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Mlle. Modiste is an operetta
Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre....
 in two acts written by Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert

Victor August Herbert was an Ireland-born, German-raised United States composer, cellist and conducting who is best known for his many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway theatre....
, libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
 by Henry Blossom
Henry Blossom

Henry Martyn Blossom was a playwright and lyricist.Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he teamed with Victor Herbert on several popular operettas....
. It premiered on Broadway on December 25, 1905 at the Knickerbocker Theatre, where it ran for 202 performances. It was frequently revived early in the 20th century.

The operetta features the song "Kiss Me Again". Mlle. Modiste was revived and played several times by the Light Opera of Manhattan
Light Opera of Manhattan

Light Opera of Manhattan, known as LOOM, was an Off-Broadway repertory theatre company that produced light operas, including the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and European and American operettas, 52 weeks per year, in New York City between 1968 and 1989....
 in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

I Fifi is a shop girl, selling hats in Mme.






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Mlle. Modiste is an operetta
Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre....
 in two acts written by Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert

Victor August Herbert was an Ireland-born, German-raised United States composer, cellist and conducting who is best known for his many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway theatre....
, libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
 by Henry Blossom
Henry Blossom

Henry Martyn Blossom was a playwright and lyricist.Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he teamed with Victor Herbert on several popular operettas....
. It premiered on Broadway on December 25, 1905 at the Knickerbocker Theatre, where it ran for 202 performances. It was frequently revived early in the 20th century.

The operetta features the song "Kiss Me Again". Mlle. Modiste was revived and played several times by the Light Opera of Manhattan
Light Opera of Manhattan

Light Opera of Manhattan, known as LOOM, was an Off-Broadway repertory theatre company that produced light operas, including the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and European and American operettas, 52 weeks per year, in New York City between 1968 and 1989....
 in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Synopsis

Act I Fifi is a shop girl, selling hats in Mme. Cécile's shop in the Rue de la Paix in Paris. She is the shop's best saleswoman, so Mme. Cécile plots to keep her there for free by marrying her off to her artist son, Gaston. But Fifi dreams of a career on the stage. In addition, Fifi and French army Captain Etienne de Bouvray, Viscount de St. Mar, are in love. But his uncle, the old aristocratic Count de St. Mar, is scandalized that Etienne would marry a shop girl. He threatens to cut off Etienne's allowance and to disinherit him. Fifi hopes that a stage career would allow Etienne to marry her because no one need be ashamed of such an alliance.

One day, when she is alone in the shop, a rich and eccentric American theatre promoter, Hiram Bent, bumbles in. Fifi tells him of her lifelong ambition, singing a wonderful number for him that serves as a kind of "audition" piece, because she shows him exactly how she would play three very different kinds of roles, if given the opportunity (the last of these is "Kiss Me Again"). He loans her $1000 to help her achieve this goal and win over her sweetheart's crotchety uncle, Count Henri. She leaves for Vienna to develop her talent.

Act II A year later, Etienne is still pining for Fifi, who has not written him during that time, but who has, meanwhile, become a great success throughout Europe. Etienne and his sister, Marie Louise, are hosting a charity ball at the Chateau de St. Mar. Unknown to Etienne, Hiram Bent has arranged for Fifi to sing at the ball. The Count, learning of this, is enraged and forbids Fifi to sing. However, Hiram arranges for Etienne to "discover" Fifi's presence. The two stage a "performance" for the Count in which Fifi defends the Count and Etienne calls him a "stupid old idiot". The Count, impressed by Fifi's sincerity and her new position, as well as by Etienne's behavior, allows Fifi to sing, and ultimately to marry Etienne.

Recordings

The only recording of Mlle. Modiste was made by Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest

File:Readers Digest00.jpgReader's Digest is a monthly general-interest family magazine co-founded in 1922 by Lila Bell Wallace and DeWitt Wallace....
 for their 1963 album Treasury of Great Operettas. Each of the 24 operettas in the set is condensed to fill one Lp side. The Mlle. Modiste selections have not been re-released on Cd.

Roles

  • Mme. Cecile, owner of a Parisian hat shop (mezzo soprano)
  • Fifi, (Mlle. Modiste) clerk in the hat shop (soprano
    Soprano

    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately 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....
    )
  • Etienne de Bouvray, nephew of the Count (tenor
    Tenor

    The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....
    )
  • Count Henri de Bouvray, uncle of Etienne (baritone
    Baritone

    Baritone is a type of European classical music male voice type that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice....
    )
  • Hiram Bent, American entrepreneur (bass)


Musical numbers

Act 1
  • Furs and Feathers, Buckles and Bows -- Fanchette, Nanette and Girls
  • When the Cat's Away the Mice Will Play -- Fanchette, Nanette and Mme. Cecile
  • The Time, the Place and the Girl -- Capt. Etienne de Bouvray and Chorus
  • If I Were on the Stage (Kiss Me Again) -- Fifi
  • Love Me, Love My Dog -- Gaston
  • Hats Make the Woman -- Fifi and Female Chorus
  • Finale -- Entire Company
Act 2
  • I Want What I Want When I Want It -- Henri de Bouvray
  • Ze English Language -- Gaston
  • The Mascot of the Troop (Mascot of the Moon) -- Fifi and Male Ensemble
  • The Dear Little Girl Who is Good -- Lieut. Rene La Motte and Female Ensemble
  • The Keokuk
    Keokuk, Iowa

    Keokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa. The other county seat is Fort Madison, Iowa....
     Culture Club -- Mrs. Hiram Bent and Ensemble
  • The Nightingale and the Star -- Fifi
  • Finale -- Entire Company


External links

  • at the Internet Broadway Database
    Internet Broadway Database

    The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....