Remembering Will Marion Cook, Composer Of “In Dahomey” And The Cakewalk
Will Marion Cook was born inWashington, DC, on 27 January, 1869. The son of a well-off and well-educated family, Cook
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“In Dahomey”: One Of The First American Black Musical Hits
In Dahomey was an early American “Negro musical comedy” (in a prologue and 2 acts), one of the first to be
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Lillian Russell (1860-1922) Revisited: The Amazing Life Of A “Scandalous” Operetta Diva
With all this free time at home right now I’ve started working my way through various DVD boxes I’ve had
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THE NEW MOON: A Romantic musical play by Oscar Hammerstein & Sigmund Romberg
The team responsible for that overwhelming hit of 1926, The Desert Song, mined a similar vein for their next collaboration,
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“Babes In Toyland” In Zwickau-Plauen. Or: Performing Victor Herbert In Germany
The small theater in Zwickau-Plauen (Germany) presented Victor Herbert’s much-loved Babes in Toyland as their Christmas spectacle and gave the
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Carita von Horst (1864-1935): The Baroness Who Composed “Gentleman Jack” And Bamboozled Hitler
How many female operetta composers can you name? Here is one who was also a baroness, no less. Her operetta
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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“Shuffle Along”: Re-Imagining the African-American-Classic From 1921
Why is the upcoming revival of Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That
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The Game Changers Of Broadway: Hammerstein, Schirmer, Cohan & Co..
Who were the truly instrumental people who caused America to develop the largest and most influential entertainment industry in the
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THE FORTUNE TELLER: Comic opera in 3 acts by Victor Herbert
When the ambitious young soprano of the famed Bostonians company, Alice Nielsen, decided to break away from the group and
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“Csardasfürstin” Conference in Budapest
This week-end, the Budapest Operetta Theatre is hosting a conference on Die Csardasfürstin, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that
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“Baby, You Can Can-Can Too”
In their 2015 summer season, the Ohio Light Opera presented the original stage version of Cole Porter’s Can-Can. It’s a
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Musical Of The Month At NY’s Public Library: “Golden Dawn”
The New York Public Library is devoting its current “Musical of the Month” to Emmerich Kálmán’s Golden Dawn, a show
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The Origins Of Lerner & Loewe’s “Brigadoon”
You will recall that the Ohio Light Opera presented Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon as part of their 2015 summer season.
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“Girls With No Clothes To Speak Of”: Broadway-Operetta Then And Now
There is a renewed interest in operetta internationally, not just the French and Austrian variety of the genre, but also
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“The Beastly Bombing”: The Very Model Of A Modern Operetta
The Beastly Bombing, or A Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by the Tangles of True Love is an operetta in
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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
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SHOW BOAT: Musical Play in 2 Acts
One of the most successful romantic musical plays of the 1920s, Show Boat (Ziegfeld Theater, New York, 27 December 1927)
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Mr. Burlesque Himself: William B. Gill
Australia’s most successful ever international manufacturer of musical plays was born Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, Canada 10 May 1842. The grandson of
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Boylesque in Operetta, or: Meet Mr. Henry E. Dixey
He was one of the “hottest” male stars in operetta history, he made ladies in the audience swoon with his
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“Dream City and the Magic Knight”: The Marx Brothers on Speed
The Ohio Light Opera is certainly good for a surprise. Of course, they are renowned for presenting rare shows, unperformed
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“Natoma”: Victor Herbert’s Grand Opera Live
Victor Herbert’s 1911 grand opera Natoma – not performed in its original form for over a century – was accorded
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Kálmán’s Voodoo Magic: “Golden Dawn” (1927)
Fern von Europa und vom europäischen Markt vollkommen unbeachtet, kommt am 29. Juli 1930 in den USA die Verfilmung von
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NAUGHTY MARIETTA Musical comedy in 2 acts
Naughty Marietta was written as a commission from impresario Oscar Hammerstein, a transfuge from the world of opera, for a
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THE STUDENT PRINCE Musical play in 2 acts
The Student Prince was not the first musical to be based on Meyer-Förster’s 1901 Studentenstück Alt Heidelberg (Berliner Theater 22
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