After training as a lighting designer in Vienna and, Michael Grundner was responsible for the lighting design of countless productions worldwide.
His work includes the lighting design for plays, musicals, operas, concerts and TV shows.
Most recently for the world premieres of the musicals Lady Bess and Desert flower at the St. Gallen Theatre (CH), Queens (Musiktheater Linz), Robin Hood (Fulda & Tour) GOETHE! (Bad Hersfeld), Der Schuh des Manitu (DE and AT), Best Of Kunze & Levay at Shanghai Culture Square (China), Sister Act, Titanic, Piaf as well as the German language premieres of Natascha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, The Light in the Piazza and School of Rock at Musiktheater Linz, Catch Me If You Can (DE and AT), Matterhorn and Dance of the Vampires at Theater St. Gallen as well as Grease, Hair, The Rocky Horror Show and the German language premiere of Jersey Boys in Amstetten. He also created the lighting design for Gypsy, La Cage Aux Folles and Cabaret (Volksoper Vienna), Le Nozze Di Figaro (Graz Opera), La Bohéme and Rent (Dortmund Opera) Der Freischütz (Kobe Opera House, Japan), Don Camillo & Peppone (Theatre St. Gallen and VBW Ronacher), West Side Story (Seefestspiele Mörbisch), Dällebach Kari (Thuner Seespiele), Pippin (Dresden State Operetta), Crazy for You (Graz Opera), Disney’s Frozen In Concert (tour), GHOST (Stage Entertainment Germany), We Are Musical – Raimund Theatre Opening Gala (also TV), and for the tours of Luther!, Wahnsinn!, Rock of Ages and Bethlehem as well as for many other productions. Since 2012, he has also been responsible for the lighting and projection design of all José Carreras concerts worldwide.
Awards: „Best Lighting Design“ for Flashdance (Musical Sommer Amstetten) 2014, GHOST (Stage Entertainment 2018), We Are Musical (Raimund Theatre Vienna 2021), Elisabeth in Concert (Vereinigte Bühnen Wien) 2019, Anastasia (Musiktheater Linz) 2022 and Rock of Ages (2023) as well as several nominations and awarded productions he has been working on.
Upcoming productions include:
Da Capo Udo Jürgens (Concert Tour), Elisabeth – The Musical (European Tour), Rebecca – The Musical (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing), The Flying Dutchman (Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Osaka, Japan),Billy Elliott (German language premier, Zurich Switzerland), Sweeney Todd (Musiktheater Linz), Something Rotten (German language premier, Musiktheater Linz), Einstein – A Matter of Time (World premier, St Gallen Switzerland).
Past credits include:
Sweeney Todd (Dortmund Opera), Crazy for you (Graz Opera), Elisabeth (China Tour), Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Dracula, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Titanic – The Musical, Priscilla – Queen of the desert, Lady in the dark, Once (German language premier), On your feet (German language premier), A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, Singing in the rain, Sister Act, Kiss of the spiderwoman, Ragtime, An American in Paris, Betty Blue Eyes, Hairspray, Grand Hotel, How to succeed in business, Footloose, Into the woods, Saturday night fever, Tosca, Aidia (Opera), Showboat, Xanadu, .. and many more
