Der kleine Tag facts for kids

Der kleine Tag (which means The Little Day) is a wonderful story that became a popular musical. It was created by Wolfram Eicke, with music by Rolf Zuckowski and Hans Niehaus. The original story came out in 1988. The musical version, which is great for kids and grown-ups too, first appeared in 1998. It was also released as an audio play and CD in 1999. That same year, it had its first big performance at the Münchner Planetarium. Many schools and music groups love to perform Der kleine Tag on stage. It has even won several awards!

The Story of The Little Day

The story of Der kleine Tag is about special characters called Lichtwesen, which means "light creatures". They live high above Earth and each one represents a different calendar day.

How Days Are Ranked

Every day, one of these Lichtwesen gets to visit Earth. They experience everything that happens on that day, from big events like peace or new inventions, to small everyday moments. Each day character only gets one chance to visit. When they return, they report what happened. Then, they are ranked based on how important their day's events were. The highest rank is sitting in the "first row" (Erste Reihe) during their meetings.

The Little Day's Turn

The Little Day is very excited and can't wait for its turn, which is set for April 23rd. It talks to the Mysterious Day (Geheimnisvoller Tag). This Mysterious Day was ranked very high, but isn't sure if its day was truly good. On its day, lenses were invented. Lenses led to useful things like glasses, but also to things like better aiming devices for weapons. The Mysterious Day explains that being unique and true to yourself is more important than just getting a high rank.

What Happens on Earth

On April 23rd, the Little Day finally gets to visit Earth. It sees many different things:

• A family moves into a new home, full of hopes and challenges.
• Workers repair a street.
• People wait at a bus stop, complaining about the weather. The Little Day even asks the sun to shine for them!
• At school, a child celebrates a birthday and gets a new dog. All the kids imagine animals sitting in class as students.
• Two old friends meet again after 50 years.
• A son and his father make up after a disagreement.
• A young couple dances happily in a park.
• A family enjoys a picnic "just for fun" (einfach nur so).

The Little Day's Return

The Little Day returns feeling happy about its experiences. But it doesn't get a high rank because nothing "special" or "big" happened. The Mysterious Day tries to help, but the Little Day is still disappointed.

However, things change the next year. The Day for April 23rd reports that people on Earth celebrated the previous year's April 23rd. They remembered it as the most peaceful day ever, with no wars, disasters, or hunger. Because of this, the Little Day is finally promoted to the first row! It shows that even seemingly small, peaceful moments can be incredibly important.

The Music of the Musical

The music for Der kleine Tag is written for many different performers. It includes:

• Soloists: Singers who perform alone.
• Choir: A group of singers.
• Orchestra: A large group of musicians playing various instruments.
• Combo: A smaller group of musicians, usually playing modern instruments.

The musical lasts about 65 minutes, which is just over an hour.

Songs in the Musical

The musical features many songs that help tell the story and express the characters' feelings. Here are some of them:

Different Versions

Der kleine Tag has been released in a few different forms:

• The original storybook, illustrated by Ursula Kirchberg, came out in 1988.
• The musical version, with music by Hans Niehaus and Rolf Zuckowski, was published in 1999.
• An audio play and CD version, also from 1999, lets you listen to the musical.