The German magician Kalanag, born Helmut Schreiber, was recently covered in Malte Herwig’s book The Great Kalanag: How Hitler’s Magician Vanished his Past and Conquered the World. (You will find three chapters of that book in Genii, June 2021.) The book laid bare how Kalanag used magic to weasel his way into the good graces of the Nazi leadership, including performing at Hermann Göring’s estate.
Kalanag’s story is now also portrayed in an upcoming German musical titled Simsalabim: Das Magische Leben Des Dr. Schreiber, or, in English: Simsalabim: The Magical Life of Dr. Schreiber. Here’s a description of the musical, translated into English via Google Translate:
Is it all just an illusion? The great Kalanag, alias Helmut Schreiber, is the darling of the international magic world. He knows how to wrap audiences around his nimble fingers, juggling the audience’s emotions as an entertainment acrobat. Amidst the rubble of post-war Germany… he makes cars disappear on stage, saws his partner Gloria in half, and—Simsalabim!— milk and honey flow in the “Wunder- Bar.” But behind the curtain lurk the shadows of a dark past. Memories of a betrayed Jewish friend in the film business flash up, the politically purged magicians’ association, and a performance at the Obersalzberg. Can he, the master of staging, pull off his greatest trick: Will his guilt vanish into thin air?
With Simsalabim: The Magical Life of Dr. Schreiber, the State Operetta presents a new musical that is halfway between a magic revue, a political thriller, and a psychological profile, centered around a figure in German history who is as seductive as he is controversial. It is brought to life by renowned opera and film music composer Elena Kats-Chernin, playwright Dirk Laucke, and director Martin G. Berger. Between grand ballads, swing numbers, and show fireworks, we too are confronted with the question of social responsibility on and off stage: If anything were possible, what would you do?
The musical is set to premiere at the Dresden State Opera in May 2026. Tickets range from €19 to €55.
Kalanag archive photos courtesy of Wittus Witt