New-Yorker Stadt-Theater Opera

Full cast list. 

“Last night before a pretty well-attended house, three one-act plays – two operas and a farce – were performed for the first time, successes both in terms of production and content [in Scene und Sprachen]. Suppé’s sparkling, melodious operetta ‘Die schöne Galathee’ began the evening and was impeccably done. The limited number of people necessary to perform this operetta allowed for appropriate casting; no extras entrusted with an artistic role made themselves made a disturbing notice, as was several times the case in ‘Blaubart’ and ‘Pariser Leben.’ Each cast member proved themselves fully up to the task and owing to it, of all the operettas presented at the Stadt-Theater since November 4, ‘die schöne Galathee’ proved the smoothest and most precise performance. Everything seemed to go easily; this should always be the case, but unfortunately rarely is. Fräulein Lina Mayr was equally excellent in her acting and singing: bold, piquant, playful, and yet never indencent—qualities we have often before had the opportunity to recognize in her. The lady knows how to use her stylistic capabilities so economically, and has such control over her voice, that many a dramatic singer could learn something from her approach. Fräulein Heynold, who rightly counts the role of Ganymede among her best, stood out as usual for original, droll acting; she recited the couplet ‘von den Klassikern Greischen’ so humorously that she was recalled three times. The performance of the Kiss Duet warrants special mention as particularly successful. Herr Schütz as Pygmalion and Herr Witt as Mydas were both efficient in their acting and singing, and contributed in no small way to the performance, the polish and precision of which was unprecedented at the Germania Theater. The old Vienna farce, ‘Eine gebildete Köchen’ by Bittner, was given after Suppé’s operetta, and made it quite clear that Fräulein Lina Mayr is even more capable as a farce soubrette – as a ‘local singer,’ as this speciality used to be called – than as an opera singer. Her ability is chiefly dramatic. She individualizes incisively, portrays the character as flesh and blood, and knows how to interpret the poet’s intentions (even if those intentions are only hinted at). She interpreted the character of the cook well and with gripping, unpretentious humor, and if some of the punchlines were lost, the fault does not lie with her, but rather with the play; as a genuine Viennese farce, it is replete with allusions which we [as non-Viennese] cannot understand. Fräulein Lina Mayr’s performance culminated with the successful delivery of the line, ‘Es war amol a Kupferschmid.’ Fräulein Gallmeyer, through whom this particular verse became known, found a very impressionable pupil in Fräulein Mayr. She sang the verse about the coppersmith just as well, with just as much umor and mischief, as the famous Vienesse opera singer. The rest of the cast carried out their duties in every respect. Witt played his shoemaker Horatius Zwiebelkopf somewhat broadly, as usual, but nevertheless with his familiar gripping humor, and even Herr Lauber lent his extraordinarily thankless role some charm. The farce was generally well received and we note for our readers’ attention that it will be repeated today. The evening concluded with a thoroughly successful presentation of Offenbach’s operetta ‘Hanni weint und Hansi lacht.’”