With the hurriedly written libretto of Entrez, messieurs, mesdames, a one-act work marking the opening of the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1855, Ludovic Halévy launched a twenty-six-year Parisian theatrical career that brought him prosperity, a name beloved by the Second Empire bourgeoisie, and entry into the prestigious Académie Française in 1884. The longevity and success of Halévy's career as playwright and librettist were built on collaboration, the essence of theatrical creation, and his dramatic contributions cannot be disassociated from the composer Jacques Offenbach, with whom he wrote Entrez as well as more than twenty opérettes and opéras bouffes in the course of his career, and from Henri Meilhac, his colibrettist in ten Offenbach works and cowriter of nearly forty comédies for the nonlyric stage. With Offenbach and Meilhac, Halévy became a key figure in the theater of the Second Empire through their rollicking mockery and satire of French institutions, traditions, and social mores.
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