Naughty Marietta (operetta)
Naughty Marietta | ||
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Book Rida Johnson Young | | |
Productions | 1910 Broadway 1935 Film 1955 Television |
Naughty Marietta is an operetta in two acts, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert. Set in New Orleans in 1780, it tells how Captain Richard Warrington is commissioned to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself "Bras Pique" – and how he is helped and hindered by a high-spirited runaway, Contessa Marietta. The score includes many well-known songs, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life".
Naughty Marietta had its first performance on October 24, 1910, in
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Synopsis
Act One
In eighteenth century New Orleans, the townspeople go about their daily business in the Place d'Armes ("Clear Away!"). Étienne Grandet, the son of the colony's acting governor, has just returned from a trip to France, and the young ladies warn him that the pirate Bras Pique has been attacking ships bound for New Orleans; the town fountain is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a woman he killed. Étienne, unknown to all but his father and his quadroon slave mistress Adah, is really Bras Pique. He gives his father a share of the profits from his crimes, and his father keeps his identity secret.
A band of American woodsmen, farmers, and Indians, led by Captain Dick Warrington and his lieutenant, Sir Harry Blake, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp" into town. They vow to capture Bras Pique and seek the governor's signature on a warrant for his arrest. They also hope to find wives among the casquette girls, who should arrive in New Orleans any day. These French girls have been granted dowries by the King of France and sent to the New Orleans to marry the colonists. Lieutenant Governor Grandet, Étienne's father, refuses to sign the warrant. He knows Étienne has imprisoned the real governor on a Caribbean island. Étienne seeks to establish Louisiana as a dictatorship under his own command, separate from both France and the burgeoning United States of America.
The Lieutenant Governor oversees the girls' arrival, and the men excitedly introduce themselves ("Taisez-Vous"). A plain-looking girl, Lizette, is ignored by all the men except the boastful Simon O'Hara, Captain Dick's
Though Lizette ignores Simon, he tries to impress her ("If I Were Anyone Else But Me"). Adah feels that Étienne does not love her anymore and tries to see her future in cards ("'Neath a Southern Moon"). Marietta, disguised as Rudolfo's son, performs an "Italian Street Song" for the townsfolk. The Lieutenant Governor announces that a dispatch has come from the King of France offering 10,000 francs for the return of the Contessa d'Altena who exchanged places with her maid and traveled to the colonies as a casquette girl. The Contessa always sings a fragment of a certain tune, and the townspeople recognize it as the ghost's song. Sir Harry Blake, Captain Dick's lieutenant, arrives in the square and accidentally betrays Marietta, noting that she is really a casquette girl disguised as a boy. Étienne insists that Marietta reveal her identity, but she declares that though she is not a boy, she is not the Contessa. Governor Grandet's indecisiveness prevents a fight between Étienne's guards and Dick's men, and Marietta runs off with Rudolfo.
Act Two
Rudolfo teaches Marietta to work the marionettes ("Dance of the Marionettes"), and Étienne asks her to attend the quadroon ball with him, believing that she is the contessa and hoping to marry her ("You Marry a Marionette"). Dick has warned Marietta that the ball is dangerous for a young girl, but she ignores him because she believes that Dick has been flirting with Adah. She agrees to go to the ball, but not as Étienne's partner.
The ball is representative of everything excessive and decadent in New Orleans ("New Orleans, Jeunesse Dorèe"). The attendees are gaily drinking, gambling, and womanizing ("The Loves of New Orleans"). Lizette is at the ball, still looking for a husband ("The Sweet By-and-By"). Simon has been appointed whipping boy to the Governor's family and has decided to find a better-looking girl than Lizette: he will complete the Contessa's song, and once she is found, she will marry him. Marietta is shocked by the obvious immorality of the ball and asks Étienne to take her home. When Captain Dick arrives, she assumes he intends to see Adah. Though he tells her he has come to protect her, she declares she will "Live for Today" and dance with Étienne. Lizette attempts to spark Simon's jealousy by flirting with the Governor, but Simon ignores her. Étienne proposes to Marietta; a marriage to a contessa would legitimize his plan for a Louisiana republic under his control. She asks what he will do with Adah, and he says he will auction her. Marietta leaves him and finds Dick, who realizes he may be in love with her ("I'm Falling in Love With Someone").
Étienne auctions Adah at the ball, and Dick buys her so she will not be unhappy with an old and ugly master. Marietta jealously agrees to marry Étienne, announcing that she is the lost Contessa d'Altena. The quadroon girls and Marietta leave to prepare for the wedding. Adah remains with Dick, and he sets her free. She gratefully tells him that if he tears Étienne's right sleeve he will reveal Étienne's real identity: Bras Pique.
Simon revels in the glory of his new job ("It's Pretty Soft for Simon"). Dick tears off Étienne's sleeve and denounces him as the notorious pirate. However, he cannot legally arrest Étienne because Simon, as the family whipping boy, is obligated to take any punishment destined for Grandet family members. The guards carry Simon off and Lizette brokenheartedly follows. Adah tells Marietta about Étienne's true identity, and so she refuses to marry him. The Governor threatens to send her to a convent and locks her in a room. She hears a voice outside completing her song, "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life". It is Dick, and they embrace through the window. Étienne discovers them, but Captain Dick's infantry appears before he can take action. They have freed Simon and have come to arrest Étienne and the rest of the pirates. Étienne relinquishes his claim on Marietta, as Dick and Marietta sing "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life". Dick and his men allow the pirates to escape without harm.
Musical numbers
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Roles and original cast
- Captain Richard Warrington – Orville Harrold
- Lieutenant Governor Grandet – William Frederic
- Etienne Grandet, Son of Lieut. Governor – Edward Martindel
- Sir Harry Blake, An Irish Adventurer – Raymond Bloomer
- Simon O'hara, Capt. Dick's Servant – Harry Cooper
- Rudolfo, Keeper of Marionette Theatre – James S. Murray
- Florenze, Sec'y to Lieut. Governor – Howard Morgan
- Lizette, A Casquette Girl – Kate Elinore
- Adah, A Quadroon – Maria Duchêne
- The Voodoo Queen – Viola Ellis
- Nanette, Felice, Fanchon, Graziella and Franchesca – Louise Aichel, Blanche Lipton, Vera De Rosa, Sylvia Loti and Bessie Ricardo
- Marietta D'Altena – Emma Trentini
Recordings
A Capitol Records album starring Gordon MacRae was issued as part of a series of recordings based on MacRae's popular Railroad Hour program, which featured potted operettas and musicals. The first release was a 10-inch Lp, which was later reissued on one side of a 12-inch Lp with The Red Mill on the reverse. This version was issued on CD in 2008 along with selections from The Red Mill and Sweethearts.[5] A stereo recording was made by Reader's Digest for their 1963 album Treasury of Great Operettas. Each of the 18 operettas in the set is condensed to fill one Lp side. These selections were included on Digest's 1993 3-CD set, also called A Treasury of Great Operettas.
In 1981, the Smithsonian Collection released a 2-LP box set recording of the complete score. In 2001, Albany Records released a 2-CD set of the Ohio Light Opera production, which includes dialogue.[citation needed]
Cultural influence
Both the musical and its title song are lampooned by the song "Naughty, Naughty Nancy" in the 1959 musical Little Mary Sunshine. "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" is used as a recurring gag in the 1974 film Young Frankenstein.[citation needed] "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" and "I'm Falling in Love With Someone" are included in the score of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.[citation needed]
The musical is used as a way of torturing a captured rebel in the 1971
Notes
- ISBN 1-4039-7320-2, accessed April 25, 2010
- ^ O'Hara was a broad, Yiddish-accented ethnic stereotype. Producer Oscar Hammerstein I had the character toned down and renamed Silas Slick in the second year of the run. See Reside, Doug. "Musical of the Month: Naughty Marietta", New York Public Library, May 25, 2012
- ^ This version has not been issued on CD, but the title song is available in MP3 format for download. "Naughty Marietta", Amazon.com, accessed May 12, 2012
- ^ "Victor Herbert – Doretta Morrow, Felix Knight – Mademoiselle Modiste and Naughty Marietta", Discogs.com, accessed February 16, 2017
- ^ Recording of Naughty Marietta, The Red Mill and Sweethearts, Castalbums.org (2008)
References
- Information from the Guide to Musical Theatre
- Information from the Musicaltheatreguide website
- Synopsis and other information