Operetta by Franz Lehár Book by A. M. Willner and Robert Bodanzky

"Before marriage is not marriage, marriage is not marriage."

Paris, February 1900: young and old, bohemians and aristocrats alike celebrate the carnival, life and love under the Eiffel Tower, which is just eleven years old. René, the real but penniless Count of Luxembourg, has just been crowned Prince Carnival of Paris when he receives an immoral offer. He is to enter into a marriage of convenience with a woman he does not know. While a considerable sum of money changes hands, René's aristocratic title is to be transferred to the married lady. After the planned divorce a few months later, the banknotes are to remain with René and the title with the lady. The lady thus elevated to the nobility can now become the wife of Prince Basil Basilovich in keeping with her rank. So much for the perfidious plan. The wedding duly takes place, but then everything turns out quite differently.

"Audiences all over the world love a mixture of cheerfulness and sentimentality", Franz Lehár stated in 1909 and wrote an operetta in just 30 days that is as spirited as it is wistful, ludicrous and waltzing, but in any case an opulent stage firework both musically and scenically.