New-Yorker Stadt-Theater Opera: Pariser Leben

Full cast list. 

“One of Offenbach’s greatest, most entertaining and funny operettas, ‘Paris Life,’ will be performed this evening for the first time at the Stadttheater. Fraulein Lina Mayr will play the glove maker Gabriele. Berliners have described this role as one of Mayr’s best comic parts; with it she has achieved great success all over. It also affords her an excellent opportunity to showcase her acting talent. The audience is in for a rare treat. The rest of the cast is also quite promising.” Lists cast with roles.

“The second role that Fräulein Lina Mayr has presented to the public is ‘Gabriele’ in Offenbach’s ‘Pariser Leben.’ She earned quite the reputation in Germany for this role, and it is considered one of her most brilliant. And not without reason, as proved by the thunderous applause, shouts, flowers, and packed house that greeted her last night. The role of the glover maker provides Mayr the opportunity to develop the piquancy of her acting and the drolleries with which she knows how to deliver her lines.

This small masterpiece in this respect was her duet with the irresisitably lovavle ‘Cordonnier Frick’ in the second act, in which her drastically comic [drastisch-komisches] acting would make even the worst hypochondriac laugh. The great rondeau ‘Frührer war’s Gebrauch einmal,’ which follows that duet, was the most vocally successful part of her performance. But the most irresistible was the splendidly sung Tyrolean ‘Dort auf langen Bruck, bleibt mein Ross allweil zuruck’ in the finale of that act. In this she inserted some witty verses about current political events and performed some powerful but artistic yodels. The audience so enthusiastically received these that they recalled Mayr to the stage and demanded an encore. No less successful is her performance of the wild drinking and cancan scenes in the third act, though she does not permit herself to do as French women usually do. She is entirely right in this choice; the right boundaries should be maintained even in a work such ‘Pariser Leben.’ In the last act she caused a sensation with her duet with the Brazilian, a sorrow that is often treated as irrelevant. Excellent as Mayr is as ‘Boulotte,’ her ‘Gabriele’ is superior. We believe the repetitions of the operetta, which take place today and tomorrow, will attract equally large audiences and provide them several hours of the best and most amusing entertainment. As for the operetta on the whole: it is admittedly not one of Offenbach’s finest, and the music is secondary to the interesting plot and dialogue, which is rich with successfully jokes. It suffered from a few shortcomings last night, but the late hour at which the performance concluded prevents us from discussing them in more detail. We will reserve our commentary on the other participants for a future performance.”

“Miss Lina Mayr, the German Schneider, as she has been flatteringly named on the other side of the Atlantic, and who has become a general favorite with the German public in the down town Teutonic Opera House, appeared last evening before a very large audience, as Gabrielle in Offenbach’s opéra bouffe, ‘La Vie Parisienne.’ The opera is one of those works that suffer materially when transferred from the atmosphere in which it was conceived. The wild life of the Boulevards cannot be appreciated in a matter-of-fact city like New York, much less in a German form. There is little music in the opera, and that little is not attractive, and ‘La Vie Parisienne’ is one of those works that should never be heard outside the limits of the French capital. Mlle. Mayr is exceedingly clever, has a good, taking voice and style and is full of radiant spirits. The ‘Tyrolienne’ in the third act, was admirably rendered. The comic acting and singing of Mr. Schütz gave universal pleasure and served as an excellent accompaniment to the bright talents of the star of the evening. The rest of the cast were uninteresting. ‘La Vie Parisienne’ is so thoroughly local that it must at all times prove a failure outside Paris. This was proved beyond a doubt a few years ago, when it was produced by J. Grau at the Theatre Français in this city.”

“The ‘Herald,’ which is only rarely interested in German performances, devotes a brief discussion in yesterday’s edition to Fräulein Lina Mayr and the performance of Offenbach’s ‘Parisen Leben,’ from which we extract the following: [quotes New York Herald review of 11/11/74 in full].”

“The second performance of Offenbach’s operetta ‘Pariser Leben’ attracted a very large audience at the Stadttheater last night. As on the first evening, Fräulein Lina Mayr delighted everyone present in her role of the glove maker with her excellent singing and humorous acting, so appropriate to the role, and she was not lacking in applause, encouraging shouts, or flowers. Mayr knows how to connect with and win over her audience; one must see it to fully appreciate it. Mr. Schütz, the company’s buffo tenor, sings no fewer than three roles in this operetta, but he copes quite well with them all; only the ’Brazilian’ seems a bit uncomfortable for him, particularly in the finale of the first act, in which the rapid text would pose difficulty for any German tongue. He is excellent as ‘Cordonnier Frick’ and ‘Servant.’ Mr. Witt, who sings the ‘Baron von Sondermark,’ is a bit prone to exaggeration, but otherwise highly acceptable in his role. Miss Schmitz as ‘Baroness Christine,’ Miss Beckmann as ‘Metella,’ and especially Miss Heynold as ‘Pauline,’ also contributed to the success of yesterday’s performance. The chorus and orchestra were also better and surer of themselves then on the first evening. The opera is repeated tonight for the last time.”

Brief. “Yesterday’s performance of Offenbach’s farce ‘Pariser Leben’ was quite well attended and Fräulein Lina Mayr, as the little glovemaker, again managed to captivate the audience.”