All capers
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | All capers |
| Original title: | All caprioles |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Siegfried Koehler |
| Libretto : | Will Petersen, FW Juergens |
| Premiere: | December 31, 1952 |
| Place of premiere: | Koblenz |
| Place and time of the action: | On the high seas and in Brazil around 1950 |
| people | |
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Alles Kapriolen is an operetta in three acts by Siegfried Köhler . Will Petersen and FW Jürgens wrote the libretto. It premiered on December 31, 1952 in Koblenz.
orchestra
Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets or saxophones, a bassoon, a contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, a harp, a guitar, two pianos, large percussion and strings
action
place and time
The operetta is set on a steamer that goes to Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro and in the Brazilian jungle in the mid-20th century.
first act
Image: Luxury cabin of an ocean liner
The wealthy publisher Lincoln Armstrong travels to Brazil with his daughter Lil, where they want to spend their vacation. Joe Peines is also on board. He and Lincoln Armstrong have known each other for a long time. The latter considers him a gentleman from head to toe.
Two shots are fired during the night that robbed Lil Armstrong of sleep. When she turns on the light in her cabin, she sees a stranger with a still smoking pistol in his hand. Apparently he fled to her room to avoid prosecution. She was supposed to be screaming now to get the attention of the ship's crew, but an inner voice tells her not to. The criminal also exudes an irresistible sympathy. No, she will not hand him over to the persecutors; she even assigns him a hiding place. In search of Harry - that's the name of the perpetrator - Joe Peines immediately enters their cabin with a few men. One of the shots must have hit Peines because he is visibly wounded. Lil's assumption that the second shot was aimed at Peggy Robertson turns out to be false. A mishap happened to the detective Nat Ponkerting: When he was about to change the magazine of his pistol, a shot had accidentally gone off.
When searching the room, the hunters first came across the perpetrator's face mask, then a valuable-looking pearl necklace. Harry's hiding place is discovered and he himself is declared arrested.
Second act
Image: Hotel terrace in Rio de Janeiro
All the protagonists of the operetta have moved into the same hotel in Rio. Before long, a messenger delivers an anonymous letter to both Lincoln Armstrong and Detective Pinkerton. Both suspect something bad. When they read the letters, their fears are even exceeded: each of them will soon be transported to the afterlife. After that, events precipitate. The "valuable" pearl necklace turns out to be worthless. The criminal Harry, locked up in the hotel, manages to escape. Lincoln Armstrong is on the verge of a nervous breakdown when Joe Peines explains to him that he owns a log cabin in the jungle. If the threatened and their relatives prefer to go there with him, they are warmly welcome. Armstrong takes a load off his heart. Nothing better than that! Together they all set out into the jungle.
Third act
Image: In the Brazilian jungle
When they arrive at their destination, the guests soon notice that it is not like living in paradise here. The green hell is teeming with mosquitoes and other annoying animals. The boredom will soon be over; because the once so esteemed gentleman Joe Peines is now dropping his mask and turns out to be a real monster. He has ordered a few natives with whom he is in cahoots to kidnap the wealthy publisher in order to later release him for a generous ransom. He orders Armstrong's daughter Lil to marry him immediately.
Meanwhile, the escaped felon Harry reappears. However, he does not seem to be one of Peine's helpers, because he has him arrested immediately. The same fate happened to the detective and his assistant Bob and Peggy Robertson. In a hurry, Peines and his native helpers put together a remote court that doesn't take long to pass a verdict: death by hanging! The execution can only be averted if Lil Joe Peines marries on the spot. Lincoln Armstrong overheard everything up close and is horrified.
Suddenly Joe Peines decides to put an end to the whole theater. He calls for calm and explains that the game is now over. His friend Harry is actually not a criminal, just a detective writer. It turns out that some time ago he submitted a crime thriller to Lincoln Armstrong under a pseudonym. The manuscript was sent back to him by the publisher on the grounds that such a work lacks logic and would only damage the publisher's reputation. So he decided to give the publisher a lesson by playing his crime thriller to him and his daughter with a few confidants. Apart from Peggy Robertson, Nat Ponkerting and Bob, who were involuntarily drawn into the action, all of the characters were actors in this game. Lincoln Armstrong has been gracious to them, now agrees to publish Harry's crime thriller and gives his daughter the fatherly blessing to marry the "felon" she admires.