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= Musical Dome =

The Musical Dome (2012 to 2015: Oper am Dom) was originally built as a temporary performance venue for musicals in Cologne's inner city (Innenstadt).

Numbers and Facts
The Musical Dome is located between Breslauer Platz and the banks of the river Rhine near the Cologne's main train station. The characteristics of the musical dome is the blue dome-shaped roof that glows in the night. In addition to the music hall is also houses a glazed foyer with beverage bars, a restaurant as well as an administrative room and a cloakroom. The building is 53 m (173.9 feet) wide and 77 m (252.6 feet) long. Its height at the highest point reaches 27 m (88.6 feet). Thereby, this reaches a covered area of 4000 m2 (43055.6 Ft2 ). The construction consists of mainly steel and glass. The roof is made of polyester and spans the entire building beneath the visible 30-ton steel arches. (picture of the Musical Dome here). Due to its dome shape construction, the main entrance on the Rhine side is only be accessible through the balcony. Below that balcony, is a paid parking garage for 60 vehicles. The auditorium is divided into two levels, orchestra and balcony. Altogether, it offers seats for 1,769 spectators of which 540 seats are situated on the balcony. Six handicapped seats are located in the first row.

History
The Musical Dome opened in October 1996 after a construction period of six months. Until then the site had long been used as a bus station and parking lot. It was built as a temporary structure; at that time, from a city planning prospective, it was planned that the Breslauer Platz be rearranged permanently. Until the construction work began the Musical Dome was supposed to be a temporary venue for the musical Gaudi by Eric Woolfsen in a production by Elmar Ottenthal. The musical which was previously successful in Aachen and Alsdorf, was a financial flop in Cologne. In 1998 the operator of the Musical Dome had to declare bankruptcy.

The producers Thomas Krauth und Michael Brenner bought the Musical Dome from the bankruptcy asset and starting September 1999 produced the 1970's musical Saturday Night Fever with big success as a German premier and major long-run production (En-suite-Produktion).

This was followed by the theater-musical Jekyll & Hyde (2003/2004) and the musical by rock band Queen We Will Rock You (2004-2008), which, with a total runtime of 4 years, about 1400 performances and about 2 million visitors was the most successful musical in Cologne. 2009 followed Monty Python's Spamalot with a quite shorter runtime. December 2009 to September 2010, the musical Hairspray was performed. From November 2010 up to 30 December 2010 followed Vom Geist der Weihnacht. In the meantime, the Musical Dome was operated under the leadership of producer Maik Klokow and his conglomerate (Unternehmensgruppe ) Mehr! Entertainment.

From March 2012 until November 2015, the Musical Dome was used by the Cologne Opera as a temporary venue during its renovation, naming the Dome as "Oper am Dom" (Opera at the Cathedral). Since then, the Musical Dome is again used for musicals.

According to Cologne's city plan (as of 2018), the Musical Dome was intended to be operated until 2022 as a temporary venue. This will continue until the Staatenhaus am Rheinpark which is located near the fairground, is ready to operate as the new musical theater venue.

Performances
Only the musicals and shows performed more than 4 weeks at the Musical Dome are shown below: To date, the most successful musical production in Cologne is the musical by Queen “We Will Rock You” from 2008, with two million viewers.

The Musical Dome, not only offers a stage for musicals and long-term productions, but also serves as a venue for shows by international entertainers and musicians. So far the following have been seen on stage:
 * Helene Fischer
 * David Copperfield
 * Der große chinesische Nationalzirkus
 * Die Tap Dogs
 * The Rat Pack
 * BAP
 * Patricia Kaas
 * Vanessa-Mae
 * Helmut Lotti
 * Comedians wie Otto und Dieter Nuhr
 * Die Schöne und das Biest
 * Thriller – Live

(to be continued....)

Web-links
Commons: Musical Dome
 * Official Website

Einzelnachweise
Navigationsleiste Theater in Köln