An Introduction to

Gilbert & Sullivan

presents

Who are Gilbert and Sullivan, and why are they famous?

• Librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. These operas have enjoyed long - lasting success throughout the world, and have directly influenced the musical theater of the 20th century and beyond.

• Their works have become known as the Savoy Operas, after the Savoy Theater in London, which was built by their producer, Richard D’Oyly Carte, to present their operas.

W. S. Gilbert1836-1911

William Schwenck Gilbert made a huge contribution to

making the Savoy operas what they are - witty, dry,

romantic, subversive, nonsensical and very funny. He

directed the first productions and often contributed

towards the costume and set designs. He also

achieved much else, writing some of the funniest and

most scandalous comedies of his day, writing and

illustrating the Bab Ballads and building London's

Garrick Theatre, amongst other things. He was

knighted in 1907.

Arthur Sullivan1842-1900

W. S. Gilbert once described Arthur Sullivan as "incomparably the greatest English musician of the age." Besides contributing witty operatic parodies and a string of effervescent melodies to the Savoy operas, he wrote, among other works, cantatas, oratorios, concert overtures, incidental music to plays, numerous songs and a grand opera. He was the conductor of the Leeds Festival for almost twenty years and a friend of Queen Victoria and the royal family. He was knighted in 1883.

The Beginning• Gilbert and Sullivan were hired by John

Hollingshead of the Gaiety Theatre to create Thespis.

• Written in just five weeks, the show was crude and ineffective, but it impressed aspiring producer Richard D’Oyly Carte.

• Four years later, needing a one - act curtain raiser to share the bill with his production of Offenbach’s La Perichole, Carte convinced Gilbert and Sullivan to adapt one of Gilbert’s satirical poems.This became Trial by Jury, which became more famous than La Perichole.

• After the success of Trial, Carte convinced the team to attempt a full-length work, and The Sorcerer was born.

Producer Richard D’Oyly Carte & The Savoy Theatre

The Operas

Thespisor The Gods Grown Old (1871)

• The Gods on Mount Olympus are old and tired, so they decide to take a vacation on earth while a group of traveling actors take their place.

• Most of the music for this opera has been lost, so it is played today only in reconstructions using either other Sullivan music or original music.

• The general theme was used

again in The Grand Duke, Gilbert

& Sullivan’s final opera.

Main Characters

• The Gods: Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Diana & Mercury

• The Actors: Thespis, Sillimon, Timidon, Tipsion, Preposteros, Stupidas, Sparkeion, Nicemis, Pretteia, Daphne & Cymon

Trial by Jury (1875)

• This opera centers around hijinks in the courtroom, as the bride sues the groom for breach of promise of marriage.

• The only one - act G & S opera, usually performed with another short opera.

Main Characters

• The Learned Judge

• Counsel for the Plaintiff

• Foreman of the Jury

• Usher

• Angelina, the Plaintiff

• Edwin, the Defendant

The Sorcerer (1877)

With the help of a love potion, everyone in the village is in love – with the wrong person.

Main Characters

• Sir Marmaduke Poindexter• Alexis, his son• Dr. Daly, the vicar of Ploverleigh• Notary• John Wellington Wells, sorcerer• Lady Sangazure• Aline, her daughter, betrothed to

Alexis• Mrs. Partlet• Constance, her daughter

H.M.S. Pinaforeor, The Lass That Loved a Sailor (1878)

• The captain’s daughter and a

common sailor on his ship fall in

love.

• The first smash - hit G & S

opera, and one of the “Big

Three” most often performed

today.

Main Characters

• Sir Joseph Porter, first lord of the Admiralty

• Captain Corcoran, of the H.M.S. Pinafore

• Ralph Rackstraw• Dick Deadeye• Josephine, the captain’s

daughter• Hebe, Sir Joseph’s

cousin• Little Buttercup

The Pirates of Penzanceor The Slave of Duty (1880)

• A young pirate apprentice falls in love with Mabel, Major General Stanley’s daughter, while the rest of the pirate crew wants to marry the general’s other daughters.

• The second of the “Big Three” operas

Main Characters• Major - General Stanley• The Pirate King• Samuel, his lieutenant• Frederick• Mabel• Edith• Isabel• Kate• Ruth, a pirate maid• Sergeant of Police

Patience or Bunthorne’s Bride (1881)

The county women are in love

with two aesthetic poets while

the poets are both in love with

Patience, the village milkmaid.

The local regiment of soldiers

don’t see the point to

aesthetics, but decide they

had better give it a try to win

the women’s love.

Main Characters

• Officers of the Dragoon Guards – Colonel Calverley, Major Murgatroyd and Lieutenant Dunstable, a duke

• Reginald Bunthorne, a poet• Archibald Grosvenor, a poet• Rapturous Maidens – Lady Angela,

Lady Saphir, Lady Ella, Lady Jane• Patience, a Dairy Maid• Mr. Bunthorne’s Solicitor

Iolantheor The Peer and the Peri (1882)

Strephon, a shepherd, wants to marry Phyllis, a ward in chancery. Strephon, however, is half fairy, down to the waist. Phyllis sees Strephon with his mother, eternally 17, and jealously jilts him.

Main Characters• The Lord Chancellor• Earl of Mountararat• Earl of Tolloller• Private Willis of the

Grenadier Guards• Strephon, an Arcadian

shepherd• Iolanthe, a fairy and

Strephon’s mother• Fairies: Leila, Celia, Fleta• Phyllis, an Arcadian

shepherdess and ward in chancery

Princess Idaor Castle Adamant (1884)

• Princess Ida decides that Prince Hilarion and his friends are little more than monkeys in suits, so she retreats to Castle Adamant to run a women’s college. The men enter the castle dressed as women to seek Ida’s hand.

• The only three - act G & S opera

Main Characters

• King Hildebrand• Hilarion, his son• Cyril and Florian, courtiers • King Gama• Arac, Guron and

Scynthius, Gama’s sons• Princess Ida, Gama’s

daughter• Lady Blanche, a professor• Lady Psyche, a professor• Melissa, Lady Blanche’s

daughter

The Mikadoor The Town of Titipu (1885)

• The Mikado, emperor of Japan, has decreed that flirting is punishable by death. Because no one in Titipu wants to enforce this, Ko-Ko, a condemned tailor, becomes the Lord High Executioner – the reason being that he cannot behead anyone until he beheads himself. Nanki-Poo, a traveling minstrel, wants to marry Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko’s ward. The situation gets complicated when Ko-Ko is forced to execute Nanki-Poo.

• The third of the “Big Three,” and the most popular G & S opera

Main Characters

• Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado, disguised as a wandering minstrel

• Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner of Titipu

• Pish-Tush• The Mikado of Japan• Yum-Yum, ward and lover of Ko-Ko• Pitti-Sing & Peep-Bo, sisters to

Yum-Yum• Katisha, spurned promised bride of

Nanki-Poo

Ruddigoreor The Witch’s Curse (1887)

None of the village girls stand a chance

at marriage because all of the village lads

love Rose Maybud, but are too shy to

court her. Robin Oakapple also loves

Rose, but as the wicked Baronet of

Ruddigore he must commit one major

crime a day or die in agony. The ghosts

of his ancestors step out of their picture

frames to confront him for not

conscientiously carrying out his duty.

Main Characters

• Robin Oakapple, a young farmer• Richard Dauntless, his half-brother• Sir Despard Murgatroyd of

Ruddigore, a wicked baronet• Old Adam, Robin’s faithful servant• Rose Maybud, a village maiden• Mad Margaret• Dame Hannah, Rose’s aunt• Zorah and Ruth, professional

bridesmaids• Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, a ghost• The Ghosts – Baronets of

Ruddigore

The Yeoman of the Guardor The Merryman and his Maid (1888)

• Colonel Fairfax, imprisoned in the Tower of London and sentenced to die on false charges of sorcery, marries Elsie Maynard, a strolling singer. But then he escapes, causing complications. At the end, the jester Jack Point, who loves Elsie, dies of a broken heart. Or does he?

• The closest that G & S came to grand opera.

Main Characters• Sir Richard Cholmondeley,

Lieutenant of the Tower• Colonel Fairfax, a prisoner• Sergeant Meryll, of the

Yeoman of the Guard• Leonard Meryll, his son• Jack Point, a strolling jester• Wilfred Shadbolt, head jailer• Elsie Maynard, a strolling

singer• Phoebe Meryll, Sergeant

Meryll’s daughter• Dame Carruthers,

housekeeper to the Lieutenant• Kate, her niece

The Gondoliersor The King of Barataria (1889)

One of two just-married gondoliers is the King of Barataria, but no one knows which one. As Barataria needs a king to put down unrest in the country, they travel there to reign jointly, leaving their wives behind, until it can be discovered which one is the king.

Main Characters

• The Duke of Plaza Toro, a grandee of Spain

• Luiz, his attendant• Don Alhambra del Bolero,

the Grand Inquisitor• Marco and Guiseppi Palmieri,

brother gondoliers• The Dutchess of Plaza Toro• Casilda, her daughter• Gianetta and Tessa,

peasant girls

Utopia Limitedor The Flowers of Progress (1893)

Having a rather idealistic view of England and the English people, King Paramount of the South Seas island of Utopia decides that his people should adopt all English customs and fashions, and that the kingdom should be incorporated as a public company.

Main Characters

• Paramount I, King of Utopia• Scaphio and Phantis, judges of the Utopian Supreme Court• Tarara, the public exploder• Calynx, the Utopian vice chamberlain• Lord Dramaleigh, a British lord chamberlain• Captain Fitzbattleax, of the 1st Life Guards• Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, K.C.B., of the Royal Navy• Mr. Goldbury, a company promoter• Princess Zara, eldest daughter of King Paramount

The Grand Dukeor The Statutory Duel (1896)

• Ludwig, an actor, replaces Rudolph, the miserly Grand Duke of Pfennig Halbpfennig, after “killing” Rudolph by drawing the ace in a statutory duel. After assuming all of Rudolph’s obligations, he finds himself with far more wives than he knows what to do with.

• At 3 hours and 15 minutes, the longest of the operas.

• Other than Thespis, the least-performed of the G & S operas.

Main Characters• Rudolph, Grand Duke of

Pfennig Halbpfennig• Ernest Dummkopf, a

Theatrical Manager• Ludwig, his leading comedian• Dr. Tannhauser, a notary• The Prince of Monte Carlo• The Princess of Monte Carlo,

betrothed to Rudolph• The Baroness von Krakenfeld,

betrothed to Rudolph• Julia Jellicoe, an English actress

engaged to Ernest• Lisa, an actress engaged to Ludwig

The Final Curtain• At the time The Gondoliers was written, Gilbert and Sullivan were

at the peak of their collaboration. A major quarrel between Gilbert and Carte led to bad feelings between Gilbert and Sullivan, however, which lasted several years.

• The two reunited for Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke, but these shows did not reach the level of success of their previous operas. The Grand Duke would be their last collaboration.

• The pair remained on cordial terms, and worked together on revivals of their works.

• Sullivan composed several more operas with other lyricists, including The Rose of Persia. Weakened by years of ill health, he died in 1900 at the age of 58.

• Gilbert enjoyed renewed health and popularity in the 20th century, writing several new plays and operas, and was knighted in 1907. He died in 1911 while saving a young woman from drowning at his country home.

Legacy• A century later, Gilbert & Sullivan’s work continues to

entertain wherever English is spoken• The Pirates of Penzance was a Broadway hit - and was

adapted into two movies - in the 1980s• G & S songs are heard in Raiders of the Lost Ark,

Pretty Woman, Kate and Leopold, Chariots of Fire, The Princess Diaries 2, Peter Pan and many other films, and on such TV cartoons as the Simpsons, Family Guy and Animaniacs

• The movie Topsy Turvey (2000) is about Gilbert & Sullivan

• There are more than 200 Gilbert & Sullivan Companies performing the operas all over the world