''The Blue Paradise'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

in a prologue and two acts, with music by

Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led ...

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly '' The Student Prince'' (1924), '' The Desert Song'' (1926) and '' The New Moon'' (1928). E ...

and Leo Edwards, lyrics primarily by Herbert Reynolds, and a book by Edgar Smith, based on the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

''Ein Tag im Paradies'' (''A Day in Paradise'', 1913) by Eysler with original text by

Leo Stein Leo Stein (May 11, 1872 – July 29, 1947) was an American art collector and critic. He was born in Allegheny City (now in Pittsburgh), the older brother of Gertrude Stein. He became an influential promoter of 20th-century paintings. Education ...

and

Bela Jenbach Bela Jenbach, real name Béla Jacobowicz (1 April 1871 in Miskolc, Kingdom of Hungary – 21 January 1943 in Vienna) was an Austrian actor and operetta librettist of Hungarian origin. Jenbach was of Jewish origin and the brother of the screenwri ...

. The story is set in a Viennese cafe, where a man realizes that he cannot recapture his long lost love. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1915 and enjoyed a successful run. It introduced the song “Auf Wiedersehn”, Romberg's first song hit, originally sung by 18-year-old

Vivienne Segal Vivienne Sonia Segal (April 19, 1897 – December 29, 1992) was an American actress and singer. Early years Segal was born on April 19, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the elder daughter of Jewish parents Bernhard Segal, a physician, ...

in her professional debut. As in his other early works, Romberg's contributions to this musical are strongly nostalgic, with an emphasis on the waltz as a symbol of the past. The show also includes newer American dance music and embraces the movement towards stage realism.Everett, William A
''Sigmund Romberg''
pp. 77, 84–87, and 290, Yale University Press, 2007

Productions

The original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production opened at the Casino Theatre on August 5, 1915 and ran for 356 performances, transferring to the

44th Street Theatre The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It opened and operated for three years as the Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Its rooftop theatre, the Nora Bayes Theatre, presente ...

in May 1916. It was produced by the

Shubert brothers The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...

, who asked Romberg to compose songs for the American adaptation of Eysler's opera. The show was directed by J. H. Benrimo and choreographed by Ed Hutchinson. Featured in the cast, besides Segal, were

Cecil Lean Cecil Worthington Starr Lean (July 7, 1878 – July 18, 1935) was a Canadian-American actor, lyricist, composer, and singer. Biography Cecil Lean was born in London, Ontario, the son of John Udie Lean. As a child, Lean moved with his father to ...

Cleo Mayfield Cleo Empey (born Cleo Mayfield; August 6, 1898 – November 8, 1954) was an American actress and singer. Biography Mayfield was born on August 6, 1898, as Cleo Empey, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence B. Empey in Hutchinson, Kansa ...

, Ted Lorraine, Robert Pitkin, Frances Demarest and Teddy Webb. The musical also played at The Muny Repertory in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in July 1932.Allan Jones website

Synopsis

Rudolph, a frequent customer at the Blue Paradise Inn in Vienna, is in love with Mizzi, a flower girl. He travels to America to operate one of his father's businesses. During the ensuing 24 years, Mizzi marries one of Rudolph's friends, and the couple has converted the inn into their private residence. After this period, when Rudolph returns to Vienna, and not knowing what has happened, he hopes to find Mizzi at the inn, to rekindle their love just as it had been so long ago, and to return to pre-war days. When he arrives at the inn, he sees that it looks just as he remembered it. He imagines that he has travelled back in time and embraces a woman who looks as Mizzi did in their youth. She turns out to be Mizzi's daughter, Gaby. Mizzi admits that she has arranged matters in this fashion so that Rudolph will accept reality; the past is the past. Gaby is engaged to Rudolph's nephew, Hans, and despite his sense of loss, Rudolph's is pleased for his nephew; the new generation will consummate the lost love of Rudolph's youth.

Roles and original cast

*Mizzi, ''flower girl at the Blue Paradise Inn'' –

*Hans Walther – Robert G. Pitkin *Rudolph Stoeger –

*Mrs. Gladys Wynne – Frances Demarest *Hazel James –

*Justus Hampel – Teddy Webb *Rudolph Oberdorher – Ted Lorraine

Musical numbers

;Prologue *No. 1 - Overture *No. 2 - Ensemble - “Here’s a toast to women’s eyes that guide the foolish and the wise” *No. 3 - Drinking Song - Rudolph and Chorus - “When I’m with good fellows I never want to think of anything that’s sober” *No. 4 - Stoeger and Chorus - “Come to its pretty garden all open to the day” *No. 5 - Song and Chorus - “I used to be the Hello central girl, I was the best out on the west” *No. 6 - Rudolph and Mizzi - “Let me hold you close to my heart, brush your tears away, dear” ;Act I *No. 7 - Chorus - “We wish you the pleasantest of journeys, sir, wherever you go from here” *No. 8 - Rudy and Gaby - “Where you are there and I am here, a world of distance lies between us two” *No. 9 - Stoeger, Hampel, Rudy and Walther - “Hallo, Justus! Hallo, Stoeger! Walther! Rudy! Hallo, Uncle!” *No. 10 - Gladys and Chorus - “Let me begin by saying where I am staying - I want it, and get it, so let it warn you” *No. 11 - Stoeger and Gladys - “Long ago I said I would never take a wife; I have no desire to spoil anybody’s life” *No. 12 - Walther and Gladys - “When I see a loving couple anywhere, I just want to go and whisper: Have a care” *No. 13 - Stoeger and Chorus - “Let me breathe the real Vienna air now; let me know that I am truly there now” ;Act II *No. 14 - Chorus - “Will someone please explain to us why we have been invited here, a private house” *No. 15 - Comedy Folk Song - Rudy, Hampel and Chorus - “Now Heiny had a little dog what didn’t have no teet’” *No. 16 - Folk Song and Yodle - Gladys - “I hear the cuckoo a-calling tonight: Oo-lay-eo, Oo-lay-eo” *No. 17 - Walther and Hazel, with Chorus - “I think you’re perfection, you're quite a model girl” *No. 18 - Waltz of the Season - Stoeger and Chorus - “Hark! Hark! Hark! What is it the orchestra’s playing?” *No. 19 - Rudolph - “Most ev’ry foreign nation has a style of song creation” *No. 20 - Stoeger and Gladys - “I’m dreaming of a wonderful night, night long ago” *No. 21 - Finale Act II - “If you’d be a happy man, you’d better win a pretty widow” ''Note: Items 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14 & 17 were composed by Romberg, Items 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20 & 21 were composed by Eysler; Items 3, 15 & 16 were composed by Leo Edwards; and Item 19 was written and composed by Cecil Lean.''

References

External links

Midi files''The Blue Paradise''
at the IBDB database

at the Guide to Musical Theatre {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Paradise, The 1915 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals based on operas Musicals by Sigmund Romberg Compositions by Edmund Eysler