On March 16th "Jekyll & Hyde" will open in Cologne. Would it have been interesting for you to do this role again?

Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde is a very demanding role which I did in Bremen more then 340 times. During that time I captured what I could of of that role. So, as an artist, it becomes now more interesting for me to dedicate my work to new projects.

Finix is surely an interesting project. You will take part in the creation of the show in Vienna. What exactly is it?

Finix is a new Musical. A world premiere. It's based on the bestseller book "The Wave" and tells a very terrifying true story. A teacher in the USA tried a experiment with his class to prove how easy it is to manipulate the mind of a human being. The authors transported the story to the present, since today people are still manipulated.

What exactly is Finix about?

The story is very similar to the story of "The Wave". Yet it doesn't deal with the crimes during the Nazi Regime, but about ignorance and intolerance towards Islam. The students ask themselves, "How was it possible that human beings were convinced to crash with airplanes into skyscrapers to kill thousands of people?" To address this question, the teacher, Kurt Korn, who will be portrayed by myself, starts an experiment that is quite similar to "The wave". He invents a cool, American name which gives his project a positive touch: FINIX. This name is based on the Islamic legend of the phoenix, who burns at the end of his life to be reborn out of his own ashes. Like in "The Wave" this experiment is successful but starts to get out of control. Kurt Korn realizes that he starts to like the feeling of power given by manipulating others. The message of this play is simply that even in a group, you never should give up your individuality and the ability to think about things and happenings.

Finix will be seen at Vienna's Raimund Theater, but it's not a typical Musical production of a theatre. Who is the producer?

Finix is produced in association with the Performing Arts Center Austria. In this school musical students are educated.

With a demanding show like this it might not always easy to appeal to the audience. Do you think it will be different this time?

Yes, absolutely. It a very challenging topic. I think when a demanding story is told in an entertaining way and with tension, it will touch and fascinate young audiences. And that is what it is like with Finix.

What specifically fascinates you with the role of Kurt Korn?

This role is a big challenge for me since it's finally a role that suits my age. Also it's a linguistic challenge for me since I want to play a professor of German history as convincingly as possible of course. But I was especially keen on the fact that I can be a part of the creative process of this play. It was my dream for quite a long time to do a real new musical and to create a new role. So, now I got this possibility.

Have you ever been personally confronted by violence and intolerance?

Fortunately I have not been more confronted with violence and intolerance besides what we all see and hear in our society in general. Intolerance and violence against myself I haven't encountered.

Do you think that more musicals with political topics should find their way to the stage?

If a political topic is well worked out, it can become an exciting piece of theatre, with or without music. Of course it is difficult. I think the audiences have plenty of pure entertainment, so you can present a serious play with young people. Yet, you should not take out all the entertainment.