Page 187 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
P. 187
288 metres of velvet, 16 pairs of shoes, 12 yellow top hats, 5 bathtubs ...
Békeffy quit the show after the 50th performance26 and Irén Biller, the lead-
ing lady, also left the show before the end of its run.27 There may have been
various reasons behind these decisions, but based upon Erzsi Péchy’s state-
ment we can suspect that, personal conflicts aside, the core of the problem
was the revue genre itself.
The show’s real protagonists were not the operetta stars, but the girls
– particularly the 16 English girls. Operetta stars, who traditionally creat-
ed roles, were now “merely” to sing songs (sometimes without any context)
and to lead the girls in fancy dresses. Roles or characters in the tradition-
al sense only appeared in comic sketches. From their perspective, this re-
vue took only a small part of operetta productions (dancing with the en-
semble, frequently in the Abgang) and made it dominant – while discarded
everything else which might have been more important and fulfilling to the
performers. In addition to this, the foreign troupe was new and exotic com-
pared to the established Hungarian stars, whose mannerisms were already
well-known by the audience. Erzsi Péchy might thus have realised that her
position in the show was only a supporting role compared to the girls – the
press campaign of the productions shows the same. Halló, Amerika! was
advertised with the showgirls and visual effects rather than operetta stars.
In the following section, I put these into the focus of the analysis.
The spectacular
The fact that Halló, Amerika! did not have a plot was a new experience for
Budapest audiences. Thus, several articles were sponsored by the theatre to
introduce the genre and manage expectations.28 However, not having a plot
does not mean the show does not have a structure to analyse. We have a de-
tailed description of the production because a reporter for Színházi Élet at-
tempted to describe what happens in the show:
26 A Nép, September 3, 1925. Beside his stage work, he was also a manager of Vidám
Színpad [Merry Theatre].
27 Nemzeti Ujság, May 9, 1925.
28 For example: “It would be difficult to talk about the plot because it doesn’t have one.
It’s a three hours long continuous chain of stage tricks with small rests, solos and duos,
sensational American singing and dancing acts, artistic light and colour effects, the
sparkling beauties of the female body and dresses with kaleidoscope-like processions
and stylised folk dress [...].” Jenő Kálmán, “Érdekes és mulatságos kis revű a nagy
revűről” [Interesting and fun review of the big revue], Színházi Élet XV, no. 7 (15–21
February 1925): 8–13, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/00549/pdf/.
185
Békeffy quit the show after the 50th performance26 and Irén Biller, the lead-
ing lady, also left the show before the end of its run.27 There may have been
various reasons behind these decisions, but based upon Erzsi Péchy’s state-
ment we can suspect that, personal conflicts aside, the core of the problem
was the revue genre itself.
The show’s real protagonists were not the operetta stars, but the girls
– particularly the 16 English girls. Operetta stars, who traditionally creat-
ed roles, were now “merely” to sing songs (sometimes without any context)
and to lead the girls in fancy dresses. Roles or characters in the tradition-
al sense only appeared in comic sketches. From their perspective, this re-
vue took only a small part of operetta productions (dancing with the en-
semble, frequently in the Abgang) and made it dominant – while discarded
everything else which might have been more important and fulfilling to the
performers. In addition to this, the foreign troupe was new and exotic com-
pared to the established Hungarian stars, whose mannerisms were already
well-known by the audience. Erzsi Péchy might thus have realised that her
position in the show was only a supporting role compared to the girls – the
press campaign of the productions shows the same. Halló, Amerika! was
advertised with the showgirls and visual effects rather than operetta stars.
In the following section, I put these into the focus of the analysis.
The spectacular
The fact that Halló, Amerika! did not have a plot was a new experience for
Budapest audiences. Thus, several articles were sponsored by the theatre to
introduce the genre and manage expectations.28 However, not having a plot
does not mean the show does not have a structure to analyse. We have a de-
tailed description of the production because a reporter for Színházi Élet at-
tempted to describe what happens in the show:
26 A Nép, September 3, 1925. Beside his stage work, he was also a manager of Vidám
Színpad [Merry Theatre].
27 Nemzeti Ujság, May 9, 1925.
28 For example: “It would be difficult to talk about the plot because it doesn’t have one.
It’s a three hours long continuous chain of stage tricks with small rests, solos and duos,
sensational American singing and dancing acts, artistic light and colour effects, the
sparkling beauties of the female body and dresses with kaleidoscope-like processions
and stylised folk dress [...].” Jenő Kálmán, “Érdekes és mulatságos kis revű a nagy
revűről” [Interesting and fun review of the big revue], Színházi Élet XV, no. 7 (15–21
February 1925): 8–13, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/00549/pdf/.
185
