Operetta by Franz Lehár
Hanna, once a simple country girl and now a rich widow, is idolized by numerous men at the Pontevedrian embassy ball - not because of her beauty or intelligence, but simply because of her money. In order to save the country of Pontevedro, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, her former lover Count Danilo is set on her. He is to marry her and thus ensure that her wealth remains in the country. The old love between the two is rekindled, but the happy ending is not that simple: Danilo refuses to woo Hanna just for her money. Hanna, in turn, vows not to marry him until he tells her "I love you" - something Danilo has sworn never to say. Between the party and the champagne, a game of intrigue of social conventions erupts around the couple.
We are looking forward to the lusty production of Lehár's The Merry Widow in the theater tent - staged by the operetta-experienced Andrea Schwalbach. With the premiere, Lehár triggered an almost worldwide Merry Widow fever; to this day, it is one of the most popular operettas ever. Hanna's Vilja song, the final love number Lippen schweigen and Da geh' ich ins Maxim are real evergreens of popular music. In combination with rousing dances, it marks the high point of the dance operetta genre, in which a self-confident woman holds all the strings in her hands.
