The White Horse Inn

Summer, sunshine, vacation time—and things are really heating up at the White Horse Inn on Lake Wolfgang. Manager Josepha Vogelhuber finds herself caught up in several romantic entanglements. Head waiter Leopold, who is aggressively courting her, is disrupting Josepha’s own romantic plans, as her heart belongs to the sophisticated regular guest Dr. Siedler. He, in turn, suddenly has eyes only for Ottilie, daughter of the Berlin knitting manufacturer Wilhelm Gieseke. To make matters worse, a bizarre legal battle erupts over the patent rights to the “Apollo” trousers—with Dr. Siedler serving as the opposing attorney. Amidst all this turmoil, Sulzheimer Junior, the “handsome Sigismund,” appears and falls in love with Klärchen, daughter of the dreamy Professor Dr. Hinzelmann. In the end, it falls to His Majesty the Emperor himself to restore peace and calm to the general chaos surrounding Lake Wolfgang. Or does it?

Ralph Benatzky’s Singspiel The White Horse Inn has been counted among the timeless classics of the operetta stage since its Berlin premiere in November 1930. With the fast-paced and witty libretto by revue specialist Erik Charell and melodies that are instantly catchy, the piece quickly conquered stages in London, Paris, and New York as well. Although Benatzky was later unable to replicate this success, The White Horse Inn remains a masterpiece of musical entertainment theater.—Following The Merry Widow (2023) and The Fairy Tale at the Grand Hôtel (2024), director Tristan Braun now presents his third production at the Mainfranken Theater with The White Horse Inn.