The Student Prince will debut with beer, sausage and a faux Oktoberfest feel

While being bored with royal life isn't something we all can relate to - most of us have faced a time we've briefly kindled a love for something responsibility has eclipsed or a situation when duty has outweighed our own personal happiness. And the musical, The Student Prince encompasses this theme throughout the story line. The Student Prince is a well known musical that's been beloved since it hit Broadway in the 1920s and became a wildly popular production that even outdid Showboat in performances. Now nearly 100 years later in 2018, Prince Karl Franz adventures will be performed at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Snowy Owl Theater. 

German flair, witty dialogue and a barmaid - these are some characteristics that chalk up to develop the unconventional love story. The overlap of comedy, romance, the internal weight of choosing between what you should do versus what you want to do in the plot is also amplified by a notable music score. 

"It's romance, it's comedy but the music is very good," said director John Wagner. "Possibly one of the greatest musical scores of the 20th century." 

The musical was originally bordering on operetta. However, Wagner has heavily edited The Student Prince to craft a more American musical theater approach that typically is performed at the Fish Hatchery and Ski Hill. 

"It's pretty much American musical theater but using music that is designed for a little bit more of a trained voice type of singer," said Wagner. 

Wagner is no stranger to the opera style after being involved for several years, working at places such as San Diego Opera and some roles in Seattle over the last few years. He emphasized that after working with these companies it's a process of realizing that the music itself is great, but the presentation isn't. The foreign language, the three hour long scores and being drastically out of date stack up to create a three tier format that causes a loss of interest. With Wagner's creative liberty he prevented The Student Prince from collapsing into that outcome. 

"What I want to do is take that and transform it into modern American English. You still keep the tunes, but everything else feels contemporary and really accessible. The plan is to try and present American music theater featuring what we would call opera music but in the American musical format," said Wagner. 

Despite the story being set in 1860, the plot is much like the music will be - avoiding being outdated. The story line still keeps a captive audience over the decades since it first came to the stage. Star-crossed lovers, as is the case for Karl and Kathie, is a story line that doesn't fade over time for audiences. And the struggle between faithfully choosing selfless duty versus favoring selfish inclination is a timeless theme. However, Wagner has made the connection for the audience even deeper by adopting a unique setting for the performance. 

"The show is set in a beer garden so in essence there's not much difference between the theater where you're sitting and what's happening," said Wagner. "The stage is one of the tables among the other tables - people will be close, people will usually be five or 10 feet away from the performers." 

The retractable seats at the Snowy Owl location allowed the crew to create a flat floor environment, set up with tables and chairs so it gives the audience members a faux sense of not only being in a beer garden but also intertwined with the performance itself. The layout fulfills a closeness to the performers that will leave the audience feeling immersed in the action. The conversion of stage and seats into a beer garden eliminates the disconnect between staring up at the stage from plush seats. 

They have molded the arrangement to encompass a Oktoberfest feel and furthered the German spirit with refreshments. Instead of the usual popcorn and Twizzlers people usually reach for when picking a snack for performances, Munchen Haus and Icicle Brewery will be incorporated with the show by offering sausage and beer to guests. 

"It's the atmosphere of a beer garden but you're actually part of the atmosphere," said Wagner. 

The atmosphere will magnify the story of German Prince of Karlsburg, Karl Franz, as he falls in love with the barmaid working at the beer garden. Like most great love stories, fate wedges in to intervene and evaporate any chance of having a smooth happy ending with no riffs. Struggling with his duty as a prince and the humanistic instinct to selfishly chose his own happiness, Prince Karl must decide between his country and his soul mate. 

"(The audience will enjoy) the singing," said Anna Galavis, who plays Kathie. "The prince and Kathie will break everyone's hearts with their love duet, while in stark contrast, the student choruses are bawdy and rousing. The audience will love feeling like they're in our beer garden and they may be tempted to pound their glasses on the tables along with us."

If interested in beer garden esque theater, the unlikely romance between a barmaid and\a prince or the melodies, the production will run the last two weekends of September, Friday and Saturday evening performances and a Sunday matinee.