“One Long Gender-Bender”: Berlin’s Queer Operetta Revolution In The Years 2010-2020
The Drama Review (TDR) is planning a special issue on the developments in the German theater scene from 2010 to
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„…der Offenbachstil unserer Zeit…“: Offenbach und die „avancierte“ Regie im frühen 20. Jahrhundert
Karl Kraus und Felix Salten haben 1909 bzw. 1906 Diagnosen zur Situation des musikalischen Unterhaltungstheaters und seiner Rezeption in Wien
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Four “Legendary Recordings” Of Richard Genée Shows, Including “Seekadett” & “Nanon”
On a sunny summer afternoon last year I had a long inspiring conversation about Richard Genée (1823-1895) with two operetta
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Focussing On Kurt Weill And Johann Strauss: Komische Oper In 2020/21
So here it is: the new season at Komische Oper, presented in the midst of the Corona crisis in digital
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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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Fritz & Alfred Rotter: A Life Between Theatrical Glamour And Death In Exile
The Rotter brothers, Fritz and Alfred, were the most prominent private theater directors during the Weimar Republic before losing everything
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Composer Jerry Herman Dies At Age 88 In Miami
Some will claim that Hello Dolly, Mame or La Cage aux Folles are among the greatest modern operettas in the
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The 2020 Seasons At Léhar Festival In Bad Ischl And In Mörbisch
The operetta festival in Bad Ischl has ended its 2019 summer season with an 8 percent increase in audience numbers,
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The Walking Dead? “Operetta Made In Austria” With Ildiko Raimondi and Herbert Lippert
It’s a pretty grand claim to make: “With their multi-media stage show Operetta Made in Austria stage stars Ildiko Raimondi
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German Operetta On Broadway And In The West End: 1900 To 1940
Considering that there are not that many new books on operetta in English, one must greet Derek B. Scott’s fresh-off-the-press
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Sex, Gender Fluidity, Abortion & Operetta in Northern Ireland: The Offenbach Bicentenary Festival
In August 2019, Northern Ireland Opera presents an Offenbach Bicentenary Festival. The choice of shows for this festival is remarkable, because
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“…was verloren ging”: A New Book About Operetta Before & After 1933
Im Jahr 2005 profilierte sich die Staatsoperette Dresden mit einer überregional vielbeachteten Konferenz, die den Titel Operette unterm Hakenkreuz trug.
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Marked For Immediate Removal: The Grave Of Rosy Barsony In Vienna
In Vienna the great operetta artist Rosy Barsony has found her final resting place. The Jewish performer was born as
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A Man And His Shadow: “Jonas Kaufmann Wien”
No, this is not scheduled as a mid-summer treat to coincide with the various operetta festival productions in Austria: the
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“Camp: Notes On Operetta.” Or: Getting Back To The “Filthy” Side Of The Genre?
“More than any other art form, fashion most fully embraces and expresses camp’s exuberant aesthetic, excelling in its ability to
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Thank You For The Music! Duophon Records Founder Alfred Wagner Has Died
It’s with great sadness that we heard about the death of Alfred Wagner this morning. He was the man behind
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The 2019 Season At The Lehár Festival In Bad Ischl: “Im weißen Rössl” & More
The Ischl Lehár Festival has announced what you may expect in 2019 – with the new artistic director Thomas Enzinger.
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Nils Grosch & Carolin Stahrenberg: “Im weißen Rössl. Kulturgeschichtliche Perspektiven”
Over the past twenty years, German-speaking operetta has been enjoying a revival, especially Berlin operettas of the Weimar Republic by
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Joseph Beer’s “Polnische Hochzeit” at Oper Graz: Simply Superb!
Austrian-Jewish composer Joseph Beer’s operetta Polnische Hochzeit (‘Polish Wedding’) received its premiere in Zurich in 1937: it was quickly translated
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Berlin’s Entertainment Industry In The 1920s As Seen By Willy Römer & On Sheet Music Covers
Tea might be the only simple pleasure left to us, as Oscar Wilde once remarked. But you need to be
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‘Babylon Berlin’: A Philharmonic Discourse with Florian Illies, Manfred Görtemaker And Tilman Krause
Ah yes, the Weimar Republic. Again? While the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin is currently showing a marvelous exhibition on
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An “Offenbach Family Album” and “Esther, Queen of Persia”: Interview With Ralf-Olivier Schwarz
For the 2019 Offenbach celebrations the city of Cologne has set up a special committee to organize an “Offenbach Year”
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Das Lied der Liebe” From Leipzig
You know it’s Korngold alright from the very first bars: it’s an explosion of sound, hyper-intense like the opening of
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The Bernstein/Kosky “Candide” At Komische Oper Berlin: “A Really Spectacular Disaster”?
Writing an operetta in the 1950s for Broadway was certainly – a bit eccentric! The grand operetta hits had all
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Operetta and Modernity: A New Book By Ethel Matala de Mazza
When I first heard of this book I got really excited: the famous S. Fischer publishing house would release a
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Meeting With The Comic Opera Guild Of Michigan: A Conversation With Tom Petiet
Among the various US-American operetta companies, the Comic Opera Guild continues to draw international attention through recordings that offer a
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“Gaiety, Glitz and Glamour — or Dispirited Historical Dregs? A Re-Evaluation of Operetta”: A Conversation with Prof. Derek B. Scott
From 10 to 12 January 2019 the University of Leeds is hosting an international operetta conference entitled Gaiety, Glitz and
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“Sigh By Night”: Katharine Mehrling’s “vive la vie” Program At Bar jeder Vernunft
In the case of an artist of the caliber of Katharine Mehrling it’s obviously worth sticking around until the very
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Berlin Babylon. Or: A New “Die Tote Stadt” at Komische Oper By Robert Carson
Is Korngold’s 1920 psycho thriller Die tote Stadt an operetta? Obviously not, but there are various links to the genre,
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Spoliansky’s “Alles Schwindel” Returns To Berlin’s Gorki Theater Next Season
The good news is: Mischa Spoliansky’s modern-dating-chaos operetta Alles Schwindel (1931) is returning to Berlin’s Gorki Theater for the 2018/19
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Sophia Euskirchen & Jörn-Felix Alt Revive The Weimar Era: “Cabaret” Back In Berlin
It’s a weird and wonderful experience to sit in the Tipi-am-Kanzleramt tent, waiting for a performance of Kander & Ebb’s
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‘Authentic’ Operetta Productions At Ohio Light Opera? Plus A Festival Symposium
Enterprising Ohio Light Opera, ever devoted to ‘authentic’ productions from the world of musical comedy and operetta, seems to go
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Künneke’s “Herz über Bord”: A New Recording Of The Complete Score With Wayne Marshall
When Eduard Künneke presented his syncopated Der Vetter aus Dingsda in Berlin 1921, it was quite revolutionary to have so
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A Queer Alternative To Football: Barbra Streisand’s “Nose” At Komische Oper Berlin
What do you do when all the world is abuzz with football, and you don’t give as f*** about ballgames?
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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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“Die Blume von Hawaii” At Theater für Niedersachsen: Florian Ziemen Conducts
So it was off to Waikiki and South Sea breezes, again. I had a chance to see Paul Abraham’s glorious
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