Gustave

Gustave Adolphe Kerker once said that the most difficult thing about writing an operetta is to come up with a catchy title. He was not entirely serious, but the notion is not so far-fetched, for those who have to make an effort to invent melodies has no business being in light entertainment. He was born in 1854 in Herford, Germany and his parents brought him with them to the USA at the age of ten. Kerker rose to become of the most renowned personalities on Broadway. He was a paragon of ideas, which would only work if they were combined to form a turbulent story. Case in point – The Belle of New York (1897), which was received there quite tepidly, conquered London's West End with just under 700 performances. It became a model for musical comedy and still is to this day. Performances of the Belle of New York are met with enthusiastic applause, each time turning the Theater für Niedersachsen into a Broadway theatre.