Dancing with death: Romance blooms among the lead players of Elisabeth, dubbed ‘Germany's Phantom of the Opera". Photos from vbm Ralf Brinkhoft Birgit Mogenburg

The life of Austria's infamous empress consort is now a popular musical, but it's not all show tunes, with the royal's tragic struggles also explored. Zhang Kun reports.

A German musical will be part of Shanghai Culture Square's Christmas season for the first time.

Elisabeth, which dramatizes the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), is by far the most famous German musical.

"It is the German equivalent of Phantom of the Opera", says Zhang Jie, general manager of Shanghai Culture Square. Elisabeth will open on Dec 9 and run through the Christmas and New Year holiday until Jan 11.

Empress Elisabeth is popularly known as "Princess Sissi" in China, thanks to the biographical film trilogy "Sissi", from the 1950s. The films starring Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Bohm were watched and loved by millions when they were introduced to China in the 1980s.

The musical, however, shows Sisi in a different light from the films. The most successful musical in the German language, it was commissioned by Vereinigte Buhnen Wien (VBW), and premiered in Vienna in 1992.

Now Elisabeth has been translated into seven languages and watched by more than 10 million people all over the world.

The musical is based on a book by Michael Kunze, with music from Sylvester Levay. It portrays Elisabeth living a life overshadowed by death.