La Fleur
The Phantom of the Operetta (2024)
Performance
La Fleur, The Phantom of the Operetta (2024), performance, photo: steirischer herbst / Clara Wildberger
La Fleur, The Phantom of the Operetta (2024), performance, photo: steirischer herbst / Clara Wildberger
La Fleur, The Phantom of the Operetta (2024), performance, photo: steirischer herbst / Clara Wildberger
Dates
19.–21.9.2024
Location
Helmut List Halle, Graz
Production specifics
Commissioned by steirischer herbst ’24
Produced by steirischer herbst ’24 and La Fleur Gintersdorfer/Yao GbR in coproduction with FFT Düsseldorf, Kampnagel, Pumpenhaus Münster, and Theater Bremen
Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
Opening sponsor: AVL List
The operetta is often considered a genre of the past, embodying the turn of the 20th century when European empires began to crumble. In Austria, it emerged as a popular alternative to the opera and is still seen nostalgically as the epitome of a lost Austro-Hungarian culture.
In this new commission, the transnational collective La Fleur explores the sociopolitical context of late Viennese operetta and its contemporary resonances through Emmerich Kálmán. Kálmán, a Hungarian Jew, was Vienna’s most celebrated composer before fleeing to the US to escape the Nazis. Guided by his life and works, the performers sing, dance, and analyze the operetta from a postcolonial perspective, accompanied by a string quintet. They address not only the fruitful exchange between European and non-European art but also the impact of racism and cultural appropriation.
La Fleur creates a witty and virtuoso piece that looks behind the genre’s glamorous facade, challenging and confronting stereotypes and conventions—all while revealing how seemingly escapist show business is influenced by dark historical times.
Director: Monika Gintersdorfer
Choreography: La Fleur
Stage: Mukenge/Schellhammer
Costumes: Arturo Lugo, Bobwear, Mukenge/Schellhammer
Music: Timor Litzenberger
Musical preparation: Vetcho Lolas
Production management: High Expectations / Gregor Zoch
Waltz workshop: Mason Manning
Czardas workshop: Petr Hastik
Dramaturge: Katinka Deecke
With: Annick Choco, Montserrat Gardó Castillo, Hauke Heumann, Timor Litzenberger, Ordinateur, Shaggy Sharoof, Franck Edmond Yao a.k.a. Gadoukou la Star
String quintet
Arrangements: Eduard Luis
Violin 1: Jelena Jovovic
Violin 2: Eduard Luis
Viola: Anna Pankina
Cello: Viktória Menyhárt (19.9.), Peter Nußbaumer (21.9.)
Double bass: Tom Bräunling
With special thanks to Kevin Clarke
Mediathek
Retrospective
Retrospective