On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked.
America changed forever. People experienced the shock of their lives, and did not know how to deal with it - how even, initially, to put their feelings into words. For most of them, the collapse of the Twin Towers was something out of a science fiction film. Gradually the sheer scope of destruction, the loss of life, and the feeling of vulnerability and fear previously unknown took hold.

The violence that shaped the world throughout history finally arrived at America's door. Our production is inspired by the hope that this sense of common history can focus minds on the world "out there."

On September 11, 2002, the Anniversary of the Attacks on the WTC, Sergei Dreznin, who has written for the music theater on such subjects as Terezin Ghetto, the Bosnian war and the rise of right wing politician in Europe, together with Peter Hoffbauer, "chef" of the prominent Vienna theater, Metropol, and "Art Against Violence," a program of the Austrian Chancellery, commemorated the anniversary of the attacks on the WTC with the world premiere "Wien New York Retour."

The show was followed by the "Tribute to New York" featuring Austrian and American musicians - Hans Tessing, Hannibal Means, Sandra Kreisler, Reinwald Kranner and others.

This was both a commemorative evening, and one full of fun and of the spirit of determination to get up and go on with life that has enabled New York to survive so well since Sept. 11.

With anti-Americanism on the rise throughout Europe, this show is by no means intended to propagate any politics. On the contrary, the creators of the musical seek to explain - through the universal language of art - the events in NY in a way that will be accessible for Austrians.

It represents a coming together, rather than the parting of the ways that seems to be on so many American and European minds these days.

About the musical

The show chronicles the "loss of innocence" of a young American singer, Suzanne, and takes us on a spiritual journey which symbolizes the experience of her adopted city New York, America and Europe before and after September 11.

Suzanne started life in a state far removed from the general troubles of the globe, in Montana, whose breathtaking landscapes, wide open spaces and unruffled way of life constitute the very stuff of the American dream. Her first venture from this world is to Vienna, another beautiful place, but one rich in old culture and haunted by history's demons. Her success in show business there enables her to preserve her wide-eyed enjoyment of life, although she is fascinated by her changed surroundings and curious to know more of them. She falls in love, with Guido, a Vienna rock musician. But happiness and romance are not enough - Suzanne is driven by her curiosity and her love of theater to the capital of the world, New York. The city smashes some of Suzanne's illusions but injects her with a typical New York determination to survive and to triumph.

Then, the Sept. 11 attacks shatter Suzanne, the city and the world. The attacks are being described from three different points by four different characters. One of them - a .com employee Gerald Ackerman who witnesses the attack from his office window at Brooklyn Hights (Hear the Witness mp3and read the lyrics translated from German)

Big, shining, black snakes of smoke
Strangle the North Tower in their embrace,
Angry sparking tongues of flame feed them.
Five, seven floors are burning and smoking, frying and boiling.
Crying.

I'm crying, I throw my Starbucks Coffee cup
at the window, at the world,
at the picture as sharp as on TV.
Just like on TV.

The cup flies through the room.
Explodes silently against the window.
The black cloud of coffee spreads
The paper cup tumbles to the floor.
Slow motion Memories in slow motion.

I am busy wiping the window with kitchen roll when I see an airliner
approaching from the South and flying into the second tower like a hot knife through butter. Into the tower. Then I hear a soft explosion, like a child popping a paper bag. I scrub and scrub, but the picture in the window remains blurred.

And time runs on, and time stands still.
Friends try to talk to friends.
And I think absolutely nothing, I think "this is insane "
I can't seem to move away from the window.

And then, one after another, politely, elegantly
With a sigh, they fall to their knees.
Two epic giants, felled by mosquitoes
Destroyed, dispersed …

September 12. The Day After. Suzanne is walking though the empty streets of the downtown New York thinking about the world, about people less fortunate then Americans. Her eyes open to her own vulnerability. Why do people hate each other? Why did so many people die?

Now searching, like the blind,
Shaken and disparate.
We leave their shadows one by one
Like leaving a warm bed on a cold night
We leave behind the life we had.

A nightmare woke us
From a contented, peaceful sleep.
Lost is now our old happiness.
We've been expelled from Paradise
And there is no turning back

Like the pillars of our heaven.
Like an Atlas of our hemisphere.
Like Time frozen, like Truth gleaming..
WTC 1. WTC 2.

Like all New Yorkers, she acquires wisdom and a genuine tenderness that is a surprise for all those who know the "city that never sleeps" as a restless, big, even brutal place kind only to those who succeed. It ends with Suzanne back in Vienna, imparting her newfound knowledge.

The Team.

Suzanne Carey was born in Missoula, Montana. After graduating University of Colorado as a singer moved to Austria, where she starred both in blockbuster musicals like "The Beauty and the Beast" and Roman Polanski's "Dance With the Vampires" and in modern opera productions at the Vienna Kammeroper. The musical "Vienna New York Return" is based on Suzanne's life and experience.

Dennis Kozeluh, also born in Missoula, Montana, is currently performing all around German-speaking world in musicals like "Showboat" (Strassburg) and "Jesus Christ Superstar" (Bruck-an-der-Muhr). He is a founding member of the impro-troup Vienna English Players and the author of several children musicals.

Jesse Webb (Director) was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After performing at "Cats" and "Les Miserables" in Vienna, he moved to Prague to found the Prague English Theater. He was a star of Czech production of "Les Mis." His directing credits include credits include the New English Drama series at the Vienna Schauspielhaus, and musicals by Sergei Dreznin -- "Romeo & Juliet in Sarajevo" (InterkulTheater and Ensemble Theater, Vienna and on tour in Bosnia and Croatia), "Max and Moritz" (InterkulTheater and Vindobona) and "Red Riding! Red Riding" (Kuenstlerhaustheater and AKZENT). His credits as choreographer include "Into the Woods" (Vienna Messepalast) and "Dr. Jockel in Power" (Vienna Theater Scala). He is currently performing as MC in the Graz Opera House production of "Cabaret."

Igor Nourgaliev was born in Novosibirsk, Russia. Lives and makes video in New York. His footage of the aftermath of September 11 won a prize at the Paris Independent Film festival. He is one of co-producers of the recent film "Friends My Ass" which has been presented among others at the New York Russian Independent Film festival.