Heidi the musical - Walensee stage

Itinerary

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Walensee-Bühne will surprise you with a very special highlight. Experience the premiere of the new HEIDI-MUSICAL in dialect and written language from 12 June to 27 July 2024 on the most beautiful lake stage in Switzerland in Walenstadt.

The upcoming HEIDI-MUSICAL tells and stages the original story in a new and touching musical version. The libretto and music will be newly written and composed. It is still based on the books written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri in 1880 (Heidi's Years of Learning and Travelling) and 1881 (Heidi Can Use What She Has Learned).

Heidi is probably Switzerland's most famous ambassador and has been conquering the world with her joy of life, her convincing values and her love of nature for almost 150 years. A moving story in which destinies, friendship and feelings of home come to life. A little girl with a big heart. It is about the search for her true home, dealing with the unfamiliar and finding her way back to her roots. Home is where the heart is at home. 

Emotional music, whirling dance scenes, magnificent costumes and a dreamlike natural backdrop between Lake Walen and the Churfirsten couldn't be more fitting for the story: The new HEIDI-MUSICAL is an unforgettable experience for families, theatre and musical lovers. Laugh and cry - let yourself be enchanted by the first-class live orchestra and ensemble! 

Brief information

• Start of show: 19:45h
• Duration: 160 minutes incl. interval
• Return journey: 20 minutes after the performance
• Weather regulations: The tribune of the Walensee stage is covered, but depending on the weather we recommend warm and weatherproof clothing.
• What is the name of the new play on the Walensee stage? Heidi the Musical
• Catering:  Catering stands with food and drinks are available
• Language: In dialect and written language
• Clothing: Dress warmly and weatherproof. We recommend that you bring seat cushions. On cool evenings a woollen blanket can be cosy, for the afternoon performance we recommend sun protection.
• Children: Children need their own ticket to see the musical. Children up to the age of 16 receive a discount on the bus journey and the ticket. The amount of the discount is available on request by calling 062 296 12 61 or via info@born-reisen.ch.

The story of Heidi

The 5-year-old orphan Heidi is taken to her grandfather's mountain pasture by her aunt Dete, who has been looking after her deceased sister's child until now. Dete has a job lined up in Frankfurt and wants to get rid of Heidi. The oddball Alpöhi is not very enthusiastic at first, but takes loving care of Heidi right from the start. The two quickly get used to each other and Alpöhi takes great pleasure in the bright little girl. Heidi is really happy for the first time in her life. She loves her grandfather and life on the alp and regularly hikes to the high pastures with Geissenpeter and his herd of goats. Heidi also often visits Peter's blind grandmother and brings a lot of light and joy into her life. After two years, the village priest comes to visit to admonish the Alpöhi to send Heidi to school. He refuses, however, because he would have to move to the village during the winter months. Nevertheless, the idyll on the alp comes to an abrupt end when Dete reappears and takes Heidi to Frankfurt against Alpöhi's will, where she is to keep the paralysed Klara Sesemann company. 

A completely different world awaits Heidi in Frankfurt. Instead of mountains and meadows, there are only tall houses and wide streets. Klara and Heidi quickly become friends, but the strict Miss Rottenmeier is appalled by Heidi's ignorance. However, Klara's wise grandmother immediately takes Heidi to her heart and teaches him to read and pray. After a year in Frankfurt, Heidi becomes homesick because he longs for his grandfather and the mountains. She haunts the house at night and is brought back to the alp on the advice of the understanding Doctor Classen. Heidi's surprising return reconciles the Alpöhi with God and the world. He goes to church for the first time in years and is warmly welcomed by the villagers. He promises the priest that he will spend the winter in the village from now on so that Heidi can attend school there.

Klara wants to visit Heidi that same autumn, but Doctor Classen advises against it, as Klara's health has deteriorated since Heidi's return. In the autumn, only Doctor Classen travels to the alp instead of the Sesemann family. His only daughter has recently died and he no longer has any zest for life. Heidi manages to comfort him and cheer him up. He also spends a lot of time with the Alpöhi and after a few weeks he returns to Frankfurt feeling stronger. The following summer, Klara is allowed to visit Heidi after a spa holiday in Bad Ragaz and stay on the alp for a while. Geissenpeter is jealous and one day, when Heidi wants to take Klara to the pasture with the help of her grandfather, he angrily pushes her wheelchair down the mountain in an unobserved moment. But the Alpöhi is unperturbed and carries Klara up to the pasture, where she learns to walk with the help of Heidi and Peter, having already practised her first steps with the Alpöhi. What a surprise when, after a few weeks, Klara's grandmother and father Sesemann come to the alp and Klara walks towards them on her own two feet!

In return, Mr Sesemann promises to look after Heidi when the Alpöhi is no longer around. Dr Classen later makes the same promise. The following autumn, he leaves Frankfurt for good and moves into a manor house in the village of Maienfeld, where he lives together with the Alpöhi and Heidi under one roof. 

*** Everything will be fine ***