Michael Kunze

Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German musical theater lyricist and librettist. He is best known for the hit musicals Elisabeth (1992), Tanz der Vampire (1996), Mozart! (1999), Marie Antoinette (2006), and Rebecca (2006). He has also written the lyrics for a number of hit songs (under the pseudonym Stephan Prager), including the number one Billboard hit "Fly, Robin, Fly" (1976), and was one of the top 1970s record producers, producing songs for musical acts Silver Convention, Penny McLean, and Sister Sledge. Kunze has won a Grammy Award, ECHO Lifetime Award and holds 79 Gold and Platinum records. Early life Born in Prague, Kunze is the son of actress Dita Roesler and Walter Kunze, a writer, cartoonist and journalist, who worked for the German language newspaper Prager Tagblatt. He grew up in Southern Germany and attended Klenze Oberrealschule in Munich. He studied law, philosophy and history at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich.