Michael Kunze explains:
“The meaning of the term ‘musical’ has become much too broad. We may talk about a musical revue, a Broadway comedy, an American operetta, a theatrical play with music, or even a series of musical numbers without any connective story.”
“My musicals won’t fit any of these categories – so I call them Drama Musicals. I prefer to avoid the label ‘musical’ altogether.”

Mozart!
“Drama Musicals compare to movies. The entire creative team has only one goal in mind – how to best tell the story. Nothing else will be considered if it won’t serve this purpose.”
“Even the most beautiful music, otherwise spectacular effects or breath-taking dance moves will be dismissed if they don’t contribute to the overall quality of the story.”
“Due to the lack of existing models, I’ve developed my very own story structure with key scenes and lead motives in a three-act setting. In that and other aspects, I acknowledge the strong influence of my New York teacher, Robert McKee, a master in the field of story theory.”

Rebecca
“Just as any other musical, the DramaMusical aims to entertain and enrich its audience. I trust the critique of the collective theater public. If they are bored – I’ve failed.”
“Ideally, after attending one of my shows, the fans take something away in their hearts. I’d like to inspire their thoughts and emotions with insights for their more mundane everyday lives. However, I am not the teacher – the story is.”

Elisabeth
This isn’t Pia.
Oops! Thank you for pointing out my mistake, Kristen. The video features Susan Rigvava-Dumas with the title song from “Rebecca”.
Thanks for the link and the reference. Dr. Kunze was a wonderful interview subject and there was so much material that I had to leave out of the article due to word count limits. Hopefully I’ll find a good venue to publish it in soon…
Can’t wait to see this musical. The original house, Menabilly, belonged to my ancestors in Cornwall.
Thank you for the comment, Julia. How interesting to see that you can relate in a very personal way to this story.