Erminie
Encyclopedia
Erminie is a comic opera
in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski
(1858 - 1927) with a libretto
by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 Robert Macaire
. The piece played in Birmingham
and then in London in 1885 and enjoyed unusual international success that endured well into the twentieth century.
, England on 26 October 1885. It transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London on 9 November 1885, starring Florence St. John
who, being pregnant, ceded the role to a young Marie Tempest
in December. On 18 February 1886, the piece moved to the Gaiety Theatre, London
and then toured the British provinces and throughout the world, reaching Australia by 1889.
The Broadway
production was extraordinarily successful, opening at the Casino Theatre
on 10 May 1886 and running for 571 performances. It starred Pauline Hall
as the title character and Francis Wilson
as Cadeaux, and DeWolf Hopper
later joined the cast. Erminie enjoyed many UK, U.S. and foreign productions and was revived on Broadway in 1893, 1899, 1903 and in 1921 with Wilson and Hopper again assuming their 1886 roles. Erminie was performed as a staged concert production in July 2008 by the Lyric Theatre in Mountain View, California
.
A minor planet
, 705 Erminia
, is named after the work.
Erminie is the daughter of the Marquis de Pontvert. She has been promised, in an arranged marriage, to Ernest, Vicomte de Brissac. He is a young nobleman and the son of an old war comrade of Erminie's father. Erminie and Ernest have never met each other. Erminie, however, is secretly in love with her father's secretary, Eugène, and Ernest is secretly in love with Cerise Marcel, who is Eugene's sister and Erminie's friend. Eugène and Cerise are orphans who were taken in to his household by Erminie's father. Eugene feels that his subservient position makes it impossible for him to ask the Marquis for Erminie's hand in marriage.
On his way to the betrothal ceremony, Ernest runs into a pair of crafty "philanthropists" (thieves), Ravennes and Cadeau, who steal his money and wardrobe and tie him to a tree. They disguise Ravennes as Ernest and Cadeau as a Baron and blunder into the Lion d'Or for the betrothal, saying that they were waylaid by thieves. Seeing the wealthy wedding guests, they scheme to make off with a lot of money. Cadeaux gets drunk, however, and his bad manners nearly spoil the scheme. Ernest eventually escapes his bonds and arrives late and in disordered attire at the Lion d'Or. Seeing Ernest, Ravennes cries "Seize the villain," claiming that Ernest is the thief who attacked them earlier in the day. Ernest is arrested and tossed in jail.
Act II
At the Chateau Pontvert that evening, Ravennes, still disguised as Ernest, pretends sympathy for Erminie's love for Eugene. He promises to help her to elope. At the same time, she unwittingly helps him to rob the house and the wedding guests. Eventually, however, in a farcical comedy of errors and mistaken identities, the plan fails, and the robbers are arrested. Nevertheless, their scheming inadvertently rescues Erminie from the arranged marriage, as both pairs – Eugene and Erminie, and Ernest and Cerise – are happily united.
Act II - The Ballroom in the Marquis de Pontvert's Chateau.
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski
Edward Jakobowski
Edward Jakobowski was an English composer best known for writing the comic opera Erminie. Jakobowski was a significant figure on the London musical stage during the last two decades of the 19th Century. He did not challenge Sullivan, nor quite equal Fred Clay or Alfred Cellier but his gift of...
(1858 - 1927) with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 Robert Macaire
Robert Macaire
Robert Macaire was a noted criminal and assassin who appears in French plays. His name is renowned in French culture as that of the archetypal villain....
. The piece played in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and then in London in 1885 and enjoyed unusual international success that endured well into the twentieth century.
Performance history
Erminie opened at the Grand Theatre, BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England on 26 October 1885. It transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London on 9 November 1885, starring Florence St. John
Florence St. John
Florence St. John , was an English singer and actress of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras famous for her roles in operetta, musical burlesque, music hall, opera and, later, comic plays.-Life and career:...
who, being pregnant, ceded the role to a young Marie Tempest
Marie Tempest
Dame Marie Tempest DBE was an English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession".Tempest became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere...
in December. On 18 February 1886, the piece moved to the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
and then toured the British provinces and throughout the world, reaching Australia by 1889.
The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production was extraordinarily successful, opening at the Casino Theatre
Casino Theatre
The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre from 1882 to 1930 in New York City. It was located at 1404 Broadway, at W. 39th Street. It originally seated approximately 875 people, but after a fire in 1903 and rebuilding in 1905, it seated 1,300...
on 10 May 1886 and running for 571 performances. It starred Pauline Hall
Pauline Hall
Pauline Hall , born Pauline Fredrika Schmidgall, was a stage actress and singer. One of the most popular turn-of-the-century prima donnas in America, she left school at the age of 14 and began her career as a dancer in her native Cincinnati, Ohio in 1875.Shortly thereafter, Hall joined the Alice...
as the title character and Francis Wilson
Francis Wilson (actor)
Francis Wilson was an American actor, born in Philadelphia.-Career:He began his career in a minstrel show, but by 1878 was playing at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, and the next year appeared in M'liss with Annie Pixley...
as Cadeaux, and DeWolf Hopper
DeWolf Hopper
William DeWolf Hopper was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. Although a star of the musical stage, he was best-known for performing the popular baseball poem Casey at the Bat. -Biography:...
later joined the cast. Erminie enjoyed many UK, U.S. and foreign productions and was revived on Broadway in 1893, 1899, 1903 and in 1921 with Wilson and Hopper again assuming their 1886 roles. Erminie was performed as a staged concert production in July 2008 by the Lyric Theatre in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
.
A minor planet
Minor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
, 705 Erminia
705 Erminia
705 Erminia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Its name derives from the comic opera Erminie.- External links :*...
, is named after the work.
Roles and original London cast
- Marquis de Pontvert - Fred Mervin
- Eugène Marcel (the Marquis' secretary) - Henry BracyHenry BracyHenry Bracy was a Welsh tenor who is notable as the creator of the role of Prince Hilarion in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Princess Ida. Bracy was often a lead tenor within the operettas in which he appeared. He was married to actress Clara T. Bracy, the sister of Lydia Thompson...
- Vicomte Ernest de Brissac - Horace Bolini
- Captain Delaunay (a young officer) - Kate Everleigh
- Sergeant - A. D. Pierrepoint
- Dufois (the Landlord of the Lion d'Or) - George Marler
- Simon (a Waiter) J. W. Bradbury
- Henri - Stanley Betjeman
- Pierre - Lottie Leigh
- Chevalier de Brabazon (the Marquis' guest) - Percy Compton
- Ravennes (a thief) - Frank WyattFrank Wyatt (singer)Frank Wyatt was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright.In a two-decade career on stage, Wyatt is best remembered for his roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1889 to 1891, and in particular for creating the role of the Duke of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's hit...
- Cadeau (a thief) - Harry Paulton
- Cerise Marcel (Erminie's companion) - Violet Melnotte
- Javotte (Erminie's maid) - K. Munroe
- Marie - Edith Vane
- Clementine - Delia Merton
- Princesse de Gramponeur - M. A. Victor
- Erminie de Pontvert - Florence St. JohnFlorence St. JohnFlorence St. John , was an English singer and actress of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras famous for her roles in operetta, musical burlesque, music hall, opera and, later, comic plays.-Life and career:...
- M. St. Brice - Nellie Gordon
- M. D'Auvigne - Kitty Graham
- M. De Nailles - Marie Huntley
- M. de Sangres - Violet Leigh
- Mme. St. Brice - Lillie Teesdale
- Mme. de Lage - Ada Maxwell
- Mme. de Brefchamp - Ethel Selwyn
- Mme. de Chateauln - Millie Gerard
- Antoinette - Madge Bruce
- Charlotte - Emilie Campbell
- Jeanette - Anita Marzan
- Mignon - Florence Dudley
- Rosalie - Carrie Solomon
- Niniche - Helen Gwynne
- Nanine -Mary Webb
- Fanchette - Sylvia Southgate
Synopsis
Act IErminie is the daughter of the Marquis de Pontvert. She has been promised, in an arranged marriage, to Ernest, Vicomte de Brissac. He is a young nobleman and the son of an old war comrade of Erminie's father. Erminie and Ernest have never met each other. Erminie, however, is secretly in love with her father's secretary, Eugène, and Ernest is secretly in love with Cerise Marcel, who is Eugene's sister and Erminie's friend. Eugène and Cerise are orphans who were taken in to his household by Erminie's father. Eugene feels that his subservient position makes it impossible for him to ask the Marquis for Erminie's hand in marriage.
On his way to the betrothal ceremony, Ernest runs into a pair of crafty "philanthropists" (thieves), Ravennes and Cadeau, who steal his money and wardrobe and tie him to a tree. They disguise Ravennes as Ernest and Cadeau as a Baron and blunder into the Lion d'Or for the betrothal, saying that they were waylaid by thieves. Seeing the wealthy wedding guests, they scheme to make off with a lot of money. Cadeaux gets drunk, however, and his bad manners nearly spoil the scheme. Ernest eventually escapes his bonds and arrives late and in disordered attire at the Lion d'Or. Seeing Ernest, Ravennes cries "Seize the villain," claiming that Ernest is the thief who attacked them earlier in the day. Ernest is arrested and tossed in jail.
Act II
At the Chateau Pontvert that evening, Ravennes, still disguised as Ernest, pretends sympathy for Erminie's love for Eugene. He promises to help her to elope. At the same time, she unwittingly helps him to rob the house and the wedding guests. Eventually, however, in a farcical comedy of errors and mistaken identities, the plan fails, and the robbers are arrested. Nevertheless, their scheming inadvertently rescues Erminie from the arranged marriage, as both pairs – Eugene and Erminie, and Ernest and Cerise – are happily united.
Musical numbers
Act I - The Village Fête in Pontvert, France.- No. 1 - Introduction, Chorus & Ensemble - "Around in a whirl we skip, dance and twirl; let each boy and girl make merry..."
- No. 1a - Exit (Reprise) - "Around in a whirl we skip..."
- No. 2 - Chorus & Ensemble - "Vive le Marquis! vive le Marquis! Welcome, welcome to the fête..."
- No. 2a - Exit (Reprise) - "At village feast here meeting you..."
- No. 3 - Song - Erminie & Chorus - "Ah, when love is young, all the world seems gay! Tra la la la la la la la la..."
- No. 4 - Duett - Erminie & Eugène - "There is a sweet remembrance of the past, a treasur'd dream, a dream I fondly store..."
- No. 5 - Entrance of Soldiers & Chorus - "All for glory the soldier's life; from the conflict scorning e'er to flee..."
- No. 6 - Song - Marquis & Chorus - "Dull is the life of the soldier in peace, with hateful routine until war brings release..."
- No. 6a - Exit (Reprise) - "All for glory the soldier's life..."
- Nos. 7 & 7a - Entrance & Duett - Ravannes & Cadeaux - "We're a philanthropic couple, be it known..."
- No. 8 - Dream Song - Erminie - "At midnight on my pillow lying, by daily toil oppress'd..."
- No. 9 - Concerted Piece - "The blissful pleasure I profess of such a meeting overjoys me..."
- No. 10 - Finale Act I - "Away to the chateau, away from the throng, where bridegroom and bride will be plighted ere long..."
Act II - The Ballroom in the Marquis de Pontvert's Chateau.
- No. 10a - Entr'acte
- No. 11 - Introduction, Chorus, Ensemble & Song - Marie - "Here on lord and lady waiting, court gallants and nobles all..."
- No. 11a - Exit (Reprise) - "Here on lord and lady waiting..."
- No. 12 - Song - Eugène - "Darkest the hour ere light of dawn beameth; deepest the gloom ere the storm clouds divide..."
- No. 13 - Chorus & Song - Erminie - "Joy attend our Erminie, hers be ev'ry earthly bliss..."
- No. 14 - Song - Erminie - "A lover in his mirror gaz'd, with visage wan, and glare half-craz'd, to see if thinner he had grown..."
- No. 15 - Song - Cadeaux & Whistling Chorus - "I'm not a free agent, like any of you, there's them as looks arter my fate..."
- No. 16 - Vocal Gavotte - "Join in pleasure, dance a measure, fondly treasure hours so bright..."
- No. 17 - Lullaby - Erminie & Chorus - "Dear mother, in dreams I see her, with lov'd face sweet and calm..."
- Nos. 18 & 19 - Supper Chorus & Scene Change - "Come to supper, let's repair..."
- No. 20 - Concerted Piece (unaccompanied) - "'Tis growing late, yes, 'tis growing late, and time to end the fête..."
- No. 21 - Finale Act II - "Should we gain your favours, ev'ry heart is gay..."