"Ev'ry Hotsy Totsy Nazi Stand and Cheer:": Cultural Sensitivity to Musicals about the Third Reich

This chapter discusses portrayals of National Socialism in popular musical theatre, focusing on such typical works as Schweyk im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Schweyk in the Second World War, 1957), The Sound of Music (1959), Cabaret (1966), and The Producers (2001). It analyses their structural elements, such as the construction and musical depiction of Nazi characters as well as the dramaturgical forms that deal with them. Specifically, the authors examine double-layer dramaturgy, alienation strategies, and the use of caricature and irony. The essay explores how the behaviour of Nazi figures is framed and sometimes de-demonised by the fabric and theatrical tools of both musical comedy and the musical play. It also looks at the reception of these works, especially in German-speaking countries, and investigates their function in mirroring and developing processes regarding Vergangenheitsbewältigung (i.e. ‘coming to terms with the past’), politics of memory, and denazification.