A woman who knows what she wants

In the limelight: Dagmar Manzel and Max Hopp! She plays: operetta diva Manon Cavallini, her suitor Raoul, and the father of her daughter Lucy. He plays: that same Lucy, all five of Cavallini’s lovers, and Lucy’s gallant to boot. In additional roles: Dagmar Manzel and Max Hopp! A breathless tour de force, with the orchestra under Adam Benzwi’s baton igniting a fireworks display of marches, waltzes, and chansons, all from the pen of Oscar Straus.

Glamour queen Manon Cavallini is an operetta diva idolized by all men. Raoul Severac has also succumbed to her allure—much to the displeasure of young Lucy, who’s fallen head over heels for the dapper bachelor. She therefore asks the great diva to forego Raoul and leave him to her. What she doesn’t know: Manon is her mother ...

With A Woman Who Knows What She Wants, Oscar Straus, one of the most successful operetta composers of the 1920s and 30s, created a masterpiece. Its wild mix of waltz and foxtrot perfectly embodies the operetta style of the Weimar Republic. With hits like ‘Why Shouldn’t a Woman Have a Relationship?’ and ‘Every Woman Has a Longing of Some Kind’, Straus boldly toppled the gender clichés of the day.