WIR SIND AM LEBEN
A new German musical by Plate & Sommer
Following the successful musicals “Ku'damm 56”, “Ku'damm 59”, “Romeo & Juliet – Love Is All” 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 musical that they have developed entirely themselves – a story about family, freedom and the spirit of life in Berlin in the early 1990s.
Berlin, 1990. The year that turns not only a city, but also the lives of siblings Nina and Mario and their mother Rosie completely upside down. The Wall has fallen, order has disappeared – and chaos begins.
Nina and Mario flee Wittenberg for the capital – in search of themselves, of music, of a different life. In a squatted old building, the “Konsum Hoffnung,” they find a connection to a lovable community that runs an improvised helpline. Mario falls in love with the Cuban dancer Nando, while Nina dreams of a career as a pop singer – in a city that prefers techno.
And then, all of a sudden, there's Rosie – played by Steffi Irmen, the star of the musicals “Ku'damm 59,” “Romeo & Juliet – Love Is All” and, last but not least, her own musical hit “DIE AMME.”
A mother that no one was expecting. Overbearing, uninvited, too late – and yet determined to win her children back in a life that has long since moved on without her. Her journey takes her right into the heart of vibrant, demanding, untamed Berlin.
The time is marked by euphoria – and by fear. Of new beginnings – and of the all-encompassing reality of AIDS.
But “WE ARE ALIVE” is not a pure 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, sweetly crazy. We wanted to show it all: the sadness and the dancing. The anger and the warmth. The noise and the quiet.”
Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer already had the idea for “WIR SIND AM LEBEN” back in 2009 and were working on an initial layout for the musical at that time. This resulted in the last Rosenstolz album with the same title in 2011. The idea of a musical has not left either of them since then.
In the summer of 2024, they took up the idea again and worked on an initial outline. The book by Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer was created in collaboration with Franziska Kuropka and Lukas Nimscheck, who are also directing the show. The music is by Peter Plate, Ulf Leo Sommer and Joshua Lange.
Featuring a top-class cast and excellent live musicians with 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
