Oktoberfest musical turns Munich festival into American satire

An Oktoberfest musical in Munich pokes fun at the festival’s excesses while celebrating its history and “coziness,” BR reports. “Oktoberfest a Musical. An almost true story. Beinah wahr…” is being staged at the Komödie im Bayerischen Hof through October 4, 2026.

The production tells the “almost true” story of the festival, which began in 1810, through an American-style comedy. Philip LaZebnik, a Michigan-born writer known for animated film screenplays including “Pocahontas,” wrote the musical. It was first performed in Los Angeles several years ago and later staged at Berlin’s Renaissance Theatre.

Whether the production is satire or comedy remains deliberately unclear. Ursli Pfister, one of its leading performers, said that many people in Munich either eagerly anticipate Oktoberfest or dread its traffic, noise, dirt and alcohol-related assaults.

“Seen from the outside, all this getting completely drunk is primarily extremely unpleasant,” Pfister said. He does not necessarily need to visit the festival, as he is performing at the theatre during the same period.

Munich-born composer Harold Faltermeyer, known for “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Top Gun,” also criticised the festival’s excesses. He said he had no interest in what he called a “Wildleder-Fasching,” or “suede carnival,” and welcomed the new mayor’s decision to end champagne showers.

Faltermeyer said it was decadent to open champagne bottles costing 7,500 euros and hand out umbrellas while people were hungry or struggling financially. He acknowledged that a trashy musical about Oktoberfest and its history might work in Los Angeles or Berlin, but questioned whether Munich audiences would respond in the same way.

He said the show’s subtitle, “almost true story,” makes clear from the outset that it is a comedy and that the production is not intended to be fully authentic. Munich, he added, should be open to that kind of interpretation.

The musical presents the history of Oktoberfest alongside the story of a theatre company trying to tell it. Pfister said this second layer makes the production accessible and allows the audience to laugh at it.

Beer bottles are handed out to the audience, and the drink is celebrated in a dedicated song. Yet the production offers little of the warmth associated with German “Gemütlichkeit,” or coziness. Its tone is likely to appeal more to Oktoberfest sceptics than to festival fans.

Faltermeyer said the musical was designed to be international and moves through several musical styles, beginning with a classic revue number before turning to the Bavarian setting and its beer song. He said the production could not rely solely on rock and roll or the music for which he is best known.

The show runs at the Komödie im Bayerischen Hof in Munich until October 4, 2026.