Page 196 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
P. 196
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
designated image.61 This technique (beside being an analogy for cosmopol-
itan diversity) helped to attract the interest of a wider audience, although
these individual attributes dissolved completely in the show through the
identical costumes and choreography.
Their role in the show was to set an example of professionalism from a
real metropolis, which the management hoped would inspire future Buda-
pest productions. Apart from Lala Collins and Edna May (the soloists), the
girls accompanied the major Hungarian stars of the show (Biller and Hal-
may), and certainly appeared in the opening and finale. They were referred
to as Haskell-girls by the Hungarian press, but their position and role was
not self-explanatory at the time for the Hungarian public.
We ask what is a bit blurry for the Budapest audience: why do they
call the English dancers of Halló, Amerika! Haskell-girls? What is
their relationship with Haskell? They laugh. They have never heard
before that are called Haskell-girls. Haskell chooses the talent from
the applicants. Only forty-fifty from the hundreds. Haskell-girl,
Haskell-girl – repeats the charming boyish Dorotty Liver-Sidge. She
hardly can stop laughing.62
They were not an act by themselves (like the earlier Tiller-girls or the
Ziegfeld-girls), at least they did not think of their work in Halló, Amerika!
as such. They were cast as ensemble members for a single foreign job, not for
a permanent house ensemble. They were replaceable anytime, and some of
them in fact were replaced during the run. Nevertheless, they soon became
a sensation for Hungarian high society.
In the last couple of months girls were in fashion: hardly anything
could happen without them. There was not a company’s car ride to
Svábhegy [Buda mountains], was not a soirée in the [Hotel] Ritz,
nor a football match or party in Lipótváros without them. At noon,
you could have spotted them by groups in different company and
not just looking at the glamorous shop-windows of Váci utca, but
also buying classy goods from there.63
61 “The young Swedish girl is only sixteen, but as strong as Hercules.” Esti Kurír, March
10, 1925.
62 Az Ujság, March 8, 1925.
63 “Good by [sic] Budapest...!,” Esti Kurír, May 15, 1925.
194
designated image.61 This technique (beside being an analogy for cosmopol-
itan diversity) helped to attract the interest of a wider audience, although
these individual attributes dissolved completely in the show through the
identical costumes and choreography.
Their role in the show was to set an example of professionalism from a
real metropolis, which the management hoped would inspire future Buda-
pest productions. Apart from Lala Collins and Edna May (the soloists), the
girls accompanied the major Hungarian stars of the show (Biller and Hal-
may), and certainly appeared in the opening and finale. They were referred
to as Haskell-girls by the Hungarian press, but their position and role was
not self-explanatory at the time for the Hungarian public.
We ask what is a bit blurry for the Budapest audience: why do they
call the English dancers of Halló, Amerika! Haskell-girls? What is
their relationship with Haskell? They laugh. They have never heard
before that are called Haskell-girls. Haskell chooses the talent from
the applicants. Only forty-fifty from the hundreds. Haskell-girl,
Haskell-girl – repeats the charming boyish Dorotty Liver-Sidge. She
hardly can stop laughing.62
They were not an act by themselves (like the earlier Tiller-girls or the
Ziegfeld-girls), at least they did not think of their work in Halló, Amerika!
as such. They were cast as ensemble members for a single foreign job, not for
a permanent house ensemble. They were replaceable anytime, and some of
them in fact were replaced during the run. Nevertheless, they soon became
a sensation for Hungarian high society.
In the last couple of months girls were in fashion: hardly anything
could happen without them. There was not a company’s car ride to
Svábhegy [Buda mountains], was not a soirée in the [Hotel] Ritz,
nor a football match or party in Lipótváros without them. At noon,
you could have spotted them by groups in different company and
not just looking at the glamorous shop-windows of Váci utca, but
also buying classy goods from there.63
61 “The young Swedish girl is only sixteen, but as strong as Hercules.” Esti Kurír, March
10, 1925.
62 Az Ujság, March 8, 1925.
63 “Good by [sic] Budapest...!,” Esti Kurír, May 15, 1925.
194
