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A REFASHIONED IMAGE OF REVOLUTION
AS MUSICAL THEATRE
ENDRE MARTON: STUDENTS OF VIENNA, 1949
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Title: Students of Vienna. Date of Premiere: 16° September, 1949. Venue:
Operetta Theatre, Budapest. Director: Endre Marton. Author: Working
Community of the Operetta Theatre (Margit Gaspar, Erné Innocent Vincze,
Ferenc Katona, Endre Marton, Jené Semsei). Composer: Aladar Majorossy,
relying on works by Johann Strauss Jr. and music of his time. Set designer:
Zoltan Filép. Costume designer: Tivadar Mark. Choreography: Karola
Szalay, Agnes Roboz. Conductor: Laszlé Varady. Company: Operetta Theatre,
Budapest. Actors: Hanna Honthy (Jetty Huber, prima donna), Kálmán Latabár
(Gerzson Torlai, astronomer), Zsuzsa Petress (Erzsi, adopted daughter of
Torlai), Andor Ajtay (Johann Strauss the Elder), Zoltan Szentessy (Johann
Strauss the Younger), Märia Mezei (Mme Dommayer, Brigitta), Tivadar
Bilicsi (Töbiäs Tillmann, fiacre carriage driver), Teri Fejes (Leni Körner),
László Hadics (Gábor, Hungarian student), József Antalffy (Pista, Hungarian
student), Róbert Rátonyi (Spott, imperial spy), Ilona Dajbukát (Council
woman), Pál Várady (Court Councillor), Pál Homm (Latour, Minister of War),
Lajos Gárday (Ihomas Huber), János Bagyinszky (Havranek), István Balázs
(Imperial Officer), Lili Murányi (Market woman), Gusztáv Vándory (Head
Waiter), Eva Thury (Server Girl).
CONTEXT OF THE PERFORMANCE IN THEATRE CULTURE
Students of Vienna was the opening performance of the nationalized Operetta
Theatre in Budapest and the first achievement of its dramaturgs’ working
community. It made an odd attempt to create a “socialist operetta” as part
of Margit Gäspär’s rescue action of a genre.” During its rehearsal process,
2 Margit Gaspar (1905-1994) was the first manager of the nationalized Operetta Theatre.
The term “socialist operetta” was used by her in “The Theatre Manager”, a script written by
Tibor Banos. (The script is believed to have been made at the turn of the 1980s and ‘90s to
film a two-part, eventually unrealized gala performance. In addition to Banos’s typed text,
it contains Margit Gäspär’s sometimes page-long remarks with a blue felt-tip pen.) In this
script, we can read that after Gäspär’s idea of getting money from cinema performances at
the semi-ruined Värosi Theatre in the spring of 1945 had proved successful, “my new idea
was to create the so-called socialist operetta at the Magyar Theatre. There was money for it:
21.