Head waiters of the White Horse Inn in Austria have found that to fall in love with the attractive young widow who owns the establishment is a swift and certain route to dismissal. Yet none have been able to resist Josepha, least of all Leopold, the present incumbent. She pines for Dr. Otto Siedler, a visiting lawyer from Berlin and regular visitor to the inn, but she is resolutely blind to all evidence that his thoughts for her are no more than warm friendship. Siedler is incensed when he arrives and finds that his usual room has been given by a spiteful Leopold to Ottilie and her father, Herr Giesecke, a manufacturer of ladies' underwear. Siedler's rage is somewhat mollified when he falls hard for Ottilie who, however, has been set up for a commercially viable marriage to Sigismund, the son of Giesecke's business rival. The eventual arrival of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Franz Joseph, serves at first only to add to the acrimonious chaos, but finally his kindly understanding and wisdom do much to bring about the statutory happy ending, with Josepha finally realizing her true love for Leopold.
White Horse Inn remains one of the most popular and beloved of German-language musical theatre works. Its title song never ceases to draw the listener into the magical escapist world of operetta. With a rich, ever-melodious Benatzky score that was augmented from the beginning with songs by Robert Stolz and others, this OLO premiere is bound to please.
| Production Team | |
| Conductor | Steven Byess |
| Stage Director | Julie Wright |
| Choreographer | Carol Hageman |
| Set Designer | Richard Traubnerr |
| Costume Designer | Daniel Jones |
| Lighting Designer | Shannon Schweitzer |
| Assistant Stage Director | Amy Pfrimmer |
| Cast | |
| Kathi, postmistress | Erin Jackson |
| Zenzi | Sahara Glasener |
| Piccolo, a young waiter | Rachel Rowe |
| Tour Guide | Kevin Blickfeldt |
| Leopold Brandemeyer, headwaiter | Anthony Maida |
| Josepha Vogelhuber, headmistress of the Inn | Julie Wright |
| Dr. Otto Siedler, lawyer from Vienna | Grant Knox |
| Wilhelm Giesecke, Berlin manufacturer | Boyd Mackus |
| Ottilie, his daughter | Sarah Asmar |
| Sigismund Sülzheimer, Berlin manufacturer | Gregory Brookes |
| Professor Dr. Hinzelmann, a tutor from Vienna | Oliver Henderson |
| Klärchen, his daughter | Jessie Wright Martin |
| Kaiser Franz Josef II | Jonathan Michie |
| Grünwald, forester | Jeremiah Butterfield |
| Women of the Ensemble: Sarah Asmar, Julianna Byess, Sara Gartland, Lisa Gerstenkorn, Sahara Glasener, Catherine Greer, Jessica Hornsten, Erin Jackson, Shannon Langman, Claire Maloney, Jessie Wright Martin, Danielle McCormick, Valerie Hart Nelson, Amy Pfrimmer, Rachel Rowe, Kari Sorenson, Julie Wright | |
| Men of the Ensemble: James Barbato, Kevin Blickfeldt, Gregory Brookes, John Buffett, Jeremiah Butterfield, Vernon Di Carlo, Samuel Haddad, Oliver Henderson, Patrick Howle, Grant Knox, Justin Legris, Boyd Mackus, Anthony Maida, Jonathan Michie, Zachary Wilder | |