“Le Photographe” By Meilhac & Halévy: The Template for “La Vie Parisienne”?
In the latest newsletter of the Jacques Offenbach Society (No. 98), there is a reprint of the full Meilhac &
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“Nanon, die Wirtin vom Goldenen Lamm“: Richard Genée‘s 1877 Hit Revisited
This operette in 3 acts by F Zell is based on the comédie-vaudeville Nanon, Ninon et Madame de Maintenon by
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An 18th Century Operetta Composer? First Recording Of Charles Dibdin’s “The Wags”
Charles Dibdin is often thought of, assuming he is thought of at all, as one of the links between the
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Kurt Gänzl’s “Gilbert and Sullivan: The Players and the Plays”
I feel very honoured and flattered to have been asked to write about the most important book to be written
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CIBOULETTE: Opérette in 3 acts by Reynaldo Hahn
The most successful stage musical work of Reynaldo Hahn, Ciboulette was written to a text by two of the most
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Richard Genée’s “Die Antisemiten” (1868): Solo Scene Translated Into English
With a title like Die Antisemiten (The Antisemites) attached to a “Grand Opera” you have the immediate attention of most
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Adam Benzwi Discusses “Dreigroschenoper” & Singing Brecht/Weill Today
Pianist and musical director Adam Benzwi was slated to premiere “his” Dreigroschenoper interpretation – in collaboration with stage director Barrie
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“Sissi, Queen of Hungary”: Huszka’s Operetta Turned Into A “National Heritage” Production
The Hungarian “Monarchia Operett” (Monarchy Operetta Company [1]), under the artistic direction of dance comedian and costume designer Péter Erik
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LA VIE PARISIENNE Opéra-bouffe in 4 (originally 5) acts by Jacques Offenbach
In the midst of Meilhac, Halévy and Offenbach’s dazzling series of successes with the earliest of their famous opéras-bouffes –
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“I Would Like To See More Women Writing About Operetta”: Micaela Baranello Discusses Her Book “The Operetta Empire”
The US-American musicologist Micaela Baranello joined the Department of Music at the University of Arkansas in 2017 and has recently
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Constance Drever: Creating “La Veuve joyeuse” With A Strong English Accent
The history of Die lustige Witwe has fascinated us, here at the Operetta Research Center, immensely over the past months.
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“V’lan dans l’oeil”: Folie musicale in 3 acts by Hervé
Hervé’s second attempt, after Les Chevaliers de la table ronde (1866), to produce a full-length burlesque opérette to challenge the
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The Incomparable Maudi Darrell: One-Time Darling Of London’s Gaiety Theatre
The story begins almost like a fairy tale: Once upon a time there were three brothers, George, Edward and John.
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Hervé’s “L’œil crevé” (1867) On YouTube: Live From L’Opéra de Bordeaux
Hervé’s 1867 opéra bouffe L’œil crevé (literally “The pierced eye” or “It hit me right in the eye”) was first
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Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947): Only One Enduring Score?.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 9 August, 1874, Reynaldo Hahn was the elegant, soigné composer whose work for the French
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March of the Falsettos: Streaming Sasha Regan’s “Pirates of Penzance” From The Palace Theatre
The gimmick with which the West End revival of Sasha Regan’s Pirates of Penzance at the Palace Theatre was recently
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COX AND BOX, or The Long Lost Brothers: Musical Triumviretta In 1 Act With Music By Arthur Sullivan
This Musical triumviretta in 1 act was adapted from J Maddison Morton’s farce Box and Cox by F C Burnand,
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New Art is True Art: Kurt Weill’s “One Touch of Venus”
When Staatsoperette Dresden presented Kurt Weill’s One Touch of Venus as part of their “Broadway in Dresden” series, in a
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World Premiere Recording Of Kálmán’s Symphonic Poems “Saturnalia” & “Endre és Johanna”
In 2013 and 2016 the University of British Columbia performed two of Emmerich Kálmán’s early symphonic poems, Saturnalia and Endre
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“Sehnsucht 202” On DVD: A Very Queer Version Of Vienna With Fritz Schulz & Paul Kemp
The Austrian newspaper Der Standard has added a forgotten film operetta to their DVD series “Der österreichische Film”, a movie
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Why oh why oh why oh! Burleycue in Ohio: “The Bandbox Revue” Of 1922
This picture looked to me like a rather nice American girlie entertainment from the Twenties. Wonder what it is, thought
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David Monod’s “Vaudeville & The Making Of Modern Entertainment” 1890-1925
David Monod, professor of American social and cultural history, has undertaken a massive challenge in presenting a history of American
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Ivan Caryll & The Heyday Of The Gaiety Musical Comedy
Ivan Caryll was the principal composer and conductor for the heyday of the Gaiety musical comedy who encouraged the development
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CHIN-CHIN, Or A Modern Aladdin Musical Fantasy (1914) With Music By Ivan Caryll
An updated version of the Aladdin story, rewritten to feature the comedians Dave Montgomery and Fred Stone, Chin-Chin cast its
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Offenbach, Composer Of Zarzuelas? An Interview With Enrique Mejías García
From 14 October onwards the Fundación Juan March is presenting a special program dedicated to Jacques Offenbach. The series of
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A Legendary American Burlesque: “Evangeline” (1874), Beautiful Country Girls & A Dancing Heifer
A burlesque of Longfellow’s poem of the same name, the extravaganza Evangeline followed the trials and tribulations of its heroine
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A Bi-Polar “Merry Widow”: The Life Of Lily Elsie (1886-1962) Revisited
Elsie Hodder was born in a rather squalid theatrical lodging house in Leeds on 8 April, 1886. Her mother was
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Jeanette MacDonald (1901-1965): Hollywood’s Most Successful Soprano Star Of Celluloid Operetta
After beginning her singing career as a teenager in the chorus of a New York revue, Miss MacDonald (born in
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Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972): Parisian Music-Hall Star & Hollywood’s Singing Very-Frenchman
After an early career spent performing in cafés and suburban music halls, Maurice Chevalier (born in Ménilmontant on 12 September,
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Lily Elsie (1886-1962): Becoming “The Most Photographed Woman In The World”
A child of mysterious origins (she was rumoured, when fame came, to have been the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat
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Broadway Producer Henry W. Savage (1859-1927): “Merry Widow” and “Sari” Were His Greatest Hits
Harvard-educated Henry Wilson Savage was born in New Durham (New Hampshire) on 21 March 1859 and well established as a
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Ethel Jackson (1877-1957): Broadway’s First “Merry Widow”
A descendant of the painter Henry Inman, Miss Jackson was born in New York on 3 February 1877. She studied
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And Here’s Broadway’s First Danilo in “The Merry Widow”: Donald Brian (1877-1948)
Donald Brian was the bright-eyed and boyish star of more than 20 years of Broadway operettas and musicals, among them the
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The First English Language Danilo in “The Merry Widow”: US-Comedian Joseph Coyne (1867-1941)
Joseph Coyne was a light comedy actor-who-sings who moved from silly-ass rôles in his native America to stardom as Britain’s
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The Planned Assassination Of Napoléon Bonaparte: “Viva Napoli” by Francis Lopez
Probably the best of the later, post Raymond Vincy, musical shows written by the already fading Francis Lopez, Viva Napoli
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Turning Point In French Musical Theatre: “La Belle de Cadix” By Francis Lopez
As much as one show can, La Belle de Cadix marked the same kind of a turning in the musical
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