The Student Prince

The Student Prince is an operetta in four acts, with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. [1].

The original text

Based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's German play Alt-Heidelberg, it was first performed in 1924, opening on December 2 at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre on Broadway and went on to become the most successful of Romberg's works, running for 608 performances. The operetta was revived twice on Broadway – once in 1931 and again in 1943.

Translations and adaptations

Ernst Lubitsch made a silent film titled The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg that starred Ramón Novarro and Norma Shearer. However, this was based on Förster's work rather than on the Romberg and Donnelly operetta, so its orchestral score did not use any of Romberg's score, although it did include "Gaudeamus igitur".

In 1954 the American musical was filmed as The Student Prince, directed by Richard Thorpe with a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, based on the operetta. The film starred Ann Blyth and Edmund Purdom, though the Prince's songs were famously sung by Mario Lanza (who had been the original choice for the role).

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Studente Prins by an unknown author. The text of the translation was published by DALRO in 1967.