He was born in Straubing in Bavaria. His parents, Joseph Schickheneder and Juliana Schiessl, worked as domestic servants and were extremely poor. They had a total of four children: Urban (born 1746), Johann Joseph (died at age two), Emanuel (born 1751 and also originally named Johann Joseph), and Maria (born 1753). The father died shortly after Maria's birth, and Juliana returned to Regensburg, where they had earlier lived, and eked out a living selling religious articles out of a wooden shed attached to the cathedral.

Schikaneder received his education at a Jesuit school in Regensburg. He was also trained in the local cathedral as a singer. In his young adulthood he began to pursue his career in the theater, appearing with the theatrical troupe of Andreas Schopf around 1773. Aside from operas, the company also performed farces and Singspiele. He danced at a court ballet in Innsbruck in 1774, and the following year his Singspiel Die Lyranten was debuted there. This was a great success, and was performed frequently in the following years. Schikaneder was the librettist, the composer, and the principal singer, a versatility he would continue to exhibit throughout his career.

Schikaneder married the leading actress in his company, Eleonore Arth, on 9 February 1777. He was frequently unfaithful to his wife and the 1779 baptismal records for Augsburg (where the company was performing) record two children born to him out of wedlock, with different mothers.

His career prospered. In 1777 he performed the role of Hamlet in Munich to general acclaim. In the same year, he and Eleonore joined the theatrical troupe of Joseph Moser in Nuremberg. In 1778, Moser on the death of his wife handed over the management of his troupe to Schikaneder, then aged just 27.

In the fall of 1780, the Schikaneder troupe made an extended stay in Salzburg, and at that time Schikaneder became a family friend of the Mozarts. The Mozart family at the time consisted of father Leopold, Nannerl, and Wolfgang. The Mozarts "rarely missed his shows", and invited Schikaneder to Sunday sessions of Bölzlschiessen (dart shooting), their favorite family sport.

At time, Wolfgang was about to depart Salzburg (as it turned out, permanently) for the premiere in Munich of his opera Idomeneo. Before leaving, Mozart promised to write a recitative and aria for Schikaneder. This was "Wie grausam ist, o Liebe... Die neugeborne Ros' entzückt" (K. 365a; now mostly lost), intended for Schikaneder's production of Die zwey schlaflosen Nächte by August Werthes. Wolfgang left Salzburg before finishing the aria, but, prompted by a reminder from his father, he did complete it and sent it back to Salzburg. Nannerl later wrote to Wolfgang (2 December 1780) that Schikaneder was very well pleased with it.

From 5 November 1784 to 6 February 1785, Schikaneder collaborated with the theater director Hubert Kumpf to give a series of performances at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, the imperial capital; he had been invited to do so by the Emperor Joseph II, who had seen him perform the previous year in Pressburg. The Vienna run was admired by critics and attracted large audiences, often including the Emperor and his court.

Schikaneder and Kumpf opened their season with a revival of Mozart's highly popular opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail. A later opera performed by the troupe was Joseph Haydn's La fedeltà premiata.

Works of spoken drama were of interest for their political content. The Austrian Empire at the time was governed (like most of Europe) by the system of hereditary aristocracy, which was falling under increasing criticism as the values of the Enlightenment spread. Schikaneder put on a successful comedy entitled Der Fremde which included a character named Baron Seltenreich ("seldom - rich") who was (in Honolka's words) "a caricature of a scheming windbag of the Viennese aristocracy". Schikaneder and his colleague then stepped over the line, initiating a production of Beaumarchais's then scandalous send - up of the aristocracy, The Marriage of Figaro. This production was canceled by the Emperor at the last minute. The cancellation contributed to the worries of Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte when the following year they produced (successfully) their celebratedopera based on the same play.

Joseph II evidently held no grudge against Schikaneder, since the following year the actor entered Imperial service (April 1785 - February 1786), performing in the Nationaltheater at the Burgtheater. In his debut he sang the role of Schwindel in Gluck's Singspiel Die Pilgrime von Mekka.

Also in 1785, Schikaneder's wife, Eleonore, left him, fed up with his serial infidelities. She moved in with Schikaneder's former colleague, Johann Friedel, and formed a traveling theater troupe with him. Schikaneder's brother, Urban, was also a part of this group.

Schikaneder was discontented at the Nationaltheater; in his previous career he had normally played leading roles such as (in translated Shakespeare), Hamlet, Macbeth, Iago, and Othello. His main successes at the Nationaltheater were as a singer.

Seeking new options, Schikaneder proposed to the Emperor that he be allowed to build a new theater in the suburbs, a request that quickly received the Emperor's official approval. However, the plan remained unfulfilled at that time.

Eventually, Schikaneder formed a new troupe and left Vienna to tour the provinces. They played in Salzburg (May 1786; Schikaneder renewed his friendship with Leopold Mozart), then Augsburg (June 1786). During the years 1787 - 1789 the troupe performed in Schikaneder's home town of Regensburg, where they functioned as the resident company in the theater of the reigning Prince, Carl Anselm Thurn und Taxis.

In the meantime, the troupe run by Johann Friedel and Eleonore Schikaneder had settled (Easter 1788) as the resident troupe at the Theater auf der Wieden, located in a close suburb of Vienna. Friedel died 31 March 1789 (leaving his entire estate to Eleonore), and the theater was closed. Eleonore then offered reconciliation to Schikaneder, who moved to Vienna in May to start a new company in the same theater in partnership with Eleonore. With plans of an emphasis on opera, he brought two outstanding singers with him from his old troupe, the tenor Benedikt Schack and the bass Franz Xaver Gerl. From Eleanore's company he retained the soprano Josepha Hofer (sister - in - law of Mozart), Johann Joseph Nouseul, and (primarily in capacity of librettist) Karl Ludwig Gieseke. New hires in Vienna include Anna Gottlieb (the first Pamina) and Jakob Haibel (later the posthumous brother - in - law of Mozart).

The new company was successful, Die Entführung aus dem Serail again being part of the repertory (April and May of 1789). Several aspects of the company's work emerged that later came to be immortalized in The Magic Flute. A series of musical comedies starting with Der Dumme Gärtner aus dem Gebirge, oder Die zween Antons ("The Foolish Gardener from the Mountains, or The Two Antons", premiered 12 July 1789) provided a vehicle for Schikaneder's comic stage persona, which included an ability to perform improvised comedy. This kind of character originates with "Hanswurst" a traditional figure of popular Viennese theater.

Another line of performances by the company involved fairy tale operas, starting with the 1789 premiere of Oberon, with music by Paul Wranitzky and words adapted from Sophie Seyler by Giesecke. This was followed by Der Stein der Weisen (11 September 1790), a collaborative opera to which Gerl, Schack, Schikaneder and (apparently) to some extent Mozart contributed the music.

The theater emphasized stage effects and spectacle: Waldorf mentions "flying machines, trapdoors, thunder, elaborate lighting and other visual effects including fires and waterfalls."

The series of fairy tale operas culminated in the premiere (30 September 1791) of The Magic Flute (German: Die Zauberflöte), with music by Mozart. The libretto was Schikaneder's and incorporated a loose mixture of Masonic elements and traditional fairy tale themes. Schikaneder took the role of Papageno — a character reflecting the Hanswurst tradition, and thus suited to his skills — at the premiere. Schikaneder also may have given advice to Mozart concerning the musical setting of his libretto. The dramatist Ignaz Franz Castelli tells the following tale:

The late bass singer Sebastian Meyer told me that Mozart had originally written the duet where Papageno and Papagena first see each other quite differently from the way in which we now hear it. Both originally cried out "Papageno!", "Papagena!" a few times in amazement. But when Schikaneder heard this, he called down in to the orchestra, "Hey, Mozart! That's no good, the music must express greater astonishment. They must both stare dumbly at each other, then Papageno must begin to stammer: 'Pa-papapa-pa-pa'; Papagena must repeat that until both of them finally get the whole name out". Mozart followed the advice, and in this form the duet always had to be repeated.

Castelli adds that the March of the Priests which opens the second act was also a suggestion of Schikaneder's, added to the opera at the last minute by Mozart. These stories are not accepted as necessarily true by all musicologists.

The Magic Flute was a great success at its premiere, frequently selling out and receiving over a hundred performances at the Theater auf der Wieden during it first few months of performance. Schikaneder continued to produce the opera at intervals for the rest of his career in Vienna.

Mozart died only a few weeks after the premiere, on 5 December 1791. Schikaneder was distraught at the news and felt the loss sharply. He evidently put on a benefit performance of The Magic Flute for Mozart's widow Constanze, who at the time faced a difficult financial situation. When his troupe mounted a concert performance of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito in 1798, he wrote in the program:

Mozart's work is beyond all praise. One feels only too keenly, on hearing this or any other of his music, what the Art has lost in him.

Schikaneder's career continued successfully in the same theater during the years that followed The Magic Flute. He continued to write works in which he played the main role and which achieved popular success. These included collaborations with other composers of the time: Der Spiegel von Arkadien with Mozart's assistant Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Der Tyroler Wastel with Mozart's posthumous brother - in - law Jakob Haibel, and a Magic Flute sequel called Das Labyrinth, with Peter von Winter. The biggest box office draw during this time was a comedy in rhymed verse, Der travestierte Aeneas ("The Travesty of Aeneas"), a contribution of Giesecke, who soon abandoned the theater to pursue a scientific career.

A modest change during this period is that several times a year, Schikaneder would devote the theater to an Academie; what we would today call a classical music concert. Symphonies of Mozart and Haydn were performed, and the young Ludwig van Beethoven appeared as a piano soloist.

Schikaneder maintained in the repertory six Mozart operas: Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Schauspieldirektor, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito, and The Magic Flute. The Italian operas were performed in German translation. As noted above, Schikaneder also produced La clemenza di Tito as a concert work.

Although many of the works performed were popular successes, the expenses of Schikaneder's elaborate productions were high, and the company gradually fell into debt. In 1798 Schikaneder's landlord Prince Starhemberg learned that the debt had risen to 130,000 florins and canceled Schikaneder's lease. Schikaneder persuaded Bartholomäus Zitterbarth, a rich merchant, to become his partner and take on the debt, and the company was saved.

The new arrangements Schikaneder made with Zitterbarth included plans to construct a grand new theater for the company. Zitterbarth purchased the land for the new theater on the other side of the Wien River, in another suburb only a few hundred meters away from the Theater auf der Wieden. Schikaneder still had in his possession a document from the late Emperor Joseph II permitting him to construct a new theater. In 1800, he had an audience with the now reigning Franz, which resulted in a renewal of the license -- over the protests of Peter von Braun, who directed the Burgtheater. Braun took his revenge by mounting a new production of The Magic Flute at the Burgtheater, which did not mention the author's name; this occasioned a pamphlet war.

Construction of the new theater, which was named the Theater an der Wien, began in April 1800. It opened 13 June 1801 with a performance of the opera Alexander, to Schikaneder's own libretto with music by Franz Teyber. According to the New Grove, the Theater an der Wien was "the most lavishly equipped and one of the largest theatres of its age". Schikaneder continued there the tradition he had established at the Theater auf der Wieden of expensive (and financially risky) productions including much theatrical spectacle.

Ludwig van Beethoven had moved to Vienna in 1792, aged 21, and gradually established a strong reputation as a composer and pianist. As noted above, he performed in an Academie at the Theater auf der Wieden during its last years, and in the spring of 1803 the first Academie at the new Theater an der Wien was devoted entirely to Beethoven's works: the First and Second Symphonies, the Third Piano Concerto (with Beethoven as soloist), and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives.

Schikaneder was set on having Beethoven compose an opera for him, and did his best: he gave Beethoven a firm contract, an apartment to live in inside the theater building, and lastly a libretto of his own devising entitled Vestas Feuer. Beethoven eventually found Vestas Feuer unsuited to his needs, but he did set two numbers, one of which ultimately became the duet "O namenlose Freude", which concludes the central scene (Act II, Scene 1) of his 1804 opera Fidelio. Beethoven continued to live in the Theater an der Wien for a while as he switched his efforts to Fidelio.

The move to the Theater an der Wien was in a sense the climax of Schikaneder's career -- but also in a sense the beginning of the end. Schikaneder's work gradually lost the public's approval, perhaps because of changing tastes (French opera became a favorite at the time), or perhaps because Schikaneder as playwright had lost his touch.

Fidelio did indeed premiere in the Theater an der Wien, but not under Schikaneder's direction. By 1804, Schikaneder's career had taken a downward turn; his productions could not bring in enough customers to cover their cost. He sold the Theater an der Wien to a consortium of nobles and left Vienna for the provinces, working in Brno and Steyr. Catastrophes struck starting in 1811. First, after economic problems caused by war and an 1811 currency devaluation, he lost most of his fortune. Then, in 1812, during a journey to Budapest to take up a new post, Schikaneder was stricken with insanity. He died in poverty on 21 September 1812, aged 61, in Vienna.

Schikaneder is remembered today almost entirely as Mozart's librettist for The Magic Flute, yet in his day he had an important and successful theatrical career. Branscombe called him "one of the most talented theatre men of his era". In his own time, Goethe admired his work and even set out to write a sequel to The Magic Flute.