Mlle Lucile

Identified on the reverse of the mount as 'Lucile' of the 'Bouffes-Parisiens', this is probably Lucile Tostée, who later enjoyed much success and popularity in America.

She became one of Offenbach's principal interpreters at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens at a young age. She headed a troupe exported from Paris under the management of H. L. Bateman to play French opéra-bouffe at New York's Théâtre Français. On 24 September 1867 she opened as Offenbach's Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and took the town by storm, launching the craze for opéra-bouffe which swept the country over the following years.

[Biographical details taken from Kürt Ganzl's Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre.]

Photographed by Pierre Petit of Paris.