RTL has something special planned for Easter 2020: the broadcaster tells the story of the passion as a live music event. "'The Passion' is a modern and unusual staging of the last days in the life of Jesus Christ – with the center of a big city as a stage," says the press release. "In the middle of Essen, well-known actors and singers are using German pop songs that bring over 2000 years of history to life and transport the dramatic events into our times." Thomas Gottschalk (69) is the narrator.
This is how RTL stages the passion story
"On the main stage in the city center, viewers experience history in a modern, unprecedented way. The events that took place over 2000 years ago are brought back to our times. Well-known singers awaken the happenings at various Locations in Essen with the help of German music hits to life. On the main stage, the singers are supported musically by a band and a choir. In addition, there is live switching to a passion procession, in which a large shining cross is carried through the streets of Essen to the main stage "reports RTL.
"People from Essen and all of Germany" are invited to this live procession, "no matter which denomination they belong to or whether they have no denomination". A reporter will accompany the Way of the Cross and speak to the participants. "The Passion" has been successfully broadcast on TV in the Netherlands for ten years. It is a special project for Thomas Gottschalk.
"When I was a teenager, I was already preaching my passion in the Hedwigskirche in Kulmbach and I am delighted that RTL is taking the risk of quotas with this redemption story, which is more than a pious legend. I was happy to be offered the role of the narrator I've rarely been so well prepared for a TV appearance, "said Gottschalk about his Easter engagement.