LEOPOLD ALTENBURG - Prince and Clown

"It's a nightmare with the family tree" - This realization must also come to Leopold Altenburg, as his family history is extraordinary. He is the great-great-grandson of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth - the world-famous "Sisi."

For a long time, he hardly dealt with his ancestors until the walk down the red carpet at the musical "Elisabeth" in Berlin brought unexpected attention to him and his origins. "I had no idea you were so aristocratic," says Gustl, the Viennese innkeeper of a café in northern Berlin - "You have to tell your story."

In his search for his roots, Leopold discovers that his grandfather Clemens had a very special babysitter: the Emperor himself. Leopold's father Peter lived as a child and teenager in the imperial villa in Bad Ischl. Decades later, Leopold visits the exhibition rooms of the villa with his father and experiences how his father casually touches all the objects: "I can do this, I'm at home here."

With comedic interludes, songs, a clown act, and stories about the creation of his book "The Emperor and His Sunshine," actor Leopold Altenburg presents a varied stage program about his life between past and present, Vienna and Berlin, blue blood and a red nose.

Trailer "Prince and Clown"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDQ6awujqwk

Leopold Altenburg, born and raised in Graz, has acting engagements that take the Berlin-based artist to Vienna, Salzburg, Bielefeld, and Bonn, among other places. He is a hospital clown with the Red Noses International, a director of various plays, and embarks on documentaries to trace the roots of the Empire and his heritage.
www.leopoldaltenburg.com