<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	
	>
<channel>
	<title>Comments on: How Big Is The Stretch From &#8220;Fosse/Verdon&#8221; And &#8220;Judy&#8221; To A TV-Series About Erik Charell And Fritzi Massary?</title>
	<atom:link href="http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/</link>
	<description>The #1 Archive for Musical Theater</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2026 19:54:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.40</generator>
	<item>
		<title>By: Juliette</title>
		<link>http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/#comment-8121</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juliette]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2020 05:08:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://operetta-research-center.org/?p=17412#comment-8121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi from the world of self-isolation, so much that I love  about this site and just a couple of minor-ish irritations that do bug me ... but enough of that for now. Regarding Fritzi Massary and the [un]likeliness of a biopic, although she is somewhat obscure to an English-speaking audience, at the same time, her intersection with the high profiled and thoroughly documented life ot Noel Coward is well recorded. His writing of a piece for her,  Operette, in 1938, is always mentioned in biographies, although its later obscurity despite a couple of hit songs, again pushes Ms Massary sadly out of the limelight. It is also sad that she never made a comeback in any way, apparently, after settling in California, although she was geographically close to many other talented German refugees from the Nazis.

Also I don&#039;t think you mentioned the significant Offenbach-Schneider biopic. La Valse de Paris 1950. I have seen this with subtitles on Australian television many years ago. It has great charm, and was totally delightful. With Schneider played by Yvonne Printemps and dressed by Christian Dior how could it be otherwise? It was not accurate, but it falls happily into the established (and surely fun? especially if you accept them as fictitious) vintage genre of musical fantasy biographical films and musicals of composers&#039; and impressarios&#039; lives including Lilac Time, The Great Waltz,  The Great Ziegfield, Night and Day, Song of Norway etc etc. 
 Many of Offenbach&#039;s best known arias were performed during the narrative, enough said!

I also saw an excellent French TV miniseries about Offenbach in the Second Empire, again on Australian TV again subtitled, again we are speaking decades ago, Les Folies Offenbach, with lots of Schneider and lots of Napoleon III too! [&quot;Who could ask for anything more?&quot;] The French made far far better historical TV series than the US at that date: impeccable settings and design, impeccable acting and production,  but given the wider distribution of television as a family-based and accessible medium, some of the somewhat tedious, self-conscious and pretentious searching for avant garde and highly intellectualised/elite cultural effects as a benchmark of woke credibility that dogs both film and (especially) opera production in Europe is kept in check. I would be happy to see this series again.

Talking of operetta and moving popular culture, there was also a filmed version of La Vie Parisienne from the late 1970s, that received international cinematic release on the &quot;arthouse&quot; circuit. Partly it was filmed live outdoors at historic Paris sites. I can find no clips and few images apart from the poster on the internet with a short search, which is surprising given that there was, if memory serves right, a scene with women in full 1860s crinolines cartwheeling down one of the famous &quot;passages&quot; of Paris.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi from the world of self-isolation, so much that I love  about this site and just a couple of minor-ish irritations that do bug me &#8230; but enough of that for now. Regarding Fritzi Massary and the [un]likeliness of a biopic, although she is somewhat obscure to an English-speaking audience, at the same time, her intersection with the high profiled and thoroughly documented life ot Noel Coward is well recorded. His writing of a piece for her,  Operette, in 1938, is always mentioned in biographies, although its later obscurity despite a couple of hit songs, again pushes Ms Massary sadly out of the limelight. It is also sad that she never made a comeback in any way, apparently, after settling in California, although she was geographically close to many other talented German refugees from the Nazis.</p>
<p>Also I don&#8217;t think you mentioned the significant Offenbach-Schneider biopic. La Valse de Paris 1950. I have seen this with subtitles on Australian television many years ago. It has great charm, and was totally delightful. With Schneider played by Yvonne Printemps and dressed by Christian Dior how could it be otherwise? It was not accurate, but it falls happily into the established (and surely fun? especially if you accept them as fictitious) vintage genre of musical fantasy biographical films and musicals of composers&#8217; and impressarios&#8217; lives including Lilac Time, The Great Waltz,  The Great Ziegfield, Night and Day, Song of Norway etc etc.<br />
 Many of Offenbach&#8217;s best known arias were performed during the narrative, enough said!</p>
<p>I also saw an excellent French TV miniseries about Offenbach in the Second Empire, again on Australian TV again subtitled, again we are speaking decades ago, Les Folies Offenbach, with lots of Schneider and lots of Napoleon III too! ["Who could ask for anything more?"] The French made far far better historical TV series than the US at that date: impeccable settings and design, impeccable acting and production,  but given the wider distribution of television as a family-based and accessible medium, some of the somewhat tedious, self-conscious and pretentious searching for avant garde and highly intellectualised/elite cultural effects as a benchmark of woke credibility that dogs both film and (especially) opera production in Europe is kept in check. I would be happy to see this series again.</p>
<p>Talking of operetta and moving popular culture, there was also a filmed version of La Vie Parisienne from the late 1970s, that received international cinematic release on the &#8220;arthouse&#8221; circuit. Partly it was filmed live outdoors at historic Paris sites. I can find no clips and few images apart from the poster on the internet with a short search, which is surprising given that there was, if memory serves right, a scene with women in full 1860s crinolines cartwheeling down one of the famous &#8220;passages&#8221; of Paris.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Jim G.</title>
		<link>http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/#comment-6765</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jim G.]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jul 2019 00:36:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://operetta-research-center.org/?p=17412#comment-6765</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I agree, Robert, that the life of Fritzi Massary would make a fantastic biopic, but given she is unknown in the United States, an English language production is unlikely.  Ironically, Massary lived for a long time in Beverly Hills and died there. There&#039;s more hope a German producer would pick this project up.  Someone needs to develop a script to shop around!]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I agree, Robert, that the life of Fritzi Massary would make a fantastic biopic, but given she is unknown in the United States, an English language production is unlikely.  Ironically, Massary lived for a long time in Beverly Hills and died there. There&#8217;s more hope a German producer would pick this project up.  Someone needs to develop a script to shop around!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: kevin</title>
		<link>http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/#comment-6602</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[kevin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2019 09:33:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://operetta-research-center.org/?p=17412#comment-6602</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#039;s fascinating, thank you, Robert, for sharing this information. Maybe the time is right now to give such a project another go?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That&#8217;s fascinating, thank you, Robert, for sharing this information. Maybe the time is right now to give such a project another go?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Robert Wennersten</title>
		<link>http://operetta-research-center.org/big-stretch-fosseverdon-judy-series-erik-charell-fritzi-massary/#comment-6596</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert Wennersten]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2019 17:27:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://operetta-research-center.org/?p=17412#comment-6596</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In 1957 Wolfgang Reinhardt (Max&#039;s older son) decided to make a biopic called &quot;The Fritzi Massary Story.&quot;  He wanted Maria Schell to play Fritzi and Peter Ustinov for Pallenberg.  Reinhardt never finished his story outline for the film, so Schell declined.  Next he tried Caterina Valente, who said she had other commitments.  The film was never made.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In 1957 Wolfgang Reinhardt (Max&#8217;s older son) decided to make a biopic called &#8220;The Fritzi Massary Story.&#8221;  He wanted Maria Schell to play Fritzi and Peter Ustinov for Pallenberg.  Reinhardt never finished his story outline for the film, so Schell declined.  Next he tried Caterina Valente, who said she had other commitments.  The film was never made.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
</channel>
</rss>
