Rose Marie, operetta

Rose‐Marie (1924), a musical play by Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein (book, lyrics), Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart (music). [ Imperial Theatre, 557 perf.] Rose‐Marie La Flamme (Mary Ellis) works at Lady Jane's, a small hotel in the Canadian Rockies, and is courted by both the trapper Jim Kenyon (Dennis King) and the villainous Ed Hawley (Frank Greene), who manages to throw blame for the murder of the Indian Black Eagle (Arthur Ludwig) on his rival. The truth was that Black Eagle had found his wife, Wanda (Pearl Regay), with Hawley, and Wanda had killed her husband when he attacked Hawley. A clever trader, Hard‐Boiled Herman (William Kent), tricks Wanda into a confession, so Rose‐Marie and Jim are free to wed. Notable songs: Indian Love Call; The Mounties; Rose‐Marie; The Door of Her Dreams; Totem‐Tom‐Tom. The Arthur Hammerstein–produced musical sparked the revival of traditional operetta after World War I, during which the genre was perceived as German and therefore enemy entertainment. The excellence of the writing and the freshness of the setting coupled with the long‐dormant appeal of operetta allowed this musical a singular success. It was the biggest international musical hit of the decade, offering not only several American road companies but also running 851 performances in London and establishing a Paris long‐run record of 1,250 performances. Oddly, it has been revived less frequently than the other operetta hits of the 1920s.

• Date: 1924
• Composer: Rudolf Friml
• Period: Modern (1910-1949)

Review

This two-act musical (also realized in several film versions), composed in collaboration with Herbert Stohart, sets a text by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II.

At Fond du Lac, Saskatchewan, Lady Jane's hotel (described in "Vive la Canadienne") is the rough hangout for trappers, hunters, and travelers. At the moment Mountie Sergeant Malone is chatting up Lady Jane, while Rose Marie La Flamme is being sought by dapper Edward Hawley and also her brother Émile who thinks she is with the miner Jim Kenyon. Wanda, a half-caste Indian, dances suggestively close to Hawley, making her drunken lover Blackeagle jealous. Meanwhile, "Hard-Boiled" Herman, to whom Lady Jane is attracted, arrives.

Jim Kenyon appears later, and Sergeant Malone notes Rose Marie's civilizing affect on this hard-drinking, rough man. But Kenyon does quarrel with Blackeagle who's trying to jump claim on Jim and Herman's land and take the gold. Sgt. Malone warns Herman not to use his gun, and the mounties show up to sing "The Mounties."

Émile wants to take Rose Marie, together with Hawley who Émile wants her to marry, to the Kootenay Pass where he traps. But Rose Marie declare her love for Kenyon (in "Lak Jeem"). Meanwhile, Hawley plans to pay Wanda, his former lover, to leave him. Kenyon hears of Émile's planned departure, and arranges with Rose Marie to meet him in an old house in the echoing valley of the "Indian Love Call."

Blackeagle, jealous, attacks Hawley in Wanda's cabin but Wanda stabs him. Then she blames Jim Kenyon who innocently left a map with Blackeagle to try to settle their land dispute.

In an interlude, Herman has a comic scene with Lady Jane ("Eccentric Dance," "Why Shouldn't We?").

Rose Marie turns down Hawley's marriage proposal, although he lauds the wonders of Quebec. Jim receives an offer to work in Brazil, and arranges for Rose Marie to sing the Indian Love Call as a signal she will not escape with him over the border to America that night. While Jim waits at the cabin, the mounties arrive with a warrant for Jim, but Rose Marie makes a deal with her brother not to reveal Jim's whereabouts if she will agree to marry Hawley, and then sings the Indian Love Song, and Jim departs alone.

In Act II, the action moves to Quebec where Rose Marie is about to marry Hawley. Herman is also there married to Lady Jane who sold her hotel. Jim arrives with Wanda, but actually to see Rose Marie; Rose still believes he is a murderer, so he leaves, disappointed ("I Love Him").

Wanda, jealous of Hawley's impending marriage, tries to blackmail him, but Sgt. Malone is suspicious of Wanda's new clothes and manner, and finally at the marriage ceremony Wanda breaks down and confesses the truth that she killed Blackeagle to protect her true love Hawley, and Jim is innocent. The wedding is off, and Rose returns to Kootenay Pass, echoes Jim's Indian Love Call, and they embrace as the curtain falls. ~ All Music Guide

Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work

Title	Date
100 Chansons Opérettes	2008
101 Glorious Melodies from Operetta	1989
All American Showcase	2006
Anthologie de l'Opérette, 1850-1950 (Box Set)
Anthologie de l'Opérette, 1850-1950: Vol. 3, 1927-1934
Bless Yore Beautiful Hide
Broadway: Timeless Classics of Stage and Screen	2006
Duos D'Operettes	1994
Franz Völker im Reich der Operette
Friml Plays Friml
Fritz Kreisler Complete RCA Recordings [Box Set]	1995
Great Singing Screen Stars
Great Songs from the Broadway Musicals [Box Set]	2003
Hammerstein: The Operettas	2000
Highlights from Musicals & Operettas	2005
If I Loved You: Love Duets from the Musicals
Il Était Une Fois L'Operette
Indian Love Call
Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy Duets	2007
Kreisler: The 1926 & 1927 Victor Recordings: Favourite Short Pieces	1993
L'inoubliabloe André Baugé, Vol. 1
Le Meilleur de l'Opérette	2000
Lebendige Vergangenheit: Robert Merrill, Vol. 3
Les Grandes Messieurs de L'Operette	1998
Love's Old Songs	2000
Make Believe: The Hollywood Baritones	2000
My Heart & I
My Romance	1997
Only a Rose
Operetta Arias	2004
San Francisco and Other Jeanette MacDonald Favorites	1991
Serenade; A Cavalcade of Show Tunes	2004
Sure On This Shining Night: 20th-Century Romantic Songs of America	1997
Sweethearts	2000
That's Entertainment! The Ultimate Anthology of M-G-M Musicals
That's Entertainment: The Ultimate Anthology of M-G-M Musicals [Box Set]	2006
The Darling Diva	2002
The Romantic World of Rudolf Friml
The Very Best of Mario Lanza
The World's Most Beautiful Melodies: Glorious Melodies from Operetta	1993
Up in Central Park	1978
Violin Magic	2004
Wien, Wien, schönes Wien	1996