The deliciously decadent musical that was based on Vicki Baum's 1928 novel Menschen im Hotel heads to the NY City Center as part of its 2018 season! First premiering im 1989, it was preceded by a famed pre-Code Hollywood movie starring Greta Garbo. Following the exploits amongst the guests of a glamorous Berlin hotel in the height of the Roaring Twenties, this story takes place over the course of a weekend. At once celebrating the pleasures of crossing paths with strangers and warning against haste, this musical drama was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and won five including best direction and choreography for Tommy Tune.
Love, lust, crime and tragedy all intersect the stories of a set of eccentric characters residing at the elegant Berlin Grand Hotel; the city is booming with wealth and glamor, but there is an undercurrent of crime rising, which has a tragic impact on two of our guests. The unlikely heroes of our story include a faded prima ballerina, a terminally-ill Jewish bookeeper who decides to live out his last days in luxurious surroundings; a handsome but poor Baton, a disillusioned physician, a businessman who has fallen into crime and a lonely secretary who dreams of stardom in Hollywood, and love.