THE GAY PARISIENNE A musical comedy in 2 acts by George Dance and Ivan Caryll. Music by Ernest Vousden and revised by Ivan Caryll. Theatre Royal, Northampton, 1894 and then toured. Duke of York's Theatre, London - April 4th, 1896 - 28th March, 1897 (369 perfs). Herald Square Theatre, New York, under the title "The Girl from Paris" SYNOPSIS Mlle. Julie Bon-Bon, the Gay Parisienne, has tricked the well-and-truly married Canon Honeycombe into signing a proposition of marriage, and she now arrives at his country parsonage to sue him for breach of promise. By this means she and her accomplice/lover, Adolphe Pompier, intend to stock their bottom drawer at the unworldly Canon's cost. But, in his hasty (and innocent) original encounter with Mlle. Bon-bon, Honeycombe has given her the wrong visiting card, and Julie has summonsed his neighbour, Amos Dingle. Dingle once had his life saved by the good Canon and so agrees to take his place in an undefended case for the sake of peace, in spite of the anathema heaped on him by the statuesque Mrs. Honeycombe, who lends her encouragement to her daughter's lover who has been briefed for the prosecution. Julie arrives and proceeds to bewitch old Major Fossdyke, chairman of the jury, and not unexpectedly wins ten thousand pounds in damages. The distraught Canon confesses all, and flees to a European spa town where he fakes a report of his death in a mountain accident. But everyone concerned descends on the spa where Honeycombe is hiding disguised as a Scot, and after a good deal of coming and going, the truth is revealed when Norah Honeycombe's Tom turns the tables on Pompier by blackmailing him over his occupation as a professional spy. Julie gives up her charade, and all is allowed to end happily. MUSICAL NUMBERS Overture ACT I - Honeycomb's Lawn, Kingston-on-Thames. 1. Opening Chorus - "Hi! for the Thames on a summer's day, Ho! for the merry throng; and Hi! for the dresses bright and gay, Ho! for the boating song..." 2. Song - Honeycomb and Chorus - "The object of our clothing is to cover and conceal the loveliness which nature has endow'd..." 3. Duet - Tom and Norah - "One peaceful eve in summertime, within a garden fair, a maiden heard the midnight chime, but still she linger'd there..." 4. Song - Major Fossdyke and Chorus - "I'm proud to say that I am one of the Battersea Butterfly Shooters; as volunteers we take the bun..." 5. Duet - Julie Bon-bon and Pompier - "I'm all the way from gay Paree, Mam'zelle Julie Bon-bon ... and I am Monsieur Pompier, un petit garçon..." 6. Concerted Piece - Tom, Norah, Mr & Mrs Honeycomb, Pompier, Julie and Major - "And now to the court we quick must go, and may we win the day..." 7. Duet and Dance - Honeycomb and Julie Bon-bon - "Whene'er a maiden falls in love, ought she not to confess? ... 'Twould be unwise to say it..." 8. Quartet - Julie Bon-bon, Pompier and Mr. & Mrs. Honeycomb - "Cock-a-doodle, Cock-a-doodle, Cocka-doodle-do! Julie Bon-bon wins her case..." 9. Finale Act I - "Hail the hero of the day! Hail him with hip, hip, hooray! Hail the bright and rising star!
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