Performance History
As Der tapfere Soldat ("The Brave Soldier"), it premiered on 14 November 1908 at the Theater an der Wien, under the baton of Robert Stolz with Grete Holm singing Nadina, where it was a considerable success.
The first English-language version premiered in New York, translated by Stanislaus Stange, on 13 September 1909, where it was the hit of the Broadway season. It was revived on Broadway in 1910, 1921, 1930, 1931, 1934, and 1947 (with a revised libretto by Guy Bolton. Its London premiere at the Lyric Theatre in 1910, with C. H. Workman as Bumerli, was also a tremendous success, running for 500 performances. The operetta was filmed (as a silent movie) in 1915.
In 1955, actress Vivian Vance sang "My Hero" from The Chocolate Soldier on the fourth season episode of I Love Lucy titled "Ethel's Home Town". In 1987, Light Opera Works in Illinois produced the operetta with a new English translation by its former artistic director, Philip Kraus, and lyrics by Gregory Opelka. This was subsequently recorded (see Recordings below).
In 2002, there was another production at the Kammeroper in Hamburg under Katja Klose and Hans Thiemann. In 2010, it formed part of the program for the Bard SummerScape festival held in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. In July and August 2012, it is due to be performed by the Ohio Light Opera of Wooster, Ohio.
Read more about this topic: The Chocolate Soldier
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