The White Horse Inn
Singspiel in three acts by Ralph Benatzky
Libretto by Hans Müller and Erik Charell
3 hours 30 minutes
One could have a good time in Salzkammergut. The world would always be sky-blue there - if only the landlady desired one as much as one desires the landlady. But she of course desires someone else, namely Doctor Siedler, who has been a regular customer at the "Weißen Rößl" (White Horse Inn) for years. This considerably darkens the mood of the naturally cheerful waiter, Leopold. Although everything initially seems so idyllic at the Wolfgangsee, it soon becomes clear how things work here: »We offer all life's pleasures during your stay, all you need but do is pay«. And it comes as no surprise that culinary and physical pleasures are presented together on the same bill at the »Weißen Rößl«:»One coffee and a boiled egg for you, and a little loving, that comes to four crowns and two!« The tourist trade is just like the romance market: it is nature that is being sold, and since in both instances one is always looking for unspoilt beauty, people also promptly suggest that one has now found it. However, the ladies staying here do not fare any better; they are used as leverage during business disputes. »That's the way of things«, as the Kaiser correctly concludes.
The revue-operetta Im Weißen Rößl was first performed in 1930 and became a global success for the theatrical entrepreneur Erik Charrell at his venue the Großer Schauspielhaus Berlin. With a huge cast of actors and actresses, dancers, revue-girls, and musicians, the Rößl offered metropolitan and glamorous alpine fun – before post-war cinema reinterpreted it as harmless saccharine nostalgia for the homeland.
And there is one more thing I must say to you, Your Majesty: there is debauchery at that inn – the landlady cannot be trusted – do not enter the »Weiße Rößl«!
Leopold in the Weiße Rößl, Act 2