Arizona Lady
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Arizona Lady |
| Original title: | Arizona Lady |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Emmerich Kálmán |
| Libretto : | Alfred Grünwald and Gustav Beer |
| Premiere: | February 14, 1954 |
| Place of premiere: | City Theater, Bern |
| Place and time of the action: | Arizona and Kentucky in the 1920s |
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Arizona Lady is an operetta in 2 acts by the composer Emmerich Kálmán and the librettists Alfred Grünwald and Gustav Beer . The first performance was a radio broadcast in Munich on January 1, 1954. The first performance on a stage took place on February 14, 1954 in the city theater in Bern . The work was not quite finished at the time of Emmerich Kálmán's death and was completed by his son Charles .
action
The action takes place in Arizona in the 1920s. Lona Farrell, the daughter of a Hungarian immigrant and gold prospector, runs the Sunshine Ranch. She fires her foreman, Jim Slaughter, who sexually harassed her. She hires a stranger from Colorado named Roy Dexter to replace her. In doing so, she ignores the sheriff's warnings that Dexter could be Burt Morton, a notorious gangster. She only makes one condition of Roy: He should never mention the subject of love in her presence. After many disappointments, she doesn't want to know anything more about this topic. However, an unspoken attraction soon develops between the two of them.
One of Roy's duties is looking after the Arizona Lady horse , which is being prepared for a big race. Arizona Lady with Roy as rider is the clear favorite for the race . But it turns out differently. Jim Slaughter, Roy's dismissed predecessor, tampered with the Arizona Lady saddle girth , causing Roy to fall out of the saddle and out of the race. Jim, who also takes part in the race on the horse Mexican Cavalier , can now win the race for his new employer, the wealthy Mexican Lopez Ibanez. As a side effect of this race outcome, Lona now has to get engaged to Sheriff Sullivan because of a lost bet. Things get worse for Roy. The bar dancer Bonita claims Roy is actually the wanted gangster Burton Morton. When Arizona Lady is stolen, everything seems to be clear. Roy, who everyone now thinks is gangster Burt Morton, must be the culprit. He is consequently arrested and imprisoned. With the help of a fellow prisoner who has dug an escape tunnel, Roy manages to escape from prison. He immediately crossed the nearby border into Mexico. When the sheriff shows up there, he promises to return to Arizona if he is allowed to talk to Lona alone for ten minutes. This request is granted to him. He explains that he is neither Roy Dexter nor Burt Morgan, but known as the Colorado Kit . Burt Morgan murdered his father and he is now looking for him. It turns out that Jim Slaughter is the real Burt Morton, who is immediately arrested. The theft of Arizona Lady is also due to the gangster and his boss Lopez Ibanez. After the horse has reappeared, Lona asks Roy, as he is still called, to stay. But he refuses, but asks if he can keep Arizona Lady .
Three months later, they all meet again at the famous Kentucky Derby , where Arizona Lady is supposed to run, among others . Lona and the sheriff, who are still not married, make another bet. Should Arizona Lady win this race, they would get married immediately. When the horse actually wins the race, Sheriff Sullivan waives the bet because he realizes that Lona is actually in love with Roy. The wedding plans go on, only the role of the groom is reassigned. Roy and Lona finally get together and the operetta has its happy ending. At the same time there is a subplot between Nellie Nettleton and Chester Kingsbury.
reception
The work was based more on early musicals than on the Viennese operettas of the 1920s. The success in the German-speaking area was manageable. The operetta is rarely performed. In December 2014 there were two concert performances in the Komische Oper Berlin with a new musical arrangement by Norbert Biermann .