Madame Favart

Madame Favart is an opéra comique, or operetta, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot.

After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870) ended Napoleon II's reign, Offenbach's popularity declined in Paris, and he toured Britain and the United States. He continued producing new operettas in Paris, but most of the decade would pass before he enjoyed another hit.

Madame Favart was first staged at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques in Paris on 28 December 1878, starring Juliette Simon-Girard in the title role and Simon-Max as Hector de Boispréau; it played for about 200 performances. A new production was mounted at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens on 4 March 1884, then at the Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs in 1888 with Anna Judic in the title role. Other productions in Paris include 1911 at the Théâtre Apollo and at the same theatre in 1913.

It was mounted in a version by Julius Hopp at the Theater an der Wien with Marie Geistinger on 7 February 1879, and later the same year in Leipzig and Berlin.

The work was very popular in the 19th century, not only in France.

An English version, adapted by H. B. Farnie, opened at the Strand Theatre in London on 12 April 1879 starring Florence St. John in the title role, Claude Marius (1850–1896) as Favart, and Walter H. Fisher, then Henry Bracy (1846–1917) as Hector. The production famously ran for 502 performances, which was extraordinarily successful for the time.

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