The Fortune Teller (operetta)

The Fortune Teller is an operetta in three acts written by Victor Herbert, with a libretto by Harry B. Smith. After a brief tryout in Toronto, it premiered on Broadway on September 26, 1898 at Wallack's Theatre and ran for 40 performances. Star Alice Nielsen and many of the original company travelled to London where the piece opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on April 9, 1901, running for 88 performances.^[1] It was revived in New York on November 4, 1929 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre and ran for 16 performances.

The Fortune Teller
Music	Victor Herbert
Lyrics	Harry B. Smith
Book	Harry B. Smith
Productions	1898 Broadway 1929 Broadway revival

This was Herbert's sixth operetta, which he wrote for Nielsen and her new Alice Nielsen Opera Company. Nielsen, having earned widespread praise in The Serenade, requested and received not one but three roles in The Fortune Teller. The story is set in Hungary and involves Irma, an heiress from Budapest, who is studying for the ballet. Irma is in love with a young Hussar captain but is being forced to marry the silly Count Barezowski. When Musette, a gypsy fortune teller, arrives, she is mistaken for Irma; the case of mistaken identity fosters many complications.

Songs include "Gypsy Love Song" ('Slumber on, my little gypsy sweetheart') and "Romany Life".

Roles and original cast

 

Sheet music

• Musette, a fortune teller* – Alice Nielsen
• Captain Ladislas, a Hussar – Frank Rushworth
• Fresco, a dance master (trouser role) – Richard Golden
• Count Berezowski, a composer of no renown – Joseph W. Herbert
• Irma, a ballet student* – Alice Nielsen
• Mlle Pompon, a fading prima donna – Marguerite Sylva
• Fedor, Irma's twin brother* – Alice Nielsen
• Sandor, a gypsy leader – Eugene Cowles
• Irene, Trina and Ruth, ballet students
• Corporal, a Hussar
• Chorus

The roles marked with an asterisk (*) are all played by the same woman.

Musical numbers

 

Alice Nielsen as Fedor

Act 1

• Overture
• Introduction and Opening ensemble
• Always Do as People Say You Should – Irma and Ladies Chorus
• Hungaria's Hussars – Captain Ladislas and Hussars
• Ho! Ye Townsmen – Sandor
• Romany Life – Musette, Sandor, Vaninka, Boris, Rafael and Chorus
• Czardas – Musette and Chorus
• Finale I

Act 2

• Opening Chorus
• Signor Monsieur Moldoni – Fresco and Chorus
• The Serenade of All Nations – Musette, Count Berezowski, Fresco, Boris and Mixed Chorus
• Gypsy Love Song (Slumber On, My Little Gypsy Sweetheart) – Sandor, Musette and Chorus
• Only in the Play – Mlle. Pompom and Captain Ladislas
• Finale II

Act 3

• Gypsy Jan – Sandor and Chorus
• The Power of the Human Eye – Boris and Count Berezowski
• The Lily and the Nightingale – Musette
• Finale III

References

1. Wearing, J. P. (1981). The London Stage, 1900–1909: a calendar of plays and players. Metuchen, New Jersey. ISBN 0-8108-1403-X. OCLC 7172689.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Fortune Teller (musical).

• The Fortune Teller at the Internet Broadway Database
• Information from Musical Heaven
• NY Times review of a 1986 production
• Midi files, including two from The Fortune Teller
• Information about an upcoming 2008 production of The Fortune Teller