May 3, 2011 For Immediate Release Contact: Ross Halper, Producer/Director (415) 990-0116 rhalper2002@yahoo.com http://merrynibelungs.org THE MERRY NIBELUNGS What: THE MERRY NIBELUNGS, A Wagnerian Burleske-Operette Where: The Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA at Union Square When: Thursdays June 16, 23, and 30 th, 2011 at 8:00 PM Run Time: Approximately 90 minutes Language: Sung in English Tickets: $30 http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/173584 Ross Halper as Siegfried, Valentina Osinski as Brunnhilde
June 2011, San Francisco, CA... Wagner s RING comes to San Francisco, adorned by the operetta DIE LUSTIGEN NIBELUNGEN (THE MERRY NIBELUNGS), based upon Oscar Straus' tuneful and inflammatory 1904 farce of political power and Wagnerian bluster. When San Francisco Opera is dark, this hilarious, bawdy satire lights up, with the stars of Wagner's RING, plus a guest appearance by Cosima Wagner. Come to Wahnhalla on Thursdays, when THE RING takes a day off... Operetta meets Mel Brooks with a touch of South Park. This "Wagnerville" is rated R, so don't bring the kids! Esther Mulligan, Dalyte Kodzis, John Ilyin, Ross Halper and Valentina Osinski appear in THE MERRY NIBELUNGS. THE MERRY NIBELUNGS Music by Oscar Straus Translation by Ross Halper Extra songs and material by Quade Winter and Ross Halper Stage Direction by Ross Halper Music Direction by Ben Malkovitch CAST: Siegfried Ross Halper Brunnhilde Valentina Osinski Kriemhilde Krista Wigle Gunther John Ilyin Hagen Chris Shuford Ute Kelly Powers Gieselherr /A Woodbird Dalyte Kodzis Cosima Wagner Esther Mulligan
The production will be fully staged and costumed, cabaret-style in a black box theater, with piano. BACKGROUND: When a Berlin producer wanted to revive THE MERRY NIBELUNGS in 1948, after 30 years of theatrical neglect, Oscar Straus would not allow the production of his first operetta, which he prized above even his most famous works such as A WALTZ DREAM. It would be considered "tasteless," said the composer. After surviving two world wars and losing two sons in the second one, the 78 year old Straus did not find German aggressiveness and nationalism funny, as he had in 1904 when he wrote DIE LUSTIGEN NIBELUNGEN. Though he may have consciously carried on the ancient traditions of bawdy Roman plays and the satirical cabaret humor of his time, Straus did not live long enough to see and hear "Springtime for Hitler" and HOGAN S HEROES (a big hit on German TV these days). That may be fortunate for him, but his "tasteless" remark may have revealed more about this work and the future of comedy than Uncle Oscar realized. Years ago, when I began translating NIBELUNGEN into American, it became eerily clear that Straus charming and brilliant music cried out for an edgy, modern, comic sensibility. The challenge of matching the onstage humor to the lightning wit in the music reminded me of my experience as stage director in a recent production of DON GIOVANNI. You have to keep on your toes. The controversy surrounding THE MERRY NIBELUNGS could not have totally surprised Oscar Straus, since he began his musical career in the smoky cabarets of Berlin. The title page of the vocal score calls it a "Burleske-Operette" and that describes the genre best. In fact, it may be a genre unto itself. Straus and his librettist, the lawyer Fritz Oliven, whose pen name was "Rideamus" (means: "Let s Laugh") intended their first operetta to be an homage to Offenbach. Just as Offenbach turned to ancient myths and their operatic versions, namely Orpheus and Gluck, Straus and Oliven turned took aim at German myths and Wagner. Though the critics were instantly charmed the Vienna premiere, the public was cool and the show closed in a month. In Berlin however, Straus had a solid hit. But after months of success, the tide turned at the premiere in Graz, Austria, where right-wing nationalists caused a disturbance, complete with pistol shots. Similar incidents were provoked by scarfaced students in university dueling societies (the dark side of THE STUDENT PRINCE) in other cities. The mild satire of Kaiser Wilhelm s saber-rattling found in NIBELUNGS gave way to the realities of the Great War (W.W.I). Soon THE MERRY NIBELUNGS was too hot to handle and was heard no more. Straus turned to writing witty, romantic, but somewhat safer operettas and achieved world renown. We hope this new production will confirm that Straus was right to prize his NIBELUNGS above his other stage children, and that he was wrong to think that it had no future. But he might have been surprised at the type of bawdy entertainments that works like this have inspired. Perhaps "black" humor is a kinder term than "tasteless", and some will never consider these types of work to be art or even entertainment. Contemporary black humor can range from the cynical (THE PLAYER) to the disgusting and gross (REN AND STIMPY) to the satirical (SOUTH PARK) to the silly (THERE S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY) to the sick, but not really funny (BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD). But the fact that THE MERRY NIBELUNGS lends itself so easily to ribaldry qualifies it further as a unique and forward looking masterpiece of satire.
Though Oscar Straus may have unconsciously tapped into controversial, modern sensibilities, he also preserved in THE MERRY NIBELUNGS the best of early Viennese operetta magic - a love of life and plenty of heart. ARTIST BIOS ROSS HALPER, TENOR - Ross Halper (Siegfried/book and lyrics), called "opera's mad genius" by Kent Nagano, has sung well over 250 tenor roles with most California opera companies including SF Opera, LA Opera, SF Symphony, San Jose Opera and many others. He toured the world with PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and appeared internationally as a comic actor on TV. A student of heldentenor Jess Thomas, Ross Wagnerian repertoire includes both Mimes in the RING, the Steersman in DUTCHMAN and Pontius Pilate(!) in LIEBESVERBOT. His opera translations, especially his MAGIC FLUTE, have been sung around the hemisphere. Ross has directed operas all over California. He taught operatic acting at UC Berkeley, Mannes in NY and the SF BASOTI program, where he will be on the faculty this summer. VALENTINA OSINSKI, MEZZO SOPRANO Over her 15 year career, Valentina s performance highlights include appearing on MTV, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Fillmore Auditorium, and The Palace of Fine Arts in a performance for Hillary Clinton, with stars as diverse as George Benson and Dana Carvey to Helen Hunt, John Cale and Todd Rundgren. As a mezzo soprano soloist, Valentina s golden mezzo (San Francisco Chronicle) has debuted with San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Opera Theatre St. Louis, Berkeley West Edge Opera, Eugene Opera, Opera San Jose, and many, many others. Valentina s favorite roles include The Witch in HANSEL AND GRETEL, Fricka in DIE WALKÜRE, Baba in THE MEDIUM, and now Brunnhilde in THE MERRY NIBELUNGS. KRISTA WIGLE, SOPRANO Ms. Wigle performed the role of Carlotta in the long-running San Francisco production of The Phantom of the Opera before earning her Masters of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She since has appeared at numerous regional opera companies and symphonies, including Sonoma City Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Livermore Valley Opera, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Ballet San Jose. Ms. Wigle has sung numerous times for the San Francisco Opera Guild and is
currently performing in Phantom, the Las Vegas Spectacular, as Wild Woman and as a Carlotta understudy.