FIRST PERFORMED:

Theater an der Wien in Vienna on December 30, 1905

SOUNDS FAMILIAR:

Well-known music from the score includes the songs "Vilja", "You'll Find Me at Maxim's", and "The Merry Widow Waltz". Music from The Merry Widow has been used in many films and television shows.  Examples include “Shadow of a Doubt,” (1943); “Waltz Time,” (1945); “Torture Me, kiss Me,” (1970); A Chorus of Disapproval (1988); Liebestraum (1991); The Rocketeer (1991) and “Man of the Century” (1999).  “The Merry Widow Waltz has been heard in such television shows as “Happy Days.”

DID YOU KNOW?

 In the early 1970s, plans were in the works to make an updated film version of the tale and director Ingmar Bergman approached Barbara Streisand to gage her interest in playing Hanna. However, Bergman refused to rewrite the second half of his screenplay to suit her; Streisand refused to do the film.

Various films based very loosely on the plot of the operetta have been made (1925, 1934 and 1952). A French television series, also loosely based on the plot of the operetta, was produced.

The Merry Widow is an operetta masterpiece, but the librettists Viktor Léon and Leo Stein had so many setbacks before its première that it almost never opened. Léon and Stein were not happy with composer Richard Heuberger's work and asked composer Franz Lehár to step in and create a new score. Once rehearsals were underway, the two managers of Theater an der Wein detested the music and threatened to cancel the production. In response, Léon threatened legal action and was forced to find new scenery and costumes at the very last minute. Principles and theater staff fought for The Merry Widow to go on and when money became short, they volunteered their time to rehearse. In addition, the orchestra only had one time where the entire ensemble could meet at once: late into the night the day before the première.

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