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About the Show |
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With a combination of sheer ingenuity and unfailing determination, Wallenberg managed to create for the Jews fake identification papers which fooled the Nazis, set up “safe houses” around the city where Jews could live securely on “Swedish territory,” negotiate with the Nazis to release people from the cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, and convince the Nazi general in charge to call off the ultimate bombing of the Budapest Ghetto. Between face-offs with the notorious Nazi colonel, Adolf Eichmann, and secret dealings with the wife of one of Hungary’s most prominent fascist leaders, Wallenberg was able to accomplish more in a few short months than most people do in a lifetime. When the war ended, he was mysteriously abducted by the Russians, never to be seen again. The score of Wallenberg is lush and exciting, and though the show depicts one of the darkest periods in modern history, its music and lyrics convey the same sense of hope and optimism that Wallenberg himself inspired. Wallenberg’s heroic efforts proved that one ordinary man can make an extraordinary difference. In light of the disheartening situation in our world today, this message which lies at the heart of the musical resonates deeply for all of us. Wallenberg had its premiere public presentation in March 2004 in a staged reading at Symphony Space in Manhattan. The reading was presented by the New Voices Collective as the first in a new series of First-Draft Musicals. In January 2005, another reading was presented at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Mr. Wallenberg’s mysterious disappearance. In September 2006, the musical played to full houses at New World Stages as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Wallenberg has the support of the Consul General of Sweden, Ambassador Ulf Hjertonsson, as well as the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
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Wallenberg, an epic new musical with book and lyrics by the 2006 Kleban Award-winning team of Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman, and music by Benjamin Rosenbluth, tells the fascinating and uplifting story of Raoul Wallenberg, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century. In July 1944, the 32-year-old Wallenberg, an ordinary businessman from Stockholm who was disgusted with the war, left the safety of neutral Sweden and went to Nazi-occupied Hungary. In a six-month stay there, he managed to save over 100,000 lives—more than were rescued by any other individual, organization or government during the entire Holocaust. 
