“Me And My Little Brother”: A Gender-Bending Operetta By Mihály Eisemann From 1934
Admittedly, you would not necessarily expect a “queer” operetta in Viktor Orban’s Hungary. But that’s exactly what you get in
read moreAll posts by kevin
Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde” Returns To The Stage
Jacques Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde premiered in 1869 in the fashionable spa town of Baden Baden – in their
read more
Rediscovering Mischa Spoliansky – In Berlin And Weimar
There is Spoliansky in the air, it seems. And it is certainly high time that this unique composer is rediscovered.
read more
Tanz-Signale 2015: Conference About Gender Topics, Sex Addiction And Victor Léon
There was a whiff of fresh air in the room at the Tanz-Signale 2015. The Wiener Institut für Strauss-Forschung had
read more
Eyes Wide Open: A New Generation of Operetta Superstars?
“I had a dream” – and, yes, it was “a beautiful dream”; right in the middle of a performance of
read more
“Suddenly Last Summer”: A Re-Encounter With Marika Oszwald & Zsuzsa Kalocsai
No, it is not a Tennessee Williams play turned into an operetta. Instead, A Summer Long Ago (A régi nyár)
read more
Discovering The Joys Of The Orient
I have never seen Kismet, the 1953 musical, although like everyone else of a certain age, I know some of
read more
A New “Kismet” In Loveland, Colorado
Peggy and I caught the last performance of Loveland Opera Theater’s Kismet on March 1. This certainly had to have
read more
Orgasmic Operettas: The New Season At The Komische Oper Berlin
There is something slightly orgasmic about the news from the Komische Oper Berlin. The house announced the titles for their
read more
“La Rondine”: Does The Operetta Revolution In Berlin Continue With Puccini?
Are we entering the second phase of the operetta revolution in Berlin? After the Komische Oper re-discovered the genre and
read more
“Der Kongress Tanzt”: A New Exhibition At The Belvedere In Vienna
You all know that the Congress of Vienna in 1815 is the historical backdrop to quite a few famous operettas
read more
Simone Riksman: “There Is More To Soubrette Roles Than Nudity And Sex-Appeal!”
Young and smart soprano Simone Riksman made quite a stir in the new production of Kálmán’s Gräfin Mariza in St.
read more
Cyrano de Bergerac: Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live!
Director Alyce Mott resurrected her streamlined version of Victor Herbert’s 1899 operetta based on Edmund Rostand’s classic with the same
read more
Reconstructing Suppé’s “Die Afrikareise” In The UK
It is a grand title, for sure: The Imperial Vienna Orchestra! Yes, wow. It is as “Kakanian” as you can
read more
Carl Zeller’s “Der Vagabund” Revived For First Time In 100 Years
While the rediscovery of 1920s jazz operettas is in full swing elsewhere, the Austrians are giving us a re-encounter with
read more
A Great Loss: Charles Kálmán Dies Aged 85
It is with great sadness that we, at the Operetta Research Center, have to report the death of Charles Kálmán.
read more
“Porn – The Musical.” Or Will It Be An Operetta After All?
The German actor Florian Klein became famous in Hollywood as porn star “Hans Berlin.” After years in the Adult Industry
read more
Operetta for Generation LGBTQIA: “White Horse Inn” in Bremen
When a production of White Horse Inn starts with a new overture and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – segueing into
read more
The Musikalische Komödie In Leipzig Has A New Principal Stage Director: Cusch Jung
The Musikalische Komödie in Leipzig – one of Germany’s three theaters exclusively devoted to operetta and musical comedy – has
read more
Can Critics Get Away With Anything? Reading Michael Cerha and “Der Standard”
The Austrian newspaper Der Standard was founded in 1988 and is known, if you believe Wikipedia, as a “left-liberal” and
read more
INTO THE WOODS Musical in 2 acts by James Lapine & Stephen Sondheim
A piece in the vein of the fairytale burlesques of Victorian times, Into the Woods brought together some familiar nursery
read more
“The Only Music Worth Listening To Is Operetta”? Re-Visiting Elizabeth Taylor
There is always time for a few little curiosities. Take, for example, the movie Cynthia (1947) starring Elizabeth Taylor –
read more
“Madame Pompadour” From London’s West End
Thank God for the internet. Especially, if you’re interested in historical operetta recordings. The website Norbeck, Peters & Ford offers
read more
Revisiting 1932 with Oscar Straus’ “Eine Frau, die weiß was sie will”
I can’t help it. I’m an addict. I’m hopelessly addicted to Komische Oper in Berlin. For me, as an American
read more
Yiddish Operetta Songs: A Re-Discovery On Auschwitz Memorial Day?
The 27th of January 2015 was a memorial day, not only in Germany, but there especially. 70 years ago the
read more
“Die schöne Helena” As A WW2 Drama Of Homosexuality
Considering that Offenbach’s La belle Hélène recently received two extremely “gay” interpretations at the opera houses of Hamburg and Berlin
read more
“Das Verdächtige Saxophon”: Albrecht Dümling’s Classic Re-Published
Finally: Albrecht Dümling’s great big book on music and operetta in Nazi times, Das verdächtige Saxophon, has been re-published. After
read more
Down To My Last Two Days: Linie 1 & Lillie Claus
Down to my last two days in Berlin. The Komische Oper was hosting a three-day symposium on operetta, the last
read more
Is There An Ideal “La Belle Hélène” Recording – With Sex Appeal?
In early 2015, the Komische Oper presented their very first Operetta Symposium, dealing with the “kinky” side of the genre
read more
“The Auto Race” And Other Tuned-Up Operettas From Early Broadway Days
If you wish to experience operetta off the beaten track, then look no further than this brand new CD with
read more
What Really Influenced Noël Coward’s “Bitter Sweet”: “Die Fledermaus”?
Amazingly Noël Coward’s first musical book show was Bitter Sweet. Up to that point he had built his reputation as
read more
Flying Down To Berlin: For the First Operetta Festival At The Komische Oper
You know it’s finally happening when the first international guests fly in and need to be picked up at Tegel
read more
Have You Heard Of Henri Christine’s “Phi-Phi” (1918)?
Do you know Phi-Phi? Unless you are French or Hungarian and over 90 years of age, you won’t ever have
read more
A Musical Comedy Orgasm: Seeing “Clivia” In Berlin From A Broadway Perspective
Tuesday and Wednesday in Berlin were exasperating for me. A combination of misunderstandings, bad directions, getting lost, buying a theatre
read more
An American in Berlin: Seeing Operetta At The Komische Oper
Richard C. Norton, New York City based author of A Chronology of American Musical Theater, regular contributor to the Operetta
read more
Mixing Pop And Opera: Triumph Or Trouble?
In the music world, sometimes the concept of mixing vocal genres in the same performance works well, and sometimes it
read more