Photo from the original production

Prince Ananias was the first operetta composed by Victor Herbert. The libretto is by Francis Neilson. It was first produced by a troupe called "The Bostonians" at The Broadway Theatre on November 20, 1894, directed by Jerome Sykes.[1] It remained in their repertoire for three seasons and was given more than 300 performances in all. A modest success at first, it did well on tour.[2]

Synopsis

Arriving at the court of King Boniface, a touring troupe of players finds that the king has lost his ability to laugh. They are tasked with finding his sense of humor; the penalty for failure is death. They produce a work, Prince Ananias, that is not well-received, except that the title character is so inept that the king bursts out laughing. Thus, the players have a happy ending, as do the several pairs of lovers who overcome various romantic and backstage complications.

Roles and original cast

  • Boniface, King of Navarre – George Frothingham
  • Cerdic, Duc d'Angers – William Castleman
  • Killjoy, Chamberlain to the King – Peter Lang
  • Louis Biron, a vagabond poet and adventurer – W. H. MacDonald
  • George Le Grabbe, an outlaw – Eugene Cowles
  • La Fontaine, manager of a band of strolling players – H. C. Barnabee
  • Eugene, an obscured [sic] dramatist – Joseph Sheehan
  • Jacques, an innkeeper – James E. Miller
  • Ivon, a villager – J. R. Boyle
  • Felicie, Countess of Pyrennes, sister to Killjoy – Josephine Barlett
  • Mirabel, daughter to Killjoy – Mena Cleary
  • Ninette, a village belle – Eloise Morgan
  • Idalia, La Fontaine's leading lady – Jessie Bartlett Davis

Musical numbers

Act I
  • No. 1 - Chorus - "The glorious robe of Autumn spread o'er hillside and a thousand dales; with tints of gold and flaming red..."
  • No. 2 - George - "Under an oak one fine June morn, unostentatiously was born a babe, ordained for fickle fate to play with far from lightly..."
  • No. 3 - Louis - "Ninette has taken heart..." & "For all you people know, I might be the heir apparent on a diplomatic mission..."
  • No. 4 - Ninette and Louis - "It needs no poet, gentle maid, to eulogise your charms ... The compliments, my lord, you've paid fill me with strange alarms..."
  • No. 5a - Chorus of Players - "La Fontaine! La Fontaine! La Fontaine!" etc... "Hey! the jolly fellow, oh, his fun is mellow; here he comes with sunny smile..."
  • No. 5b - La Fontaine and Chorus - "An author manager am I of a company artistic. Some say the apple of my eye is the ultra realistic..."
  • No. 6 - Ninette and La Fontaine - "When a maid applies for a part in a company such as mine, and has no particular line, I always consider my Art..."
  • No. 7 - Idalia - "Far o'er the mountains that cleave the blue skies lies the fair hamlet of Fancy. There dwell the maidens with flashing black eyes..."
  • No. 8 - Louis, George and Chorus - "When I was born I weighed ten stone ... 'Tis true, I held the scale ... So large was I in head and bone..."
  • No. 9 - Idalia and Louis - "I am no queen, no sway hold I, no palace waits for me. The verdant fields, the sun, the sky, and love, if love needs be..."
  • No. 10 - Finale Act I - "Farewell! provincial towns, farewell! No more you'll see this company, the weary one-night stand farewell! ..."
Act II
  • No. 11a - Introduction
  • No. 12 - Eugene - "Come, Venus and Hebe, adorn my bark and float with me. Euterpe, thy lute bring, and bid the sirens to me sing..."
  • No. 13 - Eugene, La Fontaine and Chorus - "I thought it very easy to sit down and write a play. The sitting down was simple that I practis'd ev'ry day..."
  • No. 14 - Ninette, Idalia, Eugene, Louis, George and Chorus - "Ah! list to me, I sing of love, I sing of love, my love for thee which I shall prove..."
  • No. 15 - George - "A bandit bold lived like a king, 'way in a forest deep; of pining love none dared to sing, from care his heart to keep..."
  • No. 16 - Lord Chamberlain, La Fontaine, Louis and George - "Now Herodotus omits in his history to state that varieties were quite the thing in Athens..."
  • No. 17 - Ninette and Court Ladies - "Titled widows all are we, each a brand new divorcée; nothing for us but the stage..."
  • No. 18 - Eugene, Lord Chamberlain, La Fontaine, Louis and George - "A strange remark ... the day is dark ... when skies are blue and clear..."
  • No. 19a - Entrance of the King - "All hail our smileless King! Dejected monarch sad, to whom all woes doth cling, a laugh he never had..."
  • No. 19b - King and Chorus - "A regal sadness sits on me ... Sits on him! Sits on him! ... Also a sombre gloom..."
  • No. 20 - Idalia - "A ray of golden sunlight fell across my life when you passed by. I felt my heart with rapture swell..."
  • No. 21 - Louis and Chorus - "My royal dad had reached the age of forty years and five ... when his physician did engage to keep his King alive..."
  • No. 22 - Finale Act II - "One equalled him... He's dead and gone... What, two? Absurd! ... Oh no, just one... Rely on him implicitly, he detests prevarication..."

Notes

  1. ↑ "Prince Ananias Produced", The New York Times, November 21, 1894, p. 2.
  2. ↑ Gould, pp. 266 and 269

References

  • Gould, Neil. "Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life", Fordham University Press, 2009, ISBN 0823228738
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