WFCC

Classical Fact

In 1855, the renowned cellist, Jacques Offenbach opened a little theater in the Champs-Elysees. The theater was struggling financially, and nearly closed, when Offenbach, in an effort to raise some much-needed money, staged a riotous musical satire based on the exploits of the characters of an ancient legend. At first, ticket sales for Orpheus in the Underworld were slow until the review of critic Jules Janin called the production "a profanation of holy and glorious antiquity in a spirit of irreverence that bordered on blasphemy," That was all Parisians needed to hear. The production was sold-out for the next 227 consecutive performances and only closed because the cast was exhausted. Offenbach's operetta, with its gods dancing a cancan and thinly veiled caricatures of contemporary political and cultural figures, made Offenbach a very wealthy man.