Heidi
Parts 1 and 2
Book and Lyrics by Shaun McKenna
Based on the novels by Johanna Spyri
Music by Stephen Keeling
Creative Consultant John Havu
Based on an idea by Stefan Mens
Directed by Stefan Huber
Produced by TSW
In 2003, John Havu and Walter Hitz approached Shaun with Stefan Mens’s idea of entwining the famous children’s novel Heidi with the story of its creator, Johanna Spyri. Shaun and Stephen Keeling produced a show which opened for a summer season at an open air arena by the lakeside in Walenstadt, Switzerland in 2005.
In Zurich, Johanna Spyri's son Bernhard lies ill. He asks her to tell him a story. She remembers seeing a little girl in an Alpine village - and so the story of Heidi begins.
Living with her grumpy grandfather in the Alps, high-spirited Heidi is whisked off to Frankfurt by her aunt, to be a companion to a disabled rich girl, Klara . In a household ruled by fierce Fraulein Rottenmeier, Heidi is homesick.
Johanna's story parallels the events in her own life. As Bernhard and his fiancee leave Zurich, Heidi leaves her grandfather. When Bernhard falls ill again and dies, Heidi's story descends into nightmare.
Heidi needs Johanna's help to find her happy ending.
The success of Heidi prompted a revival in 2006 and the commission of a sequel, Heidi, Teil 2, which played in 2007 and 2008. Heidi, Neil 2 was nominated for the Prix Wall 2008.
When her husband dies suddenly , Johanna visits Montreux for the summer and renews her friendship with the poet Conrad Meyer. A romance develops between them, threatened by his jealous sister .
These themes are echoed in Johanna's new Heidi book. Heidi invites Klara to the Alps but Peter's jealousy spoils everything. Soon tragedy is about to strike, threatening the lives of both Klara and Heidi's grandfather.
Once again, it takes the joint efforts of Johanna and Heidi to achieve a happy ending.
