I'm stuck.
These three photos came up on ebay this week ...
Vienna. Clearly an operetta/opéra-bouffe/comic opera ... but WHICH operetta ...
Photos 125, 126 and 131 ... so where and what are 127, 128, 129 and 130?
Adolf Ost was at Strauchgasse No1 in the 1860s and early 1870s ...
What show featuring Chinese and maybe-European characters fits the bill? And has an oriental komische Alte? The only one I can think of is Le Cheval de Bronze ... but it wasn't in Vienna in the 'sixties. Just in Munich ..... My brain is dry ... I'm stumped ...
I'm sure this set of photos must be in the Vienna Theatermuseum ... hopefully identified ... but maybe someone knows?
Post scriptum. We went looking among Bruno of Photo Discoveries' stock, in search of the missing numbers. Not yet, BUT we found another, rather earlier Chinaman!
Paris. 1859. Jean-François Kalikaire player and deputy régisseur at the Palais-Royal, dedicated to his pal 'Lassouche' (who would go on to long and considerable fame). Kalikaire played Le Pacha in a 1 act revue En avant les chinois! Look at that cast! Hyacinthe, Pradeau, Brasseur, Gil-Pérès, Luguet, Marie Cico, Schneider, Félicie Thierret, Irma ....! Authors Labiche and Delecour ...
Mind you, it don't seem terribly chinois! They don't have pachas in China do they? But the list of characters holds promise of an hilarious finale piece! It must have been enormous fun. Sigh. The theatre in those days was a 90% different thing to that which it is in the benighted 21st century. Ah, well. I guess that's why I'm an historian.
Who is this? Aaaaaah! 1863? Mlle Marie ..
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