Curtain Raisers Tickets

About Curtain Raisers

Cox and Box was Sullivan’s first stage success, and predates his collaboration with Gilbert. It tells the farcical tale of an unscrupulous landlord who rents out the same room to two tenants – Cox, who works by day, and Box who works by night. The ruse works until one day, Cox is given the day off and they meet much to the horror of the landlord, Sergeant Bouncer. This little short operetta was a huge hit and its title has now passed into common parlance. Les Deux Aveugles, the story of two separate con-men who are both pretending to be blind beggars and arrive one day at the same patch on a Parisian bridge, was similarly Offenbach’s first major success. Although it only lasts 25 minutes, it made the composer enough money to build his first theatre, the Bouffes Parisiens. The two operettas are performed in one sitting.