“Dagmar Manzel conjures up a kaleidoscopic world of colour shaped by subjective experiences and fantasies.” (Online Merker, 26 January 2025). With her production of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at the Komische Oper Berlin, Dagmar Manzel impressively demonstrated her distinctive directorial style. The Berlin-based actress and singer combines many years of stage experience with a keen musical sensibility and a particular gift for bringing characters and stories to life.
Dagmar Manzel created her first production at the Komische Oper Berlin with Pippi Langstrumpf in the 2022/23 season. This was followed by another successful directorial project, Hänsel und Gretel, in the 2024/25 season. Both productions will return to the Komische Oper Berlin repertoire in the 2026/27 season. Further projects at opera houses are already planned for the future.
The Berlin-based actress, singer and director Dagmar Manzel combines remarkable versatility as a performer with musical expressiveness and an unmistakable stage presence. She sings, she dances, she throws herself into every performance wholeheartedly. Few actresses transform themselves into their roles with such chameleon-like ease: one moment she is a cheeky young girl, the next an elegant woman of the world. Yet she never simply plays a role; she embodies each character with every fibre of her being. Her numerous awards include the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, Actress of the Year, the Deutscher Fernsehpreis, the Deutscher Schauspielerpreis and the Deutscher Filmpreis. Alongside her successful career in acting and singing, Dagmar Manzel is increasingly establishing herself as a director.
In addition to theatre, film and television, music has always been one of Dagmar Manzel’s great passions. She has captivated audiences with major song recitals and leading roles in music-theatre productions at venues including Oper Köln, Hans-Otto Theater Potsdam, Deutsches Theater and, in particular, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Choriner Sommer, the Salzburger Festspiele, Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie Berlin and the Komische Oper Berlin.
Dagmar Manzel has shared a close artistic relationship with the Komische Oper Berlin for more than two decades, appearing there in numerous major music-theatre productions. Her outstanding roles include Cleopatra (Die Perlen der Cleopatra), Daisy Darlington (Ball im Savoy), Manon (Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will), Lilli Vanessi (Kiss me, Kate), Ottilie (Im weißen Rössl), Anna (Die sieben Todsünden) and Golde (Anatevka).
In contemporary music theatre, Dagmar Manzel took the leading role in the world premiere of Helmuth Oehring’s Agotaat Staatstheater Wiesbaden. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, she enjoyed success in Igor Stravinsky’s Die Geschichte vom Soldaten under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski. At the Salzburger Festspiele, she performed Cassandra with ensemble modern.
Dagmar Manzel is a graduate of the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch Berlin. She began her career in theatre before establishing herself as one of the defining actresses of her generation across music theatre, film and television. Her artistic development took her early on to major stages and institutions and has since evolved into a continuous engagement with acting, music theatre, concert performance and directing.