Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes

Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes, based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, is a comic opera in three acts written by Alfred Thompson and composed by Edward Solomon. The opera was produced and directed by Thompson and Solomon and debuted at the Union Square Theatre, New York, then under the management of J. M. Hill, on March 16, 1886, and closed after a nine-week run on May 22.

Principal roles and original cast
Sources:

Pepita, Professor Pongo's Daughter as Lillian Russell Don Pablo, the governor's son and heir as Chauncey Olcott/ G. Taglieri Professor Pongo, Doctor of Sciences as Jacques Kruger Donna Carmansuita, Directress of Seminary for Young Ladies as Alma Stuart Stanley Don Giavolo, Governor of Scaliwaxico as Fred Clifton Don Juan, Pablo's inevitable friend as George Wilkinson Curaso, valet to Pablo as Frederick Solomon Pasquela, a forward pupil as Lizzie Hughes Maraquita, an advanced idem as Clara Jackson Chiquita, a prominent ditto as Cora Striker Juana, a maid in waiting as Julia Wilson Ballet Coryphée as Miles. Pasta, S. Watson/ Forstner Atkins.

Synopsis
Setting: The City Of Scaliwaxico. Time—High Old. Period—Uncertain. ACT I.—The Students' Frolic. Before Professor Pongo's House in Scaliwaxico. ACT II.—The Professor's Prodigy. Interior of Pongo's Sanctum. ACT III.—The Governor's Fete. Don Giavolo's Palace. In this scene will appear The Mechanical Waiters and The Humming Birds.

Plot
Professor Pongo is obsessed with automata, as is Governor Giavolo. Pepita, the professor's daughter and Pablo, the governor's son, are in love. Her father disapproves and Pablo is forbidden to visit. To gain entry past her father, Pablo disguises himself as one of the cadavers Pongo planned to use to augment his mechanical devices. That night when Giavolo paid Pongo a visit, curious to view his mechanisms, neither knew that two of the automatons entertaining them were actually Pepita and Pablo concealed inside.