AURELIA, her mother����������...�...�.LISA ALLEN MACMULLLEN
MASCHA, Aurelia�s Cousin������.��............��JACQUELINE PIMIENTA
BUMERLI, The Chocolate Soldier, A Swiss Mercenary in
the employ of the Servian Army����..��...............�MICHAEL MACMULLEN
MASSAKROFF, Captain in the Bulgarian Army����..........�GIOVANNI MASCHI KASIMIR POPOFF, Colonel in the Bulgarian Army...............................JAY SPENCER
ALEXIUS SPIRIDOFF, Major in the Bulgarian Army
Betrothed to Nadina Popoff...................................................................JAMES ARNN
LOUKA..........................................................................................JULIANA KLEIJN
STEPHAN.......................................................................................THOMAS SAELI
LADIES OF THE ENSEMBLE
Jan Janow, Suzanne Lodanski, Juliana Kleijn.
Violins�Marsha Lampert, Arlene Koster, Betty Schlemitz. Viola�Paula Keeton.
Cello�Linda Morimoto. Piano�Paul Pappas. Flute�Octavio Cortes.
Clarinets�William Hartman, Howard Rosen. Bassoon�Paula Berry.
Cornets�Fred Leder, Wade Scholine. Trombone�Betty Pappas.
Percussion�John Thomas, III.
Composer Oscar Straus� (1870-1954) other popular operettas include �A Waltz Dream� (1909), �The Last Waltz� (1922) as well as the film operettas �One Hour With You� with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald and �The Smiling Lieutenant� starring Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins. Oscar Straus, originally spelled with a double s, dropped the last letter of his name early in his career to avoid confusion with the more famous Strauss (Johann Sr. & Jr.) family of Viennese Waltz renown. Of all of his 40 works for the stage, �The Chocolate Soldier� is his greatest and most enduring success.
The scene of �The Chocolate Soldier� is laid near the Dragoman pass in Bulgaria. The country is at war. In their pleasant estate, the family of Colonel Popoff, consisting of his daughter, Nadina, his wife, Aurelia and a cousin, Mascha are fearful lest they be caught in the approaching engagement of conflicting armies. Nadina, a romantic maid, is betrothed to Alexius, a young compatriot, who has become a hero for his daring
cavalry charges. Nadina idealizes the young officer and is filled with admiration for his conquests. Lieutenant Bumerli, a Swiss Officer attached to the commissary
department of the enemy forces, is attacked by a patrol, whom he eludes by climbing into Nadina�s boudoir. His suave manners, compelling arguments and quick wit under difficulties impel Nadina to conceal him, even against her will, and he is saved by the three women, who are fascinated by his youthful mien and carriage.
Bumerli engages in a flirtation with Nadina to save his life, but it turns into a real romance. Almost in spite of herself, she yields her affections to him. Throughout, the scientific, efficient Swiss gentleman provides an amusing contrast to the bombast and mock heroics of his would-be captors.