"room... Never! I always have a beauty sitting by the window, in view from the sidewalk."" It was so famous that the third act of Franz Lehár's 1905 operetta ""The Merry Widow"" was set there. In 1913, Jean Cocteau said of Maxim's: ""It was an accumulation of velvet, lace, ribbons, diamonds and what all else I couldn't describe. To undress one of these women is like an outing that calls for three weeks' advance notice, it's like moving house."" In 1932, Octave Vaudable, owner of the restaurant Noel Peters, bought Maxim's. He started selecting his clients, favouring the regulars, preferably"
"in the 1890s, operettas returned to London and Broadway in 1907 with ""The Merry Widow"", and operettas and musicals became direct competitors for a time. In the early years of the 20th century, English-language adaptations of 19th century continental operettas, as well as operettas by a new generation of European composers, such as Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus, among others, spread throughout the English-speaking world. In America, Victor Herbert produced a string of famous operettas (""The Fortune Teller"" (1898), ""Babes in Toyland"" (1903), ""Mlle. Modiste"" (1905), ""The Red Mill"" (1906) and ""Naughty Marietta"" (1910)), often with librettist Harry B. Smith,"
"comedies, operettas returned to London and Broadway in 1907 with ""The Merry Widow"", and adaptations of continental operettas became direct competitors with musicals. Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus composed new operettas that were popular in English until World War I. In America, Victor Herbert produced a string of enduring operettas including ""The Fortune Teller"" (1898), ""Babes in Toyland"" (1903), ""Mlle. Modiste"" (1905), ""The Red Mill"" (1906) and ""Naughty Marietta"" (1910). In the 1910s, the team of P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern, following in the footsteps of Gilbert and Sullivan, created the ""Princess Theatre shows"" and paved the"
"Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ""The Merry Widow"". He embarked on a career in the British Army, rising to the rank of captain, while writing theatrical pieces in his spare time. After some modest success, Hood and his collaborator, the composer Walter Slaughter, had a major hit with their long-running show, ""Gentleman Joe"", in 1895. Another long-running success was ""The French Maid"" (1896). Hood then"
"a cameo role), and ""Comradeship"" (1919). Lily Elsie Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962) was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in ""The Merry Widow"", opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals, including ""The Dollar Princess"" (1909), ""A Waltz Dream"" (1911) and ""The Count"
"Lily Elsie Lily Elsie (born Elsie Hodder; 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962) was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Beginning as a child star in the 1890s, Elsie built her reputation in several successful Edwardian musical comedies before her great success in ""The Merry Widow"", opening in 1907. Afterwards, she starred in several more successful operettas and musicals, including ""The Dollar Princess"" (1909), ""A Waltz Dream"" (1911) and ""The Count of Luxembourg"" (1911). Admired for her"
"Franz Lehár Franz Lehár (; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Lehár was born in the northern part of Komárom, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Komárno, Slovakia), the eldest son of Franz Lehár (senior) (1838–1898), an Austrian bandmaster in the Infantry Regiment No. 50 of the Austro-Hungarian Army and Christine Neubrandt (1849–1906), a Hungarian woman from a family of German descent. He grew up speaking only Hungarian until the age of 12. Later"
"commercial success. In its English adaptation by Basil Hood, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, ""The Merry Widow"" became a sensation at Daly's Theatre in London, opening on 8 June 1907, starring Lily Elsie and Joseph Coyne and featuring George Graves as the Baron, Robert Evett as Camille and W. H. Berry as Nisch, with costumes by Lucile and Percy Anderson. Gabrielle Ray was a replacement as the Maxim's dancer Frou-Frou. It was produced by George Edwardes. The production ran for an extraordinary 778 performances in London and toured extensively in Great Britain. The adaptation renamed many of the characters, to"
"New York, aged 73. Donald Brian Donald Brian (February 17, 1877 – December 22, 1948) was an actor, dancer and singer born in St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada). In 1907, he starred in the hit operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Brian, a tenor, was employed in a Boston machine shop and, at the age of 16, began performing with a vocal quartet. When he joined a theatrical troupe in New York City, he was soon in demand as a leading man. He had leading roles in more than 20 Broadway musicals. In 1915 Brian signed with film producer"
"Viktor Léon Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon (born Victor Hirschfeld; 4 January 1858, Szenic, Nyitra County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Senica, Slovakia) – 3 February 1940, Vienna) was a well-known Jewish Austrian-Hungarian librettist. He collaborated with Leo Stein to produce the libretto of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Hirschfeld began a career as a journalist, and then branched out in the theatre under the pseudonym that was to become familiar - Viktor Léon. Between 1880 and 1884 he wrote one-act libretti for Vienna's variety theatre, the Carl-Schultze-Theater in Hamburg, and the German Theatre"
"Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe (, originally German ""Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe"" ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988), was an Austrian-American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including ""My Fair Lady"" and ""Camelot"", both of which were made into films. Loewe was born in Berlin, Germany, to Viennese parents Edmond and Rosa Loewe. His father was a noted Jewish operetta star who performed throughout Europe and in North and South America; he starred as Count Danilo in the 1906 Berlin production of ""The Merry Widow"". Loewe grew up in Berlin and attended"
"Brussels, where he was made chief conductor at the Théâtre de la Monnaie and saw instant success with his ballet ""Ispahan"" and several tunes. His wife, Suzy Delsart, was an operetta star (operette divette) and sang the title role of ""The Merry Widow"" by Franz Lehár and also influenced her husband into writing lighter and more popular tunes. In 1907 he completed the music for Marcel Gerbidon's operetta,""Flossie"" or ""Je m'appelle Flossie."" In 1908 he adapted Pierre Veber's comedy ""Loute"", then in 1914 began the musical comedy ""Flup !"" to a libretto by Gaston Dumestre, which had a successful premiere"
"a cast featuring Sterling Holloway, Frank Atkinson, Leonard Sillman and his sister June Carroll. In the fall of 1932, Hecht worked on another theater play, a revised and modernized version of Franz Lehár's operetta, ""The Merry Widow"". The play was brought up to date by J. Keirn Brennan with dance numbers by Hecht and vocal numbers by H. L. Heidecker. Karl Hajos composed and conducted the 30-piece orchestra and the cast included Herbert Evans, Ruth Gillette, Alex Callam, Florinne McKinney, Franklin Record, Roland Woodruff, Diane Warfield, Paul Sauter, Rolloe Dix, William Jeffries, Harold Reeves and Evelyn Cunningham. The play opened"
"successful himself, his career brought him in contact with the biggest stars of Viennese opera during his time. Léon's property was confiscated after Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938. He died of starvation while in hiding in 1940 at the age of 82. Viktor Léon Victor Léon, also Viktor Léon (born Victor Hirschfeld; 4 January 1858, Szenic, Nyitra County, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Senica, Slovakia) – 3 February 1940, Vienna) was a well-known Jewish Austrian-Hungarian librettist. He collaborated with Leo Stein to produce the libretto of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta ""The Merry Widow"" (""Die lustige Witwe""). Hirschfeld"
"Doris Armine Ashworth; she died about 1958. Hood died suddenly in his flat in St. James's Street, London, at the age of 53, from the effects of overwork and neglecting to eat. After his death, his children's book, ""Saint George of England"", was published in 1919 by George G. Harrap & Co., London. Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ""The Merry Widow"". He embarked on a"
"roster, eventually carrying over 30 shows in its repertory. Its first non-G&S show was Victor Herbert's ""Naughty Marietta"", with guest artist Joan Sena-Grande in the title role, to open its tenure at the Eastside Playhouse in 1975. Larry Raiken played Captain Dick Warrington. The next operetta with a guest star was Rudolph Friml's 1925 hit, ""The Vagabond King"", with Broadway veteran Jeanne Beauvais as Huguette. In the mid-1970s, the company asked Alice Hammerstein Mathias (Oscar Hammerstein II's daughter) to create a new translation of Franz Lehár's ""The Merry Widow"". The translation is lighter and focuses more on the humorous aspects"
"Donald Brian Donald Brian (February 17, 1877 – December 22, 1948) was an actor, dancer and singer born in St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada). In 1907, he starred in the hit operetta ""The Merry Widow"". Brian, a tenor, was employed in a Boston machine shop and, at the age of 16, began performing with a vocal quartet. When he joined a theatrical troupe in New York City, he was soon in demand as a leading man. He had leading roles in more than 20 Broadway musicals. In 1915 Brian signed with film producer Jesse L. Lasky to"
"The Fascinating Widow The Fascinating Widow is a 1910 musical comedy written by Otto Hauerbach as a vehicle for the female impersonator Julian Eltinge. The play premiered in Atlantic City, New Jersey, then toured the United States for 10 months before appearing on Broadway in September 1911. The play premiered at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey on November 14, 1910, with A. H. Woods producing. Woods toured the show around the United States, then brought it back to the Apollo in August 1911, before taking it to Broadway. It opened on Broadway at the Liberty Theatre in"
"she is infatuated with. In February 1905 she was in a production of ""The Brixton Burglary"" at the Carnegie Lyceum in Manhattan. Written by Frederick W. Sidney, the presentation could not be staged in Brooklyn, New York, because of the burning of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Several hundred members and friends of the Amaranth, Brooklyn's oldest dramatic society, attended the performance. She starred in ""The Blue Moon"" on Broadway in 1906. Henry W. Savage secured Jackson to sing the role of Sonia in the original Broadway production of ""The Merry Widow"". The Viennese comic opera was written by Victor"
"were his ""Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30"" (1894), which entered the standard repertoire, and his ""Auditorium Festival March"" (1901). He led the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then founded the Victor Herbert Orchestra, which he conducted throughout the rest of his life. Herbert began to compose operettas in 1894, producing several successes, including ""The Serenade"" (1897) and ""The Fortune Teller"" (1898). Some of the operettas that he wrote after the turn of the 20th century were even more successful: ""Babes in Toyland"" (1903), ""Mlle. Modiste"" (1905), ""The Red Mill"" (1906), ""Naughty Marietta"" (1910), ""Sweethearts"""
"Records the same year. The Red Mill The Red Mill is an operetta written by Victor Herbert, with a libretto by Henry Blossom. The farcical story concerns two American vaudevillians who wreak havoc at an inn in Holland, interfering with two marriages; but all ends well in the end. The musical premiered on Broadway on September 24, 1906 at the Knickerbocker Theatre and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone and David C. Montgomery. It was revived on October 16, 1945, opening at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and running for 531 performances. The show also had a London run and"
"The Red Mill The Red Mill is an operetta written by Victor Herbert, with a libretto by Henry Blossom. The farcical story concerns two American vaudevillians who wreak havoc at an inn in Holland, interfering with two marriages; but all ends well in the end. The musical premiered on Broadway on September 24, 1906 at the Knickerbocker Theatre and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone and David C. Montgomery. It was revived on October 16, 1945, opening at the Ziegfeld Theatre, and running for 531 performances. The show also had a London run and toured extensively. For the"
"Der lustige Krieg Der lustige Krieg (""The Merry War"") is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run. It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game of love between Colonel Umberto Spinola, the commander-in-chief of the Genoese army, and the widowed Countess Violetta. Despite the name of the"
"Adrian Ross who had previously adapted ""The Merry Widow"" for English audiences. The Hood and Ross version premiered in London on 20 May 1911 with Lehár conducting and King George V and Queen Mary in the audience. It was followed by a Broadway production in 1912. Hood and Ross had made significant alterations to the original libretto and reduced the work from three acts to two with Lehár adjusting the score accordingly. However, in 1983, the New Sadler's Wells Opera (which closed in 1989) performed the work in a new translation of the libretto by Nigel Douglas with song texts"
"Music"", but Alan Blyth in his ""Opera on CD"" regrets the casting of a baritone as Danilo in both sets and prefers the 1958 Decca version. Among the filmed productions on DVD, the Penguin Guide recommends the one from the San Francisco Opera, recorded live in 2001, conducted by Erich Kunzel and directed by Lotfi Mansouri, with Yvonne Kenny as Hanna and Bo Skovhus as Danilo. The recordings listed below are sung in German unless otherwise noted. Notes Sources The Merry Widow discography This is a discography of ""The Merry Widow"" (German: ""Die lustige Witwe""), an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian"
"""The Shop Girl"" (1894) and ""The Circus Girl"" (1896). Ross next wrote the lyrics for a string of hit musicals, beginning with ""A Greek Slave"" (1898), ""San Toy"" (1899), ""The Messenger Boy"" (1900) and ""The Toreador"" (1901) and continuing without a break through World War I. He also wrote the English lyrics for a series of hit adaptations of European operettas beginning with ""The Merry Widow"" in 1907. During World War I, Ross was one of the founders of the Performing Rights Society. He continued writing until 1930, producing several more successes after the war. He also wrote the popular"
"The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera) The Merry Wives of Windsor (in German: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is an opera in three acts by Otto Nicolai to a German libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal based on the play ""The Merry Wives of Windsor"" by William Shakespeare. The opera is a ""Singspiel"", containing much spoken dialogue between distinct musical numbers. The opera remains popular in Germany, and the overture is sometimes heard in concert in other countries. Otto Nicolai composed the music from 1845 to 1849. He had previously achieved great success with a few Italian operas, but this opera"
"operetta, there is no fighting or bloodshed in the 'war'. Johann Strauss: Der lustige Krieg, ORF Radio-Symphonie Orchester, Wiener Jeunesse-Chor, Wiener Motettenchor Der lustige Krieg Der lustige Krieg (""The Merry War"") is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run. It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game"
"wit and poet. By contrast, in the view of the ""Encyclopedia of Popular Music"", ""adapting German and Viennese operettas … is where he found his métier. Often discarding the original premise, he helped create lively and very popular operettas."" Hood generally changed the structure of these works from three acts to two, often greatly re-writing them and adapting the plots. Shows that Hood adapted included the tremendously popular London production of ""The Merry Widow"" (1907); another hit, ""The Dollar Princess"" (1908); ""A Waltz Dream"" (1908); another success, ""The Count of Luxembourg"" (1911), and the also popular ""Gypsy Love"" (1912). Hood's"
"the operetta played in Brussels. ""The Merry Widow"" is frequently revived in Vienna and is part of the Vienna Volksopera's repertory. The Volksopera released a complete live performance on CD, interpolating the ""Can-Can"" from Offenbach's ""Orpheus in the Underworld"", which was copied in many other productions worldwide. Best known as Danilo in the German version was the actor Johannes Heesters, who played the part thousands of times for over thirty years. The operetta has been recorded both live and in the studio many times, and several video recordings have been made. In 1906, the original Hanna and Danilo, Mizzi Günther"
"in February 1917 and transferring to the Casino Theatre in November 1917 to finish its Broadway run of 463 performances. A London production, under the title ""Oh, Joy!"" opened in January 1919 at the Kingsway Theatre, where it ran for 167 performances. A silent film version was also produced in 1919. Early in the 20th century, American musical theatre consisted of a mix of elaborate European operettas, like ""The Merry Widow"" (1907), British musical comedy imports, like ""The Arcadians"" (1910), George M. Cohan's shows, American operettas, like those of Victor Herbert, ragtime-infused American musicals, and the spectacular revues of Florenz"
"the changing tastes of his audiences. For a time, he successfully presented English adaptations of continental European operettas, like ""The Little Michus"" (1905), ""The Merveilleuses"" (1906), the highly successful ""The Merry Widow"" (1907), ""The Dollar Princess"" (1909), ""The Count of Luxembourg"" (1911), Gipsy Love (1912) and ""Betty"" (1915). In this series, Percy Greenbank replaced his brother Harry, who had died at the age of 33, songwriter Paul Rubens joined the team, and new actors joined or replaced the older ones, including leading men Bertram Wallis, Courtice Pounds and Robert Evett, and leading ladies Gertie Millar, Lily Elsie, Gabrielle Ray, Isabel"
"critical and box office success. Critics praised Murray's dramatic skills while also noting that von Stroheim had ""made an actress out of Miss Murray"". The film made a profit of $758,000. ""The Merry Widow"" was adapted for the screen in 1934, 1952, 1962, and 1994. The Merry Widow (1925 film) The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent romantic drama/black comedy film directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, and Tully Marshall, with pre-fame uncredited appearances by Joan Crawford and Clark Gable. The film is based on the"