The Little Michus
Encyclopedia
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.
, 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
.
Vienna first saw the operetta on 16 September 1899 at the Carltheater
.
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
. 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.
Act I
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.
Act II
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.
Act III
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.
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
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.
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
. The 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...
was by Albert Vanloo
Albert Vanloo
Albert Vanloo was a Belgian librettist and playwright.Vanloo lived in Paris as a child and was attracted to the theatre. As a young student he began writing plays and opéra comique libretti, notably with Eugène Leterrier who remained his main collaborator until the latter's death in 1884...
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
Véronique (operetta)
Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
, in 1898.
Performance history
The first performance was at the Théâtre des Bouffes ParisiensThéâtre des Bouffes Parisiens
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens is a Parisian theatre which was founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. The current theatre is located in the 2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with an entrance at the back at 65 Passage Choiseul. In...
, Paris, on 16 November 1897, starring Odette Dulac
Odette Dulac
Odette Dulac was a French singing actress, born 14 July 1865 in Aire-sur-Adour a diseuse in the manner of Yvette Guilbert, who became a militant feminist and novelist...
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
Mariette Sully
Mariette Sully was a Belgian soprano, born December 1874, died Paris, possibly in 1940, who was principally active in operetta.-Career:After leaving school she began working in the theatre, making her debut at the Casino in Nice in Lecocq’s La petite mariée...
and Jean Périer
Jean Périer
Jean Périer was a French operatic baritone and actor. Although he sang principally within the operetta repertoire, Périer did portray a number of opera roles; mostly within operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giacomo Puccini...
.
Vienna first saw the operetta on 16 September 1899 at the Carltheater
Carltheater
The Carltheater was a theatre in Vienna. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt at Praterstraße 31 .It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had been sold in 1838 to the director, Carl Carl, who continued to run it in parallel to his...
.
The piece enjoyed a long run in London under the title The Little Michus. The English adaptation was by Henry Hamilton
Henry Hamilton (playwright)
Henry Hamilton was an English playwright, lyricist, and critic. He is best remembered for his musical theatre pieces....
, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank
Percy Greenbank was an English lyricist, best known for his contribution of lyrics to a number of successful Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century. His older brother, lyricist Harry Greenbank, had a brilliant career in the 1890s that was cut short by his death at the...
, and was produced at Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...
, opening on 29 April 1905 and running for 401 performances. The London production starred Adrienne Augarde and Mabel Green, with Robert Evett
Robert Evett
Robert Evett was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer.-Acting career:In 1892 Evett joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company on tour in The Vicar of Bray, playing the Reverend Henry Sandford, the tenor lead. In 1893, Evett added the role of Oswald in Haddon Hall...
, Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager.After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewhere, Edouin moved to America, where he joined Lydia Thompson's burlesque troupe, performing with this company both in the U.S. and Britain...
, Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright
Huntley Wright was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies....
, Amy Augarde, Willie Warde
Willie Warde
Willie Warde was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a comic actor in musical theatre...
, Ambrose Manning, Louis Bradfield, Lily Elsie
Lily Elsie
Lily Elsie was a popular English actress and singer during the Edwardian era, best known for her starring role in the hit London premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow....
, and the dancer Adeline Genée
Adeline Genée
Dame Adeline Genée DBE was a Danish/British ballet dancer.-Early years:Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born in Århus, Denmark. Her uncle, Alexandre Genée, gave her dancing lessons from the age of three. When she was eight, Alexandre and his wife, the former Antonia Zimmerman, adopted her...
. Later, Henry Lytton
Henry Lytton
Sir Henry Lytton was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century...
joined the cast. A bit of comic business introduced during the London run of the show involved a fictional animal called the Gazeka
Gazeka
Monckton's Gazeka, also called the Papuan Devil-Pig, is a cryptid, an animal said to have been seen on Papua New Guinea in the early 20th century...
, which became a London fad.
The Little Michus had a Broadway run in 1907 and was an international hit, continuing to be revived thereafter.
Synopsis
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.Act I
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.
Act II
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.
Act III
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.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 16 November 1897 (Conductor:) |
|---|---|---|
| Général des Ifs | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Barral |
| Michu | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Paul Regnard |
| Aristide | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Maurice Lamy |
| Bagnolet | tenor | Brunais |
| Gaston Rigaud | baritone | Henri Marchand |
| Marie-Blanche | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Alice Bonheur |
| Blanche-Marie | soprano | Odette Dulac Odette Dulac Odette Dulac was a French singing actress, born 14 July 1865 in Aire-sur-Adour a diseuse in the manner of Yvette Guilbert, who became a militant feminist and novelist... |
| Mlle Herpin | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Léonie Laporte |
| Madame Michu | soprano | Vigouroux |
| Madame Rousselin | soprano | Lérys |
| Madame Saint-Phar | soprano | Yrven |
Musical numbers (English adaptation)
- Overture
Act I - The Playground of Mlle. Herpin's School in Paris - circa 1810
- No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "We are little schoolgirls, and of course we have to do ev'ry single thing that our headmistress..."
- No. 2 - Duet - Marie-Blanche & Blanche-Marie - "Two little maids so very devoted you seldom are likely to see..."
- No. 3 - Song - Irma - "Father had three horses of his very, very own, a black one and a white one and a grey..."
- No. 4 - Song - Gaston - "If I were King and you were Queen, and this our first and formal meeting..."
- No. 5 - Trio - Marie-Blanche, Blanche-Marie & Gaston - "Michu! Michu! Michu! It's the family surname..."
- No. 5a - Entrance of Soldiers
- No. 6 - Song - Gaston & Chorus - "Oh! many a gallant corps today is fighting for our glorious France..."
- No. 7 - Song - Marie-Blanche - "When I meet a man like that, with a fascinating way..."
- No. 8 - Trio - Michu, Mme. Michu & Aristide - "So elegantly dress'd in all our Sunday best..."
- No. 9 - Concerted Number - Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Mme. & M. Michu, & Pupils - "Our fairy god-mamma is here..."
- No. 10 - Song - Aristide - "Oh, Marie-Blanche is so petite, she's just the very girl for me..."
- No. 11 - Song - Bagnolet - "Now, little girls, attention please, we will at once begin..."
- No. 12 - Finale Act I - "Your mistress we would like, my dears, to see; we've news that will surprise her, I'm afraid..."
Act II - Salon at General Des Ifs
- No. 13 - Opening Chorus & Song - Mme. du Tertre - "We have come from far and near..." & "Once there was a tiny baby..."
- No. 14 - Song - Gaston - "How very like children we all of us are, whom no one seems able to teach..."
- No. 15 - Quintet - Blanche-Marie, Marie-Blanche, Michu, Mme. Michu, & Bagnolet - "Hop o' my Thumb."
- No. 16 - Duet - Marie-Blanche & Blanche-Marie - "Oh dear, oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear! We have made a mistake somehow..."
- No. 17 - Prayer - Marie-Blanche & Blanche-Marie - "Saint Valentine, we know you are clever..."
- Nos. 18 & 18a - Trio and Prayer - Marie-Blanche, Blanche-Marie & Gaston - "So you'll wed the General's daughter! ..."
- No. 19 - Finale Act II - "Captain, come here! and I now will present you, so look after your P's and Q's! ..."
Act III - Michu's Shop, Les Halles
- No. 20 - Opening Chorus - "Customers we, who want to buy! If you can sell us what we need..."
- No. 21 - Song - Aristide - "Strange how the unexpected should always come to pass..."
- No. 22 - Song - Bagnolet - "A woman and a soldier are the same, if you take the trouble to compare..."
- No. 23 - Song - Blanche-Marie - "Little Sister, I am getting discontented, yes, it's true..."
- No. 24 - Chorus and Song - Mme. Michu - "Good luck to both the little brides; health, wealth and happiness besides..."
- No. 25 - Duet - Blanche-Marie & Gaston - "Monsieur Gaston, believe me pray, I'm full of joyful expectation..."
- No. 26 - Sextet - Marie-Blanche, Blanche-Marie, Mme. Michu, Gaston, Aristide & Michu - "Now please sit down! ..."
- No. 27 - Finale Act III - "Two little maids will soon be united to husbands they love and adore..."
The Gazeka
George GravesGeorge Graves (actor)
George Windsor Graves was an English comic actor. Although he could neither sing nor dance, he became a leading comedian in musical comedies, adapting the French and Viennese opéra-bouffe style of light comic relief into a broader comedy popular with English audiences of the period...
replaced Willie Edouin as General des Ifs, and in 1905 he introduced a bit of by-play involving a fictional and comical-looking cryptid
Cryptid
In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, a cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is unrecognized by scientific consensus and often regarded as highly unlikely. Famous examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Loch Ness Monster in...
called the Gazeka
Gazeka
Monckton's Gazeka, also called the Papuan Devil-Pig, is a cryptid, an animal said to have been seen on Papua New Guinea in the early 20th century...
, also known as Monckton's
Lionel Monckton
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
Gazeka or the Papuan Devil-Pig, an animal said to have been seen on Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
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
Perrier
Perrier is a brand of bottled mineral water made from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard département of France. The spring is naturally carbonated...
, 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.