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Today I am going to talk about Los Vieneses Comic Theater, related to the arrival in Barcelona of Austrian artists fleeing World War II and who wanted to develop their art without suffering the calamities of the armed conflict.
The company specialized in revue and operetta performances and, unable to carry out their work freely, during the first years of the war they toured different European countries, fleeing Europe that was under the control of Hitler's mandate, until, in 1942, they decided to settle in Barcelona.
The company was led by Artur Kaps as a director and by Franz Joham as an actor, together with Gustavo Re and Herta Frankel. Their presentation was quite an event, first for the people of Barcelona and, later, for the rest of the Spaniards, who got to know them through their performances on TVE at a time when we all saw the same thing without the need for the usual zapping or using of the remote control.
Artur Kaps, born in Vienna on February 29, 1908, was an Austrian theater director and television producer. , settled in Spain.
Franz Joham, born in Graz, on July 31, 1907, was a comedian who, with his Spanish with an Austrian wit and his innate grace, turned out to be a person you never tired of listening to.
Gustavo Re, who, despite being born in Milan on July 4, 1908, was an actor with a Spanish that was in no way similar to the Italian way of speaking Spanish, made the perfect couple with Franz. They were a little closer to the way of working of the old clowns, Clown and Augusto.
Lastly, there was the versatile Herta Frankel, born in Vienna in 1913. An Austrian puppeteer, puppeteer and dancer who, apart from her great rapport with her classmates, her passion for puppets led her to success in the world of children and in their programs. on television with his inseparable Perrita Marilín.
This group of artists won the hearts of Barcelonans and Spaniards through their performances on television programs.
They appeared in 1942 at the Teatro Cómico with the premiere of the magazine Todo por el corazón. Later, in 1943, they went on to perform their performances at the Spanish Theater. In 1951, they returned to the Vienna Comedian with Bells.
Their good work and simplicity catapulted them in an impressive way to remain for two decades acting in the theater and premiering up to nine magazines in a row. Its premieres in Barcelona were:
In 1961, Televisión Española turned them into Los Amigos del Martes, friends who came to our house every Tuesday night, with great programs in which the great artists of the moment performed. But, the change in the network's programming needs turned them, in 1962, into Los Amigos del Lunes.
In 1964, they appeared again on our televisions with the Noche de Estrellas program, where they once again sent the artists who were in the firmament of the musical show to our homes. This program was broadcast until 1965. In 1966, they reappeared on the small screen, with the Saturday Nights program.
Herta Frankel was the only one within the group who carried out a bit of the war on her own, when she was adopted by television to become the children's friend, since, since she was little, she had joined the Children's Ballet of the Opera from Vienna.
His performance, in 1948, with the Sueños de Viena magazine, in which puppets entered the scene, was so great and spectacular that, given its success, he changed dancing for small artists. From then on she combined her performances as a dancer with the performance of her puppets in magazines.
This acceptance by the public made the directors of TVE hire her to carry out their children's programs. Her most popular doll was undoubtedly Marilín, an impertinent and responsive poodle created by Elvira de Loyzaga.
The Fiesta Day program, in which he entertained children, won the Ondas Award in 1960. Her fame reached both the world of children and the older public, since during the years 1973 and 1976 she was performing at dinners at the Scala Barcelona Show Restaurant.
Herta Frankel's main problem was not to leave offspring that would continue transmitting her work of conservation and teaching so that it would not become extinct.
Aware of the problem and faced with the silence of the cultural establishments in adopting conservation measures for the elements that it left orphaned, in 1985, it established the Herta Frankel Puppet Company, in order to hold several exhibitions and preserve the legacy, which to date It is carried out by Pilar Gálvez and Fernando Gómez, promoters and directors of the company to form a work team with Herta Frankel.
This team launched Marionetarium and have a small venue in the Tibidabo amusement park, but they fear that if they leave, the legacy of Herta Frankel will be lost over time.
