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
read moreJoseph Coyne was a light comedy actor-who-sings who moved from silly-ass rôles in his native America to stardom as Britain’s
read moreProbably the best of the later, post Raymond Vincy, musical shows written by the already fading Francis Lopez, Viva Napoli
read moreOne of the most successful of the series of post-war musicals authored by Raymond Vincy (and, in this case, Albert
read moreAs much as one show can, La Belle de Cadix marked the same kind of a turning in the musical
read moreLe Chanteur de Mexico followed behind La Belle de Cadix and Andalousie in the continuing series of Raymond Vincy/Francis Lopez
read moreToday I got asked, for the umpteenth time, ‘what was the first American musical?’ Well, all those three qualifications narrow
read moreThe record label Palaeophonics is specialized in historic cast albums attractively packed as old The Play reprints of the respective
read moreFranz Lehár’s 1924 operetta Cloclo is not one of his more famous titles, and it hasn’t stayed in the repertoire
read moreWill Marion Cook was born in Washington, DC, on 27 January, 1869. The son of a well-off and well-educated family,
read moreI heard yesterday that Mady Mesplé had died. I have to admit that, to me, she belonged to a past
read moreWith all this free time at home right now I’ve started working my way through various DVD boxes I’ve had
read moreThe paperback edition of this fascinating, useful and, on the whole, well researched book sells for about 20 Euros on
read moreWhen the world is under quarantine and everything is shut down because of a new virus – you have lots
read moreThe folk who created the musical works of Meilhac, Halévy, Crémieux, Hervé and their colleagues, and of the parallel composers,
read moreOffenbach’s 1857 Vent du soir, ou l’horrible festin is one of his more famous titles in the German speaking theater
read more“Wonderfully opinionated, outrageously frank, and always sensible” Yes, that was me. I suppose it still is … but in 1991
read moreThe team responsible for that overwhelming hit of 1926, The Desert Song, mined a similar vein for their next collaboration,
read moreI first came seriously in contact with F. C. Burnand’s burlesque, Ixion, when working on my biography of burlesque megastar,
read moreThe one-act l‘île de Tulipatan, written by Jacques Offenbach with his librettists Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru in 1868 for
read moreHow do you solve a problem like – operetta? The question has been asked many times over, especially since so
read moreThe Queen of Offenbach’s Bouffes? Oh, yes, I hear the unenlightened nod. ‘Hortense Schneider. We’ve all heard of her’. I:
read moreToday, in the expanses of Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney, Australia, with only the workmen as witnesses, a vacant-looking plot of earth
read moreÉdouard Théodore Nicole, better known as Léonce (b Paris, 12 January 1820) was a slim, bespectacled (off-stage) low comedian with
read moreIn his new book Der Klang von Paris – “The Sound(s) of Paris” – Volker Hagedorn embarkes on “a trip
read more‘Une danseuse à l’Opéra’ – it was a phrase which, under the brilliance of the French Second Empire, had a
read moreThe Operetta Research Centre was, this week, undergoing technical maintenance, in the course of which supremo Kevin Clarke came up
read moreBe careful what you wish for, says the old adage. You may get it … and in spades! Forty years
read moreBefore the building of railways into London from the rest of south-east England in the third quarter of the nineteenth
read moreOriginally produced at Baden-Baden during the 1869 summer season, with the young Mdlle Périer in its principal travesty rôle, La
read moreThe effect of Ivor Novello’s music on me was immediate: I remember the first time I heard his songs on
read moreTo say precisely who were the first English dancers to perform the cancan in the English-language theatre is pretty impossible.
read moreA combination of circumstances led me, a year or three ago, to a little coven of enthusiasts fascinated by the
read moreJust out is a large-size almost catalogue-like publication in English, French and German in the Revue Musicorum series, no. 20/2018.
read moreIn his 2 volume biography Emily Soldene: In Search of a Singer Kurt Gänzl chronicles the initial success of opéra
read moreMy last post and its original five pictures, borrowed from the gold mines of Blois, included four taken from the
read moreWhen you are researching the past, and the answers and facts don’t fall obviously into place, you just have to
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