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The Merry Widow
Jun. 20th, 2024 09:23 pmI have loved The Merry Widow operetta since they broadcast the New York Opera production of it in 1996. (An operetta, if you didn't know, is an opera where the dialog between the songs is spoken instead of sung. Think musical theater, except the music comes out of the classical tradition instead of the music hall/popular/low-brow tradition. Also, an operetta usually will have a 20-50 piece orchestra and expect the singers to be able to be heard over the top of it, whereas musicals usually have a MUCH smaller orchestra, so the size of the voice needed for operettas vs. musicals is different.) The Merry Widow is one of the most popular operettas of all time. The music is glorious, the characters are great, there's a lot of humor, and the romance ends with a happy ending. (Though, content warnings for 19th Century views of marriage and fidelity and patriarchy.)
The plot: The fictional European nation of Marshovia is in trouble! The entire nation was bankrupt, and only kept afloat by loans from a rich banker, Glawari, who died and left all his money to his widow! The Widow Glawari is living in Paris now, and her year of mourning is over ... and if she marries a Frenchman, he'll take her money out of Marshovia and all the nobles will have to take :gasp: public transportation! So the Marshovian ambassador to Paris has invited her to a party, and ordered the dashing Count Danilovitch (the King of Marshovia's nephew) to marry her. But Danilo doesn't want to marry her, because they used to be in love but had a falling out--she was too low-born, so the King forbade the match. He went off to persuade the King without telling her what he was doing, she believed he had abandoned her and married the banker, Danilo saw that and figured she must have only been after his social position and didn't really love him. They're both hurt, they both still love the other, they are both adamant that they don't want to marry the other, and Shenanigans ensue: trying to divide the Widow from all the Parisian men who want to marry her, marital intrigue among the Marshovians, Danilo and the Widow pining after each other and fighting at the same time, it's a lot of fun with a lot of glorious music.
And the 1996 New York City Opera production of it was spectacular. They managed to cast people who had top-notch voices to do the music justice, who were also great actors, and who could dance well. They brought in Broadway people for choreography and the comic roles that didn't require operatic voices. The sets, the costumes, everything is incredible. It's the very best of opera and the very best of Broadway all put together in one show. I wish there was a better quality recording of it; this is obviously a VHS that someone taped off TV. The sound is pretty good, but the video quality is not. I periodically go back and re-watch it on Youtube anyway.
But I also periodically go through Youtube to see what other productions of the show are on there, or to watch my favorite songs. And today I found ... something interesting. I watched the Witchita Grand Opera version of "Women" (from Act 2). It's the same production as the 1996 New York City Opera version! The set is the same, the choreography is the same ... quite interesting.
The plot: The fictional European nation of Marshovia is in trouble! The entire nation was bankrupt, and only kept afloat by loans from a rich banker, Glawari, who died and left all his money to his widow! The Widow Glawari is living in Paris now, and her year of mourning is over ... and if she marries a Frenchman, he'll take her money out of Marshovia and all the nobles will have to take :gasp: public transportation! So the Marshovian ambassador to Paris has invited her to a party, and ordered the dashing Count Danilovitch (the King of Marshovia's nephew) to marry her. But Danilo doesn't want to marry her, because they used to be in love but had a falling out--she was too low-born, so the King forbade the match. He went off to persuade the King without telling her what he was doing, she believed he had abandoned her and married the banker, Danilo saw that and figured she must have only been after his social position and didn't really love him. They're both hurt, they both still love the other, they are both adamant that they don't want to marry the other, and Shenanigans ensue: trying to divide the Widow from all the Parisian men who want to marry her, marital intrigue among the Marshovians, Danilo and the Widow pining after each other and fighting at the same time, it's a lot of fun with a lot of glorious music.
And the 1996 New York City Opera production of it was spectacular. They managed to cast people who had top-notch voices to do the music justice, who were also great actors, and who could dance well. They brought in Broadway people for choreography and the comic roles that didn't require operatic voices. The sets, the costumes, everything is incredible. It's the very best of opera and the very best of Broadway all put together in one show. I wish there was a better quality recording of it; this is obviously a VHS that someone taped off TV. The sound is pretty good, but the video quality is not. I periodically go back and re-watch it on Youtube anyway.
But I also periodically go through Youtube to see what other productions of the show are on there, or to watch my favorite songs. And today I found ... something interesting. I watched the Witchita Grand Opera version of "Women" (from Act 2). It's the same production as the 1996 New York City Opera version! The set is the same, the choreography is the same ... quite interesting.
