Paul Abraham's Roxy and her Wonder Team
Paul Abraham is one of my favourite composers of European musicals. I have written about him before, but with the World Cup coming up this summer I thought a look at one of my favourites - Roxy und ihr Wunderteam (Roxy and her Wonder Team).
Who were the Wunderteam? ‘Wunderteam’ was the name given to the Austrian national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, they had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The team was one of the first to use a quick passing flowing style of play different to the, old-fashioned boot the ball upfield and chase after it which had been the norm until then. The forward line was complemented by wide half-backs and attacking midfielders. Matthias Sindelar, known as Der Papierene (The Paper-thin Man) due to his slight build, was the star and captain of the team.
In the 1934 World Cup they stormed into the semi-finals on the back of a breathtaking run that had seen them score 101 goals in 31 games over three years. Only Italy, who had been dispatched 4-2 in a Gero Cup match prior to the tournament, stood between them and a place in the final. History beckoned. And then cruelly turned its back. The tournament was held in Italy and Mussolini was determined that Italy would win. He insisted on choosing the referee himself and Austria found themselves playing twelve men (apparently Mussolini’s choice as referee once headed the ball to an Italian player himself). Italy were the exact opposite to Austria, tough, hard tackling, physical players. They didn’t score much and they didn’t concede much. The Italians had prepared a mud bath of a pitch to nullify the Wunderteam’s passing game. One-nil to the Italy was their aim and the Austrians found themselves kicked off the pitch. The Italians scored by pushing the goalkeeper over the line while he collected the ball and one-nil to the Italy it was.
It was the end of the Wunderteam. In March 1938 Austria was taken over by Germany and the Nazis - The Anschluss. Sindelar refused to play for the united team. His avowed opposition to the Nazi takeover brought him to the attention of the Gestapo. On 23 January 1939 both Sindelar and his girlfriend Camilla Castagnola were found dead at the apartment they shared in Vienna. The official verdict cited carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause. But with war looming the sudden death of this popular opponent of the regime was very convenient for the Gestapo.
Abraham’s musical premiered on 6 March 1937 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with Abraham conducting initially. The production featured stars like Rosy Barsony (as Roxy), Oszkár Dénes, and Hans Holt. Audiences loved the energetic, chaotic sports farce—reviews compared the applause to that at a football match.
Roxy flees her dull Scottish fiancé and joins the football team as a mascot at a training camp on Lake Balaton. The team is forced to sharethe camp with a female gymnastics team, leading to romantic and comedic chaos involving the 11 male players and 11 gymnasts. It culminates in a victorious match and happy endings.
The score mixes jazz, puszta (Hungarian folk) influences, operatic elements, stadium chants, shimmies, fox-trots, and a notable “Blackwalk” number—often seen as light-hearted protest music against Nazi cultural restrictions.
The show ran successfully (around 75 performances) but plans to transfer to the Volksoper were disrupted by the political climate. Many cast and crew members were Jewish or otherwise forced to flee.
A musical sports film adaptation, Roxy und das Wunderteam, was produced quickly and was released on 14 January 1938 in Austria, starring Rosy Barsony, Fritz Imhoff, Hans Holt, and Oszkár Dénes, with a cameo by our Austrian football legend Matthias Sindelar.
The film preserved much of the operetta’s lively, satirical spirit but was produced under time pressure. It featured football sequences, dance, and songs, including the energetic Blackwalk.
Paul Abraham, born to a Jewish Hungarian family, had already fled Nazi Germany in 1933 after the success of earlier hits like Viktoria und ihr Husar and Ball im Savoy, as his “degenerate” jazz-influenced music and Jewish heritage made him a target. He worked in Vienna and Budapest until the Anschluss in March 1938.
The film premiered just weeks before the Anschluss (one source notes about a week prior). It was quickly suppressed and disappeared from circulation in the new Nazi-controlled Austria/Greater Germany due to its Jewish creators (Abraham, librettists like Grünwald), “degenerate” musical style, and satirical elements mocking Nazi ideals of athletic heroism, racial purity, and discipline—portraying athletes as lust-driven and chaotic rather than Übermenschen.
The stage production had already been affected by rising tensions; the film’s suppression was immediate. Abraham fled to Paris, then Cuba, and eventually New York. The work was largely forgotten until modern revivals.
Roxy und ihr Wunderteam represents a late, exuberant flourish of Jewish-influenced Viennese operetta just before its suppression under the Nazis, with both stage and screen versions embodying a playful defiance that Nazi authorities could not tolerate. Modern revivals highlight its camp, satirical energy and Abraham’s eclectic score.
There are numerous excerpts on YouTube from modern stage productions but no full version. The full film version is available but you need to be able to speak German!
Here is its most famous number ‘The Blackwalk’
[media=https://youtu.be/leXqWef4Gg8?si=WyOGL1PekkEQBS9E]
If you’re more interested in football here is Italy’s winning goal in the 1934 World Cup semi-final against Austria.
[media=https://youtu.be/ZoBU8ZNIC2M?si=q_YM4mkn93kCwCcp]
Who were the Wunderteam? ‘Wunderteam’ was the name given to the Austrian national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, they had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The team was one of the first to use a quick passing flowing style of play different to the, old-fashioned boot the ball upfield and chase after it which had been the norm until then. The forward line was complemented by wide half-backs and attacking midfielders. Matthias Sindelar, known as Der Papierene (The Paper-thin Man) due to his slight build, was the star and captain of the team.
In the 1934 World Cup they stormed into the semi-finals on the back of a breathtaking run that had seen them score 101 goals in 31 games over three years. Only Italy, who had been dispatched 4-2 in a Gero Cup match prior to the tournament, stood between them and a place in the final. History beckoned. And then cruelly turned its back. The tournament was held in Italy and Mussolini was determined that Italy would win. He insisted on choosing the referee himself and Austria found themselves playing twelve men (apparently Mussolini’s choice as referee once headed the ball to an Italian player himself). Italy were the exact opposite to Austria, tough, hard tackling, physical players. They didn’t score much and they didn’t concede much. The Italians had prepared a mud bath of a pitch to nullify the Wunderteam’s passing game. One-nil to the Italy was their aim and the Austrians found themselves kicked off the pitch. The Italians scored by pushing the goalkeeper over the line while he collected the ball and one-nil to the Italy it was.
It was the end of the Wunderteam. In March 1938 Austria was taken over by Germany and the Nazis - The Anschluss. Sindelar refused to play for the united team. His avowed opposition to the Nazi takeover brought him to the attention of the Gestapo. On 23 January 1939 both Sindelar and his girlfriend Camilla Castagnola were found dead at the apartment they shared in Vienna. The official verdict cited carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause. But with war looming the sudden death of this popular opponent of the regime was very convenient for the Gestapo.
Abraham’s musical premiered on 6 March 1937 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, with Abraham conducting initially. The production featured stars like Rosy Barsony (as Roxy), Oszkár Dénes, and Hans Holt. Audiences loved the energetic, chaotic sports farce—reviews compared the applause to that at a football match.
Roxy flees her dull Scottish fiancé and joins the football team as a mascot at a training camp on Lake Balaton. The team is forced to sharethe camp with a female gymnastics team, leading to romantic and comedic chaos involving the 11 male players and 11 gymnasts. It culminates in a victorious match and happy endings.
The score mixes jazz, puszta (Hungarian folk) influences, operatic elements, stadium chants, shimmies, fox-trots, and a notable “Blackwalk” number—often seen as light-hearted protest music against Nazi cultural restrictions.
The show ran successfully (around 75 performances) but plans to transfer to the Volksoper were disrupted by the political climate. Many cast and crew members were Jewish or otherwise forced to flee.
A musical sports film adaptation, Roxy und das Wunderteam, was produced quickly and was released on 14 January 1938 in Austria, starring Rosy Barsony, Fritz Imhoff, Hans Holt, and Oszkár Dénes, with a cameo by our Austrian football legend Matthias Sindelar.
The film preserved much of the operetta’s lively, satirical spirit but was produced under time pressure. It featured football sequences, dance, and songs, including the energetic Blackwalk.
Paul Abraham, born to a Jewish Hungarian family, had already fled Nazi Germany in 1933 after the success of earlier hits like Viktoria und ihr Husar and Ball im Savoy, as his “degenerate” jazz-influenced music and Jewish heritage made him a target. He worked in Vienna and Budapest until the Anschluss in March 1938.
The film premiered just weeks before the Anschluss (one source notes about a week prior). It was quickly suppressed and disappeared from circulation in the new Nazi-controlled Austria/Greater Germany due to its Jewish creators (Abraham, librettists like Grünwald), “degenerate” musical style, and satirical elements mocking Nazi ideals of athletic heroism, racial purity, and discipline—portraying athletes as lust-driven and chaotic rather than Übermenschen.
The stage production had already been affected by rising tensions; the film’s suppression was immediate. Abraham fled to Paris, then Cuba, and eventually New York. The work was largely forgotten until modern revivals.
Roxy und ihr Wunderteam represents a late, exuberant flourish of Jewish-influenced Viennese operetta just before its suppression under the Nazis, with both stage and screen versions embodying a playful defiance that Nazi authorities could not tolerate. Modern revivals highlight its camp, satirical energy and Abraham’s eclectic score.
There are numerous excerpts on YouTube from modern stage productions but no full version. The full film version is available but you need to be able to speak German!
Here is its most famous number ‘The Blackwalk’
[media=https://youtu.be/leXqWef4Gg8?si=WyOGL1PekkEQBS9E]
If you’re more interested in football here is Italy’s winning goal in the 1934 World Cup semi-final against Austria.
[media=https://youtu.be/ZoBU8ZNIC2M?si=q_YM4mkn93kCwCcp]
56-60, M