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 According to the original Greek legend, Orpheus
was the greatest of all musicians, and his Mother - Calliope - the greatest
poet. Orpheus derived his inspiration from his beautiful wife, Eurydice,
whom he loved to distraction. Unfortunately, the rural God Aristaeus also
loved Eurydice, and one day he pursued her into the woods where she trod on
a snake, was bitten, and died. Heartbroken, Orpheus descended into Hell to
beg the Gods of the Underworld for her return. They were so moved by his
playing that they agreed, provided that Orpheus did not look back until he
was once more on earth. The temptation to see if Eurydice was following was
too great, and he glanced back and lost her for ever.
Offenbach's version however, requires
that the audience completely forget the original story! Orpheus is indeed a
musician - of sorts. He is bored with his wife, who in turn detests his
preoccupation with music. She prefers a gayer life and is attracted to a
shepherd - Aristaeus - who is in fact Pluto, God of the Underworld, in
disguise. Eurydice decides to run away with Pluto, who promptly “ stings ”
her and she dies. Pluto carries her off to Hades. Orpheus reads Eurydice’s
farewell letter to him with some relief, but his mother, Calliope, is not
so easily deprived of her daughter-in-law and decides to fly by balloon to
Mount Olympus to appeal to the Gods to return Eurydice immediately.
Orpheus, oh so reluctantly, accompanies her.
Meanwhile, on Mount Olympus, the
Gods - ruled by Jupiter - relieve their boredom by listening to the gossip
brought daily from Earth by Mercury. They are particularly amused by the
story of Pluto’s affair with Eurydice, when they arc interrupted by the arrival
of Calliope and Orpheus. Jupiter is angered by Pluto’s actions. Whilst he
feels it is quite in order to have an affair .with a mortal (he often does
it himself), to carry her off to Hades is against the rules! He summons
Pluto to answer the charge, which, of course, Pluto denies. But Jupiter is
so intrigued by the description of Eurydice that he decides to descend to
Hades to see for himself. This is such a good excuse for all the rest of
the Gods to do something exciting that they prevail upon Jupiter to take
them with him. So, to keep the peace, he agrees to a day-trip for them all
to Hades.
Eurydice is not too happy about
being left alone in Hades under the surveillance of Styx - a complete fool
on Earth and now charged with prison duties - and is becoming very bored.
All the Gods arrive to find that Pluto has hidden Eurydice away, but Jupiter
gains access to her cell by turning himself into a fly. He is entranced by
her beauty and decides to keep her for himself, but Pluto has other ideas,
and then there is her rightful husband to be considered. At length they
decide to let her go back to Earth with her husband, provided, of course,
he does not look back to see if Eurydice is following. Jupiter has still a
trick up his sleeve, but in the end Orpheus and Eurydice live happily ever
after - but with whom?
In the News…
In its “The Critics” Column, the Livepool Post
reviews the first night of ORPHEUS IN
THE UNDERWORLD, as staged by Martins Operatic Society…
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Image and Text © Reach PLC and Find my Past created courtesy of
THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. Image and Text reproduced
with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive
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{Thoughts of the Budget were far
away from the players and the audience at the Neptune Theatre last night
when Martins Operatic Society had fun with the Gods in Offenbach's operetta
Orpheus in the Underworld.
This updated version of the Greek
legend contains some of Offenbach's most tuneful music and has more comedy
than other popular operettas particularly when some modern touches are
introduced, as was the case in Kenneth Jones’s production.
The cast was one of the strongest
this society has assembled, notably Pat Barrow (Eurydice) and Brian Cleary,
a delightful Orpheus. John Bowen made a commanding Jupiter, with Roy Harvey
not too sinister as Pluto.
There was not a weak link in the
many supporting roles, and other features in a refreshing show were the
ballet sequences by the Wallasey Ballet School girls and the magnificent
costumes.}
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