Page 205 - 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 ...
actors came on stage as townsfolk. According to the story, the American
billionaire Mr. Linkell arrives to Miskolc, received by the prominent people
of the town. The townsfolk sing the Királyhágó-song from A nótás kapitány
in his honour, “by which Linkell was touched.”110 It turns out however that
Linkell is not a billionaire but a fraud; so the mob takes him to the Miskolc
Theatre as a punishment (!) and the show begins. This story is an interpre-
tation of the cultural conflict around Halló, Amerika!, but it also ironical-
ly reflects the relationship (or actual reality) between capital and provincial
productions. The seventh scene of the show was called “Gala night in the
Miskolc Theatre”;111 which might have drawn something from the style of
the original production.
In June, Halló, Amerika! was presented in Kolozsvár [Cluj-Napoca,
Romania] in an unknown version by the company of Nagyvárad [Oradea,
Romania] and toured in other Transylvanian cities – reaching Hungarian
audiences outside of the borders.112 Szeged also started preparations to pro-
duce a revue “not less than the Budapest production,” including four orig-
inal local comic sketches by the Budapest comedian László Békeffi.113 The
production remained only a plan, however, due to the financial crisis faced
by the theatre. In August, a casino in the holiday resort town at Lake Bala-
ton produced Halló, Siófok! for one night, featuring 15 girls and a gypsy
band,114 and even the amateur company of the Orosháza Tennis Club pro-
duced a Halló, Orosháza!, “a big revue in nine scenes.”115
Halló Városliget!116 was presented by the company of Városligeti
Műszínkör [Budapest City Park Performers] in July 1925. Even though this
was a Budapest production, its cultural distance from acknowledged thea-
tre life was so great that it fits better here. The Városliget had already been
a traditional entertainment district for a hundred years at the time. It was
particularly developed as one of the main sites of the major celebrations
and exhibitions (1896). In the 1920s, this bygone era had a large nostalgic
110 Színházi Élet XV, no. 17 (4 April–2 May 1925): 84, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343
/00559/pdf/.
111 Miskolci Napló, March 25, 1925.
112 Vágóhíd, June 18, 1925.
113 Szegedi Uj Nemzedék, April 15, 1925.
114 Színházi Élet XV, no. 32 (9–15 August 1925): 73, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00574/pdf/.
115 Színházi Élet XV, no. 33 (16–22 August 1925): 86, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00575/pdf/.
116 Opened on August 6, 1925, music by Jenő Kerner and Mihály Erdélyi. Ágnes Alpár,
A Városliget színházai [The theatres of Városliget] (Budapest: OSZMI, 2001), 61.
203
actors came on stage as townsfolk. According to the story, the American
billionaire Mr. Linkell arrives to Miskolc, received by the prominent people
of the town. The townsfolk sing the Királyhágó-song from A nótás kapitány
in his honour, “by which Linkell was touched.”110 It turns out however that
Linkell is not a billionaire but a fraud; so the mob takes him to the Miskolc
Theatre as a punishment (!) and the show begins. This story is an interpre-
tation of the cultural conflict around Halló, Amerika!, but it also ironical-
ly reflects the relationship (or actual reality) between capital and provincial
productions. The seventh scene of the show was called “Gala night in the
Miskolc Theatre”;111 which might have drawn something from the style of
the original production.
In June, Halló, Amerika! was presented in Kolozsvár [Cluj-Napoca,
Romania] in an unknown version by the company of Nagyvárad [Oradea,
Romania] and toured in other Transylvanian cities – reaching Hungarian
audiences outside of the borders.112 Szeged also started preparations to pro-
duce a revue “not less than the Budapest production,” including four orig-
inal local comic sketches by the Budapest comedian László Békeffi.113 The
production remained only a plan, however, due to the financial crisis faced
by the theatre. In August, a casino in the holiday resort town at Lake Bala-
ton produced Halló, Siófok! for one night, featuring 15 girls and a gypsy
band,114 and even the amateur company of the Orosháza Tennis Club pro-
duced a Halló, Orosháza!, “a big revue in nine scenes.”115
Halló Városliget!116 was presented by the company of Városligeti
Műszínkör [Budapest City Park Performers] in July 1925. Even though this
was a Budapest production, its cultural distance from acknowledged thea-
tre life was so great that it fits better here. The Városliget had already been
a traditional entertainment district for a hundred years at the time. It was
particularly developed as one of the main sites of the major celebrations
and exhibitions (1896). In the 1920s, this bygone era had a large nostalgic
110 Színházi Élet XV, no. 17 (4 April–2 May 1925): 84, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343
/00559/pdf/.
111 Miskolci Napló, March 25, 1925.
112 Vágóhíd, June 18, 1925.
113 Szegedi Uj Nemzedék, April 15, 1925.
114 Színházi Élet XV, no. 32 (9–15 August 1925): 73, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00574/pdf/.
115 Színházi Élet XV, no. 33 (16–22 August 1925): 86, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00575/pdf/.
116 Opened on August 6, 1925, music by Jenő Kerner and Mihály Erdélyi. Ágnes Alpár,
A Városliget színházai [The theatres of Városliget] (Budapest: OSZMI, 2001), 61.
203
