Babette is a Broadway operetta with a libretto by Harry B. Smith and music by Victor Herbert, which premiered in 1903.[1]
Productions
The original production opened at the Broadway Theatre on November 16, 1903, and closed on January 9, 1904, after 59 performances.[2]
In 1976 Bel Canto Opera staged an off-Broadway revival of the show, which opened on May 21 and ran for four performances.[2][3][4]
Synopsis
Babette, the letter-writer of a small Flemish village, travels with a group of Flemish patriots to Versailles to seek help from the French king in their desire for freedom from the Spanish.[4]
Songs
Act l
- Opening Chorus (Ensemble)
- My Honor and My Sword (Mondragon and Chorus)
- On the Other Side of The Wall (Mondragon and Vinetta)
- Entrance of Babette (Ensemble)
- Letter I Write all day (Letter-writing Song) (Babette)
- He Who’d Thrive (Clockmaker’s Song) (Van Tympel and Chorus)
- I’ll Bribe the Stars (Picture Painting Song) (Babette and Marcel)
- Finale I (Ensemble)
Act ll
- Opening Chorus Act II (Ensemble)
- Tony the Peddler (Mondragon and Chorus)
- Hear the Coachman Crack His Whip (Ensemble)
- We're Very Highly Polished at the Court (Baltazar and Vinetta)
- To the Sound of the Pipe and the Roll of the Drum (Babette, Vinetta, Eva and Chorus)
- On The Stage (Van Tymple)
- Be Kind to poor Pierrot (Babette)
- There once was an owl (Marcel, Vinetta, Eva, Mondragon, Katrina, Theresa)
- My Lady ‘Tis For Thee (Marcel)
- The Life of a Bold Free Lance (Captain Guzman and Chorus)
- Finale II (Ensemble)
Act lll
- Opening Chorus Act III (Ensemble)
- It’s A way we have in Spain (Van Tromp, Eva, Mondragon, Marcel and Chorus)
- My Lady of the Manor (Vinette, Eva, Marcel and Mondragon)
- Where the Fairest Flow’rs (Butterfly Waltz) (Babette)
- Finale III (Ensemble)[5]
Cast
|
1903 Broadway[6]
|
1976 Revival[4]
|
Babette
|
Fritzi Scheff
|
Elizabeth King
|
Mondragon
|
Eugene Cowles
|
Mark Munkittrick
|
Eva
|
Josephine Bartlett
|
Janet Wagner
|
Katrina
|
Florence Belleville
|
|
Vinette
|
Ida Hawley
|
Peggy Hewett
|
Marcel
|
Richie Ling
|
Daniel Mele
|
Van Tympel
|
Louis Harrison
|
David L. Scatter
|
Baltazar
|
Edward J. Connelly
|
Blaine Brown
|
Laurent
|
Gertrude Adams
|
|
Count de Courville
|
Arthur Blanchard
|
|
Jan
|
Frank Boyle
|
|
Henri
|
Rita Dean
|
|
The King of France
|
Erroll Dunbar
|
|
Margot
|
Rosa Earle
|
|
Captain Waither
|
Alfred S. Ely
|
|
Mlle. de Fontanges
|
Mildred Forest
|
|
Greta
|
Edna Luby
|
|
Teresa
|
Emily Montague
|
|
Joan
|
Adele Nott
|
|
Gaston
|
Helen Planchet
|
|
Jacque
|
Aline Redmond
|
|
Mlle. de Rohan
|
May Seeley
|
|
Schnapps
|
William Sissons
|
|
Guzman
|
Madison Smith
|
|
Coachman
|
J. T. Chaillee
|
|
A Court Lady
|
Mary Smith
|
|
Footman
|
Charles Emerson
|
|
Duc de St. Michel
|
Henry Wilkinson
|
|
Marquis de Villette
|
George Williamson
|
|
Mlle. de la Motte
|
Bertha Willoughby
|
|
Reception
The 1903 production received positive reviews for Scheff in the lead role and Herbert's music, but generally negative reviews for the show's book.[7]
External links
References