New Orleans, c 1780….

Countess Marietta, the young daughter of a noble Italian family residing in France, being unhappy at home, runs away and disguises herself as one of a number of marriageable 'casquette' girls sent by the King of France to the French settlement of New Orleans.

Upon her arrival, Marietta is befriended by an American frontiersman, Captain Richard Warrington, and falls in love with him. She also arouses the affection of the Lieutenant-Governor's son, Etienne Grandet, a polished young villain also known as 'Bras Piqué', the leader of a movement to establish Louisiana as an autonomous territory, separate from both France and the burgeoning United States of America. He has recognized Marietta as the missing Countess and is anxious to win her hand, but he has troubles of his own in getting rid of a former attachment, the quadroon Adah.

Marietta, in order to escape detection, with the connivance of Captain Warrington, disguises herself as the daughter of Rudolfo, keeper of a theatre. Here Etienne visits her and she is persuaded by him to attend a masked ball, where she is on the point of accepting his hand in marriage when Captain Warrington arrives on the scene with his men, reveals Etienne as the notorious 'Bras Piqué', and ... well, it’s an operetta!

Producer: Mark Brooks

Music Director: H. Bramwell Bailey