THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER
Music by Oscar Straus. Book & Lyrics by Stanislaus Stange. Adaptation by Agnes Bernelle, Adam Carstairs and Ronald Hanmer. Based on the play Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
Lyric Theatre, New York - 13 September, 1909 (296 perfs)
Lyric Theatre, London - 10 September, 1910
Synopsis
hen Lieutenant Bummerli, a Swiss mercenary in the Serbian army, takes refuge from his Bulgarian enemies in the house of a Bulgarian general - to be precise, in the daughter's bedroom - he sets hearts a-flutter, almost compromises three ladies and then ruins the daughter's wedding to a Bulgarian soldier-hero by being recognised as the fugitive! This is just as well because he and Nadina, the daughter, were destined for each other anyway. This new English version should help to restore this formerly well-loved operetta to the repertoire.
Principals:
3 female, 4 male
- Lieutenant Bumerli - a serving officer
- Colonel Kasimir Popoff
- Nadina Popoff - his daughter
- Mascha - a kinswoman
- Major Alexius Spiridoff - a pompous hero
Musical Numbers:
- After Today
- Alexius the Heroic
- Bulgaria Victorious
- The Chocolate Soldier
- Falling In Love
- The Fatherland Is Free
- Just A Commission
- The Letter Song
- My Hero
- Never Was There Such A Lover
- Say Goodnight
- Seek the Spy
- Sympathy
- The Tale of the Coat
- Thank the Lord the War Is Over
- That Would Be Lovely
- Tiralala (Romance)
- We Are Marching Through the Night
- We Are Searching For the Foe
- we Too Are Lonely
- What Can We Do Without A Man
- Why Is It Love Makes Us Feel Queer?
Instrumentation:
flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, percussion, harp, strings