1.
Gilbert and Sullivan
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Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Sullivan, six years Gilberts junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos and their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have influenced political discourse, literature, film. Producer Richard DOyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration and he built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works and founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivans works for over a century. Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836 and his father, William, was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son. Director and playwright Mike Leigh described the Gilbertian style as follows, With great fluidity and freedom, First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into aesthetes, and so on and his genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a deadpan way. Gilbert developed his theories on the art of stage direction. At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute, Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or entertainments, for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, Ages Ago, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan would write their first work together. Those two intervening years continued to shape Gilberts theatrical style, Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight. In school he began to compose anthems and songs, in 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at Leipzig, where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. Revised and expanded, it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862 and was an immediate sensation and he began building a reputation as Englands most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the Overture di Ballo, in 1870
2.
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
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The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan performances and fringe events attracts thousands of visitors, including performers, supporters, beginning in 2014, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, hosts the festival, which was held in Buxton, Derbyshire, from 1994 to 2013. At the festival, about a dozen amateur Gilbert and Sullivan performing societies from around the world compete on the main stage each year for awards including International Champion. At the weekends there are professional Gilbert and Sullivan performances, including each year by the festivals homegrown National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company. A smaller nearby theatre and other venues host the festival fringe, which consists of dozens of performances, lectures, a memorabilia fair, and other events. The festival was founded in 1994 and continues to be produced by Ian Smith and his son Neil to enhance the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of Gilbert and it also has a goal of reinstating G&S and the performing arts in schools in Britain. Occasionally, the festival has added a week of performances in the United States, the festival relocated to Harrogate in 2014 and is scheduled to remain there at least to 2018. The festival has more than 25,000 tickets in some years. Sky Arts notes that the festival is one of the most colourful, melodic and it is forward-looking and fun presenting contemporary as well as traditional productions of G&S. The festivals professional orchestra accompanies the main stage performances, at the core of the festival is a competition of a dozen or more amateur G&S performing troupes who travel from all over Britain and the world to present their shows. Over the three weeks of the festival, on weeknights, the best non-professional groups from the UK, a professional adjudicator critiques each amateur performance immediately after the curtain falls. The adjudicator then scores each performance, and both group and individual awards are announced at the end of the festival, at the first Festival in 1994, first prize was awarded to the production of Utopia, Limited presented by the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Maine. Festival Productions, Ireland, won in three years,2007 to 2009. Individual awards are presented for performers, directors and musical directors. John Owen Edwards, David Russell Hulme, or David Steadman often serve as director of the company. Sky Arts calls these some of the UK’s finest exponents of musical theatre. With good stars like Jill Pert and Richard Suart in key roles, care is always taken with the staging and lighting of these. Productions and, as with Princess Ida last year, they can match a West End show, the strength of singing from the twenty-strong chorus in forte passages was spectacular
3.
Harrogate
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Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its attractions include its spa waters. Nearby is the Yorkshire Dales national park and the Nidderdale AONB, Harrogate grew out of two smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. Since 2013, polls have consistently voted the town as the happiest place to live in Britain, Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt. The town became known as The English Spa in the Georgian era, in the 17th and 18th centuries its chalybeate waters were a popular health treatment, and the influx of wealthy but sickly visitors contributed significantly to the wealth of the town. Harrogate railway station and Harrogate bus station in the town centre provide transport connections, Leeds Bradford International Airport is 10 miles south-west of Harrogate. The main roads through the town are the A61, connecting Harrogate to Leeds and Ripon, Harrogate is also connected to Wetherby and the A1, by the A661. The town motto is Arx celebris fontibus, which means a citadel famous for its springs, the name Harrogate is first attested in the 1330s as Harwegate, Harougat and Harrowgate. The origin of the name is uncertain and it may derive from Old Norse hǫrgr a heap of stones, cairn + gata street, in which case the name presumably meant road to the cairn. Another possibility is that the means the way to Harlow. The form Harlowgate is known from 1518, and apparently in the rolls of Edward II. In medieval times Harrogate was a place on the borders of the township of Bilton with Harrogate in the ancient Parish of Knaresborough, and the parish of Pannal, also known as Beckwith with Rossett. The part within the township of Bilton developed into the community of High Harrogate, both communities were within the Royal Forest of Knaresborough. In 1372 King Edward III granted the Royal Forest to his son John, Duke of Lancaster, Harrogates development is owed to the discovery of its chalybeate and sulphur rich spring water from the 16th century. The medicinal properties of the waters were publicised by Edmund Deane and his book, Spadacrene Anglica, or the English Spa Fountain was published in 1626. In the 17th and 18th centuries further chalybeate springs were discovered in High Harrogate, the two communities attracted many visitors. A number of inns were opened for visitors in High Harrogate in the 17th century In Low Harrogate the Crown was open by the mid 18th century, in accordance with an Enclosure Act of 1770, promoted by the Duchy of Lancaster, the Royal Forest of Knaresborough was enclosed. The Enclosure Award of 1778 clarified ownership of land in the Harrogate area, under the Award 200 acres of land, which included the springs known at that time, were reserved as a public common, the Stray, which has remained public open space
4.
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
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The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and with Scottish Opera it later co-produced two productions. In 1875, Richard DOyly Carte asked the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, when that work, Trial by Jury, became a success, Carte put together a syndicate to produce a full-length Gilbert and Sullivan work, The Sorcerer, followed by H. M. S. After Pinafore became a sensation, Carte jettisoned his difficult investors and formed a new partnership with Gilbert. The company produced the succeeding ten Gilbert and Sullivan operas and many operas and companion pieces at the Savoy Theatre in London. The company also mounted tours in Britain, New York and elsewhere, Cartes able assistant, Helen Lenoir, became his wife in 1888 and, after his death in 1901, she ran the company until her own death in 1913. By this time, it had become a year-round Gilbert and Sullivan touring repertory company, Cartes son Rupert inherited the company. Beginning in 1919, he mounted new seasons in London with new set and costume designs, while continuing the year-round tours in Britain, with the help of the director J. M. Gordon and the conductor Isidore Godfrey, Carte ran the company for 35 years. He redesigned the Savoy Theatre in 1928 and sponsored a series of recordings over the years that helped to keep the operas popular, after Ruperts death in 1948, his daughter Bridget DOyly Carte inherited the company and hired Frederic Lloyd as general manager. The company continued to tour for 35 weeks each year, issue new recordings and play London seasons of Gilbert and it re-formed in 1988 with a legacy left by Bridget DOyly Carte, played short tours and London seasons, and issued some popular recordings. Denied significant funding from the English Arts Council, it suspended productions in 2003, with Scottish Opera, it co-produced The Pirates of Penzance 2013 and The Mikado in 2016. Some of the performers, over the decades, became stars of their day. The company licensed the operas for performance in Australasia and to numerous amateur troupes in Britain and elsewhere, providing orchestra parts and prompt books for hire. The company kept the Savoy operas in the eye for over a century and left an enduring legacy of production styles. By 1874, Richard DOyly Carte, a musician and ambitious young impresario, had begun producing operettas in London. He announced his ambitions on the front of the programme for one of his productions that year, in early 1875, Carte was managing Londons Royalty Theatre. Needing a short piece to round out an evenings entertainment featuring the popular Offenbach operetta La Périchole he brought W. S. Gilbert, on tour in 1871, Carte had conducted Arthur Sullivans one-act comic opera Cox and Box, which received an 1874 London revival. In 1873, W. S. Gilbert had offered a libretto to Carte about an English courtroom, but at the time Carte knew of no composer available to set it to music. At the Theatre Royal, in Dublin, Ireland in September 1875, while managing the first tour of Trial by Jury, Carte met a young Scottish actress
5.
Utopia, Limited
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Utopia, Limited, or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivans fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances and it did not achieve the success of most of their earlier productions. Gilberts libretto satirises limited liability companies, and particularly the idea that a company could leave creditors unpaid without any liability on the part of its owners. It also lampoons the Joint Stock Company Act by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons with legal commercial entities under the limited companies laws, in addition, it mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British Empire and several of the nations beloved institutions. In mocking the adoption by a country of the cultural values of an advanced nation. The libretto was criticised as too long and rambling by some critics and later commentators, Utopia is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It can be expensive to produce, requiring a large principal cast, Bernard Shaw wrote in his highly favourable October 1893 review of the show in The World, I enjoyed the score of Utopia more than that of any of the previous Savoy operas. Sullivan sided with Carte and was made a defendant in the case, Gilbert vowed to write no more operas for the Savoy, and after The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert withdrew the performance rights to his libretti. It was not until October 1891, after conversations with their publisher Tom Chappell, after fulfilling their respective open commitments Gilbert and Sullivan were able to plan to renew their collaboration on a new opera, Utopia, Limited. In November 1892, after lengthy and delicate discussions over the arrangements for a new opera, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte were able to reach an agreement. On 27 January 1893, Gilbert read the outline for the libretto to Sullivan. Gilbert suffered from bad gout throughout the summer and autumn of 1893 and had to attend rehearsals in a wheelchair, Gilbert and Sullivan disagreed on several matters, including the character of Lady Sophy, and Sullivan found some of Gilberts lyrics difficult to set. Their lack of the cohesion during the writing and editing of Utopia was in marked contrast with what Sullivan called the oneness of their previous collaborations since Trial by Jury in 1875, for Utopia, the creators engaged Hawes Craven to design the sets, which were much praised. Craven was the designer for Henry Irvings spectacular Shakespeare productions at the Lyceum Theatre, the scenery, properties and costumes cost an unprecedented total of £7,200. In 1893, the year Utopia, Limited was produced, Princess Kaiulani of the independent monarchy of Hawaii attended a school in England. She was the talk of the society pages, with speculation as to the influence English civilization would have on the Princess. Two decades earlier, in 1870, Anna Leonowens first wrote about her stint as governess to the children of the king of Siam in The English Governess at the Siamese Court. The two ladies and their stories are likely to have influenced the characters of Princess Zara and Lady Sophy, respectively
6.
The Grand Duke
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The Grand Duke, or, The Statutory Duel, is the final Savoy Opera written by librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, their fourteenth and last opera together. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 March 1896, despite a successful opening night, the production had a relatively short run and was the partnerships only financial failure, and the two men never worked together again. In recent decades, the opera has been revived professionally, first in the US, in The Grand Duke, Gilbert and Sullivan come full circle, back to the theme of their first collaboration, Thespis, a troupe of actors taking political power. The plot hinges on the mis-interpretation of a 100-year-old law regarding statutory duels, the baffled leading man of the troupe, Ludwig, spearheads the rebellion against the hypochondriac, miserly Grand Duke and becomes engaged to four different women before the plot is resolved. Sullivans varied score includes lilting Viennese waltz music, Sullivan sided with Carte, and the partnership disbanded. After The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert withdrew the rights to his libretti. Gilbert and Sullivans penultimate opera, Utopia, Limited, was a very modest success compared with their earlier collaborations and it introduced Gilberts last protege, Nancy McIntosh, as the heroine, who received generally unfavourable press. Sullivan refused to another piece if she was to take part in it. Meanwhile, Sullivan had written an opera for the Savoy Theatre with F. C. Burnand, The Chieftain, but that had closed in March 1895, Gilbert had begun working on the story of The Grand Duke in late 1894. The story also contains the germ of the character of Ernest, in 1888, The Dukes Dilemma was adapted as The Prima Donna, a comic opera by H. B. Farnie that contains other details seen in The Grand Duke, including the Shakespearean costumes, in addition, the plot shows similarities with the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera, Thespis, in which a company of actors gain political power. The theme of Ernest being legally dead while still alive was used in earlier works by Gilbert and, separately by Sullivan, for example Tom Cobb. Gilbert sold the libretto of the new piece to Carte and Sullivan for £5,000, rutland Barringtons role, Ludwig, became the leading comedian of the theatrical company and the central role in the opera. While Gilbert and Sullivan finished writing the show, the Cartes produced a revival of The Mikado at the Savoy Theatre, rehearsals for The Grand Duke began in January. Sullivan wrote the overture himself, effectively weaving together some of the best melodies in the opera, Gilbert made a few additional changes to the libretto shortly before opening night to avoid giving offense to Kaiser Wilhelm, possibly at the request of Sullivan, who valued the Kaisers friendship. These included changing the name of the character from Wilhelm to Rudolph. The opera premiered on 7 March 1896, and Sullivan conducted the orchestra, the opening night was a decided success, and the critics praised Gilberts direction, Pálmays singing and acting, Walter Passmore as Rudolph, and the cast in general
7.
Haddon Hall (opera)
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Haddon Hall is an English light opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Sydney Grundy. The opera, set at the hall, dramatises the legend of Dorothy Vernons elopement with John Manners. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on September 24,1892 for a successful run of 204 performances. The piece was popular with theatre groups, particularly in Britain, through the 1920s. Grundy was familiar to Carte, having written The Vicar of Bray in 1882 with Cartes friend Edward Solomon, and also from his many English adaptations of French works. While a modest success, Haddon Hall was far less successful than Sullivans earlier Savoy Operas with W. S. Gilbert, and Sullivan did not write any further operas with Grundy. Haddon Hall is a dramatisation of a nineteenth century legend, Dorothy Vernons elopement in 1563 with John Manners, son of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. For the opera, Grundy moved the forward to about 1660. Although the story has its episodes, the works tone is considerably more serious than Savoy audiences were accustomed to. Most of the comedy is derived from satiric swipes at the hypocritical Puritans who arrive with Rupert Vernon, among them is a comic Scotsman, The McCrankie. The original review in the Times observed, Whether from the impression that even thus the comic element needed strengthening, the piece followed Sullivans only grand opera, Ivanhoe, and in the score, one can hear some complex writing, rich in chromaticism. A recording of the piece was made in 2000, Sir George Vernon was a prosperous and hospitable landowner in Derbyshire, and his family seat was at Haddon Hall. His second daughter, Dorothy, fell in love with John Manners, the son of Thomas Manners. Sir George forbade John Manners from courting the beautiful and amiable Dorothy. Torn by her love for her father and her love for John Manners, if indeed this happened, the couple were soon reconciled with Sir George, as they inherited the estate on his death two years later. Haddon Hall remains in the Manners family to the present day, in the libretto, writer Sydney Grundy notes, The clock of Time has been put forward a century, and other liberties have been taken with history. The actual Sir George Vernon had two daughters, Margaret and Dorothy, in the opera, the Vernons are supposed to have had an older son, who died in naval service, leaving Dorothy as his sole heir. The husband her father prefers, their cousin Rupert Vernon, is Grundys invention, the changes to the operas plot bear many similarities to another 1892 comic opera, The Warlock, composed by Edgar E. Little, libretto by Alfred Smythe, produced in Dublin, Ireland
8.
The Yeomen of the Guard
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The Yeomen of the Guard, or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and this was the eleventh collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. The dialogue, though in prose, is quasi-Shakespearian, or early modern English and this was the first Savoy Opera to use Sullivans larger orchestra, including a second bassoon and third trombone. Most of Sullivans subsequent operas, including those not composed with Gilbert as librettist, pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Before the premiere of Yeomen, Sullivan had recently been lauded for the successful oratorio The Golden Legend and would produce his grand opera, Ivanhoe, on Christmas Day,1887, he read to Sullivan and Carte his plot sketch for an opera set at the Tower of London. Sullivan was immensely pleased and, with relief, accepted it, writing in his diary, Pretty story, no topsy turvydom, very human. Although not an opera, Yeomen provided Sullivan with the opportunity to write his most ambitious score to date. The two set to work on the new opera, taking longer to prepare it than they had taken many of their earlier works. Gilbert made every effort to accommodate his collaborator, even writing alternative lyrics to some songs, Sullivan had trouble setting one lyric in particular, I have a song to sing-O. with its increasing length in each stanza. He asked Gilbert if he had anything in mind when writing it, Gilbert hummed a few lines from a sea shanty, and Sullivan knew what to do. The first act was rather long and contained a number of sentimental pieces. As opening night approached, Gilbert became increasingly apprehensive, would the audience accept this serious, sentimental tone from one of the duos comic operas. Gilbert and Sullivan cut two songs from Act I and part of the Act I finale, partly to decrease the number of sentimental pieces near the beginning of the opera. Jessie Bond, who was to open the show with a song alone on stage, finally said to him, For Heavens sake, Mr. Gilbert, go away and leave me alone. Phoebe Meryll sits at the wheel, sighing about the pain of love. Wilfred Shadbolt, the jailer and assistant torturer at the Tower of London enters. Wilfred, who is in love with Phoebe, has noticed her interest in one of the prisoners at the Tower and he gleefully conveys the news that Fairfax is to be beheaded, for the crime of sorcery, that very day. Phoebe replies that Fairfax is merely a scientist and alchemist and leaves Wilfred to suffer from his love for her, the citizens and Yeomen arrive, singing of the Yeomens bravery and valiant deeds
9.
Oxford Castle
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Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined Norman medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the 11th century. In the 14th century the value of the castle diminished. Most of the castle was destroyed in the English Civil War, a new prison complex was built on the site from 1785 onwards and expanded in 1876, this became HM Prison Oxford. The prison closed in 1996 and was redeveloped as a hotel, the medieval remains of the castle, including the motte and St Georges Tower and crypt, are Grade I listed buildings and a Scheduled Monument. According to the Abingdon Chronicle, Oxford Castle was built by the Norman baron Robert DOyly the elder from 1071–73, DOyly had arrived in England with William I in the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and William the Conqueror granted him extensive lands in Oxfordshire. Oxford had been stormed in the invasion with considerable damage, in due course DOyly became the foremost landowner in Oxfordshire and was confirmed with a hereditary royal constableship for Oxford Castle. Oxford Castle is not among the 48 recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, Oxford Castle was clearly an urban castle but it remains uncertain whether local buildings had to be demolished to make room for it. The Domesday Book does not record any demolition, so the land may have already been empty due to the damage caused by the Norman seizure of the town. Alternatively the castle may have been imposed over a street front which would have required the demolition of at least several houses. The initial castle was probably a large motte and bailey, copying the plan of the castle that DOyly had already built 12 miles away at Wallingford. The motte was originally about 60 feet high and 40 feet wide, constructed like the bailey from layers of gravel, by the mid-12th century Oxford Castle had been significantly extended in stone. The first such work was St Georges Tower, built of coral rag stone in 1074,30 by 30 feet at the base and this was the tallest of the castles towers, possibly because it covered the approach to the old west gate of the city. Inside the walls the tower included a chapel, which may be the site of a previous church. The crypt chapel originally had a nave, chancel and an apsidal sanctuary and it is a typical early Norman design with solid pillars and arches. In 1074 DOyly and his friend, Roger dIvry endowed a chapel with a college of priests. At an early stage it acquired a dedication to Saint George, Early in the 13th century the wooden keep on top of the motte was replaced with a ten-sided stone shell keep,58 feet, closely resembling those of Tonbridge and Arundel Castles. The keep enclosed a number of buildings, leaving an inner courtyard only 22 feet across
10.
Iolanthe
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Iolanthe, or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert, in the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal, this is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst, the opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. Iolanthe opened in London on 25 November 1882, at the Savoy Theatre to a reception, and ran for 398 performances. The opera opened simultaneously in New York, and touring companies were sent around the UK, the first Australasian touring production followed in 1885, and the opera was revived in London beginning in 1901. The DOyly Carte Opera Company toured the opera nearly continuously in repertory from 1891 until 1982, numerous other professional and amateur productions have been given of this enduring work, and various other recordings have been issued. W. S. Gilbert presented his idea for a new opera to Arthur Sullivan in October 1881. Gilberts earliest ideas for the story of Iolanthe originated in his Bab Ballad, The Fairy Curate, Once a fairy / Light, the fairy marries a prosaic attorney and bears him a son. After her son grows up, she visits him on Earth, Sullivan found the premise funny, and Gilbert set to work on fleshing out the story. By December, he had some lyrics for Sullivan to look at. During these months, Sullivan took a trip to Egypt, Italy. Upon his return to London in April 1882, he moved into a new home, in May, by the end of July 1882, Gilbert had supplied Sullivan with lyrics to several of the songs, and Sullivan began work setting them to music. Over the next two months, Sullivan met Gilbert to discuss the libretto as more lyrics were completed, Music rehearsals began in September, and staging began in October, scheduled around performances of Gilbert and Sullivans previous opera, Patience, which had transferred to the Savoy Theatre. Sullivan was still composing more numbers for the opera until 20 October, uncharacteristically, Sullivan composed the overture himself, instead of assigning it to an assistant. Two casts rehearsed simultaneously, as the opera was to open on the night in London and New York City. Gilbert had targeted the aristocracy and political officials for satiric treatment in earlier works, in this opera, the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted, whose only qualification to govern is noble birth. The political party system, the law and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire, in fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords
11.
Princess Ida
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Princess Ida, or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen, Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a run of 246 performances. The piece concerns a princess who founds a womens university and teaches that women are superior to men, the prince to whom she had been married in infancy sneaks into the university, together with two friends, with the aim of collecting his bride. They disguise themselves as students, but are discovered. The opera satirizes feminism, womens education and Darwinian evolution, which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England. Princess Ida is based on a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called The Princess. He lifted much of the dialogue of Princess Ida directly from his 1870 farce and it is the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera in three acts and the only one with dialogue in blank verse. By Savoy Opera standards, Princess Ida was not considered a success due, in part, to a hot summer in London in 1884. Nevertheless, the piece is performed today by both professional and amateur companies, although not as frequently as the most popular of the Savoy operas. Princess Ida is based on Tennysons serio-comic narrative poem of 1847, The Princess, Gilbert had written a blank verse musical farce burlesquing the same material in 1870 called The Princess. He reused a good deal of the dialogue from earlier play in the libretto of Princess Ida. He also retained Tennysons blank verse style and the story line about a heroic princess who runs a womens college. He and his two friends infiltrate the college disguised as female students, Gilbert had to write entirely new lyrics for Princess Ida, since the lyrics to his 1870 farce were written to previously existing music by Jacques Offenbach, Rossini and others. Tennysons poem was written, in part, in response to the founding of Queens College, London, when Gilbert wrote The Princess in 1870, womens higher education was still an innovative, even radical concept. Girton College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, was established in 1869, however, by the time Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on Princess Ida in 1883, a womens college was a more established concept. Westfield College, the University of Londons first womens college, had opened in 1882, thus, womens higher education was in the news in London, and Westfield is cited as a model for Gilberts Castle Adamant. He also gave his consent to Gilbert to continue with the adaptation of The Princess as the basis for their next opera, later that spring, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria and the honour was announced in May at the opening of the Royal College of Music. Although it was the operas with Gilbert that had earned him the broadest fame, having just signed the five-year agreement, Sullivan suddenly felt trapped
12.
West End theatre
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West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and then stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location. The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
