musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
in three acts (ten scenes) "from the world of
Carl Spitzweg
Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era.
Life and career
Spitzweg was born in U ...
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
and Toni Impekoven. It premiered on 19 November 1935 at the
Munich Kammerspiele
The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three venues: the main stage of ...
.
Nick also wrote a "Fantasy" based on material from this work.
Roles
*Christine Holm, a singer
*His
Serene Highness
His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...
*
Earl Marshal
Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...
von
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...
Arnegg (or Arneck)
*
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Walter von Arnegg, his son (
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
)
*
Oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...
von Flumms
*Mrs von Flumms
*Mr Zunder, a travelling salesman
*Court
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
*
Librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
Möhrchen
*Court Kapellmeister
*Police Minister
* Majordomo
*Knipp, a poor poet
*His landlady
*
Apothecary
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...
*Mona, his wife
*Hanne, their daughter, in love with Jakob (
soubrette
A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".
Theatre
In theatre, a soubrette is a ...
)
*Jakob, apprentice apothecary, in love with Hanne (
buffo
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
)
*Mayor
*Guards
*Innkeeper of "The Silver Moon"
*Court officials, Lackeys, maidens, a Widower, soldiers, citizens, musicians, ladies and gentlemen of the court
Plot
In "a small German ducalprincipality, about 1840", the singer Christine Holm has been invited by His Serene Highness to the small town of
Immendingen
Immendingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany located on the Upper Danube. It is famous for the Danube Sinkhole.
Geography
Immendingen is located on the Upper Danube. On the municipal area are part ...
to give a "little court concert". On that occasion, she also intends to make inquiries who her father might be. Her only clue is the song "When the evening's dark veil..." ("") which her mother sang 25 years ago for this man.
Walter, son of Earl Marshal von Arnegg, has immediately fallen in love with Christine. When nasty rumours about Christine begin to circulate in the small town, Walter supports Christine and is even prepared to leave the town with her. His Serene Highness, learning that his concert has to be cancelled because Christine has been driven out of town, recalls her. She gets introduced to the sovereign, who is impressed by her charm and promises to help with the search for her father.
She also mentions her mother's song, and the old man remembers his affair with a handsome singer 25 years ago. He decides to treat Christine from now on as his own daughter and make her a noblewoman. Even the poor poet Knipp gets a
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
hood because his poetry has brought so many couples together. Now there are no more barriers to the marriage of Christine and Walter, nor to the "little court concert".
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for ...
Johannes Heesters
Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stag ...
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
, starring
Elfie Mayerhofer
Elfie Mayerhofer (1917–1992) was an Austrian film actress and singer. A noted stage performer, she played lead roles in a series of musical and operetta films such as '' The Song of the Nightingale'' (1944) and '' The Heavenly Waltz'' (1949). ...
and Hans Nielsen
*' (1963 television film), directed by
*' (1976 television film), directed by
Wolfgang Liebeneiner
Wolfgang Georg Louis Liebeneiner (6 October 1905 – 28 November 1987) was a German actor, film director and theatre director.
Beginnings
He was born in Liebau in Prussian Silesia. In 1928, he was taught by Otto Falckenberg, the director of th ...