“The Pa! The Ma! And the Shah!”: Offenbach’s “Island of Tulipatan” As A “Persian Operatic Bouffonerie”
The one-act l‘île de Tulipatan, written by Jacques Offenbach with his librettists Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru in 1868 for
read moreOffenbach & Co.
Dance in Jacques Offenbach’s Théâtre musical léger – Between Imagination, Improvisation and Choreography
Jacques Offenbach could not have asked for a better way to curry favour for theatre priveleges than by publishing a
read more
The Queen of Offenbach’s Bouffes: The Life & Career Of Lise Tautin
The Queen of Offenbach’s Bouffes? Oh, yes, I hear the unenlightened nod. ‘Hortense Schneider. We’ve all heard of her’. I:
read more
Claude Marius (1850-1896): Opéra-Bouffe’s Male Object Of Desire
Monsieur Marius (Claude Marius Duplany, b Paris, 18 February 1850) was a ‘Frenchman, play producer, actor, raconteur, and optimist’ (they
read more
The “Voix de Flûte”: Offenbach’s Star Comedian Léonce (1820-1900)
Édouard Théodore Nicole, better known as Léonce (b Paris, 12 January 1820) was a slim, bespectacled (off-stage) low comedian with
read more
Offenbach’s Superstar Désiré (1823-1873): The Worlds First Jupiter
In 1847 the young comedian known as Désiré asked Hervé for a two-handed musical sketch to play at his benefit.
read more
The History of Jacques Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde”
Originally produced at Baden-Baden during the 1869 summer season, with the young Mdlle Périer in its principal travesty rôle, La
read more
Offenbach’s “Black Venus”, Or: Examining “La Belle Hélène” As An Intersection Of Race And Operetta
Sometimes you read an operetta essay that deeply disturbs you – not because it is badly written or full of
read more
Trying To Define Opéra-Bouffe: An Article From “The Era” 1870 About “Chilpéric” At The Lyceum
In his 2 volume biography Emily Soldene: In Search of a Singer Kurt Gänzl chronicles the initial success of opéra
read more
Offenbach In The USA: What’s Happening For The 2019 Bicentenary?
In 1980, the classical music world marked the 100th anniversary of Jacques Offenbach’s death. And for this greatest of ‘life
read more
“The Pretty Polish Girl Who Sat Astride Her Virtue”: Early Opéra-Bouffe Star Joseph Kelm (1805-1882)
My last post and its original five pictures, borrowed from the gold mines of Blois, included four taken from the
read more
Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoe”: Bring On The Cannibals
Daniel Defoe’s shipwrecked hero (1719) and his man Friday seem to have made their first appearance on the musical stage
read more
Oozing Sex: Julia Baron, Opéra-Bouffe Star And Top Paris Courtesan
When I lived in St Paul de Vence, my partner Ian and I took a weekly bus jaunt down to
read more
Rediscovering Offenbach: Felicitas Wetzel’s “Deine Operette – Ein Portrait in mehreren Stimmen”
An interview with Felicitas Wetzel, a German sound artist who created a concert performance with Offenbach music and quotes called
read more
Sex, Gender, Gay Marriage And Modernity In Offenbach’s “Isle of Tulipatan” and “Croquefer”
Jeff Clarke has been the Artistic Director of UK’s Opera della Luna since 1994. With that company, he has made
read more
A Major Star Of 19th Century French Musical Theatre: Jean-François Philibert Berthelier
Jean-François Philibert Berthelier (b Panissières, Loire, 14 December 1828; d Paris, 29 September 1888) was a comic actor and singer
read more
„Emerging From The Closet Of Representation“: Homosexuality And Same-Sex Marriage On The Musical Theater Stage
The genre operetta was invented around 1850 in Paris, as a new and independent musical theater form in the modern
read more
L’OEIL CREVÉ: Folie musicale in 3 acts by Hervé
Hervé’s second attempt, after Les Chevaliers de la table ronde (1866), to produce a full-length burlesque opérette to challenge the
read more
Offenbach’s sexy medieval spoof “Geneviève de Brabant”
Of the great opéras-bouffes of Offenbach’s early years, the one which has suffered the most inexplicable eclipse in the 20th
read more
“L’Île de Tulipatan”: Playing With Notions Of Gender And The Idea Of Same-Sex-Marriage
Even after the success of his full-length opéras-bouffes and the disappearance of the constrictions which had limited him in earlier
read more
Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde” Returns To The Stage
Jacques Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde premiered in 1869 in the fashionable spa town of Baden Baden – in their
read more
Have You Heard Of Henri Christine’s “Phi-Phi” (1918)?
Do you know Phi-Phi? Unless you are French or Hungarian and over 90 years of age, you won’t ever have
read more
Zulma Bouffar: The “Other” Prima Donna of the Offenbach-Age
Zulma Bouffar (b Nérac, 24 May 1841) made her first appearance on the stage at the age of six, at
read more
The Original Operetta-Diva: Hortense Schneider
She was the six-year shooting star of Offenbach’s Théâtre des Variétés series whose dazzling career declined at the same time
read more
Lydia Thompson, the “Father of All Drag Kings”?
Lydia Thompson [Eliza Hodges Thompson] is one of the theatre’s ‘legends’, and as in the case of other such legendary
read more
You Dont Have to Be a Skinny to Be a Superstar: Marie Desclauzas
Marie Desclauzas was a buxom and eventually hefty star of the opérette stage who became the most admired musical character
read more
HERVÉ: Florimond Ronger (b Houdain, 30 June 1825; d Paris, 3 November 1892)
Florimond Ronger, known to the musical and theatrical world simply as Hervé, was one of the great characters in,
read more
The 19th century’s most popular musical-theatre composer: Jacques Offenbach
The son of a German bookbinder, music-teacher and cantor called Eberst, but known as Offenbach, the young Jacob was given
read more
ORPHÉE AUX ENFERS Opéra-bouffon in 2 acts
Orphée aux enfers was Offenbach’s first venture into mounting a full-scale opéra-bouffe at his blossoming little Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, where
read more
“Der Krimi geht weiter. Noch immer lässt die Offenbach-Philologie viele Fragen offen”
Gehört Offenbach nicht allen? Auch Jean-Christophe Kecks Offenbach-Edition lässt Fragen offen. Ein Versuch, einige zu klären. Die Offenbach-Philologie ist eine
read more
LA BELLE HÉLÈNE Opéra-bouffe in 3 acts
The fourth of Offenbach’s great opéras-bouffes burlesqueing ancient historical legend or mythology (after Orphée aux enfers, Geneviève de Brabant and
read more
Francis Lopez (b Montbéliard, 15 June 1916, d Paris, 5 January 1995)
The brightest musical star of the postwar years in France, whose output frittered away into embarrassing imitations of himself after
read more
Offenbach, the Opéra-Comique and “Vert-Vert”
In 1867, the year of the extravagant Paris Exposition Universelle , Offenbach’s success reached its apogee. His new opera bouffes,
read more
LA FILLE DE MADAME ANGOT Opéra-comique in 3 acts
Along with Planquette’s Les Cloches de Corneville, La Fille de Madame Angot (Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes, Brussels, 4 December 1872) was
read more
Charles Lecoq (b Paris, 3 June 1832; d Paris, 24 October 1918)
The most potent musician in the development of the French opérette tradition in the 1870s, and for a decade the
read more
LE PETIT FAUST Opéra-bouffe in 3 acts
Of Hervé’s three most successful full-scale opéras-bouffes, it was Le Petit Faust, the only one of the three to parody
read more