Roxy und ihr Wunderteam

SK Sturm legend Martin Ehrenreich is joined by players from his club, choir singers and soloists from Oper Graz in a whimsical, tumultuous sports satire about a runaway bride who turns the heads of an entire soccer team in a unique melting pot of jazz, puszta and operetta, complemented by a dash of stadium chants: “Long live sports, sports, sports!”

Captain Gjurka Karoly’s team is celebrating its victory over the English when Roxy, a Scot, bursts into the footballers’ hotel room. She’s on the run from her groom Bobby and her uncle Sam Cheswick, manufacturer of Scottish condiments, ketchup and mixed pickles. Without further ado, the runaway bride is stowed away in the luggage and taken to the Hungarian training camp. This of course diverts the men’s attention in completely the wrong direction, especially since a girls’ boarding school has also booked a room at the hotel for their school trip. What a delightful surprise for the teammates. The romantic confusions threaten to end in both a sporting and emotional defeat. But Roxy is savvy and self-confident enough to lead not only her dream team but also herself to victory. And so the final score is 3:1 for love!

Hungarian-born composer Paul Abraham celebrated his greatest successes as the “King of operetta” at the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s in Berlin. When the National Socialists came to power, he was forced to leave Germany in 1933 due to his Jewish heritage, but was able to continue his work in Hungary and Austria for the time being. In December 1936, his operetta 3:1 a szerelem javára (3:1 for love) premiered in Budapest. Just three months later, a German version was released at the Theater an der Wien as Roxy und ihr Wunderteam, the title being an allusion to the legendary Austrian national soccer team of the 1930s, which also played a part in a film version of the operetta in 1938. So, SK Sturm is about to fill big shoes!

Age recommendation: 10+