Paul

(A189B2–1R960A) HÁM Ball at the Savoy Operetta in three acts Alison Kelly Gerald Frantzen Ryan Trent Oldham Cynthia Fortune Gruel Rose Guccione Bridget Skaggs Matt Dyson Folks Operetta Anthony Barrese Paul Folks Operetta Anna Carlson, Concertmaster AB(R189A2–1H960Á) M Elisabeth Johnson, Mihaella Misner, Violin I • Louisa Blood, Hersh Glagov, Violin II Desirée Miller, Cello I • Mara Leonard, Cello II • Andrew Harmon, Double Bass Ball at the Savoy Dalia Chin, Flute / Piccolo • Garrett Matlock, Clarinet I • Claire Wilson, Clarinet II Operetta in three acts (1932) Kyle Upton, Trumpet I • Kevin Marchuk, Trumpet II Arranged by Anthony Barrese (b. 1975), Matthias Grimminger (b. 1965) Caleb Lambert, Trombone I • Robert Plageman, Trombone II and Henning Hagedorn for voices and orchestra Rebecca Hook, Percussion I • Josh Hooten, Percussion II Libretto by Fritz Löhner-Beda (1883–1942) and Alfred Grünwald (1884–1951) Aleksandr Kirlov, Piano • Kevin Brown, Banjo English translation by Hersh Glagov (b. 1961) and Gerald Frantzen (b. 1967) Anthony Barrese Madeleine de Faublas ...... Alison Kelly, Orchestration from original manuscript: Henning Hagedorn, Matthias Grimminger (b. 1965) Aristide de Faublas ...... Gerald Frantzen, Orchestral reduction: Anthony Barrese (b. 1975) Mustafa Bey ...... Ryan Trent Oldham, Daisy Parker ...... Cynthia Fortune Gruel, Soprano First performance: 23 December 1932 at the Grosses Schauspielhaus, Berlin Bébé ...... Rose Guccione, Soprano Madeleine (Alison Kelly) Aristide (Gerald Frantzen) Daisy (Cynthia Fortune Gruel) Tangolita ...... Bridget Skaggs, Mezzo-soprano Célestin ...... Matt Dyson, Baritone Archibald ...... Kingsley Day, Tenor René ...... Kurt Bender, Tenor Pomerol ...... Ron Watkins, Baritone Bessie ...... Felicia Filip Burkovskiy, Soprano Mizzi ...... Katelyn Lee, Soprano Paulette / Lucia ...... Shawn Morgenlander, Mezzo-soprano Hermence / Giulette ...... Gillian Hollis, Soprano Lily / Ilonka ...... Gretchen Adams, Mezzo-soprano Trude ...... Roxann Ferguson, Soprano Monsieur Albert / Bartender ...... Erich Buchholz, Tenor Ernst / Maurice ...... John Wesley Hughes, Baritone

Radio Announcer ...... Ernie Cottrell, Baritone Photos: Caroline Dixey 1 2 Prelude: Waltz: Ball at the Savoy 2:40 ^ Scene 9 Act II (cont’d) 45:23 Act III 21:10 Introduction: My dear Venezia bella Venezia! – Mustafa, there’s no time to waste e Will you be true? (Chorus, Madeleine, Aristide) 5:15 (Aristide, Mustafa, Archibald) 2:09 º Scene 4 Entrance Music 2:24 & Scene 10 How did it go? (Mustafa, Aristide, Maurice, Célestin) 2:03 Act I 46:58 f Scene 1 Aristide, I’m so excited to have you all to myself tonight ⁄ Scene 5 Melodrama: Unbelievable! The wife of the Marquis (Madeleine, Aristide, Mustafa, Daisy, Archibald) 4:32 Scene 1 Where have you been, Mr Mustafa? de Faublas would never do a thing like that 3 Scene 11 Where are they? * ¤ (Daisy, Mustafa) 1:55 (Archibald, Bébé) 1:22 I can’t believe he’s leaving me on our first night at home (Lily, Paulette, Hermence, René, Ernst) 0:46 Duet: Out on the Town: I’ve studied it every which way 4 (Madeleine, Daisy) 1:12 g Scene 2 Sevilla: A toast to madame, a toast to Marquis! ( (Mustafa, Daisy, Ilonka, Trude, Giulette, Bessie, Bébé, where’s my wife? An eye for an eye, a kiss for a kiss! – A Woman is Mizzi) 3:12 (Chorus, Madeleine, Aristide) 2:41 Faithful, but Why?: A man doesn’t have to be faithful (Aristide, Bébé, Archibald, Mustafa) 1:43 ‹ Scene 6 5 Scene 2 (Madeleine) 3:26 h Scene 3 What a pleasure it is to see you all again Oh, you’ve got it all wrong, Aristide Reminiscence: I’ll have a ball at the Savoy ) Scene 12 (Aristide, Madeleine, René, Hermence, Paulette, (Tangolita, Aristide, Pomerol) 1:44 (Madeleine, Bébé, Aristide, Archibald) 4:16 ¡ Ah, Miss Daisy, en grande toilette! (Mustafa, Daisy) 1:53 Scene 7 i 6 Lily, Ernst, Archibald) 2:05 Duet: Mr Brown and Lady Claire: Every night at the bar › Take a Trip with Me to Alma-ata: One thing I know now Room eight? With her? (Madeleine) 0:10 There’s only one lady for me – Duet: Without your love, (Daisy, Mustafa) 3:20 fi (Madeleine, Mustafa) 1:56 I Kiss As Well As Any Tangolita: It’s in my blood where would I be? (Aristide, Madeleine) 3:29 Scene 13 Scene 4 ™ (Madeleine) 5:33 j 7 Scene 3 Finale: I’ll have a ball at the Savoy! What’s all the fuss about? What a lovely garden (Lily, Paulette) 0:08 (Aristide, Archibald, Ernst, Mustafa, Radio Announcer, fl Scene 8 (Daisy, Archibald, Mustafa) 1:25 There’s no time to lose k 8 Scene 4 Bébé, Monsieur Albert, Madeleine, Lily, Why Am I in Love with You? (reprise) Who needs gin when I’m here! Paulette, Hermence) 6:30 ‡ (Madeleine, Célestin, Pomerol) 2:00 (Mustafa, Daisy) 0:33 Reminiscence: Toujours L’amour (Madeleine) 1:08 9 (Mustafa, Lily, Paulette, Hermence, Bébé) 0:28 Scene 5 Act II 18:29 Scene 9 l My father, on the other hand – At home along the £ ° Is everything packed? (Madeleine, Bébé, Daisy) 0:32 Séparée Scene: How charming! Bosporus: Halla, halla, hai! (Mustafa, Lily, Paulette, Entrance Music 1:08 m Scene 6 Hermence, Bébé) 2:12 · (Madeleine, Célestin, Pomerol, Aristide, Tangolita) 5:23 Madame, the attorney has arrived ¢ Scene 1 Ladies dressed at the height of fashion 0 Scene 5 Gentlemen, you won’t believe who’s here! – Entrance (Archibald, Madeleine, Célestin, Daisy) 0:33 ‚ (Chorus, Mustafa, Radio Announcer, Crowd, Daisy) 4:22 Aristide! How was the honeymoon? of Tangolita: Tangolita! (Maurice, René, Radio n Scene 7 (Mustafa, Aristide) 1:57 Niagara Fox: Here’s the latest new craze So, you’re Maitre Levy’s representative? ∞ Announcer, Bartender, Archibald, Tangolita) 2:10 (Daisy, Ilonka, Trude, Giulette, Bessie, Mizzi, ! Scene 6 (Aristide, Célestin, Madeleine, Daisy, Mustafa) 1:16 Bella Tangolita: The fellas call me ‘Bella Tangolita’ Maurice, René, Pomerol, Radio Announcer, Hey, do you know who just pulled up outside? (Tangolita, Archibald, René, Bartender, Maurice, Scene 8 Archibald, Bébé, Bartender) 2:28 o @ (Ernst) 0:06 Radio Announcer) 2:27 Thank you (Célestin, Mustafa, Aristide, Daisy) 3:06 a Scene 10 Hi everybody! I’m here! – Kangaroo: Nobody wants to § Scene 2 p Scene 9 do the foxtrot today (Daisy, René, Ernst, Lily, To see all six of you here together … b Bravo, Pasodoblé! (Mustafa, Daisy, Chorus) 1:46 What a fine young man Paulette, Hermence, Bébé, Archibald) 3:55 (Mustafa, Pomerol, Trude, Ilonka, Mizzi, Bessie, What ‘do’ I like about you? – Why Am I in Love with You?: (Mustafa, Daisy, Aristide, Madeleine, Archibald) 1:11 When women look at you my dear q # Scene 7 ¶ Lucia, Giulette) 1:17 Postlude: Oh, why am in in love with you Daisy! When did you get here? We Turks are all ‘polygamied’ out – Turkish Kissing: c (Daisy, Mustafa, Chorus) 4:05 (Daisy, Madeleine, Mustafa, Aristide, Chorus) 0:54 (Aristide, Daisy, Mustafa, Madeleine) 0:57 Constantinople isn’t a place Madeleine’s Confession: La, la, la … I am a more alluring Señorita (Madeleine, Aristide, Tangolita) 5:17 $ Scene 8 (Mustafa, Lily, Paulette, Hermence, Bébé) 3:01 d Did you really cross the ocean just to see me? • Scene 3 Finale: He Swore that He’d Be Faithful (Madeleine) 4:17 % (Madeleine, Daisy) 1:42 Come out of retirement, Marquis? What’s it like to be newlyweds? – The Wedding Night: (Pomerol, Aristide, Mustafa, Maurice, Duet: The very first thing I recall (Daisy, Madeleine) 3:30 ª Radio Announcer, Bartender, Madeleine) 2:35 How could a man betray a woman of such beauty and charm? – Toujours L’amour: I was in love (Aristide, Madeleine) 5:51 Paul Abrahám (1892–1960) hat, letting loose the hundred thousand devils of her Barely one month after the premiere, Adolf Hitler Ball at the Savoy infectious exuberance. In Oskar Dénes she has no became chancellor of Germany. Abrahám, along with the ordinary dance partner. The élan of his dancing, his wit stars of the show, had to leave the country in haste. In 1930, an operetta called (‘Victoria listening to and influenced by a lot of the same popular and trenchant delivery, especially with the laughing Abrahám could no longer ignore the storm clouds that and her Hussar’), which had enjoyed some success in music. songs, have not seen their equal in many years.’ were gathering around him. The director Geza von Cziffra , was performed in Berlin. It was a huge success, Ball im Savoy was presented by Berlin’s most The show’s opening triumph would be short-lived. remembered a conversation he had with him at the time. eventually playing in 300 theatres all over Europe. The important theatrical producers, the Rotter Brothers, who Alpár, Barsony and Dénes were Jewish. Thus, Ball im When Paul Abrahám had to leave Berlin in 1933, he cried: German public had never heard anything like it. Its used Max Reinhardt’s 3,300 seat Grosses Schauspielhaus Savoy was written, produced and performed by Jews, a ‘I wanted to die in this city.’ Cziffra said to him, ‘You can composer, Paul Abrahám, classically trained but endlessly in Berlin for the opening performance. The premiere took fact that was not lost on the Nazis. Although the Berlin still do that, Paul. When this horrific episode is over you inventive and adaptable, had invented the jazz operetta. place on 23 December 1932. For some, that evening was papers praised Ball im Savoy , Goebbels’s newspaper, can come back.’ Abrahám replied, sobbing, ‘But why do I Jazz, with its syncopation, distinctive harmonies and the last major cultural event of Weimar Germany. Der Angriff (‘The Attack’), saw the show differently: have to go? Just because I’m circumcised?’ exotic instrumentation, had become all the rage in The opening night was a smashing success. With Abrahám left a number of unpublished song Weimar Germany and especially in Berlin. Abrahám’s many dignitaries in attendance, the show went on until ‘The most expensive stars were hired that were manuscripts in a safe at his villa; his butler, to whom he catchy melodies were scored for an orchestra augmented after midnight. The show’s star, the stunning young supposed to bring some pizzazz into the place had given the key, allegedly sold these manuscripts to by a jazz band, including steel guitar, piano, drum set, Hungarian soprano , was compelled to sing with all their skills. So alongside empty scenes non-Jewish composers who published them under their guitar and banjo. multiple encores. Adding to the evening’s success were that only had revue razzle dazzle, there were a own names and were credited with hit songs. Within months of his arrival in Berlin, Abrahám was a the comic duo of Rosy Barsony and Oskar Dénes, two few scenes that might have been pleasing in their Abrahám spent the next five years living and wealthy man. He bought a Rococo-style villa in Berlin, Hungarians that Abrahám had brought to Berlin and who light colourful character if one didn’t have to composing in Budapest and . Although his music where he gave legendary parties that were attended by the had achieved great popularity. watch this whole theatrical apparatus that was was banned in Germany, it continued to be performed in cream of Berlin society. At the same time, he continued to According to Abrahám’s biographer, Klaus Waller, drummed up by the Rotters to put four foreigners the rest of Europe. In 1933 Viktoria und ihr Husar and Die work at a frenetic pace, composing and conducting ‘The Berlin operetta audience had only been this on the stage in the harsh footlights; if one didn’t Blume von Hawaii opened in Paris, while Ball im Savoy operettas and film scores. His next operetta, Die Blume rapturous at performances by the great tenor Richard have to listen to three actors who were paid huge opened in London, Vienna and Budapest. Abrahám was von Hawaii (1931), was an even bigger success. Tauber in operettas by Franz Lehár.’ Quoting writer sums of money to mangle our German language; given a ten minute standing ovation at the Budapest At the same time, of course, a storm was brewing. Maurus Pacher, who was there that night, he and if the foreign composer Abrahám weren’t on premiere. Inasmuch as he still held his Hungarian passport, Abrahám was harassed by Nazis as he went about his continues: ‘Long after midnight, the entire ensemble the conductor’s podium.’ Abrahám’s arrival in Budapest wasn’t technically an exile. work in the film studio. His days in Berlin were numbered. moves through the theatre in a circle, holding coloured He immediately set to work on new film scores as well as For his next operetta, Ball im Savoy (‘Ball at the lanterns, and Gitta Alpár sings Toujours L’amour once The Rotter brothers threw a lavish party after the another operetta. Work was the best therapy against his Savoy’), Abraham once again collaborated with Fritz again, this time from the back of the house.’ Her premiere, but they never saw a penny of the ticket sales. sudden departure from Berlin. Over the next five years in Löhner-Beda and Alfred Grünwald, the leading librettists colleagues, Rosy Barsony and Oskar Dénes, were Their possessions were seized by one of their creditors Budapest, he would write eight new operettas and six film of the time. It was the same team that had created celebrated as much as she was. A dream of an evening.’ (an avowed Nazi) and the brothers were forced to flee in scores, including a film version of Ball im Savoy which Viktoria and Die Blume von Hawaii . The critic of the Vossische Zeitung wrote, ‘There has mid-January 1933. Hoping to gain access to some of their would feature many of the show’s original stars. The plot is strongly reminiscent of Die Fledermaus : been many a glamorous evening at the Grosses money in Switzerland, they first went to Liechtenstein, but In 1938, with the Anschluss, he was no longer when a married man lies to his wife so that he can go to a Schauspielhaus, but there has never been one more were kidnapped there by local Nazis. Alfred and his wife welcome in Vienna; in 1939, with fascism on the rise in ball without her, she takes her revenge by attending the glamorous than last night.’ At the heart of the great fell to their deaths while trying to escape. Fritz was Hungary, he was forced to flee Budapest as well. Abrahám same ball in disguise. The music reflects a variety of production, of course, was Abrahám’s music. Critic Ernst injured, but survived and managed to get away. In Berlin, went to Paris; then, as the Nazis approached, he fled once influences, both European and American. Listeners Decsey did not hold back: ‘Paul Abrahám (I say this with Ball im Savoy continued to play, but under dire again, first to Havana, and eventually landing in New York. should not be too surprised to find a strong resemblance my hat off) is a Richard Strauss and at times even a circumstances. Outside the theatre, audience members Abrahám’s time in New York was marked by between some of the show’s musical numbers and such Stravinsky of modern operetta.’ The Berliner Morgenpost were being harassed by Nazis, and shows were being professional disappointments. His dreams of success in well-known American songs as Night and Day and Makin’ had special praise for Oskar Dénes and Rosy Barsony, regularly disrupted. Abrahám, who had also been working Hollywood or on Broadway came to naught. For an Whoopee . In the scoring, one is occasionally reminded of who were making their first joint Berlin appearance: on films during the day, now found himself a target of American public used to a steady diet of Gershwin and Kurt Weill, which should also come as no surprise. Weill ‘Barsony is the epitome of temperament and buoyant harassment by extras on the studio lots. The show finally Cole Porter, Abrahám’s work held no novelty. The and Abrahám, both with classical backgrounds, were dance, always the joker in blonde curls, a tuxedo and top closed on 2 April 1933. Shubert Brothers had acquired the rights to his Ball at the Savoy but showed no interest in producing it. Reunited in Synopsis With Mustafa Bey’s help, Aristide tells Madeleine that he dinner, Madeleine and Célestin do likewise – in an New York, Abrahám and Alfred Grünwald collaborated on must go to the ball tonight because his old friend José adjacent room. Aristide decides to telephone Madeleine a new operetta, but it was never performed. Act I Pasodoble will be there. Madeleine and Daisy know that at home. Pomerol, the waiter, diverts the call to At the same time, Abrahám was showing increasing Marquis Aristide de Faublas and his young wife the men are lying but keep it to themselves. Furious over Madeleine. Over the telephone, they lie to each other signs of mental illness. In 1946, he wandered out onto Madeleine a2re in Venice, the last stop on their year-long her husband’s deceit(, Madeleine decides to go to the ball about what they’re doing and with whom. Madison Avenue, positioned himself on the median, and – honeymoon . Madeleine is concerned that their love will herself – in disguise . · wearing his customary white gloves – began to conduct not flourish in everyday life as it did on their honeymoon, During a live radio transmission from the ball , Daisy an imaginary orchestra. He was immediately arrested for but Aristide assures her that he will always love her. Mustafa¡ flirts with Daisy. They plan to dance together at reveals that she is Pa!sodoble and introduces her latest being a hazard to traffic. A friend was able to have him the ball . song, the Niagara Fox . She announcbes her engagement moved to Creedmoor Mental Hospital, where he remained The couple’s friends have gathered at Aristide’s villa in to Mustafa and they sing of their love . for the next ten years. In 1956, with the war over and Nice and impatiently wait for their return. Made4leine and With the help of his manservant, Archibald, Aristide Abrahám’s music once again popular in Germany, the Aristide arrive and sing of their honeymoon trip . prepares to leave for the ball. Madeleine, with the help of Madeleine announces that she has beden unfaithful to her Paul Abrahám Committee was formed to raise the her maid, Béb™é, and her dressmaker, Monsieur Albert, husband. She sings of her heartbreak . necessary funds to bring him back to Germany. Arriving in There is a telegram waiting for Aristide, who quickly stuffs does likewise . Hamburg, he was reunited with his wife, whom he had not it in his pocket. When Madeleine asks him who sent it, Act III seen since before the war. The two of them lived in Aristide shows her that it’s from the Prefect of 6Nancy. Act II Hamburg until Abrahám’s death in 1960. During those Madeleine is reassured, and they sing a love duet . The Marquis, furious over his wife’s behaviour, summons final years, he still believed he was in New York and wrote At the ball. Tangolita arrives and shows off the∞ I.O.U. that a lawyer so that he can file for divorce. Madeleine, to friends of impending premieres of his latest shows. Aristide’s friend Mustafa Bey enters and flirts with the entitles her to an intimate dinner with Aristide . agreeing that a divorce is for the best, asks Bébé to paick Abrahám lived the last 20 years of his life in a sadly ladies. When they accuse him of polygamy, he insists, in her bags. Mustafa suggests she take a trip to Alma-ata . diminished state, a far cry from his Berlin days. He had a song, that su9ch practices are no longer common in Mustafa meets his ex-wives and tells them about his new breathed new life into the art form of operetta and pointed modern Turkey . love, Daisy. He reassures th¶em that, for all his previous When the lawyer arrives, it is none other than Célestin, it in a new direction. Then, history intervened, and liaisons, he’s no polygamist . whom Aristide and Mustafa recognise from the night Abrahám’s career was cut short by circumstances beyond The suspicious telegram is from Aristide’s old flame, before. Célestin refuses to confirm that he and Madeleine his control. But if his genius was extinguished too soon, Tangolita, demanding that he make good on his promise Madeleine, in disguise, flirts with her own husband. She were intimate. how fortunate we are that we can still enjoy his to have an intimate dinner with her whenever and sings of her disappointment with her unfaithful husband. remarkable creations. wherever she chooses. She wants him to meet her that Aªristide is much taken with her but does not recognise her Daisy has added an escape clause to her marriage Mustafa (Ryan Trent Oldham) very night at the ball at the Savoy. Mustafa assures . Célestin, a callow young law clerk, tells a friend how he contract, but this is unacceptable to Mustafa. He wants to and his wives Aristide that he will be able to keep his promise to hopes to meet an elegant, sophisticated woman at the ball. be married to her for the rest of his life. Once she hears Tangolita without arousing Madeleine’s suspicions. him say that, Dkaisy agrees to marry Mustafa. They reprise Mustafa woos Daisy and produces a mar¤riage contract. their love duet . Daisy Parker, Madeleine’s Amer@ican cousin, arrives and They sing about the pleasures of night life . performs her hit song, Kangaroo . Daisy tricks Madeleine into admitting that nothing Madeleinefi observes Aristide flirting with Tangolita and is happened between her and Célestin. Madeleineq and Daisy tells Madeleine that she has become a successful appalled . She tells Célestin that she has decided to Aristide, who has learned his lesson, are reconciled . songwriter under the pseudonym José Pasodoble and give herself to the first man who comes along. When that she plans to reveal her true identity at the ball. Aristide and Tangolita withdraw to a private room for Hersh Glagov Madeleine gives D%aisy all the juicy details of her wedding night with Aristide .

Photo: Caroline Dixey Alison Kelly Cynthia Fortune Gruel

Alison Kelly is executive director and co-founder of Folks Operetta. She is also the Cynthia Fortune Gruel has performed in Chicago with Paramount Theatre, Light Works, founder of Broad Minded, an all-female cabaret group. She has performed with Theatre at the Center, Steel Beam Theatre, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, Music on Stage and Natchez Opera, The Ohio Light Opera, and Drury Lane Oakbrook, among Northbrook for Young Audiences. Roles have included Shelby in The Spitfire others. Her most notable role is Christine in The Phantom of the Opera , directed by Grill , the title role in Kiss Me, Kate , Sally in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown , and Claire in Hal Prince in Hamburg, Germany. With Folks Operetta, Kelly has performed in Ordinary Days . With her husband, Gruel owns Nostalgia Entertainment and they perform year world, American and Chicago premieres of 12 operettas and numerous concerts, round as a piano/vocal duo. She is a graduate of Butler University with a degree in vocal and appeared on international radio broadcasts. She can also be heard on the performance. She is also a proud member of Chicago Cabaret Professionals (CCP). critically acclaimed recording of Leo Fall’s The Rose of Stambul (Naxos 8.660326-27) , and is a two time GRAMMY Award-winning chorister with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, with whom she has been a regular chorus member since 2006.

Gerald Frantzen Gerald Frantzen is the artistic director and co-founder of Folks Operetta. He has sung for ten Bridget Skaggs seasons with the Lyric Opera of Chicago chorus, and performed at the Glimmerglass Festival, Santa Fe Opera, Vest Norges Opera, Sarasota Opera and Natchez Opera. As a featured Photo: Elliot Mandel Bridget Skaggs’ repertoire spans opera, art song and oratorio. She has appeared concert soloist he has performed works by Handel, Bach and Mozart for Handel Week with Opera Steamboat, Chicago Fringe Opera and Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and Festival. Since 2006 he has translated over 17 different operettas with Folks Operetta made her Chicago stage debut with Folks Operetta in 2014 as Tangolita in the dramaturg Hersh Glagov, presenting 15 American premieres. In 2013 Frantzen wrote the American premiere of Ball at the Savoy . Skaggs is increasingly recognised for her critically acclaimed Operetta in Exile with Hersh Glagov. Recordings include The Rose of Stambul excellence in Baroque repertoire, having performed in Cavalli’s La Didone with on Naxos. Haymarket Opera Company, Handel’s Alcina with Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium, and as alto soloist in the concert works of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. A passionate advocate of art song, Skaggs is a founding member of vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble. www.bridgetskaggs.com

Matt Dyson Ryan Trent Oldham Matt Dyson is a frequent performer with Folks Operetta and has appeared with the company as Ryan Trent Oldham is a dancer, singer and actor hailing from Biloxi, Mississippi. His Celestin in Ball at the Savoy , Scrop in The Girl in the Train , Poulard in Madame Pompadour and theatre and dance training started in community theatre and continued at the the narrator in Operetta in Exile . A Jeff Award-nominated actor and University of Oklahoma University of Southern Mississippi. He started his professional career with New graduate, Dyson has performed in Chicago with, among others, Lyric Opera, Idle Muse Theatre Stage Theatre and Southern Arena Theatre. A move to Chicago introduced him to a Company, American Theatre Company, One Theatre, Pub Theater and Verismo Opera Club. wide array of theatrical experiences from storefront theatre and operettas to competing professionally in national ballroom dance competitions. Oldham was a student of the Joel Hall Dance Center Company performing jazz, modern and contemporary choreography under the direction of Van Collins and Duwane Pendarvis. He currently resides in Miami. Anthony Barrese

Anthony Barrese has earned accolades as both a composer and a conductor. He was the recipient of the 2007 Solti Foundation US award for young conductors, and his original works have won numerous awards. He is regularly engaged by opera companies in North America and Italy. Barrese has been the music director of Folks Operetta since 2014 where he has conducted eight operettas, including four American premieres. He has led numerous productions with Sarasota Opera, Opera North, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Southwest, where he is artistic director and principal conductor. In 2008 he conducted a new production of Turandot in Ascoli Piceno’s historic Teatro Ventidio Basso. He made his French debut conducting Turandot at the Opéra de Massy, and his operatic conducting debut in Milan with La bohème . He also recorded Roberto Andreoni’s Quattro luci sul lago di notte with I Solisti della Scala for broadcast on Italian national radio (RAI 3). As a musicologist, Barrese rediscovered, prepared and edited the critical edition of Franco Faccio’s opera Amleto , in conjunction with Casa Ricordi. www.anthonybarrese.com

Hersh Glagov

Hersh Glagov has been Folks Operetta’s translator and dramaturg since 2007, and has translated 14 operettas from German. He has also played violin or viola in the orchestra for most of the company’s productions. Hersh studied music at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, French at the Centre d’Études Franco-Americain in Lisieux and the École de l’Étoile in Paris, France, German at the Goethe-Institut, Germany, and French and German literature at The University of Chicago. He has taught French, German, violin and viola. Hungarian composer Paul Abrahám enjoyed huge success across Europe with his ‘jazz operettas’, not least in Weimar Berlin where his works scored for an orchestra augmented by a jazz band caused a sensation. Ball im Savoy (‘Ball at the Savoy’) has a plot reminiscent of Die Fledermaus and its variety of influences, some European and some reflective of contemporary American popular song, won the kind of acclaim only equalled by Franz lehár. The premiere, which took place in December 1932, was for some the last major cultural event of Weimar Germany.

Paul

ABR(18A92–1H960) ÁM Ball at the Savoy Operetta in three acts (1932) libretto by Fritz löhner-Beda (1883–1942) and Alfred Grünwald (1884–1951) English translation by Hersh Glagov (b. 1961) and Gerald Frantzen (b. 1967) Madeleine de Faublas ...... Alison Kelly, Soprano Aristide de Faublas ...... Gerald Frantzen, Tenor Mustafa Bey ...... Ryan Trent Oldham, Baritone Daisy Parker ...... Cynthia Fortune Gruel, Soprano Bébé ...... Rose Guccione, Soprano Tangolita ...... Bridget Skaggs, Mezzo-soprano Célestin ...... Matt Dyson, Baritone Folks Operetta • Anthony Barrese WORlD PREMIERE RECORDInG OF EnGlISH lAnGuAGE VERSIOn 1 2 3 ™ £ ª Prelude 2:4º0 dI ntroduction 5:15 –e Aqc t I 46:58 – Act II 18:29 – Act II (cont’d) 45:23 – Act III 21:10

A detailed track list can be found inside the booklet. The English libretto may be accessed at www.naxos.com/libretti/660503.htm Recorded: 22 November 2014 at the Percy Julian Auditorium, Oak Park, Illinois, USA Producer: Folks Operetta • Recording engineers: Tim Rusin (SFX Engineering), Josh Prisching Editor: Gerald Frantzen • Booklet notes: Hersh Glagov • Publisher: Josef Weinberger Ltd Cover photo by Caroline Dixey ൿ Ꭿ & 2021 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd • www.naxos.com