Erminie

Erminie is a comic opera in two acts composed by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton (1842-1917), with music by Edward Jakobowski.

The original text

Based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 English translation of the French melodrama, Robert Macaire, it was first performed in Birmingham and the Royal Comedy Theatre, London, in 1885, and at the Casino Theatre, New York in 1886. Became an international success right into the twentieth century.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1890: Performed as Pepita in the Exhibition Theatre, Cape Town in January by an opera company managed and directed by Edgar Perkins. The company included R.S. Gregg, E. le Hay, Dennis Coyne, Frank Wheeler, Harry Miller, Ada Bemister, Carrie Nelson, Harriet Wood, and Ella Bankhardt. Musical direction was by James Hyde.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erminie

https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2287640

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 389-390,

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