I have to google that recent musical, but I'm not really surprised. I very dimly recall a tv miniseries when I was a teenager which gave Fritz a heartrendering romance with Dorothea Ritter and shipped Wilhelmine/Katte as the secondary couple. (Googling, I see that it was called Der Thronfolger, broadcast in 1980 and was vaguely based on Jochen Klepper's Der Vater, though I don't recall either relationship from Der Vater (the late 1930s FW novel I had mentioned eons ago). RL basis for this: for Fritz/Dorothea, that FW certainly suspected poor Dorothea (a theologian's daughter who was very musical and had sung with Fritz a few times, plus they'd taken some strolls together, entirely supervised, I might add, they were never alone together) of having had sex with his son, had her arrested and had her publically whipped as a whore for that reason ( German wiki as opposed to English wiki has the exact order - "...dem Hoff Rath Klinte, daß er Morgen die in arrest allhier einsitzende Cantors Tochter soll auspeitschen laßen, und soll dieselbe alßdann ewig auf Spandow in das Spinnhauß gebracht werden, erstlich soll dieselbe Vor dem Rathhause gepeitscht werden, hernach vor des Vaters Hause, und dann auff allen Ecken der Stadt", which is Rokoko German for "tell Hofrat Klinte that tomorrow he's to have the imprisoned Cantor's daughter whipped and then put her forever in the women's work house; firstly she shall be whipped in front of the city hall, afterwards in front of her father's house, and then in all public squares of the town". Oh, and he had her examined by doctors who discovered that she was virgo intacta.
(FW: never let it be said that he wasn't awful to his son's (suspected) het interests, too. Poor Dorothea. She might not have been beheaded in front of Fritz, but public whippings and three years in Spandau - she was released in 1733 after her father petitioned for mercy - for the crime of having taken a few strolls and having made music with a man was terrible. And just for added kicks, German wiki mentions Voltaire made fun of her. He checked her out when visiting Berlin and described her to his readers as "a tall woman, thin, resembling a sybil, and not blessed with the kind of looks that would have made her deserve a whipping for a crown prince's sake".)
Meanwhile, the entire justification for anyone assuming Wilhelmine/Katte I can see is that Katte did have a double portrait of both siblings, but against that is Wilhelmine's stated distrust and antipathy and, well, Katte's everything else. Not that reality ever stopped any shippers. Or tv executive. Der Thronfolger certainly had a great cast for 1980, which I see included Jan Niklas as Katte (he'd go on to play young Peter the Great in the Peter the Great miniseries (where Maximilian Schell was older Peter), Maria Schell as Sophia Dorothea and Günter Strack as FW. But it faded out of public consciousness; I don't think I've seen it repeated in the last few decades.
Anyway, for our fictional five-seasons-of-Fritz, you know some incest shipping would happen these days regardless, even if the producers scrupulously adher to the non existence of any het romance for Katte. Because I haven't seen a fandom with two close siblings which let that opportunity pass, orientation be damned.
Speaking of fictional incest, though, how about this trivia:
Voltaire: writes a tragedy "Semiramis" which is supposed to be staged celebrating the birth of the French Dauphin's first son (that would be unfortunate future Louis XVI whose birth gets celebrated here, I suppose).
Voltaire's rival Crebillon: has already written a tragedy "Semiramis" some years ago and has just secured the post of censor and Royal Librarian
Crebillon: So let me get this straight: in your version, Semiramis has killed her husband, and is in love with a guy who turns out to be her long-lost son, and who kills her, thus avenging his dad. The last words are "tremble, oh royals, for fate's justice awaits! And you're considering this suitable to celebrate our future king's birth why? *forbids production, authorizes parody just to add saltÜ
Voltaire: See if I care. I have now a prominent fanboy. Dear fanboy of mine, here's the ideal play to conmemorate the dead of the War of Austrian Succession, how about producing it? Have a copy.
Fritz: Thanks for the copy, great genius. No production right now, but I've handed it over to my sister who is also a fan.
Wilhelmine: Love the play. I'm writing an opera version!
The Margrave: Um. Haven't you already written this opera Argenore where the heroine discoveres the man she loves is really her brother? I don't want to curb your artistic endeavours, especially when they distract you from me cheating on you, but I'm spotting a trend here.
Wilhelmine: Look, Argenore was me venting, and if the heroine and hero hadn't been secretly brother and sister the titular King couldn't have sung the final aria about how he tried his best to destroy both his son and daughter and deserves to die. Semiramis is different, the plot is entirely by Voltaire and doesn't reflect on rl at all. Now can I have the money to produce my opera version?
Voltaire: Love that you're writing an opera version, your highness, but meanwhile, who is staging my original play? Luckily, I also have a fangirl on the throne.
Catherine: If you think I'm staging a play about a female ruler who killed her late husband and gets killed by her son, you've got another think coming, Maitre.
Voltaire: Back to the Comedie Francaise it is, then.
Re: Alternate universes where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
(FW: never let it be said that he wasn't awful to his son's (suspected) het interests, too. Poor Dorothea. She might not have been beheaded in front of Fritz, but public whippings and three years in Spandau - she was released in 1733 after her father petitioned for mercy - for the crime of having taken a few strolls and having made music with a man was terrible. And just for added kicks, German wiki mentions Voltaire made fun of her. He checked her out when visiting Berlin and described her to his readers as "a tall woman, thin, resembling a sybil, and not blessed with the kind of looks that would have made her deserve a whipping for a crown prince's sake".)
Meanwhile, the entire justification for anyone assuming Wilhelmine/Katte I can see is that Katte did have a double portrait of both siblings, but against that is Wilhelmine's stated distrust and antipathy and, well, Katte's everything else. Not that reality ever stopped any shippers. Or tv executive. Der Thronfolger certainly had a great cast for 1980, which I see included Jan Niklas as Katte (he'd go on to play young Peter the Great in the Peter the Great miniseries (where Maximilian Schell was older Peter), Maria Schell as Sophia Dorothea and Günter Strack as FW. But it faded out of public consciousness; I don't think I've seen it repeated in the last few decades.
Anyway, for our fictional five-seasons-of-Fritz, you know some incest shipping would happen these days regardless, even if the producers scrupulously adher to the non existence of any het romance for Katte. Because I haven't seen a fandom with two close siblings which let that opportunity pass, orientation be damned.
Speaking of fictional incest, though, how about this trivia:
Voltaire: writes a tragedy "Semiramis" which is supposed to be staged celebrating the birth of the French Dauphin's first son (that would be unfortunate future Louis XVI whose birth gets celebrated here, I suppose).
Voltaire's rival Crebillon: has already written a tragedy "Semiramis" some years ago and has just secured the post of censor and Royal Librarian
Crebillon: So let me get this straight: in your version, Semiramis has killed her husband, and is in love with a guy who turns out to be her long-lost son, and who kills her, thus avenging his dad. The last words are "tremble, oh royals, for fate's justice awaits! And you're considering this suitable to celebrate our future king's birth why? *forbids production, authorizes parody just to add saltÜ
Voltaire: See if I care. I have now a prominent fanboy. Dear fanboy of mine, here's the ideal play to conmemorate the dead of the War of Austrian Succession, how about producing it? Have a copy.
Fritz: Thanks for the copy, great genius. No production right now, but I've handed it over to my sister who is also a fan.
Wilhelmine: Love the play. I'm writing an opera version!
The Margrave: Um. Haven't you already written this opera Argenore where the heroine discoveres the man she loves is really her brother? I don't want to curb your artistic endeavours, especially when they distract you from me cheating on you, but I'm spotting a trend here.
Wilhelmine: Look, Argenore was me venting, and if the heroine and hero hadn't been secretly brother and sister the titular King couldn't have sung the final aria about how he tried his best to destroy both his son and daughter and deserves to die. Semiramis is different, the plot is entirely by Voltaire and doesn't reflect on rl at all. Now can I have the money to produce my opera version?
Voltaire: Love that you're writing an opera version, your highness, but meanwhile, who is staging my original play? Luckily, I also have a fangirl on the throne.
Catherine: If you think I'm staging a play about a female ruler who killed her late husband and gets killed by her son, you've got another think coming, Maitre.
Voltaire: Back to the Comedie Francaise it is, then.