Katinka (operetta)

Katinka is an operetta in three acts composed by Rudolf Friml to a libretto by Otto Harbach. It was first performed at the Park Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey, on December 2, 1915, with May Naudain in the title role and subsequently received its Broadway premiere on December 23, 1915 at the 44th Street Theatre.

Katinka marked the third collaboration between Rudolf Friml and his lyricist Otto Harbach. The show's producer, Arthur Hammerstein, had also produced Friml and Harbach's The Firefly (1912) and High Jinks (1913). The work was originally entitled Elaine, after Hammerstein's daughter, who had a small role in High Jinks and according to the New York Times was to have featured in the new production. In the end, Elaine Hammerstein left Broadway to begin a career in movies, and the operetta's name was changed to Katinka.

Katinka was first performed at the Park Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey on December 2, 1915 and subsequently moved to the 44th Street Theatre for its Broadway premiere on December 23, 1915. The production starring May Naudain and Sam Ash as Katinka and Ivan was conducted by John McGhie and directed by Frank Smithson, with set design by Edward Sundquist and costume design by Paul Arlington. The show was an immediate success and ran on Broadway for 220 performances. It also had personal consequences for Friml, who began an affair with one of the chorus singers, Blanche Betters. The couple married in 1917 and divorced acrimoniously two years later, a fact which caused a New York judge to deny his 1921 request to become a naturalized US citizen. Following its Broadway run, Katinka toured to several American cities including Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Atlanta and had regular revivals in the US until the late 1940s, as well as radio broadcasts. One of its rare 21st century revivals was in November 2009, when it was performed in concert version by the Comic Opera Guild of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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