The Merveilleuses
Encyclopedia
The Merveilleuses is a musical play
in three acts, with a book adapted from the French original of Victorien Sardou
by Basil Hood
, lyrics by Adrian Ross
, and music by Hugo Felix
. The main plot is a love story, concerning Dorlis, an emigré aristocrat who has just returned from enforced military service in Italy, and Illyrine, his ex-wife.
It opened at Daly's Theatre
, London, under the management of George Edwardes
, on 27 October 1906, with a cast that included Evie Greene
, Denise Orme
and Robert Evett
in the leading roles, and ran for 196 performances.
, held power. Fashionable Parisian society is led by the Incroyables, or dandies, and their feminine equivalents, the Merveilleuses. The latter have adopted classical robes as their form of dress and the succouring of distressed conspirators as their mission.
Act I — The Tent of the Café du Caveau in the Palais Royal Gardens
Illyrine, who had been led to believe that Dorlis had deserted her and had divorced him in consequence, has just been married to a second husband, St. Amour, the rich but low-bred secretary to Barras.
Dorlis intrudes on the wedding party at the Café du Caveau and demands that Illyrine return to him. She explains what had happened and tells him that she still loves him.
Act II — The Stock Market; St. Amour's Town House
After a visit to the stock market on the Perron at the Palais Royal, Dorlis, accompanied by his friend Lagorille, one of the Incroyables, goes to the wedding reception at St. Amour's Town House determined to kill St. Amour. However, the latter is warned by police agents, who have learned of the plot. Illyrine hides Dorlis in her private apartment, but St. Amour forces him to reveal his whereabouts by giving a false alarm of "Fire!", whereupon Dorlis and Lagorille are arrested.
Act III — Tricolour Fête at the Palais of the Luxembourg
At a fete given by Barras, Illyrine manages to persuade Barras to pardon Dorlis, with whom, after divorcing St. Amour, she is re-united. Meanwhile, the Merveilleuses, led by Lodoiska, succeed in freeing Lagorille, only to see him carried off by Pervenche.
opened: "There is plenty of life in Les Merveilleuses yet. A feeble comedy, it makes good material for a comic opera; and by that honourable title the piece produced at Daly's on Saturday may justly be called." It was "a well-made, well-mounted comic opera, empty of wit but full of movement and fun, with a bright plot that runs right through without a break, and plenty of amusing and extravagant people." Of the performers, "Mr W H Berry, who took up the part at very short notice [he replaced George Graves
, who was ill], did wonders with it. ... His picture of a coward is capital. Mr Bradfield wears something of the real 'Incroyable' air, and Mr Evett is an admirable singer for this kind of work. Miss Evie Greene ... makes the most of her fine voice; Miss Denise Orme keeps hers in strict control ... but the actress who was most in the spirit of the thing was Miss Mariette Sully". If The Times saw a fault, it was in Hugo Felix's music: "As a rule, his music strikes us as clever rather than original. The source of several of his tunes is pretty obvious, but his treatment and his use of his orchestra are fresh, and, if he does not aim very high, he achieves surely and neatly what he wishes."
The Play Pictorial
noted that the name of the show had created some difficulty: "'The Women Dandies' scarcely expresses it, and so it was decided eventually to let the French name stand." On the production, it concluded: "The chorus sang well and showed an exceptional amount of life and animation, and for this and for the production generally, Mr J A E Malone is to be heartily congratulated on the successful accomplishment of an arduous task."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
in three acts, with a book adapted from the French original of Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
by Basil Hood
Basil Hood
Basil Willett Charles Hood was a British librettist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including The Merry Widow. He embarked on a career in the British army, writing theatrical pieces in his spare...
, lyrics by Adrian Ross
Adrian Ross
For the NFL player see Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes , better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, and music by Hugo Felix
Hugo Felix
Hugo Felix was an Austrian-American composer of operettas. He was born in Vienna and produced several famous works such as Husarenblut , Rhodope and Mme Sherry . Felix later went to the USA where Mme Sherry met with resounding success...
. The main plot is a love story, concerning Dorlis, an emigré aristocrat who has just returned from enforced military service in Italy, and Illyrine, his ex-wife.
It opened 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:...
, London, under the management of George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
, on 27 October 1906, with a cast that included Evie Greene
Evie Greene
Edith Elizabeth Greene was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway. She is most notable for starring as Dolores, the central character in the international hit musical Florodora...
, Denise Orme
Denise Orme
Jessie Smither , best known by her stage name Denise Orme, was an English music hall singer, actress and musician who appeared regularly at the Alhambra and Gaiety Theatres in London in the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:The only daughter of Alfred John Smither and Jessicah...
and 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...
in the leading roles, and ran for 196 performances.
Plot synopsis
The story is set in Revolutionary France in the closing years of the 18th century, during the period when the Directoire, led by BarrasPaul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras
Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras was a French politician of the French Revolution, and the main executive leader of the Directory regime of 1795–1799.-Early life:...
, held power. Fashionable Parisian society is led by the Incroyables, or dandies, and their feminine equivalents, the Merveilleuses. The latter have adopted classical robes as their form of dress and the succouring of distressed conspirators as their mission.
Act I — The Tent of the Café du Caveau in the Palais Royal Gardens
Illyrine, who had been led to believe that Dorlis had deserted her and had divorced him in consequence, has just been married to a second husband, St. Amour, the rich but low-bred secretary to Barras.
Dorlis intrudes on the wedding party at the Café du Caveau and demands that Illyrine return to him. She explains what had happened and tells him that she still loves him.
Act II — The Stock Market; St. Amour's Town House
After a visit to the stock market on the Perron at the Palais Royal, Dorlis, accompanied by his friend Lagorille, one of the Incroyables, goes to the wedding reception at St. Amour's Town House determined to kill St. Amour. However, the latter is warned by police agents, who have learned of the plot. Illyrine hides Dorlis in her private apartment, but St. Amour forces him to reveal his whereabouts by giving a false alarm of "Fire!", whereupon Dorlis and Lagorille are arrested.
Act III — Tricolour Fête at the Palais of the Luxembourg
At a fete given by Barras, Illyrine manages to persuade Barras to pardon Dorlis, with whom, after divorcing St. Amour, she is re-united. Meanwhile, the Merveilleuses, led by Lodoiska, succeed in freeing Lagorille, only to see him carried off by Pervenche.
Roles and original cast
- Dorlis, a refugee aristocrat – Robert EvettRobert EvettRobert 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...
- Lagorille, The Incroyable – W. Louis Bradfield
- St. Amour, secretary to the Director Barras – W H Berry
- Malicorne, police agent of Barras – Fred Kaye
- Des Gouttières, secretary to the Directors – Willie WardeWillie WardeWillie 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...
- Tournesol, police agent of the Director Carnot – Fred Emney
- Alexis, head waiter at the Café du Caveau – Scott RussellScott RussellScott Russell may refer to:* John Scott Russell , known as J. Scott Russell, Scottish naval engineer* Scott Russell , male javelin thrower* Scott Russell , American motorcycle road racer...
- Melval and Valcourt, each a dandy – V. O'Connor and Gordon Cleather
- Ragot, a contractor – A. J. Evelyn
- Gifflart, a JacobinJacobinJacobin may refer to:* Jacobin , a member of the Jacobin club, or political radical, generally* The Jacobin Club, a political club during the French Revolution* Jacobin , an American leftist political magazine....
– J. Murphy - An officer – J. Boddy
- Pervenche, Ragot's daughter – Mariette SullyMariette SullyMariette 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...
- Illyrine, Ragot's niece – Denise OrmeDenise OrmeJessie Smither , best known by her stage name Denise Orme, was an English music hall singer, actress and musician who appeared regularly at the Alhambra and Gaiety Theatres in London in the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:The only daughter of Alfred John Smither and Jessicah...
- Liane – Elizabeth Firth
- Églé, wife of Des Gouttières – M. Perceval
- Dioné, Amaranthe, Aurélie, Cléopatre and Pandore, each a Merveilleuse – Eleanor Souray, N. Sevening, D. Dunbar, M. Erskine and E. Barker
- Lodoiska, La Merveilleuse – Evie GreeneEvie GreeneEdith Elizabeth Greene was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway. She is most notable for starring as Dolores, the central character in the international hit musical Florodora...
Musical numbers
- "How I Took the Redoubt" – Dorlis
- "I'm Sorry" – Illyrine
- "Cuckoo" – Illyrine
- "The Gay Director" – Illyrine
- "It Might Have Been" – Dorlis and Illyrine
- "Gina, Mina, Nina, Fina" – Pervenche
- "Our Picnic" – Pervenche
- "Watch-winding" – Liane
- "Illyrine" – Dorlis
- "The Merveilleuse Brigade" – Lagorille
- "An Authoritative Source" – St. Amour
- "Not So Silly As I Look" – St. Amour
- "Les Merveilleuses" – Lodoiska
- "Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" – Lodoiska
Critical reception
Reviews of the show were generally positive. The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
opened: "There is plenty of life in Les Merveilleuses yet. A feeble comedy, it makes good material for a comic opera; and by that honourable title the piece produced at Daly's on Saturday may justly be called." It was "a well-made, well-mounted comic opera, empty of wit but full of movement and fun, with a bright plot that runs right through without a break, and plenty of amusing and extravagant people." Of the performers, "Mr W H Berry, who took up the part at very short notice [he replaced George Graves
George 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...
, who was ill], did wonders with it. ... His picture of a coward is capital. Mr Bradfield wears something of the real 'Incroyable' air, and Mr Evett is an admirable singer for this kind of work. Miss Evie Greene ... makes the most of her fine voice; Miss Denise Orme keeps hers in strict control ... but the actress who was most in the spirit of the thing was Miss Mariette Sully". If The Times saw a fault, it was in Hugo Felix's music: "As a rule, his music strikes us as clever rather than original. The source of several of his tunes is pretty obvious, but his treatment and his use of his orchestra are fresh, and, if he does not aim very high, he achieves surely and neatly what he wishes."
The Play Pictorial
The Play Pictorial
The Play Pictorial was an English theatrical magazine which was published in London between 1902 and 1939. It concentrated on providing a pictorial record of West End theatrical productions, each issue being devoted to a single show, with descriptions of the plot, the costumes and the sets, and...
noted that the name of the show had created some difficulty: "'The Women Dandies' scarcely expresses it, and so it was decided eventually to let the French name stand." On the production, it concluded: "The chorus sang well and showed an exceptional amount of life and animation, and for this and for the production generally, Mr J A E Malone is to be heartily congratulated on the successful accomplishment of an arduous task."