Donald Brian "MERRY WIDOW" Virginia O'Brien / Franz Lehar 1931 Broadway Playbill

Description

This is a rare September 14th, 1931 playbill from the Civic Light Opera Company revival of the FRANZ LEHAR, VICTOR LEON and LEO STEIN Viennese Operetta "THE MERRY WIDOW"
at Erlanger's Theatre in New York City
. (The Original Broadway production opened October 21st, 1907 at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City and ran for 416 performances. This revival opened September 7th, 1931 at Erlanger's Theatre and ran for a limited engagement of 32 performances before going on the road.) ..... The musical starred DONALD BRIAN as "Prince Danilo" and VIRGINIA O'BRIEN as "Sonia" (the Merry Widow) and featured HAL FORDE, RUTH ALTMAN, ROY CROPPER, SANO MARCO, MILTON TULLY, EDWARD ORCHARD, WILLIAM WHITE, DEAN DICKENS, WILL PHILBRICK, WALTER FRANKLYN, FRANCES BAVIELLO, THEO VAN TASSELL, OLGA SCHUMACHER, DOROTHY DUNCAN, THERESE HYLE, MARY MOSS, DHENISE DELEHANTE and FRANCES MOORE ..... Historical Background: "THE MERRY WIDOW" ("Die Lustige Witwe") premiered on December 30th, 1905 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria and was
Lehár
's first major success, becoming internationally the best-known operetta of its era.
Lehár subsequently made changes for productions in London in 1907 (adding two new numbers), and Berlin in the 1920's, but the definitive version is basically that of the original production .
.... CREDITS: Music by FRANZ LEHAR ("The Merry Widow", "Gypsy Love", "The Count of Luxembourg", "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1916", "Frederika"); Book by VICTOR LEON and LEO STEIN; English Lyrics by ADRIAN ROSS; Directed by MILTON ABORN; Produced by THE CIVIC LIGHT OPERA COMPANY ..... DETAILS: The 28 page playbill measures 7" X 9 1/2" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers, bios of each of the leading actors and wonderful vintage advertising, but no cast photos ..... CONDITION: With the exception of moderate creasing and minor edge wear, this rare playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.