Toronto Operetta Theatre’s New Year’s offering is Imre Kalman’s Czardas Princess. It’s lively and tuneful and not overly serious being basically a succession of Austro-Hungarian Empire stereotypes. To whit Prince Somebody von und zu Wherever-Etcetera is in love with a Hungarian cabaret singer with an unpronounceable name from a pig rearing village with an equally dubious moniker when he’s supposed to be marrying his countess cousin. All the usual s/he loves, s/he loves me not plus parental disapproval play out until a shocking revelation. So the Prince gets his girl and his cousin gets a Hungarian count (probably a somewhat richer pig farmer) as a consolation prize. They all live happily ever after, or at least until 1914.
operaramblings 