Erminie

Erminie is a comic opera in two acts composed by Edward Jakobowski with a libretto by Claxson Bellamy and Harry Paulton, based loosely on Charles Selby's 1834 English translation of the French melodrama, Robert Macaire.

A long-running production opened on Broadway in 1886, and the opera enjoyed unusual international success that endured into the twentieth century.

It transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London, then under the management of Violet Melnotte, opening on 9 November 1885 and playing for a total original run of 154 performances.

Erminie enjoyed many UK, US and foreign productions and was revived on Broadway in 1893, 1899, 1903 and in 1921 with Wilson and Hopper again assuming their 1886 roles.

[6] Erminie was performed as a staged concert production in July 2008 by the Lyric Theatre of San Jose in Mountain View, California.

On his way to the betrothal ceremony, Ernest runs into a pair of crafty "philanthropists" (thieves), Ravennes and Cadeau, who steal his money and wardrobe and tie him to a tree.

At the Chateau Pontvert that evening, Ravennes, still disguised as Ernest, pretends sympathy for Erminie's love for Eugene.