Carolin Fortenbacher
Encyclopedia
Carolin Fortenbacher is a German
Musical
actress and singer. She has had a leading role for five years in the musical Mamma Mia!
in Hamburg.
and musical training with Monika Radler in the Volker Ullmann Studio, and then the Stage School of Dance and Drama. Additionally her voice was trained by Liliana Aabye.
, jazz
, pop
and rock
, and also opera
. Audiences know her both for her musical roles and for classical parts. In the Hamburg performance of The Magic Flute
she played the Queen of the Night. Musical commitments followed such as Rosalina in West Side Story
, Lucy in the musical Charly Brown, Audrey in the Little Shop of Horrors
or Anne in La Cage aux Folles. She took part in the Rock Opera Jimmy Dean in the Theater Casa Nova in Essen. She took on the roles of Mabel and Kate in the musical the The Pirates of Penzance
.
In September 1994 she played Aldonza in Der Mann von La Mancha, and she received the Image Award Germany.
She won the Publikumspreis des Theater des Westens, Berlin.
There she had a commitment in Zustände wie im alten Rom.
In Oberhausen she played the role of the spider in the musical Tabaluga & Lilli. From November 2002 until September 2007 Fortenbacher played the leading role of Donna in the musical Mamma Mia! in the Operettenhaus Hamburg.
For this she was selected by the readers of the Bildzeitung as second place in the Top Women of Hamburg 2005, behind Hannelore Schmidt.
parody, 0014 Jane Blond. In September 2005 she released her first solo album, Zurück zu mir
.
Fortenbacher was in some television productions, such as Divorce Court on RTL
and as singer/dancer in Showmaster, and had numerous musical appearances. At the beginning of 2006 she toured with the musical act Best of Musical in Germany and Austria.
" (en: "Beyond the ocean") to the Grand Prix Vorentscheid 2008
, which chose the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
. She passed the first 4 rounds, beating Marquess
, Cinema Bizarre
and Tommy Reeve, however in the final selection she lost to No Angels
with "Disappear", taking second place with 49.5% of the votes.
The "Hinterm Ozean" single was released on 29 February 2008. The album, Drama
followed on 7 March 2008. Drama was produced by Frank Peterson
at his Nemo Studio, and mainly contained German language
covers of popular, songs such as "One Day I'll Fly Away
" ("Ich nehm' den weiten Weg"). "Hinterm Ozean
" charted at number 44 on the German Charts
, and Drama charted at number 50 in Germany.
In December 2008 she toured with Gregorian
(another Frank Peterson project) in Germany on their Christmas Chants
tour and took over the role of Amelia Brightman. Fortenbacher also performed vocals for "Last Christmas
" on Gregorian's Christmas Chants and Visions
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
actress and singer. She has had a leading role for five years in the musical Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
in Hamburg.
Training
First Fortenbacher began training as make-up and cosmetic artist, before her introduction to balletBallet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and musical training with Monika Radler in the Volker Ullmann Studio, and then the Stage School of Dance and Drama. Additionally her voice was trained by Liliana Aabye.
Musical theatre
Fortenbacher's different musical styles include soulSoul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and also opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. Audiences know her both for her musical roles and for classical parts. In the Hamburg performance of The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
she played the Queen of the Night. Musical commitments followed such as Rosalina in West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
, Lucy in the musical Charly Brown, Audrey in the Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
or Anne in La Cage aux Folles. She took part in the Rock Opera Jimmy Dean in the Theater Casa Nova in Essen. She took on the roles of Mabel and Kate in the musical the The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
.
In September 1994 she played Aldonza in Der Mann von La Mancha, and she received the Image Award Germany.
She won the Publikumspreis des Theater des Westens, Berlin.
There she had a commitment in Zustände wie im alten Rom.
In Oberhausen she played the role of the spider in the musical Tabaluga & Lilli. From November 2002 until September 2007 Fortenbacher played the leading role of Donna in the musical Mamma Mia! in the Operettenhaus Hamburg.
For this she was selected by the readers of the Bildzeitung as second place in the Top Women of Hamburg 2005, behind Hannelore Schmidt.
Television roles and Zurück zu mir
Apart from her stage roles, Fortenbacher also had two solo programs Charade and the James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
parody, 0014 Jane Blond. In September 2005 she released her first solo album, Zurück zu mir
Zurück zu Mir
Zurück zu Mir is the debut album released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2005.- Track listing :# "... wenn man fliegen kann"# "Komm zu mir"# "Kann es sein"# "Blinder Passagier"# "Zurück zu Dir"# "Glaubst Du's"# "So wie Du bist"...
.
Fortenbacher was in some television productions, such as Divorce Court on RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
and as singer/dancer in Showmaster, and had numerous musical appearances. At the beginning of 2006 she toured with the musical act Best of Musical in Germany and Austria.
Drama and Eurovision attempt
On 6 March 2008 she entered the song "Hinterm OzeanHinterm Ozean
"Hinterm Ozean" is a pop song released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2008. The song was featured on Fortenbacher's second solo album Drama....
" (en: "Beyond the ocean") to the Grand Prix Vorentscheid 2008
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
As a "Big 4" member , Germany qualifies directly for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 alongside last year's winner Serbia and the three other "Big 4" members France, Spain and the United Kingdom....
, which chose the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
. She passed the first 4 rounds, beating Marquess
Marquess (band)
Marquess is a German pop band established in 2006 in Hannover. The group predominantly sings songs in Spanish.-Albums:* Marquess * Frenetica * ¡YA! * Compañía del sol -Singles:-Trivia:...
, Cinema Bizarre
Cinema Bizarre
Cinema Bizarre is a band from Berlin. They released their debut album in 2007. Their manager is Lacrimosa singer and songwriter Tilo Wolff. In January 2010, the band announced that they were taking a break and have since said that they will not reform....
and Tommy Reeve, however in the final selection she lost to No Angels
No Angels
The No Angels are an all-female pop trio from Germany, consisting of band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls. Critically acclaimed, the band has won dozen of awards and prizes since their establishment in the early 2000s, including three ECHOs, a World Music Awards, a NRJ...
with "Disappear", taking second place with 49.5% of the votes.
The "Hinterm Ozean" single was released on 29 February 2008. The album, Drama
Drama (Carolin Fortenbacher album)
Drama is an album released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2008.- Background :It is her second album, after 2005's Zurück zu Mir, and features the song which she entered into the Grand Prix Vorentscheid 2008, as a possible German entry to Eurovision 2008, "Hinterm Ozean"...
followed on 7 March 2008. Drama was produced by Frank Peterson
Frank Peterson
Frank Peterson is a German music producer known for his work with Enigma and artists such as Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Gregorian, Princessa and Andrea Bocelli on his first international album Romanza in 1997....
at his Nemo Studio, and mainly contained German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
covers of popular, songs such as "One Day I'll Fly Away
One Day I'll Fly Away
"One Day I'll Fly Away" is a song with music by Joe Sample and words by Will Jennings, performed by Randy Crawford and released in 1980.Joe Sample created the chorus based on Impromptus, D...
" ("Ich nehm' den weiten Weg"). "Hinterm Ozean
Hinterm Ozean
"Hinterm Ozean" is a pop song released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2008. The song was featured on Fortenbacher's second solo album Drama....
" charted at number 44 on the German Charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
, and Drama charted at number 50 in Germany.
In December 2008 she toured with Gregorian
Gregorian (band)
Gregorian is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. The band features both vocal harmony and instrumental accompaniment.- Band history :...
(another Frank Peterson project) in Germany on their Christmas Chants
Christmas Chants
Christmas Chants is a seasonal album by German band Gregorian released in 2006. In 2008 a special edition titled Christmas Chants & Visions was released, containing the original CD with two bonus tracks, and a DVD...
tour and took over the role of Amelia Brightman. Fortenbacher also performed vocals for "Last Christmas
Last Christmas
"Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records in 1984, on a double A-side with "Everything She Wants". It was written by George Michael, one half of the duo...
" on Gregorian's Christmas Chants and Visions
Personal life
Carolin Fortenbacher was married for nine years to the dancer Piotr Poplawski, and the two have a daughter.Theatre roles (selection)
- 1993: The Legend of Jimmy Dean (Pier Angeli - Essen)
- 1994: Pirate (Dortmund)
- 1994/1995: Der Mann von La Mancha (Aldonza - Essen)
- 1996: The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
(Mabel - Berlin) - 1997: Zustände wie im alten Rom (Berlin)
- 1999/2000: Tabaluga and Lilli (Spinne - Oberhausen)
- 2000: Evita (Evita - Tecklenburg)
- 2001: Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
(Maria MagdalenaMaría MagdalenaMaría Magdalena is a 1954 Argentine film....
- Tecklenburg) - 2002-2007: Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
(Donna - Hamburg)
Cast albums
- Der Mann von La Mancha
- Die Legende von Jimmy Dean
- Voice of Eternity
- Being alive - The Art of German Musicalstars
- Hero Nation
- Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
- Best of Musical
- Christmas Stories
Solo albums
- Zurück zu mirZurück zu MirZurück zu Mir is the debut album released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2005.- Track listing :# "... wenn man fliegen kann"# "Komm zu mir"# "Kann es sein"# "Blinder Passagier"# "Zurück zu Dir"# "Glaubst Du's"# "So wie Du bist"...
(2005) - DramaDrama (Carolin Fortenbacher album)Drama is an album released by German singer and actress Carolin Fortenbacher in 2008.- Background :It is her second album, after 2005's Zurück zu Mir, and features the song which she entered into the Grand Prix Vorentscheid 2008, as a possible German entry to Eurovision 2008, "Hinterm Ozean"...
(2008)