About the work
Mam'zelle Nitouche is a vaudeville-operetta in three acts by Hervé with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Albert Millaud. It premiered on 26 January 1883 at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris.
Plot
The convent organist Célestin secretly composes operetta music by night under the pseudonym Floridor. When a convent schoolgirl and a young actress become entangled in his double life, farcical mix-ups unfold between convent, barracks and theatre before all the couples are sorted out in the end.
Cultural significance
The plot draws on Hervé's own life: by day he was organist at the Paris church of Saint-Eustache, and by night he wrote operetta music under a pseudonym. The work ran for 212 consecutive performances, was translated into numerous languages, and remained popular well into the 20th century, including through film versions starring Fernandel, especially in Russia and Italy.