television.
Task
Creating and stage producing the on-stage content of the TV series with support of the Friedrichstadt-Palast's in-house teams.
Between 2023 and 2024, we continued our journey into the early 1990s. While most parts of the new season of DER PALAST was filmed in Poland, the stage shows were yet again realised on the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s very own stage – and this time, with all show numbers danced by its very own ballet ensemble.This production has been an extraordinary creative journey. I had the pleasure of working alongside acclaimed director Uli Edel and choreographer Tini Bach, herself a former Palast dancer.
While several numbers were inspired by archived performances from ARISE (originally co-written and co-directed by Oliver Hoppmann and William Baker, with costumes designed by acclaimed Stefano Canulli), which concluded in 2023, we reimagined the choreography to fit the emotional narrative of the series. This meant adapting the routines to the new stage and scenography of the current show layout of Falling in Love, ensuring that every step felt deeply connected to the storyline.
I show produced and show directed the production numbers while also consulting the production on show creation and historical aspects related to the Palast’s legacy. When the script simply described production numbers with lines like “and they put on a brilliant dance scene,” it was up to us to bring these visions to life from scratch.
- Creative consulting on the interface between the Friedrichstadt-Palast and Constantin Television on all of the 5 on-stage show scenes of the series.
- Creative Direction and Show Direction for the on-stage scenes and show moments, in cooperation with both the Friedrichstadt-Palast’s and Constantin Television’s Creative Departments, series director Uli Edel and cinematographer Hannes Hubach.
- Consulting on historical revue practice, and implications of staging this in a contemporary context.
- Advising on cultural references, aesthetics, and helping source costumes and props.
- Supporting the team on show directing (storyboarding, show flows, special effects, aerials, choreographic blockings, scenographic approaches) as well as show producing (production plans, rehearsal plans, stage practice, liaising between the various departments)
- PSM/DSM duties during the shooting.
Core Team
Oliver Berben
Executive Producer
Constantin Television GmbH, gefördert von Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB), FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF), German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) und Polnisches Filminstitut
Production
Kathrin Bullemer, Sarah Kirkegaard
Producers
Janett Didik, Christian Keller
Line Producers
Creative & Show Team
Rodica Doehnert
Script
Uli Edel
Director
Alex Berner
Second Unit Director
Hannes Hubach
DOP
Martin Lingnau, Ingmar Süberkrüb
Composers
Andy Machals
Show Producer / Show Director
Tini Bach
Choreographer
Iga Kowalczyk
Assistant Choreographer
Nicole Peñaranda Hohner
First AD
Simon Pfister
Second AD (Shows)
Chris Moylan & Matthias Schöffmann
Lighting Designer
Dorothee Kriener, Kathrin Roth-Wagner, Ulrika Böhm, and more.
Costumes
Jerome Latour
Set
Ludowika “Luka” Mann, Joanna Piestrzyńska
Art Directors
Jeanette Latzelsberger, Gregor Eckstein
Hair & Make-Up
Max Pawlikowski
Light Designer (Poland)
Błażej Kotala
Light Programmer (Poland)
Friedrichstadt-Palast
Dr. Berndt Schmidt
General Director
Guido Herrmann & Inken Lummer
Project Lead
Oliver Hoppmann and Team
Creative Director
Alexandra Georgieva, Maik Damboldt, and Team
Ballet Director
Brennan Figari
Aerial Director
Andy Stübler, and Team
Technical Coordination & LX
Thomas Herda
Technical Director
Peter Müller and Team
Technical Stage Crew
Steffen Liebsch, and Team
Stage Management
Nora Förster & Juliane Wolff
Project Management
Stefano Canulli, Elisabetta Pian, and Team
Costume Direction
Antje Potthast, and Team
Hair & Makeup Direction
Wolfgang Stiebritz
Advisor
Photos by ZDF | Constantin Film | MOOVIE | Arbor Films | Grześ Milej | Andy Machals | Nadja Klier | Krzysztof Wiktor | FeedMee.