Le voyage dans la lune (operetta) but due to the need to raise the necessary money he did not take up the project. Eventually Albert Vizentini, the new directeur of the Gaîté, took up the idea, and Offenbach's contribution was limited to that of composer. Albert Vanloo and Eugène Leterrier, in association with Arnold Mortier (columnist at Figaro), wrote the libretto. They were hoping for a repeat of the success of the novels of Jules Verne (another, the novel "Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours", had been adapted for the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin by Verne himself in 1874) and the
Jean-Jacques-Joseph Debillemont of the Opéra Comique at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. He was also responsible of music critic columns in various newspapers such as "L'élu du peuple" in Dijon or "la Revue et gazette des théâtres" in Paris. Jean-Jacques Debillemont also participated in various theater projects such as stage adaptations of works by Jules Verne like "Le Tour du monde en 80 jours", play in 5 acts and one prologue (15 tableaux) premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 7 November 1874, text by MM. Adolphe d'Ennery and Jules Verne, or "Les Enfants du capitaine Grant" in 1879.