Lucerne's local mountain adorns itself with Bernese rock musical

When you hear Polo Hofer's biggest Swiss hit "Alperose," the first thing that comes to mind is the Bernese Oberland. But for the upcoming rock musical with the same title and Polo's most beautiful songs, Pilatus has won the pitch as "scenery sponsor".

Editorial - August 26, 2011

The musical scene is booming in Switzerland and singing its way from one peak to the next. The highest peak of the development so far is now to be reached in the coming winter. On February 17, 2012 "Alpine Rose" will celebrate its premiere at the BernExpo Musical Theater. "The musical with the songs of Polo Hofer", is the subtitle. What seems a bit confusing for friends of Bernese rock at first reading - Polo and musical - sounds quite promising on second hearing.

A group of around 60 media representatives were able to see this for themselves on Thursday. They were transported to Mount Pilatus by Heier Lämmler's PR consultancy ProMotion in beautiful summer weather. Did they get a bit lost in the geography under the influence of the 30 degrees in the shade? No. Pilatus, and with it its Pilatus Bahnen, are now part of the musical's close-knit group of sponsors. "Pilatus is becoming the home mountain of Alperose," André Zimmermann, director of Pilatus Bahnen, was pleased to say - because: "Where in Switzerland is there a more beautiful Alpine panorama to admire?"

In fact, the duration of a journey from Bern to the top of Mount Pilatus is no longer than from Bern to Grindelwald - and with particularly good eyes, you can "almost see" the Musical Theater in Bern from the top of the Donkey, the busy marketing specialists from the Lucerne mountain explained their commitment. They snatched this away from the Bernese Alps in a kind of "pitch". As a first promotional action, Polo Hofer christened a railcar of the world's steepest rack railroad "Alperose" on Thursday.

Another apparent "foreign body" among the sponsors of the "Alperose" project is Turkey Tourism. Here, too, no one on the team has inhaled one joint too many. The libretto for the musical is about characters who oscillate back and forth between "wanderlust and homesickness," as author Walter Hitz explains. From Bern's point of view, Istanbul is ideal as a symbolic city for such wanderlust.

Turkey as a sponsor will be present in the musical theater with a large Turkish restaurant. This will stand next to a "Caribbean bar" and its veritable jungle. Likewise, there is an artificial alpine landscape with lake and "alpine hut", where the appropriate gastronomic offers will be served by the main sponsor Migros.

The Viennese stage designer Conny Kraus, who has experience with many large-scale productions, has designed an "all-round" stage and scenery concept, which is intended to guarantee the audience "an evening-filling all-round experience" two hours before the start of the show, as producer Daniel Greber presented the first drafts at the media conference on Mount Pilatus.

And the sound? The original backing band of Polo Hofer could be engaged as live musicians on stage. But since the songs are not interpreted by Polo himself, but also by female voices such as Eveline Suter as Lorraine or Rahel Fischer as "flotti Lotti" as part of the stage plot, musical director Steff Mens had to transpose most of the songs into a different vocal range. "Doesn't sound bad," said musical absentee Polo Hofer, when he saw and heard the two blond rocker brides on the Pilatus. And there is still almost half a year open for further rehearsals and developments.

Andreas Panzeri