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ENDRE MARTON: STUDENTS OF VIENNA, 1949 pre-nationalization practice. Operating as a private institution, the Operetta Theatre “had new sets made less often. They worked with permanent walls, which were repainted or wallpapered for each play.”!” The stage in Students of Vienna also included flat-painted elements — a “magnificent, expressive frame”! — but as part of a coherent whole, whose artistic character was obvious too. Endre Marton’s later works show that he found “the luxury of sets and costumes, the first-class glow of stage design” indispensable,’ and instructions in the promptbook of Students of Vienna already suggest the deep impact that critics wrote about. The courtyard of the Hirschenhaus (residence of the students) in the first act and especially the park of Jetty’s villa in Schönbrunn in the third act or the beer garden of Dommayer’s casino in Hietzing in the second act were certainly applauded. 1he latter is described in the promptbook as follows: “first you see the famous old painting [perhaps Richard Moser’s painting from 1907] motionless through a veil curtain, as long as the overture is played. Then the veil curtain runs up, the picture comes to life and the ballet begins.”!°° Since Zoltan Fiil6p and Tivadar Márk, designers of the Opera House, were asked to create the sets and costumes, the scenery must have been unique, extraordinary and picturesque. However, the cooperation of the Operetta Theatre and the Opera House was also expected. These two institutions were put together when theatres were grouped in 1949 to raise the quality of their productions,’ and the decision of The People’s Economic Council on nationalization also called for a “joint workshop (central workshop), and the sets and costumes of the Operetta Theatre and five other theatres had to be manufactured in the workshops of the Opera House”.!” The liveliness of stage scenery was ensured by numerous extras, who aroused the sense of the mass according to the subject of revolution, including members of “the perfectly-moving dance ensemble”.!°® Students of Vienna also brought a significant change in the life of this ensemble, since the jazzy “chorea” that was scorned a lot at the time,’® ice. the performance of girls and boys, playing key roles in revue-operettas, was replaced by Agnes Roboz’s choreography, based on the elements of waltz and folk dance," becoming “hilarious” in the third finale.’ The overall impact 102 Szirtes, in Az operett kérdéseiről, 79. 103 (L.J.): "Bécsi diákok", 6. 104 Péter Molnár Gál: Rendelkezőpróba. Major Tamás, Marton Endre, Várkonyi Zoltán műhelyében, Budapest, Szépirodalmi, 1972, 156. Bécsi diákok. Promptbook, 27. Korossy: Színházirányítás, 59. 107 Tbid., 56. 18 Fejer: Kapunyitäs, 6. Töth: Kapunyitäs, 7. In the spirit of “the deep relationship between operetta and folk dance”, about which Margit Gäspär writes in detail. Cf. Gäspär, Operett, 13. 11 (L.J.): "Bécsi diákok", 6. 10 a 10 a 6 10 © 110 + 37 +
