| André Messager |
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Operas
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Les p'tites Michu is an opérette in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto was by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval.
Dismayed by the Paris reception for his 1896 piece, Le Chevalier d’Harmental, Messager retreated to London vowing to write no more. But when he received the libretto for Les p'tites Michu in 1897 from Vanloo and Duval, he was inspired to finish the new operetta in three months. Encouraged by this success, the same team produced Messager's most successful operetta, Véronique, in 1898.[1]
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The first performance was at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on 16 November 1897, starring Odette Dulac in one of the title roles, with the production running for over 150 performances. A revival at the same theatre in 1899 starred Mariette Sully and Jean Périer.[2]
Vienna first saw the operetta on 16 September 1899 at the Carltheater.[3]
The piece enjoyed a long run in London under the title The Little Michus. The English adaptation was by Henry Hamilton, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank, and was produced at Daly's Theatre, opening on 29 April 1905 and running for 401 performances. The London production starred Adrienne Augarde and Mabel Green, with Robert Evett, Willie Edouin, Huntley Wright, Amy Augarde, Willie Warde, Ambrose Manning, Louis Bradfield, Lily Elsie, and the dancer Adeline Genée.[4] Later, Henry Lytton joined the cast. A bit of comic business introduced during the London run of the show involved a fictional animal called the Gazeka, which became a London fad.
The Little Michus had a Broadway run in 1907 and was an international hit, continuing to be revived thereafter.
In 1793, the wife of the Marquis des Ifs dies in childbirth. The Marquis, before disappearing to evade arrest, entrusts the infant girl to the Michus, paying the family a sum of money that allows them to open a prosperous shop. The Michus have a daughter of their own. While bathing the two babies, Mr. Michu mixes them up and cannot tell which is which.
By 1810, the girls, Blanche-Marie and Marie-Blanche have grown up together, believing themselves to be twins, and have gone to school under the military Miss Herpin. Aristide, the Michu's clerk, is in love with one of the girls but is not sure which. The Marquis des Ifs, now a general, sends Bagnolet to find his daughter, whose hand he has promised to lieutenant Gaston Rigaud, the officer who saved his life. It turns out that Gaston is Miss Herpin's nephew, and while visiting his aunt, the girls meet the handsome lieutenant, and both are enchanted. Bagnolet finds the Michus. Embarrassed at being unable to name the general's daughter, they agree to meet the general.
The general and his guests await the arrival of his daughter. When the Michus arrive, the general is impatient with their explanation: he wants to know which girl is his daughter and will marry the lieutenant. Knowing that her sister is enamored of Gaston, Blanche-Marie decides to make a sacrifice and identifies her sister as the general's daughter.
With a sad heart, Blanche-Marie resigns herself to marry Aristede, whom she finds exceedingly uninteresting. On the other hand, and to the astonishment of her fiancé and the Marquis, Marie-Blanche goes to help at the shop at every opportunity. She realizes that she has made a mistake: her sister loves Gaston, and she herself would prefer the common life of the shop and marriage to Aristide. The day of the double wedding, Marie-Blanche looks for a portrait of the Marquis' wife. Her idea is to dress Blanche-Marie as the late Marchionesse. The resemblance is astonishing. The Marquis believes that he sees his wife: Blanche-Marie must be his daughter.
The two couples are sorted out and all ends happily.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 16 November 1897 (Conductor:) |
|---|---|---|
| Général des Ifs | bass | Barral |
| Michu | baritone | Paul Regnard |
| Aristide | tenor | Maurice Lamy |
| Bagnolet | tenor | Brunais |
| Gaston Rigaud | baritone | Henri Marchand |
| Marie-Blanche | soprano | Alice Bonheur |
| Blanche-Marie | soprano | Odette Dulac |
| Mlle Herpin | mezzo-soprano | Léonie Laporte |
| Madame Michu | soprano | Vigouroux |
| Madame Rousselin | soprano | Lérys |
| Madame Saint-Phar | soprano | Yrven |
Act I - The Playground of Mlle. Herpin's School in Paris - circa 1810
Act II - Salon at General Des Ifs
Act III - Michu's Shop, Les Halles
George Graves replaced Willie Edouin as General des Ifs, and in 1905 he introduced a bit of by-play involving a fictional and comical-looking cryptid called the Gazeka, also known as Monckton's Gazeka or the Papuan Devil-Pig, an animal said to have been seen on Papua New Guinea.
The Gazeka became a fad of the season, and a competition was mounted to encourage artists to make sketches of what the beast might look like. Charles Folkard won the competition, and the Gazeka appeared in the form of items like novelty jewellery and was taken up by Perrier, the sparkling water makers, for a series of advertisements. The Gazeka also featured in a special song and dance in the entertainment Akezag, at the London Hippodrome at Christmas, 1905.[5]