Heinz Marecek: RAISE THE CURTAIN - Selected and Experienced

For his legendary stage program "This is a Theater!" with the most amusing theater anecdotes from five decades in the spotlight, Heinz Marecek has always received thunderous applause. After over 4,000 performances, dozens of productions, and films, as well as hundreds of television productions, there are still numerous stories left untold. Therefore, we can now look forward to the long-awaited continuation of Heinz Marecek's successful program. His self-experienced, stage-ready narratives juxtapose cheerful witticisms from famous playwrights. With an infallible sense of witty humor and precise punchlines, audience favorite Heinz Marecek once again tells of the eccentricity of the theater world, of small mishaps, and great catastrophes - on stage, behind the scenes, in the prompter's box, in the boardrooms, and in the dressing rooms in "Raise the Curtain!", his brand-new program. Raise the curtain for the selected and experienced tales of a stage legend.

Biography of Heinz Marecek

Prof. Heinz Marecek, born on September 17, 1945 in Vienna, graduate of the Reinhardt Seminar, actor and director, engagements at Volksoper, Theater der Jugend, Landestheater Graz, until 1998 in the ensemble of the Theater in der Josefstadt.

Many film and TV roles, including in "Der Bockerer", "Schwejk", "Die liebe Familie". Currently, his fans can see him in the TV series "SOKO Kitzbühel" and "Die Bergretter".

The artist is also involved in new translations of English and American plays and frequently directs (most recently "Guys and Dolls" at the Wiener Volksoper).

Heinz Marecek is also highly successful as an author. In recent years, bestsellers such as "The Celebration of Laughter", "This is a Theater!", "I Can't Stop Laughing", "Life Without a Recipe", "Laughing Lyric", and most recently in September 2020 together with Michael Horowitz "Fireworks of Punchlines" have been published.

An entertaining evening is guaranteed!

Especially for the "5er Session" open-air concert at Schloss Ulmerfeld, the music cabaret will be expanded from a trio to a band formation!

The story of Dorli and Joe - a love drama in 2 acts. Not just a concert, not just cabaret. Birgit Denk and her colleagues present their first music cabaret.

Dorli, the best friend of Birgit falls in love with Joe. That's what people were called or called themselves in the eighties. Through the 'story' of the two, we remember nightclub visits, briefcases, home bars, wedding songs, caring mothers-in-law, to couples therapy, sex toys, tearful nights, and successful separations. An exemplary love story told with songs and stories by Alexander Horstmann, Ludwig Ebner-Reiter, and Birgit Denk, which doesn't end like in a Hollywood movie.

Nevertheless, this must be love.

Advance ticket is valid on 26.7.2025 as a ticket in ÖBB regional trains between Linz or Schärding to Bad Schallerbach + return/special train. Children up to 10 years old are free and thus do not need a ticket.




Open Air - Standing places

Alfred Dorfer writes himself into the cabaret one-man show "GLEICH" with joy, sharing his world and, as usual, distributing insights at eye level in all directions. With charming sovereignty and a lot of self-irony, the Viennese satirist Alfred Dorfer, as a keen observer of our everyday life, pokes fun at societal currents as a rhetorical brother Lightfoot. Enjoyably and skillfully, he plays with his audience. Nothing and no one is safe from his unexpected trains of thought.

"Where were we? With the sunflowers. In my first mime class, we had to play sunflowers. I was a good sunflower." With charming sovereignty and a lot of self-irony, the Viennese satirist Alfred Dorfer, in his 8th solo program, as a keen observer of our everyday life, pokes fun at societal currents as a rhetorical brother Lightfoot. Enjoyably and skillfully, he plays with his audience. Nothing and no one is safe from his unexpected trains of thought.

Bachschmieden Hoagascht with Franz Posch & his Innbrüggler

The "Innbrüggler" are a 6-man dance band from Hall in Tyrol led by Franz Posch. The repertoire includes folk tunes, brass band marches, Bohemian-Moravian music, Inntaler pieces, and "Selberg'strickte".

Although the group recorded a CD in 1991 under the same name and with almost the same musicians, they have only been performing publicly since 2003. The group can be found playing at dance events, church festivals, weddings, etc. throughout the Alpine region, but they also have engagements in Italy, Holland, Dubai, as well as appearances on ORF television (Mei liabste Weis, Frühschoppen).

One of the aims of the "Innbrüggler" is to play dance music as fresh and lively as possible, leaving ample room for improvisation. With the exception of the two leading melody instruments, all other instruments play relatively freely and spontaneously. There is hardly a piece that is played the same way twice.

In the Mühlviertel they say it takes three things to become an adult man: one must conceive a child, build a house, and plant a tree. Benedikt Mitmannsgruber is not a man like any other. He is thin, weak, has a mustache, wears an old Norwegian sweater, and is a classic anti-hero, a sensitive loser type. Instead of building a house and becoming a father, he sits in a sparsely furnished back room in a bleak city with a cup of St. John's Wort tea and writes funny stories.
At some point, his family realizes that he doesn't age. While his friends grow older, take on responsibilities, buy cars, conceive children, and work, Mitmannsgruber is stuck in time. He wants to remain in his mid-20s forever. He keeps postponing adulthood until it becomes unattainable and out of reach. And then he packs his things. Without a goal in sight, he travels through the stages of Austria and Germany. He appears on television, wins awards, and receives anonymously sent underwear.
Can art save the disoriented ne'er-do-well? Can the disoriented ne'er-do-well possibly save art? "The strange case of Benedikt Mitmannsgruber" is the grand fate of a young anti-hero and the people he encounters in his life: he finds love, meets conspiracy theorists, gets disappointed, has to isolate and learns what is of timeless significance: his dog, his girlfriend, and avocado spread.
"Those who could escape from the revolving door of life in the Mühlviertel to study the small border trade with blueberries to the Czech Republic, in order to then stoically sink Jörg Haider as an albino python in the toilet - those who constantly sharpen their own supposed naivete with malice deserve the executioner's axe." (Jury statement Passauer Scharfrichterbeil 2022)

We are in the year 2024, the Gesangskapelle Hermann releases their 5th studio album SEHR SOGAR and presents it starting in autumn as part of a large tour across Austria.

How many stories, moments of happiness, larger and smaller catastrophes are hidden behind this sober announcement can probably best be guessed when you watch the gentlemen as they climb the stage, sing their hearts out, share their feelings, and let their emotions run free. SEHR SOGAR is joy of life, means being in the moment and celebrating the beautiful, should encourage and help to at least momentarily forget everyday worries. SEHR SOGAR also means having to witness the Hermänner grow older and experience the struggles of privileged thirty-somethings.
Above all, SEHR SOGAR is music that comes across as colorful, cheeky, loving, and cool just like the Gesangskapelle Hermann itself, sometimes hip hop, sometimes pop music, or even classic hits, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, very diverse, yet still appears to be cohesive. In short: They have given it their all and are happy if it’s enough. SEHR SOGAR.

The Schick Sisters (formerly known as Dornrosen) and the Opus Band met at the legendary Opus concerts at the Graz Opera and decided to continue their musical collaboration. After a successful start with their debut single "Good Or Bad" (presented on the show VERA), they will release their next hit single "So Simple" in March 2023.

In October 2023, the talented sisters will perform together with the successful Opus Band for the first time on Austria's stages, presenting not only some adapted Opus hits and Schick Sisters songs but also their new titles. Their first joint album will be released in early September 2023.


Growing up with the "second language of music," The Schick Sisters master every instrument with enchanting ease and captivate their audience with versatile voices. In combination with the Opus Band, known for their unrestrained passion and joy of playing, the concert promises to be an unforgettable experience. Don't miss the chance to experience this diverse sound cosmos live!