Werner Buss is leaving the GOP Variety. Buss (58) managed The GOP Varieté Theater’s Hanover unit for 15 years and was the artistic director of the GOP Entertainment Group. The 2021 Winter Season show in Hanover, which premiered on November 19, was his last show with GOP.

Buss’ decision was not sudden. It was a thorough process, as everything he does. In 2018 he felt the need to change. The pace of the past 28 years that put him on the road for 200 days a year was no longer feasible for him. It was not easy, but he decided to say goodbye to his beautiful 28 years under the GOP umbrella. The countdown ran for three years. These three years also gave plenty of time for the staff to install new structures and build new responsibilities within the organization. “Our shows are designed well in advance, and it is a heartfelt commitment for me not to leave things unfinished,” reveals Buss in an interview with the Neue Presse.

The coronavirus made his transition process not exactly what he planned – postponed and canceled shows, even premiers.

What is next? “I’m curious,” says Buss, and you can see the enthusiastic glint in his eyes. “There’s still so much I’ve never done before.” He wants to develop cultural projects from start to finish; he raves about the “new circus” and the symbiosis of different art forms. Although Bus is stepping down, he is full of ideas. “I’m driven, like a volcano, a whirlwind,” he says about himself. “I always stood for tomorrow.”

Buss has passed the baton on Dennis Bohnecke (43), who was once Buss’ trainee.

Read the full length article in German at the Neue Presse.