The Merry Widow101
History of a Hit: Part III
by John Kenrick
Copyright 2004

• More Revivals
• Sequels & Spoofs
• Film Versions
• En Point
• On the Air

More Revivals

• New York City Opera staged several productions from the 1950s through the 1990s, most memorably a lavish 1977 version starring Beverly Sills and Alan Titus. Using a brilliant new translation by Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick, this Tito Capobianco production was lavish and gloriously entertaining.
• The Light Opera of Manhattan staged an intimate but equally effective version Off-Broadway in the 1970s which remained in their repertory until the company's demise in the 1980s. Alice Hammerstein Mathias (Oscar Hammerstein II's daughter) provided a witty translation, and French native Jeanne Bouvais was the first of many to play the title role.
• An Australian Opera production starred Joan Sutherland. For some years, it was the only English version available in home video formats. 
• A long overdue Metropolitan Opera production in 2000 proved to be a disappointment despite the presence of operatic superstars Frederica Von Stade and Placido Domingo in the leads. A feeble translation and the Met's cavernous 3,000 seat house drained most of the requisite humor and charm from the material.
• PBS broadcast a lavish staging by the San Francisco Opera on Christmas night, 2002. Although pleasing to the eye, it suffered from terminal stuffiness and widespread miscasting. 

New productions of The Merry Widow continue to appear. Although she has become a resident of the operatic stage, it would be a pity if Hannah (or Sonia, etc.) should ever drown in a sea of serious intentions. This Widow is, at heart, a creature of the popular stage, and and an embodiment of romantic comedy. One hopes future presentations retain the true lighthearted spirit that made Die Lustige Witew one of the 20th Century's brightest and most resilient cultural gems.

Sequels & Spoofs
Lew Fields and Lulu Glasser in Broadway's successful Merry Widow Burlesque.

Lehar, Stein and Leon never expressed interest in writing a sequel to Die Lustige Witwe. However, several unauthorized follow-ups appeared in Vienna, including Die Lustige Witwe in Zweite Ehe (1907) -- ie: The Merry Widow's Second Marriage. It was initially well received, but without the melodic and comic flair provided by the original team, it soon faded into obscurity. That same year, Lehar composed Mitislaw der moderne (1907), a one act piece that allowed Louis Truemann to send up his own performance as the original Danilo.

Beloved Broadway clown Joe Weber staged and co-starred in a Merry Widow Burlesque (1907).  Realizing that one of Weber's popular spoofs would only add to the original's ticket sales, Lehar and the New York producers happily provided him with the original orchestrations and costume designs. With Lulu Glasser in the title role of "Fonia" -- later replaced by the popular comedienne Blanche Ring -- this burlesque version ran for several profitable months, giving a substantial boost to the real Widow's box office.

Widow-mania inspired an inevitable backlash. A musical comedy entitled His Honor the Mayor (1906) won brief notoriety with the song, "I Wish I Could Find The Man Who Wrote The Merry Widow Waltz." But there was no denying that Americans could not get enough of The Merry Widow or its waltz. One New York variety house brazenly staged a competing musical adaptation of L'Attache d'ambassade -- using existing melodies that supposedly sounded like Lehar's. This substandard production did not last, and the genuine article waltzed on.

Film Versions
Broadway veteran Mae Murray starred in MGM's silent 1924 screen version of The Merry Widow. 

Hollywood eventually filmed three versions of The Merry Widow -- all courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

The first was a silent film (1925), with a plot that winds up miles away from the original. When showgirl Sally is abandoned at the altar by Prince Danilo, she marries Baron Sadoja, Monteblanco's aged millionaire  -- who dies onscreen during the honeymoon. Danilo and Monteblanco's Crown Prince follow Sally to Paris, where she pretends to fall in love with the Crown Prince to make Danilo jealous. The resulting duel leaves Danilo wounded, but the new heir apparent! He marries Sally, and they return to Monteblanco as King & Queen. Former stage star Mae Murray (as Sally) and screen idol John Gilbert (as Danilo) starred, and legendary martinet Erich Von Stroheim directed. Strange as all this may sound, Murray and Gilbert's waltz was a sensation, and audiences turned out in droves to hear Lehar's melodies pour out of theatre organs and pianos. 

Nine years later, when young production chief Irving Thalberg set out to identify MGM as Hollywood's ultimate source for screen musicals, he gathered a stellar team to create the 1934 sound version -- Ernst Lubitsch directed as Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald pursued each other in glorious black and white. Edward Everett Horton (as a hilarious Popoff) and Una Merkel (as Marsovia's two-timing Queen) are on hand to enhance the laughs. The plot bore minimal resemblance to the original, with many key characters (Camille, Valencienne, etc.) missing. Most of the score was gone too, but the few remaining melodies had delightful new lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Although there was little Lehar left, the now legendary "Lubitsch Touch" turned this Merry Widow into a tastefully sexy comic romp -- and a major box office hit. 

Television and changing economics were pushing the old studio system into extinction when MGM offered a costly 1952 Technicolor remake. Although Lana Turner looked luscious in the title role, her few singing sequences had to be dubbed. As Danilo, Fernando Lamas provided sex appeal and a surprisingly strong singing voice. These two stars were supposedly having a torrid affair off-screen, but there is no visible evidence of it in this tepid film. Richard Haydn desperately tries to win laughs as a bumbling Ambassador Popoff, but the humorless screenplay gives him nothing to work with. Una Merkel is inexplicably on hand again, and totally wasted as the Widow's companion. It is easy to see why this Merry Widow did poorly at the box office.

Believe it or not, some sources list a 1956 film version of The Merry Widow in Arabic -- El Armula el tarub, directed by Helmy Rafla. To date, I have been unable to view this rarity. It has also proven impossible to track down a full color 1962 Austrian screen version starring Karen Hubner and Peter Alexander. In the 1980s, plans were announced for a new screen version co-starring Placido Domingo and Julie Andrews, but sadly nothing came of it.

En Point
Peter Martins and Patricia McBride in the 1982 PBS ballet version.

There have been several ballet versions of The Merry Widow, using re-arrangements of Lehar's melodies. The first, choreographed by Ruth Page, debuted in England as Vilia in 1953. Revised and retitled The Merry Widow, it toured the US and came to Broadway in 1955 with prima ballerina Alicia Markova dancing the title role. It was revived periodically by major ballet companies. Patricia McBride and Peter Martins starred in a PBS version broadcast from Chicago in 1982.

Maurice Bejart's adaptation premiered in 1963 and has had limited exposure. John Lanchberry created yet another version for the Australian Ballet in 1975. That company brought the piece to London and New York with Margot Fonteyn and Marilyn Jones alternating in the title role. New plot twists included Valencienne finally running off with Camille, leaving Popoff broken hearted.

On the Air
For all its popularity, The Merry Widow was all too rarely seen on American television. Several notable productions:

• 1955 (NBC): The only commercial production was broadcast by NBC. Anne Jeffreys and John Conte sang the romantic leads, while Hollywood veteran Edward Everett Horton was once more on hand as Popoff. Critics were less than impressed.
• 1977 (PBS): Lehar's masterwork has done far better since Public Television came along. The San Diego Opera's lavish production of The Merry Widow was taped on its 1977 premiere night. Beverly Sills and Alan Titus were delicious in the lead roles, but opening night jitters (and insufficient rehearsal time) led everyone in the cast to make a hash of Sheldon Harnick's superb new translation.
• 1996 (PBS):  New York City Opera offered a physically sumptuous staging originally produced by New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. The broadcast was delightful, with Jane Thorngren and Michael Hayes in top vocal and comic form, and Broadway favorite George S. Irving winning laughs as Popoff. The new English lyrics were occasionally clumsy, and far too much nonsense was added to the already complex plot.
• 2002 (PBS): San Diego Opera really goofed with this lavish but lifeless staging. Yvonne Kenny and Bo Skovhus headed a wildly uneven cast, and it is clear that neither the performers nor the director knew how to handle this material. Wendy Wasserstein's new libretto provided some flashes of wit but little period charm.

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