As a very young man, Offenbach arrived in Paris from a small town in Germany and promptly fell in love with the city -- a love affair that lasted a lifetime
and culminated in this magnificent, mischievous, joyful paean to his adopted city. He was but one of the thousands of visitors that pour into Paris each day from all parts of the world to view the splendors of the city of light, to seek adventure, excitement and thrills, and get a brief, succulent taste of La Vie Parisienne.
On this particular day. They come bursting in, among them a rather stuffy Swedish baron and his far from stuffy wife.
They arrive from their land of frozen winter to the city of gaiety and glitter, and immediately find themselves unwittingly
caught up in its irresistible swirl. It so happens that a young Parisian man about town, with enough time and money on his
hands to enable him to devote himself exclusively to his favorite pastime, the pursuit of romance, has caught a glimpse of the
beautiful baroness. In order to get better acquainted, he hits upon the madcap scheme of passing himself off as a guide,
ready and eager to show them the wonders of the town while pursuing his real objective, to keep the baron busy so that he
can concentrate on the baroness. To carry out the plan, he enlists the services of the glamorous actress Metella, a true-born Parisienne,
clearly a lady who's been around, happy to introduce a visitor from abroad to the seductive lure of the Left Bank,
where youth in full frenzy rides over the top, and where life begins at midnight.
You, too, can take a giddy ride on this merry-go-round of pleasure and delirium, sparked by Offenbach's wickedly intoxicating
melodies. Just another day in the life of Paris...
Pocket Opera | 469 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 | 415-972-8930
