The new production of The Black Rider which opened at Berlin's Rennaissance Theater on March 18, was greeted with standing ovations and unanimously positive press reports.

The Black Rider is a musical/theatrical collaboration between Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs and Robert Wilson. Its story is drawn primarily from the German folk tale Der Freischuetz. Carl Maria von Weber's version of this story is one of the most well-known operas of the 19th century.

The Waits/Burroughs/Wilson version, which employs an idiosyncratic mixture of English and German, has rapidly become one of the most highly-regarded musicals in Germany. It was first produced the Thalia-Theater in Hamburg in 1990. In the following eight years it has been produced by over two dozen German theatres, invariably with great success.

The new production in Berlin stars Ilja Richter as Mr. Teufel. Richter is an actor who gained prominence in the '70s as a child television star in the series "Disco". Most recently he portrayed Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum at Theater des Westens.

The Black Rider plays daily until April 19. Performances are at 8 PM, except for April 5, 13 and 19 at 6 PM. Tickets can be ordered at (++49) 30 / 312 42 02. The Rennaisance Theater is located at the corner of Knesebeckstrasse and Hardenbergstrasse near the Bahnhof Zoo train station. --By Scott Lawton
Germany Correspondent