''La bonne d'enfant'' (''The Nanny'') is an

opérette bouffe This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

, in one act by Jacques Offenbach to a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Eugène Bercioux Eugène Bercioux (1822–1898) was a 19th-century French playwright and poet. Works *1847: ''Les Arabesques'', poems, 1847 *1850: ''Nisus et Euryale'', one-act comédie en vaudeville, with Léon Battu *1852: ''Mam'sell'Rose'', one-act comédie ...

. It was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris on 14 October 1856. Offenbach's early operettas were small-scale one-act works, since the law in France limited musical theatre works (other than grand opera) to one-act pieces with no more than three singers and, perhaps, some mute character

In 1858, this law was changed, and Offenbach was able to offer full-length operettas, beginning with '' Orpheus in the Underworld''. The piece was seen in 1857 at the St James's Theatre in London, and in Vienna in 1862 with Tostée as Dorothée; it was subsequently produced there in Hungarian.Gänzl K. ''The Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 1994.

Roles

Synopsis

Dorothée is tired of being a nanny and wants to marry to become the mistress of her own house. She has two suitors: Mitouflard, the fireman and Gargaillou, the chimneysweep. During an evening when her employers are out of the house, both gentlemen try to convince her to marry them, which leads to a number of comic situations. She ends up deciding to marry 'Brin d'Amour', the trumpeter of the Royal Dragoons, but tells her suitors that she will invite them to her wedding.

References

;Notes

External links

The libretto in French as submitted to the French Censors before the premièreInformation about the première date and location
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonne d'enfant Operas by Jacques Offenbach French-language operas Operas One-act operas Opérettes 1856 operas