Latest Articles
“The Pretty Polish Girl Who Sat Astride Her Virtue”: Early Opéra-Bouffe Star Joseph Kelm (1805-1882)
My last post and its original five pictures, borrowed from the gold mines of Blois, included four taken from the
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Ein Interview mit Henning Hagedorn über die Rekonstruktion (und das Spielen) von Ábraháms Zentralpartituren
Herr Hagedorn, seit Sie mit Ihrem Kollegen Matthias Grimminger angefangen haben für den WDR und die dortige Ábrahám-Aufführungsserie Partituren von
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‘Authentic’ Operetta Productions At Ohio Light Opera? Plus A Festival Symposium
Enterprising Ohio Light Opera, ever devoted to ‘authentic’ productions from the world of musical comedy and operetta, seems to go
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Team Spirit, The Importance Of Good Looks, And Singing Tauber Roles: A Conversation With Tenor Maximilian Mayer
If you’re following the Operetta Research Center news feeds you will have heard of tenor Maximilian Mayer before: he was
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National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: Sullivan’s “Haddon Hall”
This year the International G & S Festival, as well as the National G & S Company are celebrating their
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National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: “Ruddigore” At Buxton Opera House
This summer the historic Frank Matcham designed Buxton Opera House, built in 1903 and seating 902, was host to the
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National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: “The Sorcerer” & “Trial By Jury”
This year the National G & S Opera Company celebrates its silver jubilee with six new productions. I was invited
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Andreas Homoki’s “Land des Lächelns” From Zurich: Starring Piotr Beczala
Everyone knows that Lehár had a not-so-secret longing for the ‘grand operatic’ and devoted the latter part of his long
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W H Payne: Reconstructing The Career Of A Pantomime Artist And Supreme Clown
When you are researching the past, and the answers and facts don’t fall obviously into place, you just have to
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A Season Full Of Surprises: New Productions in 2018/19 Of Strauss, Offenbach, Beer And Jessel
It’s this time of year when theaters around Germany and Austria are advertising their upcoming productions for the 2018/19 season.
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“La Princesse de Trébizonde”: Opéra-bouffe in 2 acts by Jacques Offenbach
Originally produced at Baden-Baden during the 1869 summer season, with the young Mdlle Périer in its principal travesty rôle, La
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“Die Blume von Hawaii” beim Lehár-Festival Bad Ischl. Oder: Jonny als alter ego Pál Ábraháms?
Lehár Festival Bad Ischl 2018. Das Konzert- und Kongresshaus gleicht einem Bienenstock, Publikum strömt herbei während das Ensemble sich einstimmt
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“Im weißen Rössl” At Renaissance Theater Berlin: Drowning A Fun Show In Melancholy
It will come as no surprise when I say that Im weißen Rössl holds an extra-special place in my heart,
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“Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre”: Reviving the Genre for Today’s LGBT Community
It started out as a small concert performance at Schwules Museum in Berlin in the context of a Siegfried Wagner
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Amy Sheridan: Royal Milkmaid, Queen Of Burlesque, And Concubine
Amy Sheridan was something of a phenomenon. When she died, in 1878, at a Brighton boarding house, aged 39, of
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“Shooting Star”: A Romantic Musical Comedy About The Gay Porn Industry? Interview With Composer Thomas Zaufke
A few weeks ago, the new musical Shooting Star was presented in New York City in the form of an
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“Make Me Look Beautiful, Madame D’Ora!” Or: Revivisting Elsie Altmann And The Viennese Operetta Soubrette
Ah, yes: Madame D‘Ora! She’s been one of my great operetta heroines, ever since I first found her portrait of
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“Csardasfürstin” At Staatsoperette Dresden: With A Right-Wing Chancellor Of Austria Deporting Gypsys
Every self-respecting operetta company needs a production of one of the 20th century’s greatest operettas: Kalman’s Die Csardasfürstin. Whether Dresden
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“Der Bettelstudent” At Theater Pforzheim: Making The Genre Relevant For A 21st Century Audience?
The excellent (and beautifully illustrated) programme calls Der Bettelstudent “one of the best-loved of all the Golden Age Viennese operettas.”
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“Wie einst im Mai” At The Summer Festival in Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz is a small, historic, beautiful, charming, quiet town, set amidst the lakes north of Berlin. For British readers: can
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National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: “The Pirates of Penzance”
The Pirates of Penzance must be Gilbert and Sullivan’s most staged operetta and, as a director, it must be difficult
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“Carmen Jones” Revived By Classic Stage Company
The revival of Oscar Hammerstein II’s very clever 1943 updating of Bizet’s Carmen – a big hit in its day
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“Hervé par lui-même” Presented By Pascal Blanchet At Palazzetto Bru Zane
It has been a splendid winter. Three new musical-theatre works – one English, two French – have crossed my desk,
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Revisiting G. B. Shaw And Oscar Straus: Bravo Munich!
I’ve got a book and a CD to review, plus family arriving in a few days, and a bottle of
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“Broadway Sampler: 1915.” Twenty-Five Musicals And Twenty-Six Songs
You might remember the CD series The Broadway Musicals of… created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel. They started, thematically,
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Künneke’s “Herz über Bord”: A New Recording Of The Complete Score With Wayne Marshall
When Eduard Künneke presented his syncopated Der Vetter aus Dingsda in Berlin 1921, it was quite revolutionary to have so
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A Queer Alternative To Football: Barbra Streisand’s “Nose” At Komische Oper Berlin
What do you do when all the world is abuzz with football, and you don’t give as f*** about ballgames?
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“Der tapfere Soldat”: What Recordings Are There Of The 1908 Oscar Straus Show?
Munich’s recently renovated and re-opened Gärtnerplatz Theater just offered a brand-new staging of The Chocolate Soldier, in the original German
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Dance: The Secret Star Of Operetta? Giorgio Madia’s Two New Strauss Productions
It is astonishing that one of the main elements of almost every operetta – dance! – is so undervalued today.
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Offenbach-Star “Mlle Géraldine.” Or: Every Picture Hides A Story
Many years ago, when I was collecting illustrations for my musico-theatrical books, I haunted e-bay. Bought something weekly. But then
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A New Biography: “André Messager. Le passeur de siècle” By Christophe Mirambeau
The Musical Theatre book of the decade. I sha’n’t gush. Well, I’ll try not to. But … I thought that
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“Die Blume von Hawaii” At Theater für Niedersachsen: Florian Ziemen Conducts
So it was off to Waikiki and South Sea breezes, again. I had a chance to see Paul Abraham’s glorious
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Dorothy Without Toto. Or: “Der Zauberer von Oz” In Magdeburg
„The most magical adventure of them all …“ That’s how Andrew Lloyd Webber announced ‘his’ Wizard of Oz version at
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The Three Lives of Jetty Treffz, First Wife of Johann Strauss: A New Biography By Peter Sommeregger
Here it is, finally: a full biography of Jetty Treffz (1818-1878), first wife of Johann Strauss and responsible for bringing
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Kinky Boots? Kurt Gänzl Talks About 19th Century Operetta
Kurt Gänzl is no stranger to readers of these pages. As the author of The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
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Racism And Disability, Female Empowerment And Post-Colonialism: “Wenn Ja Wie Viele” At UdK
Ah, yes … the UdK students. Watching the musical theater stars-of-tomorrow perform a “collage” that’s obligatory for them in their
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