The Merveilleuses

The Merveilleuses
Denise Orme as Illyrine and Robert Evett as Dorlis
Music	Hugo Felix
Lyrics	Adrian Ross
Book	Victorien Sardou, adapted by Basil Hood
Productions	1906 West End

The Merveilleuses is a musical play in three acts, with a book adapted from the French original of Victorien Sardou by Basil Hood, lyrics by Adrian Ross, and music by Hugo Felix. The main plot is a love story, concerning Dorlis, an emigré aristocrat who has just returned from enforced military service in Italy, and Illyrine, his ex-wife.

It opened at Daly's Theatre, London, under the management of George Edwardes, on 27 October 1906, with a cast that included Evie Greene, Denise Orme and Robert Evett in the leading roles, and ran for 196 performances.

The story is set in Revolutionary France in the closing years of the 18th century, during the period when the Directoire, led by Barras, held power. Fashionable Parisian society is led by the Incroyables, or dandies, and their feminine equivalents, the Merveilleuses. The latter have adopted classical robes as their form of dress and the succouring of distressed conspirators as their mission.

Illyrine, who had been led to believe that Dorlis had deserted her and had divorced him in consequence, has just been married to a second husband, St. Amour, the rich but low-bred secretary to Barras. Dorlis intrudes on the wedding party at the Café du Caveau and demands that Illyrine return to him. She explains what had happened and tells him that she still loves him.

After a visit to the stock market on the Perron at the Palais Royal, Dorlis, accompanied by his friend Lagorille, one of the Incroyables, goes to the wedding reception at St. Amour's Town House determined to kill St. Amour. However, the latter is warned by police agents, who have learned of the plot. Illyrine hides Dorlis in her private apartment, but St. Amour forces him to reveal his whereabouts by giving a false alarm of "Fire!", whereupon Dorlis and Lagorille are arrested.

At a fete given by Barras, Illyrine manages to persuade Barras to pardon Dorlis, with whom, after divorcing St. Amour, she is re-united. Meanwhile, the Merveilleuses, led by Lodoiska, succeed in freeing Lagorille, only to see him carried off by Pervenche.