“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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The English Language Adventures of “Im weißen Rössl”
The overwhelming and instant success of Erik Charell’s operetta spectacle Im weißen Rössl at Berlin’s Großes Schauspielhaus (the so-called “Theater
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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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“The Mountebanks” By Gilbert And Cellier: A New BBC Recording
After the success of The Gondoliers in December 1889, D’Oyly Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan had a well-publicised disagreement because Gilbert
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It’s Eliza’s Show: A “My Fair Lady” For The 21st Century
It’s Eliza’s show; My Fair Lady for the 21st century opens at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 62 years after
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Theatrical Mythology, or The Best Thing About Her Singing Was Her Looks: Blanche Roosevelt
Theatrical mythology has been curiously and undeservedly kind to some folk. Miss Tucker from Ohio went from failure to failure
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Annette Dasch As Horror Diva. Or: A First Class Operetta Execution. “Fledermaus” In Berlin
No, it’s not exactly news that there are – and always have been – multiple audiences for operetta. And they
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Rombergs “Blossom Time”: Deutsche Erstaufführung in Annaberg-Buchholz
Das Dreimäderlhaus von Heinrich Berté, eine Pasticcio-Operette mit Musik von Franz Schubert (1916), war ein Welterfolg. Nicht nur im deutschen
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Selling Operetta To The Next Generation: Felix Seiler And Danny Costello Talk About “Die Blume von Hawaii”
This spring, stage director Felix Seiler and choreographer Danny Costello staged Paul Abraham’s Die Blume von Hawaii with students in
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Revisiting Honolulu: “Die Blume von Hawaii” With Students of the Hochschule für Musik In Osnabrück
We all have our favorite memories – our ‘madeleine moment’ that changed our world forever. For me, this moment occurred
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Victor Herbert’s “The Enchantress” In New York City
Hot on the heels of LOONY’s Naughty Marietta only one week before, along came yet another Victor Herbert work, but
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Willard G. Day’s “Lovely Galatea”: Ageing Disgracefully
Recently, conductor Dario Salvi performed Franz von Suppé’s one-act Die schöne Galathée (1865) in the UK, in English. It was
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Gaiety, Glitz and Glamour? Conference at the University of Leeds 2019
British researchers are continuing their conference series Gaiety, Glitz and Glamour. For the next installment at the School of Music,
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Captain “Dick” Meets “Naughty” Marietta. Or: Victor Herbert at LOONY
This most famous of Victor Herbert’s operettas, and arguably his best, received a classy salon concert performance the other night
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Adonises Of Silver Operetta? Or: A Re-Encounter With Adolf Wohlbrück
There is a Facebook group out there called Adonises of the Silver Screen. It offers amazing photos of and anecdotes
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Offenbach Heaven At The Théâtre de l’Odéon In Marseille: An Endless Stream Of Titles
It’s that time of year again when theaters release their programs for next season. One of the most striking programs
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A Critical Quotebook: Marion Linhardt’s “Stimmen zur Unterhaltung” Revisited
This is one of those publications that should have made a big splash – but didn’t. Back in 2009, Marion
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Message In A Bottle? YouTube As Global Popular Home-Archive For Operetta
In a 2018 essay entitled Das Webvideo als Flaschenpost, or “the web video as message in a bottle,” Chris Tedjasukmana
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“Der Vetter aus Dingsda” At Moosegg Open-Air Festival 2018
After a successful 2017 season, the team working with young Emmental director Simon Burkhalter is once again relying on last
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“Roxy und ihr Wunderteam”: Abraham’s Football Operetta Finally Comes To Berlin
Why did it take so long, you might ask? And was it worth waiting all this time? In the case
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Palazzetto Bru-Zane Celebrates Offenbach’s 200th Birthday With New Recordings
Next year the world will celebrate the 200th birthday of Jacques Offenbach. After having dedicated themselves to Hervé and his
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Offenbach And Opera Rara. Or: Waiting For A Recording Of The Original French “Robinson Crusoé”
It’s interesting how you can have a full cast recording sitting on your CD shelf for decades, and it never
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“Don’t Forget, Goebbels Was A Ladies’ Man”: Memories Of The Hiller Girls
Sitting in her tidy Munich apartment, as snowflakes swirl outside, Jenny Hiller is far away as she watches her younger
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