Santa Maria is an operetta, or 'comic opera', in three acts with music and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein I. It opened at Hammerstein's Olympia Theatre in New York City on September 14, 1896.[1] After closing on December 19, 1896, it went on tour, starting at the Alvin Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 21, 1896.[2]
The final scene, in which Bertrand and Santa Maria are proclaimed future King and Queen, was set as a "Palace of Ice" constructed from aluminum, a novel design for 1896.[3] [4] Edna May, who would soon become a star in Edwardian musical comedies, made her Broadway debut in the piece.[5]
| Role | Creator |
|---|---|
| Santa Maria | |
| Sarracco, a gypsy | Lucille Saunders |
| Princess Therese de Savoy | Marie Halton |
| Queen of Holland | Juliette Preston |
| Elise von Hagen | Eleanor Elton |
| Clairette Styrberg | Edna May Pettie |
| Amida | Alice Rice |
| Lieutenant Bertrand | Julius Steger |
| Moccarelli | James T. Powers |
| King Henry William | H. W. Tredennick |
| Marquis de Villadon | Joseph Frankau |
| Bombazine | Frederick Bach |
| Sheriff | Albert McGucken |
| Captain François | Albert Lellman |
The New York Times noted the audience's enthusiastic response to the piece and commented, "There is elemental strength, and humor too, in some of the situations here developed.... The first act is deliciously naïve.... But there is some fun in it, and plenty of jingle and color.... Mr. Hammerstein is scarcely a Sullivan or Suppe. Nor is he, as a librettist, a rival of Gilbert. But he is a man of extraordinary versatility and wonderful energy, who is doing much in a cheerful and vigorous way to entertain his fellow-citizens. There is good reason for his popularity."[4]
Hammerstein biographer Vincent Sheean summed up the composer's experience with Santa Maria:
The failure of the work was not quite so overwhelming as that of [Hammerstein's] Marguerite, perhaps because Hammerstein had spent a great deal of money on its production. He had an orchestra of fifty-five in the pit, for example, which was about twice the size of the usual musical-comedy orchestra. His principals were expensive, his costumes and settings lavish. (An odd touch in the decor, which Arthur recalled, was a scene made of papier-mâché, with peaks like mountains, covered with tinfoil. By the end of the first week the foil began to turn black and had to be refreshed regularly with paint.)... The critics saw redeeming features in Santa Maria, and for a few days there was some hope that it might attract a public. That hope was vain, and in the end – after more than fair trial – it brought its author, composer, and producer less than ten per cent of the actual cash he had spent on it. In his rage at the failure of his opera, Oscar accused his sons Willie and Arthur of standing outside the theater and stopping would-be patrons from buying tickets.[6]