Enter THE WYLD At Friedrichstadt-Palast In Berlin

World famous Friedrichstadt-Palast that caters for all

The location, which allows you to escape normality and enter THE WYLD, is within Friedrichstadt-Palast. At first glance the building may not appear that large to you; however, it does include the largest theatre stage in the world! The building is 80 meters wide (62 feet),110 meters long (361 feet) and encloses a space of 195,000 cubic meters (6,886,360 cubic feet). It also includes the world’s first Sky Lounge within a theatre, which gives 6 people the opportunity to experience THE WYLD from a phenomenal view, where they also have their own personalized bar.

There are 1,895 seats within the venue and whilst it would be amazing to sit in the Sky Lounge, the performers in THE WYLD can be seen clearly from all seats. This is because of the layout of the seating and also the fact that several of the performers jump out from the aisles and walk around and past the audience, so that viewers can get a real eye-full of the attention and detail to their costumes and majestic movements.

It should also be noted that there are wheelchair specific seats, disability dedicated seats and an induction loop for hearing-impaired visitors. If you have a disability, I would advise you to contact the members of staff at Friedrichstadt-Palast who will gladly help you to find the disability entrance to the venue as well as ensure that you are allocated the most comfortable seats for you and your family members.

In order to create THE WYLD, the General Director of Friedrichstadt-Palast, Berndt Schmidt put together the biggest production budget in the theatre’s 95-year history. The budget broke through the 10 million EUR (approximately 11 million USD) threshold for the first time, making THE WYLD the most expensive show production in the world, outside of Las Vegas. Unsurprisingly, it took 14 15-metre (49 feet) trucks to deliver the individual parts of the stage for THE WYLD and I am excited to share with you (further down in this review) exactly what has created this extraterrestrial environment.

Energy, modernity, timelessness and culture

With a script and stage directed by Manfred Thierry Mugler and Roland Welke and choreography by Brian Friedman and Itzik Galili, you are in for a treat that will allow you to experience so many emotions in a short period of time.

In the words of Manfred Thierry Mugler, “THE WYLD encapsulates the vibrations of Berlin: energy, modernity, timelessness and culture” and in my view, through all of this, you will be catapulted into another world, which will make you feel energized, give you hope and the belief that you can be as expressive as an individual as you wish on this planet.

At the beginning, you will see classically trained ballet dancers gracing the stage and performing beautifully. However, and with a few flashes, these astonishing, dynamic and triumphant ballet performers will be transformed into mesmerizing creatures in flamboyant outfits that will sparkle on the stage.

Star alien performers

Each performance is based on ballet and includes a mixture of other dance styles such as jazz, modern dance, tap dance, hip hop and contemporary dance. Let me give you a snapshot of a few of the scenes that will give you goosebumps, make your eyes twinkle and your hands clap to applaud each and every performer.

There are quirky creatures performing competitively in a tap dancing ensemble; a statue of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti coming to life in a museum and having a dance off; beautiful and shiny silver individuals holding onto crystal chandeliers from the ceiling of the theatre and hypnotizing you with their dance moves. There are moments where two performers, who look like they should be in a James Bond movie, arrive in provocative outfits to shock and dare you to keep your eyes open to see the gymnastics that they can perform whilst wearing ridiculously high heels and holding onto a black ring/hoop that is simply held by a rope and attached to the theatre ceiling.

There is one surprise after another and at the end of each scene, you will wonder if or how the next scene can be even better and will feel elevated when it is! It’s fast paced and full of enthusiasm. Each performer is smiling at all times and enjoying their experience in THE WYLD, which means that you will undoubtedly enjoy your invitation to be enter this special environment.

As you can see from the photograph, one of the most enchanting moments is when the tap dancing creatures, crystal holding individuals and female James Bond superstars enter a new phase in their evolution, which is into the futuristic planet where aliens come to life. Seeing the aliens will give you a real shock as they come out from the aisles where the audience sits as well as floating from the ceiling of the theatre where they are using their supernatural powers to hang and dance in the air. I had an alien jump out right from behind me and show me how an alien can really groove.

It was a splendid surprise that will stay with me for eternity because of how vibrant and visual the scene with the aliens showing us how life is like in THE WYLD was performed. Your imagination will run wild with ideas about how exciting the future can appear.

A representation of strength, skill, love and laughter

Amongst the aliens, there are “stone statues” that dance with such precision and power in their movement style. Coupled with these “stone statues” are acrobats that will keep you on the edge of your seat and will make you gasp with shock and disbelief because of the complete and utter strength and skill that these individuals hold. You will be immersed in every movement that they make; they are highly proficient and magical acrobats.

THE WYLD also includes romantic moments of a couple falling in love and meeting on another planet where doing ballet whilst riding a BMX is possible; as well as holding onto a trapeze and showing your love and commitment to one another by taking risks and doing adventurous movements.

You will be wowed from the moment all of these artists in these scenes show you what they can do and what they feel inside their souls. This will invoke warmth and affection and memories of times in your life where you have demonstrated both strength, resilience and the ability to let go and fall in love. You will be immersed in their emotions and there will be moments where you not only have been invited to THE WYLD but where your mind has actually fully gone there to have a majestic experience.

There are also episodes of humor that run throughout THE WYLD including some of the antics played by a crew man. However, I’m not going to give you that information now and would rather that you book a ticket and experience the comical side that is also expressed in The WYLD.

Dazzling and dancing on, "The Magic Stairs"

The 1 person flying system for the main stage, the 2 person flying system in the auditorium, the lifting podium and 1,000 spotlights that can change into 84 different colors is only the beginning of what the stage at Friedrichstadt-Palast has in place. For example, it also has a highly impressive cylindrical revolving stage that includes two 2.90-metre-tall lava lamps on the top deck of the rotating stage, each which is filled with around 2,000 liters of water.

Now you’re perhaps not going to believe what I’m about to tell you next, but I’m still going to share with you exactly what happens in these water-filled lava lamps: they are filled with dancing aliens. Yes, you read that correctly! Each water filled lamp includes a human being that has evolved into an alien and is dancing – upside down. Again, yes you did read that correctly! The skill and strength of the artists involved in THE WYLD will surprise you like no other artist that you have seen ever before in your life.

In addition to the remarkable aliens dancing in lava lamps is the highly impressive show stairway, which is known as, “The Magic Stairs” and includes 50 individually height adjustable steps and creates another layer to the choreography that is performed by the dancers. It’s striking and utilized extremely well and can be most clearly seen during the scene where the a troop of female performers show off their can-can routine.

The ground-breaking stage mechanisms and lighting illuminate the stage and auditorium brilliantly and make THE WYLD truly come to life for you and I.

Phenomenal music accompanying the performers

Accompanying the creatures that have transformed into aliens, living statues and high-flying acrobats is a 16-piece show-band that delivers on each note with beautiful sounds that will make your heart pang. THE WYLD exclusively features original music that has been composed for the show and is written by Daniel Behrens, Tarik Benouarka, Florent Bidoyen, Roger Loubet, Anja Krabbe, Frank Kretschmer, Tiefschwarz, Martin Wingerath and Martin de Vries.

The wind and string sections of the show-band play in soundproof booths to the left and right of the gigantic stage while the rhythm section sits in a “show-band pit,” which is behind the stage. With every scene including music, the show-band turns over 2,000 pages of music sheet every single night to give your ears a performance that equals the visual experience of the performers!

Costumes, make-up and staff on site

What makes THE WYLD stand out is the amount of dedication and truly hard-work completed by the performers, the staff behind the scenes and the management team. The performers meet at 10.00 am on the morning of every show to complete classical ballet training before creating a new planet for you to enjoy; the sheer scale of professionalism of these athletes will leave you breathless when you see them smiling for you and performing on stage.

Each costume that the performers wear has been designed by Manfred Thierry Mugler and requires a number of seamstresses, tailors and a master shoemaker to create. There are 4,000 costumes that have been created for The WYLD using 320 meters (1050 feet) of material.

The make-up artists involved in preparing the performers have a real task set out for them after every scene and it has been said that they have had to use at least 50 hair pins and clips for each dancer to make sure that their wigs don’t slip off! Now, I’m sure with that sort of information, you can tell that the outfits worn by the performers must be something quite striking and unique.

The highly professional ushers and bar staff are multi-lingual and constantly smiling and helpful. No question that you have will be left unanswered and they will take all efforts to ensure that you enjoy your experience at Friedrichstadt-Palast.