Interview: Dominik Büttner Talks GENERATION#D: A Performance Project on Diversity

UNC Charlotte hosted GENERATION#D: A Performance Project on Diversity, produced through the Language Department at UNC Charlotte on September 24, 2015. A group of students, some of whom never acted, came together to create this production.

Dominik Büttner traveled to Charlotte to produce and direct this vital work. He brought out the best in each of the performers. Instead of having actors fill a role, he asked each performer to bring his/her talent and story to the production. This was Büttner's brilliance, creating and directing GENERATION#D: A Performance Project on Diversity. The production was received with standing ovations because it was truthful, raw and moving.

Büttner is an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer and director. His experience in theater includes performing in two original productions of the most successful German musicals, Dance of the Vampires, directed by Roman Polanski and Elisabeth, which played at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Büttner has also appeared in many German television and film productions.

It was difficult to find time to meet up with Büttner, as he was getting ready to catch a plane for New York. When I did, he was forthright, passionate and engaging.

LAW: Did you come up with GENERATION#D: A Performance Project on Diversity? And how does this tie in with the Language Department of UNC Charlotte?

DB: Bianca Potrykus is a German lecturer at the Language Department at UNCC. We met in Germany 15 years ago. We've worked on projects together in the past when she was in Africa and Asia. She wanted to do a project that was current, topical and important to Charlotte.

LAW: Why diversity?

DB: We applied for the Chancellor´s Diversity Fund and we were lucky to get it. So the whole project was sponsored by the fund and we had the best topic we could have for a theater project at UNCC!

LAW: Who is GENERATION#D?

DB: GENERATION#D is the current young generation who grew up with the internet, twitter etc., in a time when it is possible to talk about diversity and discuss it openly.

LAW: What was it like getting students, some of whom had little or no experience acting, to perform in this production?

DB: It was great to have a mixture of theater majors and students who had little or no experience onstage, so it was a diverse group in the truest sense of the word and everybody learned from each other. It was all about their personal stories. They didn't have to play a role, they "just" had to be themselves, which for a lot of actors is the most difficult thing to do. But of course, it takes a lot of courage to talk about yourself and your personal story onstage in front of an audience, but that is exactly what made the show so strong, it was real and authentic, which is what you are actually always looking for as an actor.

LAW: What did the audience take away from seeing this production?

DB: I really hope that this production changed the audience´s point of view and will make them reconsider. We judge quickly, but rarely know the story of the people around us and what baggage they might carry. It is great that we are living in a time with political correctness. The true issue now is that it is not only said, but also felt from the heart! I chose, "Feel the fear and do it anyway" as the subtitle of the show. The performers indeed felt fear but did it anyway. Apparently, quite a lot of people in the audience thought, if they can do it, I can do it, because we got a lot of emails and personal feedback from people saying they are going to stand up for themselves in the future. I think it is really amazing that theater can do that!

LAW: How long have you been here in Charlotte?

DB: I have been in Charlotte for three and a half weeks. I really enjoy it here. And we produced this whole project in three weeks.

LAW: Tell me about your childhood. Where were you born?

DB: I was born in a little Bavarian village. It's beautiful there. Of course I was always the guy who was a little weird because I was into arts and stuff, so my story would have also fit in our diversity project.

LAW: Tell me about your parents. And what brought you to study at the Vienna Performing Arts Studio?

DB: Although there are absolutely no professional artists in my family or in the area where I grew up, my parents were very supportive. They sensed quite early that I was an artist, so they tried to help me as much as they could and still do, even though they actually had no experience on how you would do that. I sang in the school choir and started to take ballet. Funnily enough, an Argentinian dancer who studied at [The] Juilliard School in NYC, got lost in my village and opened a ballet school there. I did my first show and he suggested that I should become a professional performer. I went to study at the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera. There I realized that I am too talkative to stay silent on stage [laughs], so I studied musical theater at Performing Arts Studios Vienna.

LAW: What was your first professional job?

DB: I had the chance to perform in several productions at the Vienna State Opera and my first job in musical theatre was Fiddler on the Roof at Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

LAW: The performers on GENERATION#D told me you were a wonderful director to work with. What do you consider yourself first, an actor, singer, dancer, director or teacher?

DB: Oh, thank you! That is so nice to hear. I can't and won't rank it. I just love it all and even though people might like to have a drawer to put me in, I cannot offer that,... sorry.

LAW: You worked with Roman Polanski in Dance of the Vampires, what was it like working with him?

DB: He is a true artist and really knows what he is doing. I cannot judge what was going on in his private life, but he is for sure one of the greatest directors alive. He can tell so much in just one sentence. If he could have directed Dance of the Vampires on Broadway, I am 100% sure that it would not have flopped. It was the first time that an original Austrian/German production was on Broadway and we were so happy about it in Germany, but in the end, the Broadway version had almost nothing to do with the original show, a pity!

LAW: How did you get the role in Dance of the Vampires?

DB: I was playing in Fame in Basel/Switzerland and was invited to the audition. I had to get up at 4.30am in the morning to go to Stuttgart where it opened first in Germany. I tried to call a cab to go get to the train station and was on hold for ages, finally they told me it would take another twenty minutes until the cab would be there. I ran outside, but so early in the morning there were absolutely no cabs on the streets. I missed the train. My agent tried to get me into the call backs. Of course they said "no" and then twelve hours before the call back they asked me to come, everyone else had prepared stuff from the show, I was the only one who had no clue. I was really embarrassed and thought it was hopeless. But I got the job, sometimes you´re lucky...

LAW: Sounds more like talent than luck. Do you think there are any differences in your profession you see in the US as opposed to Germany?

DB: Unfortunately, this is the first time I am working in the US, so I can't really compare, but I can say that it is so great that in America all the big productions are On-Broadway or Off-Broadway, more or less in one area. You can live in New York and take the subway to the auditions. In the German speaking countries, the theaters are spread throughout the whole area, there is no real center. That means you have to move very often and also travel very far to audition.

LAW: Was there a difference you saw in this play's reception here in Charlotte as opposed to if it were performed in Germany?

DB: Well, I think we should really bring it over to Berlin, then I would be able to answer your question! Americans are said to be very enthusiastic, but having a standing ovation before the finale had even ended, really thrilled me!

LAW: What's been the best experience being in Charlotte?

DB: It may sound a little cheesy, but seeing my guys perform and feeling the magic happen, that makes me really happy!

LAW: What are your plans after this?

DB: Next week I will teach at the Musical Theater department of the University of the Arts in Berlin again. I will be in Moscow for the convention of the Russian Music Theatre Association and will hold a speech there about music theatre in Germany. After that, I will choreograph Evita in Stuttgart and perform in Im weißen Rössl, the modern version of a very well known German Operetta.

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