Hamburg, Dec 07: A touch of Hollywood, a touch of the Riviera. In what is normally a dark and cold season, the city of Hamburg is embarking on a weekend of bright showbiz glamour when the latest big-scale musical production ''Titanic'' makes its premiere.
Production company Stage Holding is spending big to bring in some big-name stars for the opening tomorrow to further underpin Hamburg's claim as the capital of musicals on the European continent.
Sophia Loren, Liza Minelli and Gina Lollobrigida lead a glittering guest list for a gala opening-night party. In addition, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet - the stars in the blockbuster film ''Titanic'' - will also be on hand, the local daily Morgenpost cited sources at stage holding as saying.
The opening of the show which won the 1997 Tony Award for the best Broadway musical comes less than a month after the star-studded premiere of the Abba-based stage music production ''Mamma Mia'' on Hamburg's famous red-light Reeperbahn Boulevard a few kilometres away.
''Titanic'' completes a changing of the guard in Hamburg's musicals scene, which features three big-time major productions running concurrently.



Besides ''Titanic'' and ''Mamma Mia'', the third big-budget production - sold out for months in advance - is the german stage version of Disney's ''The Lion King'', which opened one year ago.


Bureau Report