28^th Festival Season - 2007

The Student Prince

Musical play in 2 acts by Dorothy Donnelly based on Old Heidelberg by Rudolf Bleichmann, a version of AltHeidelberg by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster.

Lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly

Music by Sigmund Romberg

Premiere: Jolson Theater, New York 2 December 1924

Prince Karl-Franz, grandson of the King of Karlsberg, has left his restricted life and, accompanied by his tutor Dr. Engel and pompous valet Lutz, begins a year of study, incognito, at Heidelberg University. Upon his arrival, he is charmed by the sights and sounds of student revelry and by the waitress Kathie, the niece of the proprietor of The Inn of The Three Golden Apples. A visit from Karlberg's Princess Margaret, to whom he is betrothed by the wish of his dynastically-minded grandfather, convinces Karl-Franz that he and Kathie, now deeply in love, must escape together to Paris. News arrives, however, that the King is dying and that Karl-Franz must return to Karlsberg. He promises Kathie that he will return, but she knows better. Two years pass—Karl-Franz is now King, although he has managed to delay his marriage to Margaret. Word reaches him that Kathie spends all her time weeping in her room. The King must return to Heidelberg. His arrival is preceded by that of Princess Margaret, who convinces Kathie of the sacrifice that she must make for the royal cause. When she confronts the arriving King, Kathie tells him, holding back the tears, that although she will always remember him, she is going back to her home town to wed the fiancé of her younger days.

The Student Prince, the longest-running musical of the 1920's, is for many theatre-goers the quintessential romantic operetta. Romberg's score brims over with tunes that you will be humming as you walk in and walk out of the theater: Golden days, Overhead the moon is beaming, Just we two, Deep in my heart, and, of course, that most rousing of all drinking songs Drink, drink, drink.

Production Team
Conductor	J. Lynn Thompson
Director	Ted Christopher
Choreographer	Carol Hageman
Scene Design	Kirk Domer
Costume Designer	Myron Elliott
Lighting Designer	Krystal Kennel
Assistant Conductor	Nathaniel Motta
Assistant Director	Stephen Carr
Original Set Design Concept	Billy Wilburn

Cast
Doctor Engel	Boyd Mackus
Prince Karl Franz	Grant Knox Josh Kohl
Gretchen	Sahara Glasener-Boles
Ruder	Gary Moss
Count Hugo Detlef	Todd Strange
Von Asterberg	Peter Foltz
Lucas	David Kelleher-Flight
Kathie	Robin Farnsley Sarah Asmar
Princess Margaret	Kemper LeCroy-Florin Diana Becker
Captain Tarnitz	Patrick Howle
Prime Minister Von Mark	Mark Snyder
Toni	Spiro Matsos
Lutz	Frederick Reeder
Hubert	Brian Tanner
Grand Duchess Anastasia	Sandra Ross Carissa Kett
Baron Arnheim	Seth Kershisnik
Countess Leyden	Analisa Leaming
Lackeys	Ben Robinson Anthony Buck Michael Denos Brian Tanner