Ball im Savoy (Ball at the Savoy) is a modern operetta revue by Paul Abraham, set to a libretto by Alfred Grünwald and Fritz Löhner-Beda. Filled with dance, romance and comic intrigue, it is a vibrant work of musical theatre. The plot centres on a grand ball where Aristide has arranged a clandestine meeting with an old flame, the dancer Tangolita. His wife, Madeleine, learns of this plan and decides to attend the ball herself, accompanied by her close friend Daisy, newly arrived from America. No one knows that Daisy is, in fact, the celebrated composer Pasodoble.
Mustapha Bey, the Turkish attaché, falls instantly in love with Daisy, while Célestin, a timid young lawyer, becomes enchanted by Madeleine.
These intertwined situations unfold to irresistible music: exhilarating jazz rhythms, entrancing melodies, Hungarian dances, Viennese waltzes and touches of Klezmer.
Ball im Savoy premiered on 23 December 1932 at the Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin before transferring to the Prague State Opera.
The English-language premiere followed on 8 September 1933 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, under the title Ball at the Savoy, with Oscar Hammerstein adapting the libretto.
Prelude
Venice, palaces on the Grand Canal, 1932. Act I
Hall in a villa in Nice.
The Marquis Aristide de Faublas and his wife, Madeleine, have just returned from their honeymoon when a telegram arrives from the dancer Tangolita. Aristide had promised Madeleine an intimate supper; instead, she now insists they attend the annual Grand Ball at the Savoy Hotel.
With Mustapha Bey’s assistance, Aristide persuades his wife that he must go to the Savoy to meet the famous jazz musician José Pasodoble, but that she cannot accompany him because the suitcase containing her ball gown has not arrived. Yet Pasodoble is actually the pseudonym of Madeleine’s American cousin, Daisy, and Madeleine immediately suspects deception.
Act II
Foyer of the Savoy Ballroom in Paris.
Aristide joins his old bachelor friends. Meanwhile, Madeleine plots her revenge. Concealing her face behind a veil, she flirts with Célestin Formant, the timid young man seeking adventure. Mustapha, in turn, is captivated by Daisy. Aristide and Tangolita retreat to a private dining room for supper, and Madeleine does the same with Célestin. During dinner, Aristide asks the waiter, Pomerol, for the telephone to call his wife. Well accustomed to such situations, Pomerol diverts the call to Madeleine’s dining room, where she answers while pretending to be at home. Deeply disappointed by her husband's behaviour, Madeleine surrenders to Célestin’s charms. As José Pasodoble receives praise from the Savoy Hotel and reveals her true identity, Madeleine publicly announces that she has betrayed her husband.
Act III
Villa in Nice.
Although Madeleine’s revenge receives general approval, Aristide is furious, torn between believing she did or did not betray him. As Madeleine insists that her betrayal is genuine, Aristide telephones a lawyer to begin divorce proceedings. When the lawyer arrives, it proves to be Célestin Formant, who refuses to confirm or deny whether the betrayal actually took place. Mustapha proposes to Daisy, but only if Aristide and Madeleine are reconciled. Daisy therefore reveals the truth to Aristide, bringing husband and wife together once more. | 
