One is the delightful French comedy, Adolphe Adam's 1836 Le Postillon de Longjumeau, long overdue for revival. In Act I, Chapelou, a postillon (coachman) has just married his sweetheart, Madeleine. He entertains the wedding guests by singing the high-flying "Oh, qu’il était beau, le postillon de Longjumeau." - "Oh, how handsome he is, is Longjumeau's coachman." Handsome is as handsome does: his voice and looks impress the Marquis de Corcy, who is director of the opera (in the Paris of Louis XV). The young tenor is offered a dream-come-true contract...that compels him to leave immediately to begin his new job, without so much as a wedding night.
Ten years pass, Madeline is now known as Madame de Latour, rich from an inheritance...and still Chapelou has not returned to her! In fact, in his absence, she has attracted the lecherous attention of none other than his employer, de Corcy...who offhandedly informs her that his leading tenor claims to be a widower. Infuriated, Madeleine vows revenge upon her wayward husband. Now called by the stage name of Saint-Phar, Chapelou is not a Lothario, just happily wrapped up in the petty intrigues of backstage life. The chorus is on the verge of mutiny, exhausted from constant engagement o ftheir services, and Chapelou fully sympathizes: "En vérité, c’est impossible! Chaque jour chanter l’opéra..." - "Truly, it is impossible to sing opera every day." He encourages everyone to feign laryngitis...himself included. The news that they are rehearsing in the home of Madame de Latour, however, effects a full and sudden recovery of his vocal resources, for he is in love with her, never guessing that she is already his wife. She meanwhile sets out to make a fool of him by acting seductively toward him. A mock wedding ceremony is quickly arranged, to be performed by Chapelou's old friend, Biju, who ten years ago came along to Paris to become a chorister (affording this secondary character a splendid aria about the versatility of such performers). Rather than impersonating one, Biju fetches a genuine priest instead! Act III concerns the question of whether Chapelou has just committed bigamy -- there is a hilarious scene in which, in another room, by alternating voices, Madame de Latour is heard having a noisy catfight with Madeleine, who has presumably just arrived in Paris to catch up with her unfaithful husband! All is resolved peacefully and we are led to believe that, now that Madeleine is a rich woman, our handsome postillon need not earn his living at the opera house or anywhere else...he's going to stay right by her side, out of any more temptation.
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