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Young nun Béatrice leaves her convent with Lorenzo, but he is unfaithful and abandons her. Disguised as a dancer, she believes she has caused a man’s death and returns in remorse; the Virgin, who took her place in the convent, forgives her and restores her to the sisterhood.
On board the battleship Montesquieu, deputy Puy-Pradal arrives to lead a parliamentary inquiry and disrupts the crew’s plans for leave. His daughter Béatrice is courted by both the ship’s commander, Gerville, and Lieutenant Kermao. During a stop in Cairo, actress Sola Myrrhis seduces Puy-Pradal, who leaves the ship to travel with her. Three months later they rejoin the ship. Béatrice is angry with her father and misunderstands Kermao’s encounter with Sola. Puy-Pradal breaks with the actress; Gerville reconciles the lovers and persuades Puy-Pradal to consent to their marriage. Sola joins the Comédie Française, and Puy-Pradal learns he faces a ministerial reshuffle.
Young clerk Fortunio becomes a decoy for the affair between Jacqueline, wife of lawyer Maître André, and officer Clavaroche. Fortunio falls sincerely in love with Jacqueline, who returns his feelings and dismisses Clavaroche after her husband’s suspicions are diverted.
In Paris in 1789, street-singer Fanchon and letter-writer François plan to marry. Fanchon’s birth song reveals her noble parentage; after she resists an arranged marriage and François is imprisoned in the Bastille, the two reunite during its storming and marry.
A child named Hélène vows revenge after learning that her father has been murdered.
Oberon curses Princess Isoline to become a man on her wedding night. She is kept in a castle but dreams of Prince Isolin, and the two fall in love. Oberon and Titania alternately manipulate them: Isoline believes she is ugly and rejects Isolin until she sees her reflection in his dagger. After a battle, Queen Amalasonthe consents to their marriage. Titania’s magic transforms the bride into a boy and the groom into a girl at their first kiss, allowing the pair to sail to Cythera. Oberon and Titania reconcile.
Elle plans to marry neither of her wealthy suitors, while longing for the young man in a portrait. His older owner disguises himself as his own son for a masked ball, where Elle unknowingly falls for him; a rose thorn later reveals his identity, and she accepts both apparent father and son as one lover.
In Paris in 1514, law-clerk guild members elect Clément Marot as their ceremonial king. Because the guild’s king must be unmarried, Clément hides his wife Colette. When Colette arrives at the tavern where King Louis XII will meet his new bride, Princess Mary, both women mistake Clément for the real king. The confusions continue as Colette is taken to the palace and Louis mistakes her for his wife. The Basoche procession reveals the identities; Roland is arrested in Clément’s place, and Louis pardons Clément, who leaves Paris with Colette. Louis marries Mary.
Captain Perpignac violates King Henri’s order to avoid women and pursues Bianca. His cousin Jacquette disguises herself as a man and intervenes; Bianca ultimately marries Pomponio, while Jacquette returns to Béarn with Perpignac.
In 1840, flower-seller Thérèse’s fiancé Pierre is sent to Algeria for military service. She follows him with her friend Zélie and singing teacher Saint-Angénor; after a series of captures and rescues, Pierre and Thérèse reunite.
Postmistress Suzanne arrives in a Loire village and rekindles the infatuation of Lebardin, who tries to make her his kept companion. She is also drawn to the local Viscount, but when Lebardin withdraws his promise of support, Suzanne leaves Paris and returns with the newly married Viscount to village life.
During the 1558 siege of Calais, the Duc de Guise disguises himself as sailor André to enter the city and bring in French troops. The English governor surrenders, restoring Calais to France; a subplot follows the Countess’s prediction that she may become Guise’s duchess.
After losing his position when the regent Philippe d’Orléans succeeds Louis XIV, Raoul d’Harmental joins the Cellamare conspiracy to seize the regent and give power to Philip V of Spain. The plot fails, but Raoul falls in love with Bathilde; Buvat pleads for Raoul’s life and their marriage.
Artist Florestan, rejected by Justine Patouillard’s parents, travels to Kokistan and enters a contest to marry Queen Asella. Justine and her parents arrive, and the law is set aside so Asella can reunite with Yacoub while Florestan marries Justine.
Les Deux Pigeons is a ballet originally choreographed in two acts by Louis Mérante to music by André Messager. The libretto by Mérante and Henri de Régnier is based on the fable The Two Pigeons by Jean de La Fontaine. The work was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 18 October 1886. The premiere cast included Rosita Mauri as Gourouli and Marie Sanlaville as Pépio. Frederick Ashton later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title The Two Pigeons.
Two girls are accidentally switched as infants: one is the daughter of a Marquis and the other of the Michus. Years later, both love the same officer, and the Michus cannot identify which girl is the Marquis’s daughter. A sisterly sacrifice and a portrait reveal the true parentage, allowing both couples to be happily matched.
French sailor Pierre arrives in Nagasaki and falls in love with a geisha. Through marriage broker Kangourou, he contracts a temporary Japanese marriage with Chrysanthème. She is affectionate but rebuffs Pierre’s declarations, while their friends celebrate. At a festival, jealousy sparks arguments between Pierre and his friend Yves. The couple reconcile before Pierre and Yves sail for Brittany. At sea, Pierre reads Chrysanthème’s letter: she asks him to remember that Japanese women also love and grieve. He casts the lotus flowers she gave him into the sea and asks to forget the marriage.
The foundling Mirette, raised among gypsies, falls for Gerard, nephew of the Marquise de Montigny, while Picorin loves her. After Mirette and Picorin enter the Marquise’s household, Mirette helps Gerard and Bianca reconcile and recognizes her own love for Picorin. The revised version also pairs the Marquise with the Baron and shifts the ending toward comedy.
In Bath, the disguised barber Monsieur Beaucaire is actually the Duc d’Orléans, heir to the French throne. He loves Lady Mary, who is courted by the Duke of Winterset. After Beaucaire exposes Winterset as a cheat, the rivals’ conflict escalates into a duel and a later attack that leaves Beaucaire wounded. He and Mary reconcile, and when the French Ambassador recognizes him as the king’s son, Beaucaire reveals his identity and names Mary his future Duchess.
American businessman Stevenson tries to buy Frenchman Robert’s oil-rich Colorado land cheaply, disguising his wife Ketty as an old woman. Ketty meets Robert while disguised as Stevenson’s niece, and they fall in love; after Stevenson’s new fondness for champagne softens him, the lovers persuade him to divorce Ketty and reveal the land’s value.
Deeply in debt, the aristocrat Florestan agrees to marry Hélène, an heiress he has never met, while ending an affair with Agathe. Hélène overhears him and disguises herself as a flower-shop girl named Véronique; Florestan falls for her. When he refuses to marry an unknown fiancée and is jailed, Hélène pays his debts, reveals herself, and reconciles with him.
Young nun Béatrice leaves her convent with Lorenzo, but he is unfaithful and abandons her. Disguised as a dancer, she believes she has caused a man’s death and returns in remorse; the Virgin, who took her place in the convent, forgives her and restores her to the sisterhood.
On board the battleship Montesquieu, deputy Puy-Pradal arrives to lead a parliamentary inquiry and disrupts the crew’s plans for leave. His daughter Béatrice is courted by both the ship’s commander, Gerville, and Lieutenant Kermao. During a stop in Cairo, actress Sola Myrrhis seduces Puy-Pradal, who leaves the ship to travel with her. Three months later they rejoin the ship. Béatrice is angry with her father and misunderstands Kermao’s encounter with Sola. Puy-Pradal breaks with the actress; Gerville reconciles the lovers and persuades Puy-Pradal to consent to their marriage. Sola joins the Comédie Française, and Puy-Pradal learns he faces a ministerial reshuffle.
Young clerk Fortunio becomes a decoy for the affair between Jacqueline, wife of lawyer Maître André, and officer Clavaroche. Fortunio falls sincerely in love with Jacqueline, who returns his feelings and dismisses Clavaroche after her husband’s suspicions are diverted.
In Paris in 1789, street-singer Fanchon and letter-writer François plan to marry. Fanchon’s birth song reveals her noble parentage; after she resists an arranged marriage and François is imprisoned in the Bastille, the two reunite during its storming and marry.
A child named Hélène vows revenge after learning that her father has been murdered.
Oberon curses Princess Isoline to become a man on her wedding night. She is kept in a castle but dreams of Prince Isolin, and the two fall in love. Oberon and Titania alternately manipulate them: Isoline believes she is ugly and rejects Isolin until she sees her reflection in his dagger. After a battle, Queen Amalasonthe consents to their marriage. Titania’s magic transforms the bride into a boy and the groom into a girl at their first kiss, allowing the pair to sail to Cythera. Oberon and Titania reconcile.
Elle plans to marry neither of her wealthy suitors, while longing for the young man in a portrait. His older owner disguises himself as his own son for a masked ball, where Elle unknowingly falls for him; a rose thorn later reveals his identity, and she accepts both apparent father and son as one lover.
In Paris in 1514, law-clerk guild members elect Clément Marot as their ceremonial king. Because the guild’s king must be unmarried, Clément hides his wife Colette. When Colette arrives at the tavern where King Louis XII will meet his new bride, Princess Mary, both women mistake Clément for the real king. The confusions continue as Colette is taken to the palace and Louis mistakes her for his wife. The Basoche procession reveals the identities; Roland is arrested in Clément’s place, and Louis pardons Clément, who leaves Paris with Colette. Louis marries Mary.
Captain Perpignac violates King Henri’s order to avoid women and pursues Bianca. His cousin Jacquette disguises herself as a man and intervenes; Bianca ultimately marries Pomponio, while Jacquette returns to Béarn with Perpignac.
In 1840, flower-seller Thérèse’s fiancé Pierre is sent to Algeria for military service. She follows him with her friend Zélie and singing teacher Saint-Angénor; after a series of captures and rescues, Pierre and Thérèse reunite.
Postmistress Suzanne arrives in a Loire village and rekindles the infatuation of Lebardin, who tries to make her his kept companion. She is also drawn to the local Viscount, but when Lebardin withdraws his promise of support, Suzanne leaves Paris and returns with the newly married Viscount to village life.
During the 1558 siege of Calais, the Duc de Guise disguises himself as sailor André to enter the city and bring in French troops. The English governor surrenders, restoring Calais to France; a subplot follows the Countess’s prediction that she may become Guise’s duchess.
After losing his position when the regent Philippe d’Orléans succeeds Louis XIV, Raoul d’Harmental joins the Cellamare conspiracy to seize the regent and give power to Philip V of Spain. The plot fails, but Raoul falls in love with Bathilde; Buvat pleads for Raoul’s life and their marriage.
Artist Florestan, rejected by Justine Patouillard’s parents, travels to Kokistan and enters a contest to marry Queen Asella. Justine and her parents arrive, and the law is set aside so Asella can reunite with Yacoub while Florestan marries Justine.
Les Deux Pigeons is a ballet originally choreographed in two acts by Louis Mérante to music by André Messager. The libretto by Mérante and Henri de Régnier is based on the fable The Two Pigeons by Jean de La Fontaine. The work was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 18 October 1886. The premiere cast included Rosita Mauri as Gourouli and Marie Sanlaville as Pépio. Frederick Ashton later created a new ballet to Messager's music under the title The Two Pigeons.
Two girls are accidentally switched as infants: one is the daughter of a Marquis and the other of the Michus. Years later, both love the same officer, and the Michus cannot identify which girl is the Marquis’s daughter. A sisterly sacrifice and a portrait reveal the true parentage, allowing both couples to be happily matched.
French sailor Pierre arrives in Nagasaki and falls in love with a geisha. Through marriage broker Kangourou, he contracts a temporary Japanese marriage with Chrysanthème. She is affectionate but rebuffs Pierre’s declarations, while their friends celebrate. At a festival, jealousy sparks arguments between Pierre and his friend Yves. The couple reconcile before Pierre and Yves sail for Brittany. At sea, Pierre reads Chrysanthème’s letter: she asks him to remember that Japanese women also love and grieve. He casts the lotus flowers she gave him into the sea and asks to forget the marriage.
The foundling Mirette, raised among gypsies, falls for Gerard, nephew of the Marquise de Montigny, while Picorin loves her. After Mirette and Picorin enter the Marquise’s household, Mirette helps Gerard and Bianca reconcile and recognizes her own love for Picorin. The revised version also pairs the Marquise with the Baron and shifts the ending toward comedy.
In Bath, the disguised barber Monsieur Beaucaire is actually the Duc d’Orléans, heir to the French throne. He loves Lady Mary, who is courted by the Duke of Winterset. After Beaucaire exposes Winterset as a cheat, the rivals’ conflict escalates into a duel and a later attack that leaves Beaucaire wounded. He and Mary reconcile, and when the French Ambassador recognizes him as the king’s son, Beaucaire reveals his identity and names Mary his future Duchess.
American businessman Stevenson tries to buy Frenchman Robert’s oil-rich Colorado land cheaply, disguising his wife Ketty as an old woman. Ketty meets Robert while disguised as Stevenson’s niece, and they fall in love; after Stevenson’s new fondness for champagne softens him, the lovers persuade him to divorce Ketty and reveal the land’s value.
Deeply in debt, the aristocrat Florestan agrees to marry Hélène, an heiress he has never met, while ending an affair with Agathe. Hélène overhears him and disguises herself as a flower-shop girl named Véronique; Florestan falls for her. When he refuses to marry an unknown fiancée and is jailed, Hélène pays his debts, reveals herself, and reconciles with him.