Charles Hayden Coffin: A ‘Gay’ Matinee Idol Revisited
A combination of circumstances led me, a year or three ago, to a little coven of enthusiasts fascinated by the
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Cross-Dressed Military Operetta In World War 1 And 2: An Exhibition In Meiningen And A New Book
Back in 2014, corresponding with the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1, the Schwules Museum in Berlin offered
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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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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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Magic Mike Live. Or: What About The Objectification Of Men In Operetta?
In a recent article for The Times, Jamie Stoker reported on casting for London’s Magic Mike Live. The headline says
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“Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre”: Reviving the Genre for Today’s LGBT Community
It started out as a small concert performance at Schwules Museum in Berlin in the context of a Siegfried Wagner
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Adonises Of Silver Operetta? Or: A Re-Encounter With Adolf Wohlbrück
There is a Facebook group out there called Adonises of the Silver Screen. It offers amazing photos of and anecdotes
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Offenbach And Opera Rara. Or: Waiting For A Recording Of The Original French “Robinson Crusoé”
It’s interesting how you can have a full cast recording sitting on your CD shelf for decades, and it never
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“Crazy World”: Anna Bonitatibus’ Collection Of Trousers-Roles From Offenbach To Mancini
Recently, gender and diversity Prof. Simon Dickel gave an interview on Deutschlandfunk talking about his new book Queer Cinema which
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Rosa von Praunheim’s “Jeder Idiot hat eine Oma, nur ich nicht”: The Revival of Cabaret Operetta?
The format of the cabaret operetta has fallen out of favor, somewhat. 100 years ago, theaters all over the world
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A Trip To The Moon With Geschwister Pfister: Talking About “Frau Luna” and Queer-Feminism In Operetta
The Geschwister Pfister – a German-Swiss-Croatian comedy trio – have written operetta history, many times over. Yes, they were the
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The Gay Hussars, Or: Kálmán’s “Ein Herbstmanöver” At Theater Giessen
The unpretentious German city of Giessen has a population of 78,000 and boasts two fine buildings: the railway station and
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My First Queer Operetta: “Die Insel Tulipatan” At Staatsoper Berlin 1982
Since Offenbach’s Island of Tulipatan has popped up again on the general radar, with a brand new English language recording
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Offenbach’s “The Island of Tulipatan” In A World-Premiere English Language Recording
We need to talk about Offenbach, seriously and right now. Is it a sign of our gender-queer times that of
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Sigrid Grajek Revives Claire Waldoff Repertoire
Die Wirkungsgeschichte von Ikonen folgt eigenen Maßstäben. Und die von Claire Waldoff ganz besonders. Denn die Lieder und Aufnahmen der
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Interview With Mr. Barihunks: The Beefcake Side Of Oper(ett)a
In 2007, a music manager in the US started a blog called Barihunks, dedicated to hunky baritones. Over the years,
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First Modern Recording of Franz Lehár’s Feminist “Die Juxheirat”
Julius Bauer (1854-1941) was, like many Viennese operetta librettists, a highly cultured and witty man. He studied medicine and then
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Offenbach’s Gender-Bending “L’ile de Tulipatan” From New York
The Light Opera of New York (LOONY) shifted gears this spring from its annual early American operetta – usually by
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Sasha Regan’s All-Male “The Mikado” Touring The UK
Sasha Regan has been director of the Union Theatre in London for 19 years. It is a small space, seating
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“Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre”
As everyone knows, operetta in its original form was a very liberated art form, in terms of sexual politics. And
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A New Biogragphy Of Charles Amberg – Lyricist Of “Clivia”
Charles Amberg (1894-1946) is not exactly a household name today, and even dedicated operetta fans will be hard pressed to
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Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Patience” At English Touring Opera
The ‘comic opera’ Patience (or ‘Bunthorne’s Bride’) has an important place in theatrical history. It was the first stage production
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Ivor Novello: “Composer of the Week” On BBC3
Operetta star performer and writer Ivor Novello (1893-1951) will be featured as “Composer of the Week” for BBC Radio 3
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Re-Sampling A Legend: “Ziegfeld And His Follies” By Cynthia And Sara Brideson
Here is a splashy new biography of “Broadway’s Greatest Producer,” Florenz Ziegfeld, written by the team of the Brideson sisters,
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A New Homoerotic “Vetter aus Dingsda” In Stralsund
The Theater Vorpommern / Haus Stralsund will open its new season with Künneke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda on October 8.
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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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“Bühnenbild: Peter Kothe.” The Forgotten World Of Operetta In Socialism
Operetta in East-Germany has turned into a topic I have become more and more fascinated with. Maybe because my first
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„Ich reiß mir eine Wimper aus und stech’ dich damit tot!“ Die Entnazifizierung der NS-Operette zwischen 1945 und 2015
Nach der sogenannten „Stunde Null“ am 8. Mai 1945 hatten die Menschen in Deutschland mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit andere Sorgen, als sich
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Two “Im weißen Rössl” Exhibtions In Neustrelitz
It is one man’s enthusiasm that made this possible: the hotel owner Jürgen Haase from Neustrelitz – a picturesque town
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„Emerging From The Closet Of Representation“: Homosexuality And Same-Sex Marriage On The Musical Theater Stage
The genre operetta was invented around 1850 in Paris, as a new and independent musical theater form in the modern
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“Männe, hak’ mir mal die Taille auf!”: Erotic Cabaret Songs
The art of the suggestive song is not restricted to any particular historic era; it is, however, limited to a
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The Gayest Show in Berlin: “Kiss Me, Kate” At The Komische Oper
Barrie Kosky’s first foray into the Broadway musical at the Komische Oper was Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate in 2008,
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Blacks Doing Yellow-Face, Or Some Very Queer Gilbert & Sullivan
Recently, ORCA received a generous donation in the form of various Gilbert & Sullivan materials that a researcher in the
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“Grimm”: Tomorrow’s Stars In Today’s Hit-Show
Yes, here it finally is: the original cast album and DVD version of Grimm. This fairy tale musical, with some
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Top 10 Hottest Operetta Hunks?
Sometimes you wonder why the opera world – of all possible spaces – can pull off such a stunt, but
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Race And Operetta: The Next Frontier?
It is often interesting to compare how researchers in different parts of the Western world look at art forms in
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