The Island of Tulipatan

Jacques Offenbach’s mini opéra bouffe L’île de Tulipatan was premiered in September 1868 in Paris and was wildly successful. The hilarious plot, set on a South Seas island, involves cross-dressing and gender confusions, and features a tuneful score. It traveled to Germany and Austria the year following its premier and to the U.K. three seasons later. This charming operetta was recorded live at Radio France in the late 1950s and again in the 1980s, both French-language. The present English translation by Gregg Opelka and Jack Helbig was created in 2003. This recording, from the Light Opera of New York’s Spring 2017 live New York City production, is the first for the work in English. The entire Offenbach score is heard with Opelka’s lyrics, along with a slightly-truncated version of Helbig’s snappy spoken dialogue.