Note: Most people familiar with the heroine Gigi first met her in the 1958 film. The stage version discussed here is a 1973 revision of this work. While the film was largely shot in Paris and the city is almost an additional character, this can only be hinted at on the stage. While the basic plots are the same, the loss of sweeping vistas and rapid change of scenery of the film can only be hinted at on the stage. This necessitated a number changes in the book for the new stage version. Some songs were dropped and a number of new ones added. These changes are indicated in the synopsis below but, for a fuller discussion, see Notes, The Songs, Lerner and Loewe and Novella, Film and Stage.

ACT I
As the Overture nears its end, four young girls are dancing observed by Honoré Lachaille. He turns, greets the audience and tells us it is the birthday of one of the girls, Gigi. When a lighted cake appears, she runs to it and blows out the candles.

Scene 1: Dim lights come on, and we are in a Paris park, the Bois de Boulogne, in front of the Pre Catelan restaurant. Honoré introduces himself and tells us his Grandfather built the largest sugar refinery in France. Honoré himself never married. He prefers to play the field. Then he sings one of the signature songs Thank heaven for little girls. As the song ends, his nephew, Gaston, enters with his mistress of the moment, Liane D'Exelmans, Causing a flurry among the crowd, and Liane leaves him momentarily to greet her many friends. Liane has to leave immediately; she is late for her ice-skating lesson. Honoré is surprised that Gaston, who finds her boring, does not seem to mind that she has lessons almost every day. He thinks everything in life is boring: Paris, his parents, agriculture, etc. etc. (It's a bore). He leaves to visit Madame Alvarez's, the one place he can relax. From Honoré's reaction to hearing her name, it seems he must have had some history with this lady himself.

Scene 2: Mamita's apartment. Mamita goes to the door of the room of Gigi's mother, Lucille, and knocks. It's 3 p.m. and time for her to get up! Gigi appears and asks Mamita who her father was; the girls at school have been asking her about him. Her grandmother puts her off and tells her she must not be late in going to see her Aunt Alicia who will complete her education. From now on she is to go there every Tuesday and Thursday and learn things she can not learn at school. This bothers Gigi; Aunt Alicia will teach her to be just like just like Aunt Alicia, and she does not want that. The sound of her mother singing is heard from offstage. Mamita asks if she then prefers to be like her mother and slave at the Opéra Comique all her life.

When Gaston rings the bell, Gigi runs to open the door and greets him warmly. He gives her a birthday present, a brand new pack of cards, unmarked this time! She pretends to be shocked that he would think she cheats and then asks how Madame D'Exelmans is; she has read in the newspaper that things were chilly between them; she wonders if he has already chosen his new mistress. Again she is put off. Mamita comes in, and Gigi goes to her room to get ready to go to Aunt Alicia's. Gaston doesn't want the girl to learn the 'social graces'; he likes her the was she is. When Mamita asks how Liane is, Gaston tells her she is learning to ice skate. With Sandomir? Mamita asks, and she implies he will teach her things other than ide-skating. When Gaston asks for her phone she tells him she won't have one until Gigi is old enough to have admirers. He then inquires about her Alicia and is told she never goes out, preferring "to live in a splendid past than an ugly present". (She had had many royal lovers.) Gigi comes in from her room, ready to leave and. outside, she sings "The earth and other minor things".

Scene 3: Aunt Alicia's apartment. Gigi races in, start to plop into a chair, and Aunt Alicia turns this into a lesson on the proper way for a lady to sit. She then asks the girl about her school work and her Aunt Alicia concurs; Gigi should not associate with ordinary people, especially those who marry! People like themselves do not marry, at least not until they are much older. It is time for a jewelry lesson the crux of which is that Gigi should never wear anything but the best. The next lesson will be on cigars. The dinner bell sounds and it is time to learn to eat ortolons.

Scene 4: Evening, the restaurant at the Eiffel Tower. Honoré sings Paris is Paris Again. He is hosting a dinner for 'a few friends' to celebrate that he is not having a birthday tonight. He is with Jacqueline whom he is planning to seduce. Gaston and Liana are together at their table, but she is waving to everyone and blowing kisses to them rather than paying attention to Gaston. A fiddle player approaches their table and asks what he should play, and the annoyed Gaston responds "The 1812 Overture". When a man asks Liane for a dance Gaston sings "She is not thinking of me". He fumes as she dances by with a series of different men and, when she finally returns to the table, he "accidentally" spills champagne on her.

Scene 5: This is a split scene, the action switching back and forth. We see part of Alicia's apartment where she is talking to someone on her telephone, held for her by the butler Charles, while Gigi stands nearby. On the other side of the stage is Honoré's dressing room with a barber chair and a sink. Honoré is about to have his hair trimmed by his man, Manuel, and prepares to read the newspaper. He is telling Manuel about the events at the Eiffel tower the previous night. (While Alicia and Honoré are in different places, their dialogues, ostensibly with those in their own scene are made to seem as though Alicia and Honoré are talking to each other.) It seems Gaston had used a whole bottle of champagne on Liane, and Alicia thinks half a glass would have been enough.

As the lights go down on Alicia, Gaston enters Honoré's dressing room, still complaining about his mistress's behavior. He has hired detectives to follow her, and they have reported that Liane and the skating instructor are together at the Inn at Honfleur. His uncle comforts him: that sort of thing happened to many famous people including Victor Hugo and Napoleon, and even to himself! Honoré and Manuel recall some of his experiences. Gaston pretends he is happy to be free but, when he asks what they should do today for amusement, Honoré tells him he must go to Honfleur immediately! Manuel agrees. Gaston says he never wants to see Liane again, but he must act as a man!

The lights die on them and come up on Alicia and Gigi. It is some time later, and Gigi is having a dancing lesson from an Italian instructor. Alicia finishes her phone conversation and instructs Charles to hang up the phone. Gigi asks what has happened and is told Liane has just committed suicide for the fifth time, but she should go on with her lesson. When Gigi wants to know more, Alicia tells her the 'suicide' was in the usual way, with insufficient poison. She wanted to get Gaston's sympathy, but that ploy only works if she dies.

The lights come up on Honoré again; he is telling Manuel about the 'suicide'. Although Gaston has broken with a number of women, this is his first suicide! He had caught Liane and the skating instructor together in Honfleur and threw her over. Gaston enters and is congratulated by both his uncle and Manuel, his first suicide and at such a young age! However, the young man is oddly depressed and has decided to leave Paris. No, he is told. For the next few weeks he must remain in Paris and go out every night, each time with a different girl.

The lights go up again on Alicia's. Gigi's dancing is hopeless and Alicia dances with the instructor to show her how it is done. As they leave the stage, couples dance on-stage with each girl being delivered to Gaston who then ushers her offstage.

Scene 6: We are now in Mamita's apartment. Gigi, reading a newspaper, tells her grandmother Gaston has a new love, the fourteenth in three weeks; she wonders how long this one will last. Gaston, on entering, overhears her and announces that it is already over. Exhausted, he drops into a chair and gives Gigi a box of caramels. He gives Mamita a bottle of champagne and tells her the last weeks have been terrible, party after party, one beautiful girl after another, but he has to do it — all Paris is watching, the whole world is watching!

Gaston deals the cards, but Gigi has managed to keep two to herself. She says her grandmother doesn't like her to play cards; it isn't feminine. When asked what is feminine the girl supposes jewelry and cigars must be. Gaston announces he is going to Trouville for the weekend, and is giving a small farewell party this evening for three hundred at the Eiffel tower. Then he sniffs the air; Mamita is making a casserole for supper, and he regrets that he has to eat a fancy gourmet dinner which can't compare with her cooking. Gigi begs him to stay with them; he insists he can't, sniffs again, and succumbs. Asking Mamita for her telephone, he is told she still does not have one. He decides it doesn't matter — no one will miss him (at his own party!); Honoré can play the host. He and Gigi start to play and, when she says she has never seen the ocean, he promises, if she wins, to take her and her grandmother to Trouville. Happily the girl asks for some champagne. Mamita says no, but Gaston surreptitiously slides his glass near Gigi. She drains it, wins at the game, and he agrees she shall go to Trouville. He is looking forward to it. Excitedly she pelts him with questions, all join in on "The Night They Invented Champagne" as they joyfully dance around.

There is a brief interlude. En route to Trouville Gigi, Mamita and Gaston reprise The Night They Invented Champagne and are joined by two porters carrying suitcases.

Scene 7: The lobby of the Grand Hotel in Trouville. Gigi joyfully gets her first glimpse of the ocean and all three go off. As The Night They Invented Champagne continues softly, there is a stream of guests with suitcases and porters. Honoré, with Manuel in attendance, enters with a newspaper. He is there for a rest, but also for a woman, a certain married woman who is in the lobby with her husband. He slips Manuel a note to give to her and, sitting in a chair, holds his newspaper so that his face cannot be seen.

Five porters, laden with luggage, appear followed by Charles and Alicia! She tells the receptionist that she will take all her meals in her room; she is here for the cure. On demanding her usual suite of rooms on the second floor, she is told she will have to go to the third floor; the second floor suite has been reserved for some Russian royalty! Defiantly she says the Russians can go to the third floor and orders Charles to take her things to the second. As they are about to go, Mamita comes in. The sisters greet each other in astonishment and exchange news on Gaston's affairs. Honoré hears them, lowers his paper and is surprised to see Mamita. She does not see him, and the two women leave to go upstairs.

Gigi runs on dressed for the beach followed by Gaston with a beach ball. When he sees Honoré there is another another surprise meeting! Honoré says Gaston didn't tell him he was coming to Trouville at the party last night and learns for the first time that Gaston wasn't even at his own party! Manuel enters with a note for Honoré who reads it with a smile. When Mamita enters and sits down, he approaches her, and they reminisce about their former time together. (Ah, Yes, I Remember It Well.) She is surprised to learn that he was so in love with her that he had almost forgotten all his principles and asked her to marry him!

The action changes to the beach. As Gigi and Gaston run on he tells her to meet him in the lobby in ten minutes, dressed! She runs to her grandmother and sings I Never Want to Go Home Again. She then joins some boys and girls who are playing on the beach. Gaston enters, already dressed, sees that Gigi has lost her robe and wraps it around her. They are observed by Alicia who goes to Mamita. She realizes that the relationship between Gigi and Gaston has changed, and she tells her sister they must leave Trouville immediately! It is time to start serious work on Gigi's education — every day at her place — work, work, work!

ACT II
Scene 1: Mamita's Apartment, four weeks later. A telephone installer proudly unveils the new instrument. Outside Gaston rings the door bell which at first they mistake for the telephone. It seems he has been away in Monte Carlo for a month. When the installer leaves, Mamita asks about his trip. It was as usual — a bore; he has brought Gigi some caramels. She enters wearing more grown-up clothes, a new hairdo, and a little make-up. He is overwhelmed by her appearance and new sophistication, but covers up with criticism. She responds by saying she didn't think he knew anything about women's clothes. Insulted he leaves in a huff, but Gigi waits by the door. Sure enough, Gaston is soon back; he has decided she looks all right and, to prove it, he will take her to tea at the Reservoirs in Versailles. However, her grandmother firmly says no. After she sends Gigi to her room, she explains to Gaston. Gigi is very special; Mamita trusts Gaston with her, but the world will notice. The girl's reputation will be ruined by the newspapers. She is being saved for someone who will take care of her and assure her future. Upset, Gaston leaves.

Scene 2: Outside Mamita's apartment. A sputtering Gaston begins the most important song in the work Gigi. He starts by exclaiming that she is still a little girl but gradually realizes that she is indeed growing up. He goes back to the apartment. When Mamita answers the bell, he asks if she has a lawyer, he has a serious business matter to discuss with her.

Scene 3: The legal office of Maitre Du Fresne. This entire scene is sung (The Contract). Alicia, Mamita, Du Fresne and Alicia's lawyer discuss the terms of the contract by which Gaston will become Gigi's "protector". Maitre Du Fresne suggests some rather modest terms but, in spite of Mamita's attempts to stop her, Alicia drives a hard bargain. An apartment of five rooms and an allowance of seven thousand a year becomes seven rooms and thirty-four thousand a year. The contract is finally signed and all join in rejoicing; Gigi is securely in love.

Scene 4: Mamita's apartment. Gigi, dressed in her old clothes, is sitting thinking. Gaston appears with a bouquet and, during an awkward conversation, asks if she knows why he is there. She does know and she doesn't want to. Mamita and Aunt Alicia have told her; she would go to live with him and sleep in his bed. She knows all about his previous affairs, knows she will become famous, and their fights will be in the papers especially when he throws her over. When they are done she will have to go over to someone else. She doesn't have that sort of nature. She likes him very much, but she is not the changeable kind. Can't they just go on as before? When he tells her he loves her, gets an angry and unexpected reaction. She never believed he could love and still drag her into such a life! Just them Mamita comes in. He explode that Gigi doesn't want to; saying her head has been stuffed with the sordid side of such a life, not its beautiful side, he storms out.

Scene 5: A street cafe. Honoré is eating lunch when Gaston appears and complains that Europe is going to the dogs. He wanted to help this girl escape her poverty, and she turned him down. His uncle says that is impossible and is astonished to learn that the girl in question is Gigi. Gaston was right to leave when he did; it is probably a maneuver for better terms. He has behaved as a perfect gentleman and should not go back. He will forget her in 24 hours! Meanwhile his nephew should consult his little book and meet him that evening at Maxims'. Gaston agrees and leaves. Alone Honoré sings I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore.

Scene 6: Mamita's apartment. Mamita and a stunned Alicia are discussing the situation, Mamita reveals she rather agrees with Gigi. Suddenly the phone rings and the girl comes from her room to answer it. It is Gaston. We hear her side of the conversation. (In This Wide, Wide World) She has been thinking all day and has called him to say that she'd rather be miserable with him than without him. The two older ladies joyously embrace each other as Gigi goes back to her room.

Scene 7: Maxim's. Gaston and Gigi are seated at one table while Honoré and Juliette are at another. When Gigi notices that everyone is staring at her, Gaston replies that the French are so preoccupied with etiquette, they never learned manners. She then asks if all the women there are like her, and he pretends not to understand. Liane appears and gushes all over Gaston. Gigi tells her it is nice to see her up and alive and receives an icy reply. Gaston apologizes for Liane's behavior. He orders lamb, but Gigi suggests a casserole instead and Gaston seconds her with the disdainful waiter. They also order ortolons. As the music starts, Gigi recognizes a woman on the dance floor and informs Gaston that her pearls are dipped. Taken aback, he is not quite sure how to react, and he asks her to dance. As soon as they reach the floor, everyone else stops to look at them. Gaston takes her back to their table and gives her a gift of emeralds. She embarrasses him by exclaiming over them with the words Aunt Alicia had used. Uneasy, he suggest she ask the lady in the powder room help her put them on. When she exits, Honoré comes over exclaiming over Gigi, and men named Jacques and Jean-Paul make suggestive remarks about her. This is the final straw for Gaston; he introduces Gigi to his uncle, asks him to take her home and leaves alone.

Scene 8: Mamita's apartment, immediately following. A confused Gigi, Mamita and Honoré are in the apartment. No one understands what has happened. As Honoré starts to leave, Gaston enters approaches Mamita and makes his well known request: "Madame ... will you do me the honor, the favor ... give me the infinite joy of bestowing upon me ... Gigi's hand in marriage?". Mamita softly says "Thank heaven", Honoré sings a reprise of Thank Heaven for Little Girls, and Gigi and Gaston embrace as the curtain falls.

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Revised September 2010
Please credit Lyric Opera San Diego when using this material.