Diss. Univ. St. Gallen, 2009.

Marcel Prawy, born in Vienna, graduated in law. In 1936, the couple Kiepura/Eggerth engaged him as private assistant. Two years later Jan Kiepura helped him to emigrate to New York. In 1943, after his employment ended, Prawy joined the US Army. Finally he returned as an elite soldier to Vienna and began his pioneering work for ‘Broadway Musicals’. In 1955, he was appointed dramaturge at the ‘Wiener Volksoper’. One year later in February, Kiss Me, Kate was performed in two Austrian theatres. The Viennese version was produced by Prawy himself and staged by Heinz Rosen. In Graz André Diehl directed the orchestration by conductor Rudolf Bibl on the basis of a piano score. Prawy relied on a mixture of Austrian theatre luminaries and American actors. In the Volksoper 183 performances took place – Graz had only 16. The reviews for the Viennese premiere reaffirmed the cheers. The criticism of the Graz production did not receive the same attention as Prawy’s production did.