Page 189 - 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
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288 metres of velvet, 16 pairs of shoes, 12 yellow top hats, 5 bathtubs ...
Figure 1: The ladder-scene of Halló, Amerika!
Színházi Élet XV, no. 7 (15–21 February 1925): 13.
technique: to open with a so-called charivari act, which introduces the art-
ists and gives taste of everything (and everyone) the audience will see that
evening. It also serves as a warm-up and gets the first applause. The indirect
message of transforming the English girls into Hungarian maidens was this
“foreign” production now turns into a “national” one by singing and danc-
ing a traditional Hungarian csárdás (Ritka búza, ritka árpa). Mixing Hun-
garian themes in the show also suggested to the audience that, despite the
lost war and the unfair peace treaty, Hungarian culture is equivalent to the
others represented with grandeur in the revue.30
However, significant structural features, such as the positioning of a hit
song, followed the Broadway practice: the hit song, Katóka, légy a babám31
appears as an 11 o’clock number or the last showstopper before the second
30 What made Hungarian themes eligible and frequently present in international show
business is detailed in Daniel Molnár, “‘A Whirlwind from the Puszta’. Hungarian
and Hungarian style variety acts in Berlin 1920–1961,” in Acta Ethnographica Hun
garica 64, no. 1 (2019): 211–26, https://doi.org/10.1556/022.2019.64.1.12.
31 It was the hit of No No Nanette (1925) as I want to be happy. Lyrics by Irving Caesar
and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans.
187
Figure 1: The ladder-scene of Halló, Amerika!
Színházi Élet XV, no. 7 (15–21 February 1925): 13.
technique: to open with a so-called charivari act, which introduces the art-
ists and gives taste of everything (and everyone) the audience will see that
evening. It also serves as a warm-up and gets the first applause. The indirect
message of transforming the English girls into Hungarian maidens was this
“foreign” production now turns into a “national” one by singing and danc-
ing a traditional Hungarian csárdás (Ritka búza, ritka árpa). Mixing Hun-
garian themes in the show also suggested to the audience that, despite the
lost war and the unfair peace treaty, Hungarian culture is equivalent to the
others represented with grandeur in the revue.30
However, significant structural features, such as the positioning of a hit
song, followed the Broadway practice: the hit song, Katóka, légy a babám31
appears as an 11 o’clock number or the last showstopper before the second
30 What made Hungarian themes eligible and frequently present in international show
business is detailed in Daniel Molnár, “‘A Whirlwind from the Puszta’. Hungarian
and Hungarian style variety acts in Berlin 1920–1961,” in Acta Ethnographica Hun
garica 64, no. 1 (2019): 211–26, https://doi.org/10.1556/022.2019.64.1.12.
31 It was the hit of No No Nanette (1925) as I want to be happy. Lyrics by Irving Caesar
and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans.
187
