Despite his great popularity with the Parisian public during the 1870s and early 1880s, Lecocq had not been invited to compose for the prestigious Opéra-Comique.
Trots sin stora popularitet hos Parispubliken under 1870- och det tidiga 1880-talet hade Lecocq inte blivit erbjuden att komponera för den berömda operascenen Opéra-Comique.