"Arizona Lady"

Cowboys, horse racing, and big emotions! All this and more is brought to the stage of the Graz Opera by the last operetta of Emmerich Kálmán, premiered posthumously. In an exciting and emotional production, Kálmán's Western operetta can be experienced for the first time in Austria. Sunshine Ranch, Wild West: For Lona Farrell, a ranch owner and horse breeder with Hungarian roots, work comes first. She views potential romantic adventures rather skeptically, even though the men would gladly lay at her feet. When the mysterious cowboy Roy Dexter takes over the vacant position of the overbearing foreman Jim Slaughter and seems to break new records with the racehorse Arizona Lady under his care, Lona and Roy find it increasingly difficult to hide their romantic feelings for each other. A happy ending is already within reach, if it weren't for Jim Slaughter and his new dubious boss McDumb...

After his exile in America, Emmerich Kálmán returned to Europe in 1949, bringing with him memories of the USA. In Arizona Lady, the die-hard Western fan incorporated all the sounds that inspired him: waltzes, foxtrots, csárdás, and, uniquely in this operetta, an American square dance.

It was to be Kálmán's last operetta, completed after his death at the urging of his son Charles. For the Graz Opera, director Christian Thausing and choreographer Evamaria Mayer, who successfully brought Anatevka to the stage here in 2020, present the singing cowboys and cowgirls. At the podium is Kai Tietje, who conducted the operetta in concert form as a rediscovery at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2014 and is known to the local audience from Tom Sawyer (2023/24) and Roxy and her Wonder Team (2024/25).

Public transport accessibility: Tram 1, 7 | Stop: Kaiser-Josef Platz/Oper Tickets and more information.