Page 209 - 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 ...
in the repertoire. The debates around the production were merely politi-
cal, not professional (despite Jack Haskell’s inhuman behaviour). The show
reached a wide audience, from the aristocracy to the poor, and it intro-
duced Hungary the concept of modern revues and entertainment. It add-
ed the new word, görl, to the everyday Hungarian vocabulary and due to
other shows staged in the following years,123 the social type of showgirls ap-
peared in Budapest and remained for the next 25 years. The phrase Halló,
Amerika! remained in the collective memory: in September 1928, the new
telephone line between New York and Budapest was inaugurated with it,124
just like the Hungarian Radio’s first broadcast in the USA.125 The title pat-
tern was still copied even ten years later.126
The fundamental research into musical stage entertainment in Buda-
pest has hardly began – it should be continued using the tools of historiog-
raphy, the history of mentalities, sociology and gender studies in order to
reach well-grounded conclusions.
Bibliography
Alpár, Ágnes. A cabaret - A fővárosi kabarék műsora, 1901–1944 [Show catalo-
gue of the cabarets of Budapest]. Budapest: MSZI, 1978.
Alpár, Ágnes. A Városliget színházai [The theatres of Városliget]. Budapest:
OSZMI, 2001.
Berczeli, Károlyné A. A Vigszínház műsora 1896–1949 [Show catalogue of
Vígszínház]. Budapest: MSZI, 1960.
Futaky, Hajna. A Pécsi Nemzeti Színház műsorának repertóriuma I [Show cata-
logue of the Pécs National Theatre I]. Budapest: OSZMI, 1992.
Giese, Fritz. Girlkultur. München: Delphin, 1925.
Heltai, Gyöngyi. “Transznacionális hatások a Fővárosi Operettszínház korai
korszakában (1922–1926)” [Transnational influences in the early period of
the Budapest Operetta Theatre (1922–1926)]. In A magyar populáris zene
123 The Operetta Theatre attempted to revive the American theme in a new operetta,
Miss Amerika in 1929. Despite of the Hungarian composer, Mihály Eisemann and
Erzsi Péchy in the title role, critics did not see anything else in it but a smaller ver-
sion of Halló, Amerika!.
124 Az Est, November 14, 1928.
125 “Halló Amerika first Communication of the Hungarian broadcasting, to the Columbia
Corporation Amerika” [sic], Az Ujság, May 3, 1932.
126 See Halló, Tel-Aviv! (1936) and Halló, Sanghai! (1939) in Komédia Kabaré [Comedy
Cabaret]. See Alpár, A cabaret - A fővárosi kabarék műsora, 492.
207
in the repertoire. The debates around the production were merely politi-
cal, not professional (despite Jack Haskell’s inhuman behaviour). The show
reached a wide audience, from the aristocracy to the poor, and it intro-
duced Hungary the concept of modern revues and entertainment. It add-
ed the new word, görl, to the everyday Hungarian vocabulary and due to
other shows staged in the following years,123 the social type of showgirls ap-
peared in Budapest and remained for the next 25 years. The phrase Halló,
Amerika! remained in the collective memory: in September 1928, the new
telephone line between New York and Budapest was inaugurated with it,124
just like the Hungarian Radio’s first broadcast in the USA.125 The title pat-
tern was still copied even ten years later.126
The fundamental research into musical stage entertainment in Buda-
pest has hardly began – it should be continued using the tools of historiog-
raphy, the history of mentalities, sociology and gender studies in order to
reach well-grounded conclusions.
Bibliography
Alpár, Ágnes. A cabaret - A fővárosi kabarék műsora, 1901–1944 [Show catalo-
gue of the cabarets of Budapest]. Budapest: MSZI, 1978.
Alpár, Ágnes. A Városliget színházai [The theatres of Városliget]. Budapest:
OSZMI, 2001.
Berczeli, Károlyné A. A Vigszínház műsora 1896–1949 [Show catalogue of
Vígszínház]. Budapest: MSZI, 1960.
Futaky, Hajna. A Pécsi Nemzeti Színház műsorának repertóriuma I [Show cata-
logue of the Pécs National Theatre I]. Budapest: OSZMI, 1992.
Giese, Fritz. Girlkultur. München: Delphin, 1925.
Heltai, Gyöngyi. “Transznacionális hatások a Fővárosi Operettszínház korai
korszakában (1922–1926)” [Transnational influences in the early period of
the Budapest Operetta Theatre (1922–1926)]. In A magyar populáris zene
123 The Operetta Theatre attempted to revive the American theme in a new operetta,
Miss Amerika in 1929. Despite of the Hungarian composer, Mihály Eisemann and
Erzsi Péchy in the title role, critics did not see anything else in it but a smaller ver-
sion of Halló, Amerika!.
124 Az Est, November 14, 1928.
125 “Halló Amerika first Communication of the Hungarian broadcasting, to the Columbia
Corporation Amerika” [sic], Az Ujság, May 3, 1932.
126 See Halló, Tel-Aviv! (1936) and Halló, Sanghai! (1939) in Komédia Kabaré [Comedy
Cabaret]. See Alpár, A cabaret - A fővárosi kabarék műsora, 492.
207
