Page 54 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
P. 54
opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
visits. And not all of these purposes were to do with music. […]
[T]he ballet-girls, of course, were considered prime prey by the
more libidinous young and not so young men-of-the-town. But if
you couldn’t catch a ballet-girl […] and your libido had been suf
ficiently stoked up by watching them perform, the Alhambra also
had the most notorious promenade in town, a walkway […] at the
back of the auditorium stocked with the usual array of prostitutes
for all seasons.21
London got to see the most notorious of all Belle Hélènes in the flesh:
Hortense Schneider. She came to England and presented her Grand Duch-
ess at the St. James’s Theatre, French impresario Raphaël Félix paid her the
unheard-of amount of £80 a night. After a tour of the provinces, Miss Sch-
neider returned to London and played the Grand Duchess at the Princess’s
Theatre. The Era reports:
Crowded stalls and the rest of the house all but empty, speak better
than any word of ours the relative opinions of the upper and mid
dle classes on the subject of decency. It is quite clear that the mid
dle classes are jealous of hurting the modesty of their wives and
daughters, and it seems equally certain that in the aristocratic cir
cles these delicate little attentions are not so much considered. […]
Accordingly, the ‘can-can’ is an extravagant riot, and very few in
the cast do not follow the wild and reckless lead of the pretty lady
with the slashing whip. […] Lightness, sparkle, recklessness, high
spirits, all these things we get in abundance. There is only one thing
wanting and that is – respect for the audience. But perhaps the au
dience does not care to be respected. Who knows?22
Such ‘riotous’ performances in England were not restricted to Offen-
bach; Hervé shows proved equally popular. They also demonstrate the im-
portance of male stars that lured female audiences who in turn lured male
theater goers in. We read about this in Emily Soldene’s autobiography in
which she describes the production of Hervé’s Chilperic in London which
had a certain C. D. Marius as the “little shepherd” Landry:
Young and beautiful, and slender, and sleek, and sly and so elegant.
[…] He played Landry, and made love to Frédégonde or Brunehaut,
21 Gänzl, Emily Soldene, 250.
22 The Era quoted in Gänzl, Emily Soldene, 354.
52
visits. And not all of these purposes were to do with music. […]
[T]he ballet-girls, of course, were considered prime prey by the
more libidinous young and not so young men-of-the-town. But if
you couldn’t catch a ballet-girl […] and your libido had been suf
ficiently stoked up by watching them perform, the Alhambra also
had the most notorious promenade in town, a walkway […] at the
back of the auditorium stocked with the usual array of prostitutes
for all seasons.21
London got to see the most notorious of all Belle Hélènes in the flesh:
Hortense Schneider. She came to England and presented her Grand Duch-
ess at the St. James’s Theatre, French impresario Raphaël Félix paid her the
unheard-of amount of £80 a night. After a tour of the provinces, Miss Sch-
neider returned to London and played the Grand Duchess at the Princess’s
Theatre. The Era reports:
Crowded stalls and the rest of the house all but empty, speak better
than any word of ours the relative opinions of the upper and mid
dle classes on the subject of decency. It is quite clear that the mid
dle classes are jealous of hurting the modesty of their wives and
daughters, and it seems equally certain that in the aristocratic cir
cles these delicate little attentions are not so much considered. […]
Accordingly, the ‘can-can’ is an extravagant riot, and very few in
the cast do not follow the wild and reckless lead of the pretty lady
with the slashing whip. […] Lightness, sparkle, recklessness, high
spirits, all these things we get in abundance. There is only one thing
wanting and that is – respect for the audience. But perhaps the au
dience does not care to be respected. Who knows?22
Such ‘riotous’ performances in England were not restricted to Offen-
bach; Hervé shows proved equally popular. They also demonstrate the im-
portance of male stars that lured female audiences who in turn lured male
theater goers in. We read about this in Emily Soldene’s autobiography in
which she describes the production of Hervé’s Chilperic in London which
had a certain C. D. Marius as the “little shepherd” Landry:
Young and beautiful, and slender, and sleek, and sly and so elegant.
[…] He played Landry, and made love to Frédégonde or Brunehaut,
21 Gänzl, Emily Soldene, 250.
22 The Era quoted in Gänzl, Emily Soldene, 354.
52
