Marshall's Civic Band

"Naughty Marietta," set in eighteenth-century New Orleans, boasted a strong 
Creole flavor, with Italian seasoning.  Marietta is a highborn Neapolitan, who 
has come to Louisiana to escape from an undesirable marriage.  She falls under 
the protection of Captain Dick Warrington, a stalward Kentuckian in pursuit of a 
dangerous pirate.  The girl vows she will give her heart only to the man who can 
complete a fragment of a melody she has heard in a dream.  Etienne, actually the 
pirate, courts Marietta and almost wins her.  But Captain Dick intervenes just 
in time and completes the dream melody.  The show opened in New York on November 
7, 1910, and represents the height of Victor Herbert's career.  It contains five 
of his finest and most durable songs: "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life," "Italian 
Street Song," "I'm Falling in Love with Someone," "Neath the Southern Moon," and 
"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!."  "Naughty Marietta" was produced by Oscar 
Hammerstein....and starred vivacious Emma Trentini and rotund Orville Harold.... 
 
From: "A History of Music in American Life, Vol. II" by Ronald L. Davis.