People living well beyond the boundaries of the town know very well that you need to book a seat quickly when the pupils at Markneukirchen put on their musical. There are more than 6,000 admission tickets available for a musical week – but they sell out in a flash.

Michael Straube, who is the brains and musical driving force behind the projects says, “We can’t cope with any more; we’ve already upped the number of performances, but we can’t expect the pupils involved to do more than 14 performances in one week.”

The major project starts every two years – and all those taking part need this amount of time – for collecting ideas, the texts, the castings, composing the music, the rehearsals, building the stage, the costumes and many other things.

An idea becomes a unique feature

14 large-format photo boards now hang in the school building in Markneukirchen. The pupils put together this aide-mémoire using the photos, press articles and the programme booklet after each musical. When Michael Straube walks past them, he says, “I wouldn’t want to miss any musical; each one of them was unique in terms of the story, the music and those involved.”

Straube has worked as a teacher of German and music at the grammar school since 1992; he helped set up the musical profile as a young teacher and took over the first profile class in this subject. An idea formed in his head back then: we want to put on our own musical. His wife Kerstin is also a teacher at the school and head of the musical projects.

Michael Straube says, “It’s really ideal because the pupils can put all the arts into practice. We need a choir, outstanding individual soloists, musicians, dancers, stage builders, prop managers and others. A musical doesn’t just combine classical music styles, but modern musical genres like jazz, rock and pop too.

"It’s then possible to even motivate the young generation today,” the passionate piano player says.

The preparations are now well under way for the next major escapade, which will run at the King Albert Theatre in Bad Elster in the autumn of 2016 under the title “America”. The casting work has already taken place and the texts and music are complete too; they have both been written by a former pupil Sebastian Wildgrube, who has now made a name for himself as a musician. More than 100 pupils from classes 10-12 will be involved, plus former pupils like Philipp Rubner, Richard Straube, Otto A. Thoss and Christine Schramm. Another name not to be ignored is Dr. Enrico Weller, a music teacher, a musicologist and the leader of the brass band in Markneukirchen.  He will act as director of music alongside Michael Straube. The latter says, “We’ve managed to put together an outstanding team once again.”

The different departments will start rehearsals during the next few months; additional project days will enable the musical to take shape more and more. This is no longer a “normal” pupils’ project – it has become an important cultural contribution for the region – as proven by the Vogtland Prize of Honour awarded in 2012. 

Head teacher Norbert Hildebrand explains, “People can see what young people are able to achieve if they’re highly motivated.”

He often reads in school leaver magazines that the musical was the best experience at school and left behind a lasting impression.

Hildebrand continues, “Everybody works hard and with a remarkable will to achieve perfection. The pupils also learn how to tackle their own cultural projects.”

Michael Straube recalls a special musical atmosphere in June 2003. “We presented our Notre Dame show in the Nicolai Church in Markneukirchen. We set up a medieval market on the market square as a taster with dancing and suitable clothing. Inside there was a wooden stage and Quasimodo was standing on some scaffolding. It was absolutely unique.”

Vita Michael Straube

• Born in Dresden in 1967
• Teaching training for music and German in Zwickau
• One of the original teachers when the Markneukirchen grammar school was set up in 1992
• Head of the musical profile, deputy head teacher
• Married with two sons