The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe) 2015
Operetta in three acts originally in German, sung in English
Music by Franz Lehar
Libretto by Viltor Leon and Leo Stein,
after Henri Meilhac’s comedy L’ attache d’ ambassade (1861)
English translation by Jeremy Sams
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Stage Director & Choreographer: Susan Stroman
At the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Wonderful nostalgic opulence of early 20th Century Europe soars with Lehar’s score
Franz Lehar’s 1905 The Merry Widow, translated by Jeremy Sams and sung in English, is directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman after her doing the same operetta at the Met in NYC last season. This sweet, comic, and heartwarming sentimental production is one of the most celebrated and popular operettas ever written. Stroman’s wonderfully staged production looks terrifi,c with the opulent sets by Julian Crouch and the vivid costumes by William Ivy Long, but, of course, this Merry Widow is an energetic dance operetta besides a wonderfully sung production. Renee Fleming takes over the operetta.
Filled with a large cast including many veterans of the Chicago musical theatre scene ( Jeff Dumas, Jonathan Weir, Michael Weber, Fred Zimmerman, and Ariane Dolan) together with five expert opera performers, the Lyric Opera’s melodic production is one of the best I’ve witnessed. Lehar’s melodies and songs – “Vilja”, “The Merry Widow Waltz”, “You’ll Find Me At Maxim’s,” and “Every Woman” never sounded better than under conductor Sir Andrew Davis’s deft leadership of the Lyric orchestra.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams