WIR SIND AM LEBEN
A new German musical by Plate & Sommer
After the successful musicals “Ku'damm 56”, “Ku'damm 59”, “Romeo & Julia – Liebe ist alles”, and most recently “DIE AMME”, Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer are now venturing into their most personal project to date: “WIR SIND AM LEBEN” is their first fully self-developed musical – a story about family, freedom, and the attitude to life in Berlin in the early 1990s.
Berlin, 1990. The year that not only turns a city upside down, but also completely changes the lives of siblings Nina and Mario and their mother Rosie. The Wall has fallen, order has disappeared – and chaos begins.
Nina and Mario flee from Wittenberg to the capital – in search of themselves, of music, of a different life. In an occupied old building, the “Konsum Hoffnung,” they connect with a lovable community that runs an improvised helpline. Mario falls in love with the Cuban dancer Nando, and Nina dreams of a career as a pop singer – in a city that prefers to listen to techno.
And then suddenly there is Rosie – played by Steffi Irmen, the star of the musicals “Ku'damm 59”, “Romeo & Julia – Liebe ist alles” and, last but not least, her own musical hit “DIE AMME”.
A mother that no one expected. Intrusive, uninvited, too late – and yet determined to win back her children in a life that had long since gone on without her. Her journey takes her right into the heart of the shimmering, demanding, untamed Berlin.
The time is marked by euphoria – and by fear. By a new beginning – and by the all-encompassing reality of AIDS.
But “WIR SIND AM LEBEN” is not just a drama. On the contrary. “It's going to be very, very funny,” says Plate. “Because the 90s weren't just sad or political – they were also absurd, uninhibited, tenderly crazy. We wanted to show all of that: the sadness and the dancing. The anger and the warmth. The noise and the quiet.”
Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer had the idea for “WIR SIND AM LEBEN” as early as 2009 and were working on an initial musical layout at that time. This resulted in the last Rosenstolz album with the same title in 2011. The idea of a musical has not let go of either of them since.
In the summer of 2024, they revisited the topic and worked on an initial draft. The book by Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer was created in collaboration with Franziska Kuropka and Lukas Nimscheck, who are also directing. Music by Peter Plate, Ulf Leo Sommer, and Joshua Lange.
With a top-notch cast and excellent live musicians, elaborate choreography by the internationally acclaimed Jonathan Huor (“Eurovision Song Contest 2025”), and an impressive light show by Tim Deiling (Tony Award-nominated lighting designer).
Photo credits: Dominic Ernst, Joern Hartmann, and Michael Bidner
