My first encounter with Lehar's Merry Widow was many years
ago when I was a Stage Manager and then later, Assistant Director in Cape Town.
The first production was directed by the late Neels Hansen, starring Mini
Coertse as Hanna Glawari, and subsequently I assisted on many productions by
one of my biggest mentors, Angelo Gobbato.
Since then Opera has transformed drastically in our country.
Many wonderful voices are trained at tertiary institutions and today many of
our most talented singers grace European stages and there are many more singers
waiting in the wings.
Tonight, on stage you will see a proverbial example of this
talent. Runette Botha (Hanna Glawari) is
a University of Cape Town South African College of Music graduate, and is
currently following a successful singing career in Germany. Albertus Engelbrecht (Danilo), is a
Stellenbosch University graduate from the Conservatoire of Music and currently
a vocal lecturer at the Odeion School of Music.
Albertus spent seventeen years pursuing a sterling career in Germany as
a singer and has now returned to invest in our local talent. Thesele Khemane (the South African
Ambassador) is a UCT graduate at the SACM and has spent two years in Germany
and has now also returned to South Africa to share his skills with students as
a part time singing lecturer at the Odeion.
Teresa de Witt is a graduate of this University and as a vocal lecturer
also has vested interests with the Odeion School of Music.
This Merry Widow production is set at the South African
Embassy in Paris and not at the Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris, as is the
tradition. As the story revolves around
politics, the fear that the Embassy might be degraded to “junk-status”, motivates
Zeta to get his hands on the Widow's 500,000,000. Hanna Glawari married an ex Minister of
Finance, and now her money is sought after to fill up the coffers of the
National Treasury. There are some
parallels with the dilemmas we experience in our own country, and this has
provided us with the opportunity to incorporate some true South African wit!
There are many facets to the pedagogy of a singer, and the
decision was made to have the dialogues in English, Afrikaans as well as some
Sesotho. The familiar Lehar score will be sung in German.
Lastly, the journey to become a successful singer is a long
and arduous one. Singers require many skills to have a successful career and
having a production like this, is an excellent learning platform for the
students. I salute Dr. Jan Beukes and Albertus Engelbrecht not only for their
hard work behind the scenes, but also for their dedication and passion to
produce this wonderful operetta in Bloemfontein.
Christine Crouse
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