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The New Moon was a rock music venue in Paris during the 1990's. Noir Désir, the French Lovers, Mano Negra, the Naked Apes of Reason were a few of the many groups who performed. The building was formerly the Nouvelle Athens, where the Impressionist gathered at the end of the 19th century. The New Moon was situated in the red light district of Pigalle.
"The New Moon" is also the name of an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel and Laurence Schwab. It opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on September 19, 1928, ran for 509 performances, and closed at the Casino Theatre on December 14, 1929. The plot concerns a French chevalier and revolutionist living in New Orleans in 1792 under an assumed name and on the run from the French authorities. The protagonist works for his love interest's father, is arrested by French monarchists, escapes on a ship called the New Moon, sets up house on an island with his new wife and is ultimately pardoned by the new Republican French government, while his pursuer is declared an enemy of the republic and led off to be executed. The plot is generally considered secondary to the wondrous music of Sigmund Romberg. Both film versions were produced by MGM. The 1930 film starred Grace Moore and Lawrence Tibbett and was a rework of the plot set in Russia. The 1940 film starred Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy and also reworked the plot, though it was slightly more faithful than the 1930 version. However, the music was not always presented faithfully. The 1930 version added new songs not by Romberg, and the 1940 version turns the melancholy tango number "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", originally sung by the hero's best friend, into a cheerful liitle ditty sung by Eddy while he shines his shoes! The operetta was staged faithfully in 1988 by the New York City Opera and telecast by PBS in 1989. City Center Encores presented a semi-staged revival at City Center in New York City in March of 2003. An original cast CD was made of this revival and released in 2004. The Encores production was presented during the run-up to the Iraq War and was the scene of an unlikely controversy when during the five performances the audience responded loudly to the line "One can be loyal to one's country while disagreeing with one's leaders" with loud applause and cheers and then boos in reaction to the cheers. Songs include
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