The New Moon

Sigmund Romberg’s last great Broadway operetta combines revolution, romance, adventure, and one of the most glorious scores ever written for the American musical stage. Robert Misson, a young French aristocrat with revolutionary sympathies, has fled his homeland and entered service as a bondservant in New Orleans. He falls in love with Marianne Beaunoir, the spirited daughter of his employer, but conceals both his noble birth and the political activities that forced him into exile.

When the authorities discover Robert’s identity, he is placed aboard the ship The New Moon for deportation to France. Marianne follows, believing that Robert has betrayed her affections, only to find herself swept into a mutiny led by the ship’s bondservants. Cast ashore on a tropical island, the rebels establish a new republic, but their freedom is threatened when French forces arrive. Before Robert and Marianne can find happiness, both must overcome pride, political danger, and seemingly irreconcilable misunderstandings.

Opening on Broadway in September 1928, The New Moon was one of the final major triumphs of the great American operetta tradition. Its extraordinary score offers melody after melody: “Marianne,” “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” “Wanting You,” “One Kiss,” “Stouthearted Men,” and the immortal “Lover, Come Back to Me.” From the elegance of New Orleans society to the excitement of shipboard rebellion, The New Moon provides romantic operetta on the grandest scale.