Productions6 on Broadway
| 1907 | New Amsterdam Theatre Original. October 21, 1907 · George Marion | 416 performances |
| 1921 | Knickerbocker Theatre Revival. September 5, 1921 · George Marion | 56 performances |
| 1931 | Erlangers Theatre Revival. September 7, 1931 · Milton Aborn | 32 performances |
| 1942 | Carnegie Hall Revival. July 15, 1942 · John Pierce | 39 performances |
| 1943 | Majestic Theatre Revival. August 4, 1943 · Felix Brentano | 322 performances |
| 1944 | City Center Revival. October 7, 1944 · Felix Brentano | 32 performances |
Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.
Recordings 4 albums held
Licensing 3 entries
| US | Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals | available |
| US | Concord Theatricals Tams-Witmark | available |
| UK | Concord Theatricals Tams-Witmark | available |
Read from the licensor's own pages and catalogues. Rights move, and an empty row means we have not confirmed a publisher, not that the show cannot be licensed.
In the literature57 passages
City Center was already booked for its next offering, a revival of The Merry Widow. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p620
The New Amsterdam's first real megahit arrived on October 21, 1907, when Franz Lehar's beloved operetta The Merry Widow opened, starring Ethel Jackson and Donald Brian. With its enchanting waltz, The Merry Widow played here for 416 performances in an age when any show that played more than 100 performances was consider… book:at-this-theatre-100-years-of-broadway-shows-stories-and-botto-louis-viagas-rober#p25
One of the Majesties biggest hits to this time opened on August 4, 1943: a new version of that favorite Franz Lehar/Victor Leon/Leo Stein operetta The Merry Widow. book:at-this-theatre-100-years-of-broadway-shows-stories-and-botto-louis-viagas-rober#p270
A smash hit for the New Amsterdam and one of the most influential shows of the early 20th century was Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow (10/21/07; 416 performances). Its first American production opened with Ethel Jackson portraying the widow. book:broadway-its-history-people-and-places-an-encyclopedia-bloom-ken-1949-2nd-ed-new#p398
Thus, when about a half dozen years ago its producer sought to liven up The Merry Widow by inserting a banana-eating comedian, not only did he murder the excellent operetta’s chances on the spot but caused the people seeing and hearing it for the first time seriously to doubt whether it had ever been what earlier audie… book:broadway-musicals-the-101-greatest-shows-of-all-time-bloom-ken-1949-vlastnik-fra#p107
These parodies spoke to the worldwide success of a show that has continued to entertain audiences for almost 100 years. book:broadway-musicals-the-101-greatest-shows-of-all-time-bloom-ken-1949-vlastnik-fra#p215
Passages naming this show, found by keyword across 178 books. Where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.