Daddy Long Legs - Musical by Paul Gordon and John Caird

Based on the novel by Jean Webster
German text by Marie-Luise Schottleitner and Martin Fischerauer

"The key to happiness lies within us all." Jerusha Abbott, the eldest orphan in the home, receives an opportunity from a mysterious benefactor to pursue an education and become a writer. There are two conditions: she must write to him regularly, and he will never reveal his true identity. Happy to be supported in her passion, she imagines her "Daddy Long Legs." She feels understood by him and develops feelings for her patron, even though she knows she will never receive a reply. When Jervis Pendleton, the young uncle of a fellow student, enters her life, she discovers the world from an entirely new perspective. He seems to know her as well as her mysterious benefactor.

The 1912 epistolary novel by Jean Webster is her most famous work, adapted to film in 1955 with Fred Astaire. Through poetic, almost diary-like letters and songs, a portrait emerges of an intelligent young woman who grows into an independent and self-assured adult. Webster championed the goals of the women's movement of the late 19th century, skillfully weaving political demands-the right to education and employment-into an accessible love story.