Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin: TV helps live culture – culture
Mr. Schmidt, did you shout out loud hurray when ZDF asked whether it could shoot in your house for the television series “Der Palast”?
The preparatory talks began as early as 2019, and I did indeed immediately signal that. We were willing to do everything humanly possible to make the filming possible.
What then turned out to be more difficult than expected …
Yes, the project was made public at the Berlinale 2020. As you know, the first lockdown came a few days after the end of the film festival. The shooting finally took place with us from November 2020 to May 2021, also during the second lockdown. The fact that we didn’t have a running game due to the pandemic helped the film team because we were able to provide them with our ballet much more generously than if we had shown eight shows a week. But we went through an incredibly complex renovation of the ventilation system in our house, so that the auditorium and stage are only available for filming at night. Only when the construction workers had left could it start. It was a real challenge for the biorhythm of everyone involved.
Surely the strictest hygiene measures also applied?
We had three strictly separated areas. There were both the construction workers and our people in the backstage area, and we had made the foyer available to the film crew. Still, it was a blessing for us that the series was shot in the months when we couldn’t be there for the public. Corona also had a positive aspect for us. There aren’t many who can say that.
Now the episodes have been broadcast on ZDF with enormous success. Did that also have an effect on you at the advance booking office?
Under normal conditions we would have sold out two years in advance, as was usual in GDR times. We are noticing a very significant increase in the number of bookings, but we are starting from a low base. We notice the reluctance of the public, had poor December sales and January is looking mixed. Otherwise, these are our months with the highest turnover. Many who die because of the ZDF series book, do it for spring and early summer.
A visit to the theater where a man has to wear the FFP2 mask all the time is no pure pleasure.
I have the impression that people are particularly hesitant when it comes to entertainment, in other words in the venues where you usually had a lot of fun. You can also hear from the Bar every reason and the tipi that sometimes only a third of the seats are occupied.
Psychologically that would be understandable. If you want to forget everyday life in the theater, the mask permanently reminds you of the oppressive situation from which you wanted to escape for an evening. In addition, we have a high proportion of tourists. We only sell around half of our tickets to guests from Berlin and the surrounding area. But there are hardly any tourists in the city at the moment.
At the Friedrichstadt-Palast there is also the fact that people say to each other: Every show runs for two years, so I’m just waiting for better times with my visit.
Yes, that’s right. Under these circumstances, the 60 percent utilization in January is quite good. That is an average of 1150 guests per performance.
On ZDF, an average of 6.23 million viewers saw the episodes die. To get this crowd, when & you are playing 3278 sold-out performances.
Yes, these are impressive numbers. In our prime, we had half a million guests a year. At the same time, of course, our shows are and will remain something unique and incomparable that you have to experience live. Our website was accessed almost a million times in the context of the broadcast of “The Palace” on television. In a week! We would otherwise have that many page views in six months. And the interest is probably even greater, because the ZDF has a rather older audience that may not be entirely internet-savvy.
Does the canteen in Friedrichstadt-Palast really look as cool as it does in the film?
No, this is a studio setting. Our canteen could not be used because the construction workers and our employees were there. And the director’s office also looks different than it does on television, already generous, but more modest in size and without dark wood paneling.
Do you actually also play in “The Palace”, do you ever walk through the picture in the background, in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock?
No, I wasn’t offered that.