G&S101
The Musicals of Gilbert & Sullivan:
The Canon & Auxiliary Works
Compiled by John Kenrick
Here in chronological order are the fourteen G&S works known affectionately as "The Canon," as well as two "Auxiliary Works" Sullivan created with other collaborators. (Although Gilbert wrote several shows with other composers, they have not been revived or recorded.)
A. Auxiliary Works
Sullivan wrote musicals with other collaborators, but only two of those works are still performed. Though the librettos are not as witty as Gilbert's best, they are still delightful.
1. Cox and Box
Premiere - 1869 - St. George's Hall, London
Two men tricked by their landlord into sharing a room discover they are also engaged
to the same girl. With libretto by F. C. Burnand, this charmer was privately performed in
1866 and 1867, and received a public run two years later. In later years, it was
staged and
recorded by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
2. The Zoo
Premiere - June 5, 1875 - St. James Theatre, London
Produced while Trial By Jury (see below) was still running, this curtain
raiser told of two pairs of lovers who save their endangered relationships one
afternoon beside the bear pit at The London Zoo. B.C. Stephenson wrote the
libretto under the pen name "Bolton Rowe." Long forgotten, the score
was rediscovered and recorded by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1970s.
The Light Opera of Manhattan staged a short New York run in the same decade.
B. The Canon
With these thirteen works, Gilbert and Sullivan brought the musical theater to new S of wit and sophistication.
1. Thespis
Premiere: Dec. 26, 1871 at The Gaiety Theatre, London (63 performances)
The aging gods and goddesses of Olympus temporarily hand their powers over
to a traveling troupe of actors. The cartoonish characters include such comic gods as
"Preposteros" and "Stupidas." Thrown together in just five
weeks, this ninety minute holiday production was a disappointment to the authors.
Except for two melodies, the score is lost. Some scholars suggest the
surviving libretto is only a preliminary draft – a
point now impossible to prove. Caught somewhere between Offenbach's
mythological comic operettas and the burlesques then popular in Britain,
Thespis gave only slight indication of what lay ahead.
2. Trial By Jury
Premiere: March 25, 1875 - Royalty Theatre, London (131 performances)
A giddy one act spoof of the British courtroom. A jilted bride-to-be sues her former fiancée for breach
of contract, resulting in a hilarious trial where any ideals of romance are eclipsed by
the realities of greed and lust. Intended by producer D'Oyly Carte as a curtain
raiser for his London production of Offenbach's Perichole, Trial By
Jury became a tremendous success in its own right. D'Oyly Carte soon encouraged
Gilbert and Sullivan to write full length "comic operas."
3. The Sorcerer
Premiere: Nov. 17, 1877 - Opera Comique, London (178 performances)
A newly engaged Victorian couple wants everyone in their small town to have the
thrill of falling in love. They hire a modern day wizard to unleash a love potion
at their betrothal reception, wreaking havoc with the unsuspecting guests. The
first full-length G&S work, it was a solid money maker and showed what its
creators were capable of. D'Oyly Carte had no trouble convincing G&S to try
another.
4. H.M.S. Pinafore
Premiere: May 25, 1878 - Opera Comique, London (571 performances)
At first, this tale of a common sailor competing for the hand of his captain's
daughter with none other than the Lord Admiral of the Royal Navy seemed doomed
to failure. It became an international sensation, reshaping the commercial
theater in both England and the United States. After some greedy investors
failed in a clumsy attempt to take over the profitable production,
D'Oyly Carte signed Gilbert and Sullivan to a three-way partnership.
Sharing profits and expenses, this trio now set out to
reshape British musical theatre.
5. The Pirates of Penzance
British Premiere: Dec. 30, 1879 - Bijou Theatre, Paignton
U.S. Premiere: Dec. 31, 1879 - The Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York (91 performances)
London Run: April 3, 1880 - Opera Comique (363 performances)
A young man who was accidentally apprenticed to a band of pirates celebrates
his 21st birthday by going straight. Resolved to destroy his former
thieving comrades, he must choose between his love for a Major General's daughter
and his overwhelming sense of duty. Jointly premiered on both sides of the Atlantic
to protect Gilbert and Sullivan's copyright, it proved to be one of their most
enduring hits. Pirates also brought the team to new creative
levels. Sullivan's music has an operatic scope, and Gilbert made his best use
yet of extended musicalized scenes. While the comedy of their contemporaries has
evaporated over time, this spoof still wins hearty laughs after more than 120 years.
(Note: Many sources claim the original NY production ran for
154 performances, but that figure includes time on tour.)
6. Patience
Premiere: April 23, 1881 - Opera Comique, London (578 performances)
Reopened: Oct. 10, 1881 - Savoy Theatre, London
The story of an effete poet who spurns an army of female admirers while he pines
in vain for a simple milkmaid becomes a wicked spoof of Oscar Wilde and the
Esthetic Movement. When concerns were expressed that American audiences would
not understand the show's rather British comic targets, D'Oyly Carte sent Wilde on an American
lecture tour, hitting major cities just before the tour of Patience came
to town. This operetta remains entertaining because, beneath all the now-dated
satire, it examines the meaning of love -- always a rich topic for comedy. This work remains a
favorite with history buffs and Anglophiles.
7. Iolanthe
Premiere: Nov. 25, 1882 - Savoy Theatre, London (398 performances)
U.S. Premiere: Nov. 25, 1882 - Standard Theatre, New York
When an Arcadian shepherd defies the Lord Chancellor of England to claim
the Chancellor's lovely young ward, Britain's House of Peers winds up at odds
with the shepherd's relatives – a platoon of female fairies. All is
resolved when the shepherd's fairy mother reveals that her son's father
is none other than the Chancellor. A rich satire that has lost little if any of
its bite over the years, many a G&S connoisseur considers this the canon's
caviar piece.
8. Princess Ida
Premiere: Jan. 5, 1884 - Savoy Theatre, London (246 performances)
Based on a poem by Tennyson, this is the story of a medieval feminist princess
who spurns all male attention and turns her castle into a college for women.
However, her principles crumble when confronted with the love of the prince
she was betrothed to in infancy. Far from what our age would consider
politically correct, this work is still funny and is the only full length
G&S musical written completely in verse form.
9. The Mikado
Premiere: Mar. 14, 1885 - Savoy Theatre, London (672 performances)
The residents of the Japanese town of Titipu, anxious to please their strict
Emperor, seek an excuse to enforce the death penalty for flirting – and
their executioner almost beheads the heir to the throne. From its premiere to
the present, this cunning send-up of British mores has been the most popular
work in the G&S canon, successful in many languages and interpretations.
Still one of the funniest musicals ever written, it remains the most frequently
produced 19th Century theatre piece.
10. Ruddigore
Premiere: Jan. 22, 1887 - Savoy Theatre, London (288 performances)
Spoofing the blood-and-thunder melodramas so beloved by Victorian audiences,
this is the murky tale of a noble family forced by a curse to commit a crime
a day. With wacky locals like Mad Margaret, a gallery of haunted paintings
that spring to life, and the showstopping patter song "Oh, My Eyes Are Fully
Open," Ruddigore has its pleasures. But audiences and critics
considered it a weak follow-up to The Mikado, and some British critics
found the title (which invokes images of "ruddy/bloody gore")
distasteful.
11. The Yeomen of the Guard
Premiere: Oct. 3, 1888 - Savoy Theatre, London (423 performances)
Justice is served but the course of true love does not "run smooth" in this
tale set in the Tower of London during the bloody reign of King Henry VIII.
Strolling player Jack Point loves fellow performer Elsie Maynard, but Elsie
falls for condemned prisoner Colonel Fairfax. Plots and mistaken identities
abound. When Fairfax marries Elsie and
is pardoned, Point collapses with grief. The most serious work in the canon,
both Gilbert and Sullivan considered it their best collaboration.
Note: While Yeomen was in preparation, Sullivan was also working on Ivanhoe, a grand opera with libretto by Julian Sturgis. Despite a lavish D'Oyly Carte production, it was not a success. A long overdue recording finally appeared, but has not ignited new interest in this work.
12. The Gondoliers
Premiere: Dec. 7, 1889 - Savoy Theatre, London (554 performances)
This show has two major plots. In the first, two newly wed Venetian gondoliers
are dragged away from their wives to rule an island kingdom. It seems one of them was born to be king
of this revolution-torn country, and they must act as co-regents while a pompous
Spanish Inquisitor verifies who is who. The second story is that of the Duke of Plaza
Toro, an impoverished Spanish nobleman whose daughter is betrothed to marry the true
king. While waiting for the monarch to be identified, the Duke incorporates
himself, going from poverty to extraordinary wealth. Lots of romance and giddy music
make this one of the best known and most frequently performed G&S masterworks,
the last of their super-hits.
Note: During the long run of The Gondoliers, D'Oyly Carte replaced some worn out carpeting in the Savoy Theatre. When Gilbert bridled at sharing the expense, Sullivan sided with D'Oyly Carte. The resulting feud interrupted the team's three-way partnership for several years.
13. Utopia, Limited
Premiere: Oct. 7, 1893 - Savoy Theatre, London (245 performances)
U.S. Premiere: March 26, 1894 - Broadway Theatre, New York
Having buried the so-called "carpet quarrel," G&S collaborated
on this spoof of British envoys anglicizing a tropical island kingdom. After a
triumphant first night there was a sense of disappointment. Although this show
lacks the spark of this team at their best, even so-so G&S is still quite
entertaining. Gilbert's first political/social satire since H.M.S. Pinafore,
its run was too brief to cover the costs of its lavish production.
14. The Grand Duke
Premiere: Mar. 7, 1896 - Savoy Theatre, London (123 performances)
A petty German ruler tries to hand over his tottering duchy to a theatrical
troupe -- a plot strangely reminiscent of Thespis. Despite some charming songs, this
operetta was a disappointment to most
observers. G&S were still talented, but their enthusiasm for such projects
had waned. It was not professionally staged in the US
until decades later.