Hervé · aftercurtain

Shows & credits

Chilpéric

Music and Libretto · Musical · 1868

In Gaul in 567, King Chilpéric visits the woods to consult the Druids about his next battle. He meets shepherd Landry and Landry’s fiancée Frédégonde, takes a fancy to her and brings both to court. As Chilpéric prepares to marry the Spanish princess Galswinthe for political reasons, Brunehaut plots to kill the couple and take the throne, while Frédégonde and Landry become entangled with other lovers. On the wedding night, several plots to murder the women go awry amid confusion in the bridal chamber. Chilpéric returns victorious from battle, rescues Galswinthe, pardons Frédégonde and lets the other plotters off with comic punishments.

Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança

Music · Opera · 1847

A one-act grotesque musical scene featuring Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, devised as a benefit vehicle for the performers Hervé and Desiré. It is based on Cervantes’s novel; the source gives no plot summary.

Le petit Faust

Music · Opera · 1869

In this comic burlesque of Faust, an elderly professor trades his reason for youth and wealth to pursue Marguerite, who has left school to teach the can-can in London. Their reunion leads to a duel in which Faust kills her brother Valentin; at Walpurgis Night, Mephisto condemns Faust to remain with the unwilling Marguerite, while Valentin is redeemed.

Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde

Music · Musical · 1866

Hervé’s burlesque operetta presents a fantasy vision of a magical age of chivalry. Its ensemble includes four comic knights, women such as Mélusine, Totoche, and Angélique, and the knights Merlin, Rodomont, and Roland.

L’œil crevé

Music and Libretto · Opera · 1867

Fleur de Noblesse loves carpentry and young cabinetmaker Ernest. At an archery contest to decide her marriage, she rigs the targets so Ernest will win. When forester Alexandrivoire challenges the result, Fleur deflects his arrow and it pierces her eye. The gendarme imprisons Alexandrivoire, but Dindonette, who loves him, removes the arrow from Fleur’s eye. After mistaken identities and confusion, everything ends happily.

Mam’zelle Nitouche

Music · Opera · 1883

At a convent, organist Célestin secretly composes operettas as Floridor. Denise, a convent boarder promised to Fernand, discovers Célestin’s secret and learns his score. In Paris, she takes the stage as Mam’zelle Nitouche when the star refuses to perform. At the barracks, she disguises herself as a dragoon while escaping with Célestin. Fernand realizes he loves Denise, and the pair marry after she reveals her identity.

All shows

Loading credits…