Manitou's Shoe

A good musical comedy needs a storyline that taps into the zeitgeist, one that plays with the audience's own memories, dreams and emotions. This is exactly what the musical MANITOU'S SHOE does: it appeals to the emotions, makes you laugh, stimulates the imagination and offers top-quality entertainment.

The story begins with blood brothers Abahachi and Ranger, who are looking to buy a saloon. They strike lucky with real-estate agent Santa Maria and borrow the money from the chieftain's son False Hare. But the deal was a trap and Santa Maria runs off with the money though not before shooting False Hare and tying Abahachi and Ranger to the stake. Ranger is very unhappy about the whole situation: now they need to get some money to pay back the loan from False Hare's father. Abahachi remembers that his grandfather Grey Star once told him about some treasure and divided a treasure map into four equal parts.

So a frantic treasure hunt begins, the only problem being that the bandits have got wind of it as well.
They meet up with Abahachi's brother Winnetouch, the Greek Dimitri and the sexy barmaid Uschi (all owners of a piece of the treasure map), and after a series of adventures they end up at "Manitou's Shoe", a cave where the grand finale begins.

The musical brings out the hilarity of the story, the characters, the alienation, the music and the immediacy of the theatre experience in a way that is simply not possible on the big screen. More than 25 songs and orchestral items have been specially written for the musical - from exhilarating Broadway ensemble numbers to romantic ballads and epic Western soundtracks.

Projections, puppets, lighting and alienation effects create the perfect illusion as the stage comes to life and Western instruments, hair-raising music, stunt fights and lasso artists transport audiences to the Wild West. Many new aspects have emerged during the creative process but the musical retains all the linguistic humour and the situation comedy that made the film such a success.

MANITOU'S SHOE, an anarchic parody of the Western genre, was the most successful German cinema film of 2001. In Germany alone it was seen by almost 12 million people and won numerous awards for Michael Bully Herbig, the producer, director, lead actor and screenplay writer.

The idea of turning this witty film into a quirky musical comedy with all the magic of the theatre - music, choreography, live experience - has met with great approval.

Venue
Theater des Westens
Kantstrasse 12
10623 Berlin

Tickets and information:
Ticket Hotline:
+49 (0)1805 4444 (€0.14 per min. from German landlines, charges from mobile phones may vary)