The Grand-Hotel Palace on the French Riviera is the meeting place of eccentric and more or less illustrious guests. The Spanish Infanta Isabella and her fiancé, Prince Andreas of Habsburg-Lorraine, lodge here in exile.
The one, however, is taken by Hollywood's Marylou, who has also stayed at the Palace with grandeur.
Not at all fitting into the picture of this luxury hostelry is the untalented waiter Albert, who has also fallen madly in love with the Infanta.
The Grand Hotel, Belle Époque's place of longing and a decor-laden dream setting, is the setting for Paul Abraham's comedy operetta.
The composer conquered not only Berlin but all of Europe with his works, which catapulted the genre of operetta into a new era with waltz, tango, Charleston and jazz.
Shortly after his great success of Ball im Savoy, he left Berlin as a Jewish artist because of the National Socialists' seizure of power.
His trenchant "Riviera-Märchen" was premiered in Vienna, where it was celebrated for its stirring music, while his compositions had long since been banned from performance in Germany.
Peter Jordan and Leonhard Koppelmann, who have already staged Pension Schöller and Im Weißen Rössl with a great love of slapstick and absurdity, will stage this fast-paced fairy tale for the first time in Germany.
CAST
Musical direction: Samuel Hogarth
Staging: Peter Jordan, Leonhard Koppelmann
Choreography: Bridget Petzold
Stage: Christoph Schubiger
Costumes: Barbara Aigner
Lighting: Peter Meier
Video: Stefan Bischoff
Dramaturgy: Ina Karr, Boris C. Motzki
Source and further information (also on the detailed cast of the play) at:
http://www.staatstheater-mainz.com/web/veranstaltungen/oper18-19/grand-hotel
