Franz von Suppé – das verdrängte Genie: Zum 200. Geburtstag des Komponisten
Franz von Suppé – das sind ein paar wenige Ouverturen, die man heute noch spielt, seltener in Konzerten, wo leider
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“Nothing More Than This?”: Bernstein’s “Candide” as Existential Vaudeville in Barrie Kosky’s Berlin Production
Imagine a world that persistently rewards the rich and powerful while immiserating the masses. Imagine an international paternalist cartel that
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Google Search: “What is Operetta?” And “Is The Phantom of the Opera an Operetta?”
The Operetta Research Centre was, this week, undergoing technical maintenance, in the course of which supremo Kevin Clarke came up
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“The Dancing Years”: A Converation with David Slattery-Christy About Ivor Novello, Nazi History And New Recordings
Ivor Novello’s World War 2 hit The Dancing Years has finally been made available in a ‘first complete recording’ by
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“Frau Luna” And The Budapester Luft: The Berlin ‘National’ Operetta Vs. The Hungarian National Operetta’
Mind the apostrophes! The recent revival of Paul Lincke’s Frau Luna at Tipi am Kanzleramt is a firm reference point
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The History of Jacques Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde”
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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Offenbach’s “Black Venus”, Or: Examining “La Belle Hélène” As An Intersection Of Race And Operetta
Sometimes you read an operetta essay that deeply disturbs you – not because it is badly written or full of
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High Kicks, Or: The History Of The CanCan In English-Language Theater
To say precisely who were the first English dancers to perform the cancan in the English-language theatre is pretty impossible.
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“Höfisch ist das Menuett, höflich die Gavotte”
Eine der bekanntesten und weit verbreiteten Gavotten ist die „Stephanie-Gavotte“, op. 312 von Alfons Czibulka. Diese wurde 1880 der Prinzessin
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Trying To Define Opéra-Bouffe: An Article From “The Era” 1870 About “Chilpéric” At The Lyceum
In his 2 volume biography Emily Soldene: In Search of a Singer Kurt Gänzl chronicles the initial success of opéra
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Offenbach In The USA: What’s Happening For The 2019 Bicentenary?
In 1980, the classical music world marked the 100th anniversary of Jacques Offenbach’s death. And for this greatest of ‘life
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“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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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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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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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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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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Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoe”: Bring On The Cannibals
Daniel Defoe’s shipwrecked hero (1719) and his man Friday seem to have made their first appearance on the musical stage
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Johann Strauss’ moderne “Journalisten-Operetten”: “Fürstin Ninetta” & “Waldmeister”
Nach der Uraufführung von Fürstin Ninetta am 10. Jänner 1893 schrieb die Tageszeitung Die Presse: „Die Musik der Operette ist
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George W. Chadwick’s Burlesque Opera “Tabasco” Shakes Up New Orleans
A fortunate series of simultaneous anniversaries—the 300th of the founding of New Orleans, the 75th of the New Orleans Opera,
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Die Operette mit “Herzton” als musikdramatisches Modell der Moderne. Edmund Eyslers “Künstlerblut” (1906)
Back in June 2012, Marion Linhardt from the University of Bayreuth presented a paper on the Eysler operetta Künstlerblut in
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“The Greek Slave”: Musical Comedy In 2 Acts With Music By Sidney Jones
Musical comedy in 2 acts by Owen Hall. Lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. Music by Sidney Jones. Additional
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The Kern-Wodehouse-Bolton Musical “Have a Heart” (1917)
Although they worked together as a trio on only five shows over seven years, the influence of “Bolton, Wodehouse, and
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Oozing Sex: Julia Baron, Opéra-Bouffe Star And Top Paris Courtesan
When I lived in St Paul de Vence, my partner Ian and I took a weekly bus jaunt down to
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Oscar Straus: Avant-propos
Il n’est guère de compositeur du vingtième siècle qui ait été jadis aussi fêté de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique
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Victor Herbert (b Dublin, 1 February 1859; d New York, 24 May 1924)
Victor Herbert (b Dublin, 1 February 1859; d New York, 24 May 1924). The grandson of Samuel Lover, the novelist,
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BABES IN TOYLAND: Musical extravaganza by Victor Herbert
Commissioned by producers Julian Mitchell and Fred Hamlin to follow up their 1902 success with the fairytale spectacular The Wizard
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Rediscovering Offenbach: Felicitas Wetzel’s “Deine Operette – Ein Portrait in mehreren Stimmen”
An interview with Felicitas Wetzel, a German sound artist who created a concert performance with Offenbach music and quotes called
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Victor Hollaender and Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater: A Transatlantic Affair (Part 1)
America’s popular music tradition is often referred to as the “Great American Songbook,” a national heritage. A focus on its
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Victor Hollaender and Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater: A Transatlantic Affair (Part 2)
Victor Hollaender described his first American sojourn and the German-American scene of Milwaukee in his memoirs, which were published in
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THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, or The Slave of Duty: Comic opera in 2 acts by Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan’s successor to the phenomenal HMS Pinafore proved to be another enormous international opéra-bouffe hit. Where the former
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Double Treat: “The Black Crook” From New York and London
Often, in earlier times, quoted as “the first landmark in the history of the American musical theatre”, the 1866 extravaganza
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Talking With Joshua William Gelb About “The Black Crook” In 2016
In 2016, The Black Crook celebrates its 150th anniversary, marking 150 years of the American Musical. To commemorate the sesquicentennial,
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Stanley Potter (1819-1894): A Seventy Year Old Chorus Boy!
When Stanley Potter died in 1894, his – paid – death notice said he was ‘of the Carl Rosa’. So
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Sex, Gender, Gay Marriage And Modernity In Offenbach’s “Isle of Tulipatan” and “Croquefer”
Jeff Clarke has been the Artistic Director of UK’s Opera della Luna since 1994. With that company, he has made
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Mystery Solved: The Truth About Gilbert & Sullivan’s Star Lilian LaRue
Lilian La Rue? Oh heavens, that name sounds like something out of a New Orleans drag show. Lily Street, maybe?
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Adolf Philipp (1864-1936): “Deutsch-Amerikanisches Theater” In New York
Adolf Philipp (b Lübeck, 29 January 1864; d New York, 30 July 1936) was the eclectic leading light of the
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