Can creative reinterpretation keep operetta alive? Kálmán’s Die Herzogin von Chicago at the Vienna Volksoper in 2004

Kálmán’s 1928 operetta Die Herzogin von Chicago reemerged in the 1990s after decades of oblivion. Productions of this work can reveal much about topics such as the relationship of Central Europe and America and attitudes toward outsider groups, both in the 1920s and in more recent times. This study of the 2004 production at the Vienna Volksoper uses interviews to explore the work’s political and social meanings for Austrian audiences. It also examines the changes made in this production, which was adapted from the original by Stefan Frey and Dominik Wilgenbus, examines the question of what is “true operetta style,” and considers recent operetta reception in Vienna, with attention to the very different responses of the audience and the critics