Irma la Douce
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Irma la Douce |
| Original title: | Irma la Douce |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Marguerite Monnot |
| Book: | Alexandre Brefford |
| Lyrics: | Alexandre Brefford |
| Premiere: | November 10, 1956 |
| Place of premiere: | Théatre Gramont in Paris |
| Place and time of the action: | Paris in the 1950s |
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Irma la Douce is a French musical in two acts. The music is by Marguerite Monnot , the book and the lyrics are by Alexandre Breffort . The world premiere took place on November 10, 1956 at the Théatre Gramont in Paris.
The first French musical made it to London and then to Broadway. The first performance in London's West End was on July 17, 1958 at the Saville Theater and on Broadway on September 29, 1960 at the Plymouth Theater.
The musical was nominated seven times for the Tony Award in 1961 (including "Best Musical" and "Best Music") and won one ( Elizabeth Seal for "Best Musical Actress").
The German-language premiere took place on January 24, 1961 in the Baden-Baden Theater.
action
The musical is set in the Parisian entertainment district near the now demolished market halls in the 1950s .
The protagonist is the joy girl Irma, who is called "la Douce" ( the sweet one ) by her numerous admirers . When one day the destitute law student Nestor lost his way in the entertainment district and met Irma, he fell in love with her immediately. In a scuffle, he succeeds in eliminating Irma's pimp, Hippolyte, and now takes his position himself. When Irma hands him the money he has earned after work and talks about her customers, he becomes jealous. He decides to play Irma's suitor himself without being recognized and to give her so much that she no longer has to rely on other customers. The plan also seems to work: every day he dresses up as a rich elderly man named Oscar and visits Irma. However, he does not want the her what others want, but is content with stimulating conversation. At first, the 1000 franc bill does its rounds: Irma pays Nestor, who sends her the bill as an Oscar, Nestor receives the bill again from Irma, etc.
When the money runs out anyway, because Irma and Nestor also have to make a living from the income, Nestor works extremely hard every night. Irma is getting more and more proud that she has such a rich suitor alone , who also wants hardly anything from her. She begins to show off her beau. As a result, however, she only arouses jealousy in Nestor - of herself! He regards the wealthy Oscar as a rival and is determined to make him disappear from the scene. To make matters worse, he also curses him publicly.
As if in a madness, Nestor bundles his Oscar disguise into a ball and throws it into the Seine. When Irma's rich admirer fails to appear on the following days, Nestor is suspected of murdering him. He is arrested and sentenced. When he was deported to Cayenne, the Devil's Island, he managed to escape. When the news reaches him that Irma is pregnant by him, he revives his alter ego, returns to Paris and shows himself there as Oscar. With this his innocence is proven and nothing stands in the way of the wedding with Irma.
Well-known music numbers
- Valse milieu
- Our Language of Love
- Dis-donc, Dis-donc
- The Wreck of a Mec
- Irma La Douce
- There Is Only One Paris for That
filming
Billy Wilder filmed the piece as a non-musical in 1963, but used the music of Marguerite Monnot for the film. The German title is Das Mädchen Irma la Douce .
Web links
- Irma la Douce in the Internet Broadway Data Base
- Irma la Douce in the Guide to Musical Theater