Page 208 - 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. 208
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
al status and quality of the venue was considered to be extremely low, they
praised the production as it was considered to be Hungarian, and reflected
the main national sentiments of the era.
Halló, Népliget!, a large-scale operetta revue with songs and dances in
eight scenes, was produced in another less prestigious fairground of Buda-
pest.121 The Népliget venue had serious problems with electricity, so they be-
gan the show in a complete darkness. According to one reviewer, the most
memorable scene concerned the brutal murder of Ferenc Kodelka in Janu-
ary 1925, whose perpetrator had recently been sentenced to be hanged.
These new, local productions were advertised as being on the same lev-
el as the original Budapest show; however, none of the local theatres had the
financial power to stage a spectacular like the one in Budapest, and most
of them clearly did not intend to. Nevertheless, all of these provincial pro-
ductions were staged in the following months after the original’s premiere,
and by the start of the next season in September, the Halló-fever was al-
ready over. One factor behind this rush might have been the producers’
urge to prove (mostly to themselves and to audiences) that they were keep-
ing up with the latest Hungarian musical theatre trends and their quality
was similar to that seen in Budapest. The görl as a social type was mean-
ingless in provincial Hungary, therefore if it appeared in the shows it was
mostly parodied. They used this “new genre” to show the local history fo-
cusing on what they considered as important values, instead of a cosmopol-
itan spectacle. While the original Halló, Amerika! was a tool of escapism,
provincial mutations frequently used their Halló shows as a tool to collec-
tively cope with the trauma and mourning of recent years. According to the
plans of the Operetta Theatre, such themes would have appeared in their
next production, Halló, Budapest!, as well.122 Neither approach is better or
worse than the other, they just serve different purposes and the demands of
different audiences.
Halló, Amerika! was a spectacle of a previously unexperienced size and
quality in Hungary. This was its major flaw: it was oversized for a city like
Budapest, particularly during the time of hyperinflation. The actual mental
state of Budapest society, traumatised by the territorial loss of the country,
might also not have provided the right moment for such a radical change
121 Színházi Élet XV, no. 17 (4 April–2 May 1925): 20–1, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00559/pdf/.
122 The composer Béla Zerkovitz said: “In one of the hit songs created for Irén Biller, I
present three eras of Budapest. The good old times, the so-called slithered era, and the
era of complete breakdown.” Magyarország, April 8, 1925.
206
al status and quality of the venue was considered to be extremely low, they
praised the production as it was considered to be Hungarian, and reflected
the main national sentiments of the era.
Halló, Népliget!, a large-scale operetta revue with songs and dances in
eight scenes, was produced in another less prestigious fairground of Buda-
pest.121 The Népliget venue had serious problems with electricity, so they be-
gan the show in a complete darkness. According to one reviewer, the most
memorable scene concerned the brutal murder of Ferenc Kodelka in Janu-
ary 1925, whose perpetrator had recently been sentenced to be hanged.
These new, local productions were advertised as being on the same lev-
el as the original Budapest show; however, none of the local theatres had the
financial power to stage a spectacular like the one in Budapest, and most
of them clearly did not intend to. Nevertheless, all of these provincial pro-
ductions were staged in the following months after the original’s premiere,
and by the start of the next season in September, the Halló-fever was al-
ready over. One factor behind this rush might have been the producers’
urge to prove (mostly to themselves and to audiences) that they were keep-
ing up with the latest Hungarian musical theatre trends and their quality
was similar to that seen in Budapest. The görl as a social type was mean-
ingless in provincial Hungary, therefore if it appeared in the shows it was
mostly parodied. They used this “new genre” to show the local history fo-
cusing on what they considered as important values, instead of a cosmopol-
itan spectacle. While the original Halló, Amerika! was a tool of escapism,
provincial mutations frequently used their Halló shows as a tool to collec-
tively cope with the trauma and mourning of recent years. According to the
plans of the Operetta Theatre, such themes would have appeared in their
next production, Halló, Budapest!, as well.122 Neither approach is better or
worse than the other, they just serve different purposes and the demands of
different audiences.
Halló, Amerika! was a spectacle of a previously unexperienced size and
quality in Hungary. This was its major flaw: it was oversized for a city like
Budapest, particularly during the time of hyperinflation. The actual mental
state of Budapest society, traumatised by the territorial loss of the country,
might also not have provided the right moment for such a radical change
121 Színházi Élet XV, no. 17 (4 April–2 May 1925): 20–1, https://epa.oszk.hu/02300/02343/
00559/pdf/.
122 The composer Béla Zerkovitz said: “In one of the hit songs created for Irén Biller, I
present three eras of Budapest. The good old times, the so-called slithered era, and the
era of complete breakdown.” Magyarország, April 8, 1925.
206
