Editing Jacques Offenbach (section)

==={{lang|fr|Bouffes-Parisiens, Champs-Élysées|italic=no}}===
Between 1853 and May 1855 Offenbach wrote three one-act [[operetta]]s and managed to have them staged in Paris.{{refn|They were {{lang|fr|Le trésor à Mathurin}}, {{lang|fr|[[Pépito (opera)|Pépito]]}}, and {{lang|fr|Luc et Lucette}}.<ref name=grove/>|group= n}} They were all well received, but the authorities of the {{lang|fr|Opéra-Comique|italic=no}} remained unmoved. Offenbach found more encouragement from the composer, singer and impresario Florimond Ronger, known professionally as {{lang|fr|[[Hervé (composer)|Hervé]]|italic=no}}. At his theatre, the {{lang|fr|[[Théâtre Déjazet|Folies-Nouvelles]]|italic=no}}, opened in 1854, {{lang|fr|Hervé|italic=no}} pioneered French light comic opera, or "{{lang|fr|[[opérette]]|italic=no}}".<ref name=grovlez/><ref>Huebner, Steven. "Review: ''Hervé: Un Musicien paradoxal (1825–1892)''", ''[[Notes (journal)|Notes]]'', Second Series, Vol. 50, No. 3 (March 1994), pp. 972–973 {{JSTOR|898563}} {{subscription required}}; Harding, pp. 59–61; and Kracauer, pp. 138–139</ref> In ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'', Martial Teneo and [[Theodore Baker]] wrote, "Without the example set by {{lang|fr|Hervé|italic=no}}, Offenbach might perhaps never have become the musician who penned {{lang|fr|[[Orphée aux Enfers]]}}, {{lang|fr|[[La belle Hélène]]}}, and so many other triumphant works."<ref name=teneo>Teneo, Martial, and [[Theodore Baker]]. "Jacques Offenbach: His Centenary", ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'', Vol. 6, No. 1 (January 1920), pp. 98–117 {{JSTOR|738103}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Offenbach approached {{lang|fr|Hervé|italic=no}}, who agreed to present a new one-act operetta with words by [[Jules Moinaux]] and music by Offenbach, called {{lang|fr|Oyayaye ou La reine des îles}}.{{refn|The authorities spelling the name as "{{lang|fr|Oyayaye|italic=no}}" include Faris,<ref name="Faris, p. 49">Faris, p. 49</ref> Lamb,<ref name=grove/> Pourvoyeur,<ref>Pourvoyeur, p. 241</ref> and Yon;<ref>Yon, p. 141</ref> Gammond,<ref name=g36/> Harding,<ref>Harding, p. 61</ref> and Kracauer<ref>Kracauer, pp. 139–140</ref> spell the name as "{{lang|fr|Oyayaie|italic=no}}".|group= n}} It was presented on 26 June 1855 and was well received. Offenbach's biographer [[Peter Gammond]] describes it as "a charming piece of nonsense".<ref name=g36>Gammond, p. 36</ref> The piece depicts a double-bass player, played by {{lang|fr|Hervé|italic=no}}, shipwrecked on a cannibal island, who after several perilous encounters with the female chief of the cannibals makes his escape using his double-bass as a boat.<ref name="Faris, p. 49"/> Offenbach pressed ahead with plans to present his works himself at his own theatre<ref name=g36/> and to abandon further thoughts of acceptance by the {{lang|fr|Opéra-Comique|italic=no}}.<ref name=f28/>

[[File:Bouffes-Parisiens-Nadar.png|thumb|right|Poster by Offenbach's friend [[Nadar]]|alt=Bouffes-Parisiens poster showing characters from the theatre's productions]]
Offenbach had chosen his theatre, the [[Salle Lacaze]] in the Champs-Élysées.<ref>Yon, p. 111</ref> The location and the timing were ideal for him. Paris was about to be filled between May and November with visitors from France and abroad for the [[Exposition Universelle (1855)|1855 Great Exhibition]]. The Salle Lacaze was next to the exhibition site. He later wrote:<ref>Offenbach, ''quoted'' in Gammond, p. 37 and Bekker, pp. 18–19. Various editions of Gammond give the spelling as "Lacaza" and "Lazaca". Bekker gives it as "Lacaze"</ref>
{{blockquote |text=In the Champs-Élysées, there was a little theatre to let, built for [the magician] {{lang|fr|Lacaze|italic=no}} but closed for many years. I knew that the Exhibition of 1855 would bring many people into this locality. By May, I had found twenty supporters and on 15 June I secured the lease. Twenty days later, I gathered my librettists and I opened the {{lang|fr|"[[Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens]]"|italic=no}}.}}
The description of the theatre as "little" was accurate: it could hold an audience of at most 300.<ref name=grove/><ref>Yon, pp. 134–135</ref> It was therefore well suited to the tiny casts permitted under the prevailing licensing laws: Offenbach was limited to three speaking (or singing) characters in any piece.{{refn|Offenbach was licensed to put on "harlequinades, pantomimes, comic scenes, conjuring tricks, dances, shadow shows, puppet plays and songs" – subject to the maximum of three singers or actors stipulated.<ref>Harding, p. 63</ref>|group= n}} With such small forces, full-length works were out of the question, and Offenbach, like Hervé, presented evenings of several one-act pieces.<ref name=f49>Faris, pp. 49–51</ref> The opening of the theatre was a frantic rush, with less than a month between the issue of the licence and the opening night on 5&nbsp;July 1855.<ref name=birth/> During this period Offenbach had to "equip the theatre, recruit actors, orchestra and staff, find authors to write material for the opening programme – and compose the music".<ref name=f49/> Among those he recruited at short notice was {{lang|fr|[[Ludovic Halévy]]|italic=no}}, the nephew of Offenbach's early mentor {{lang|fr|Fromental Halévy|italic=no}}. Ludovic was a rising civil servant with a passion for the theatre and a gift for dialogue and verse. While maintaining his civil service career he went on to collaborate (sometimes under discreet pseudonyms) with Offenbach in 21 works over the next 24 years.<ref name=grove/>

{{lang|fr|Halévy|italic=no}} wrote the libretto for one of the pieces in the opening programme, but the most popular work of the evening had words by {{lang|fr|Moinaux|italic=no}}. {{lang|fr|[[Les deux aveugles]]}}, "The Two Blind Men", is a comedy about two beggars feigning blindness. During rehearsals there had been some concern that the public might judge it to be in poor taste,<ref>Harding, p. 66</ref> but it was not only the hit of the season in Paris: it was soon playing successfully in Vienna, London and elsewhere.<ref name="g39">Gammond, p. 39</ref> Another success in 1855 was {{lang|fr|[[Le violoneux]]}} (The Village Fiddler), which made a star of [[Hortense Schneider]] in her first role for Offenbach. When she auditioned for him, aged 22, he engaged her on the spot. From 1855 she was a key member of his companies through much of his career.<ref name="g39"/>

The Champs-Élysées in 1855 were not yet the grand avenue laid out by [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann|Baron Haussmann]] in the 1860s, but an unpaved {{lang|fr|[[Avenue (landscape)|allée]]|italic=no}}.<ref name=birth>Faris, Alexander. "The birth of the Bouffes-Parisiens", ''[[The Times]]'', 11 October 1980, p. 6</ref> The public who were flocking to Offenbach's theatre in the summer and autumn of 1855 could not be expected to venture there in the depths of a Parisian winter. He cast about for a suitable venue and found the {{lang|fr|Théâtre des Jeunes Élèves|italic=no}}, known also as the {{lang|fr|[[Salle Choiseul]]|italic=no}} or {{lang|fr|[[Théâtre Comte]]|italic=no}},<ref name=grovlez/> in central Paris. He entered into partnership with its proprietor and moved the {{lang|fr|Bouffes-Parisiens|italic=no}} there for the winter season. The company returned to the Salle Lacaze for the 1856, 1857 and 1859 summer seasons, performing at the {{lang|fr|Salle Choiseul|italic=no}} in the winter.<ref>Yon, pp. 760–762</ref> Legislation enacted in March 1861 prevented the company from using both theatres, and appearances at the {{lang|fr|Salle Lacaze|italic=no}} were discontinued.<ref>Levin, p. 401</ref>