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Home , Bab Ballads, Fred Sullivan, George Grossmith, Gilbert and Sullivan, Iolanthe, Our Island Home

Precious Nonsense: The of

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute College of William and Mary May 2021 Ken Krantz, W&M J.D. 1977 [email protected] : Well, it seems to me to be nonsense.

Lady Angela: Nonsense? Yes, perhaps. But oh, what precious nonsense.

Patience, Act I Sir

•Born 1842 •Knighted 1883 •Died 1900

•He wrote the music Sir William S. Gilbert

•Born 1836 •Knighted 1907 •Died 1911

•He wrote the words Richard D’Oyly Carte

•Born 1844 •Died 1901

•He ran the business The G & S Canon: 1 + (11 + 2) = 14

The music to their first collaboration, , was never published and has been lost.

The last two, Utopia, Limited and are seldom produced.

The standard repertory consists of the 11 works from Trial by to .

The next slides give the dates and length of the original run for each . Lecture 1 May 6 •Thespis 1871 (63)

• 1875 (131) • 1877 (178) •HMS Pinafore 1878 (571) •The Pirates of 1879 (363) Lecture 2 May 13 •Patience 1881 (578)

• 1882 (398)

• 1884 (246)

• 1885 (672) Lecture 3 May 20 • 1887 (288) • 1888 (423) •The Gondoliers 1889 (554)

•Utopia, Limited 1893 (245) •The Grand Duke 1896 (123) The G&S Cast: Women

•The : Josephine, Mabel, Yum-yum

•The Mezzo-soprano (Jesse Bond): Hebe, Edith, Pitti-sing

•The (Rosina Brandram): Little Buttercup, Ruth, Katisha The G&S Cast: Men •The : Ralph Rackstraw, Frederic, Nanki-poo •The Patter (): Sir Joseph Porter, Major-General Stanley, Ko-ko •The Heavy Baritone (Rutland Barrington): Captain Corcoran, Police Sergeant, Pooh-bah •The (Richard Temple): Dick Deadeye, Pirate King, Mikado It is absolutely essential to the success of this piece that it should be played with the most perfect earnestness and gravity throughout. There should be no exaggeration in costume, makeup, or demeanour; and the characters, one and all, should appear to believe, throughout, in the perfect sincerity of their words and actions. Directly the actors show that they are conscious of the absurdity of their utterances the piece begins to drag. W.S. Gilbert

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 completely deadpan way. , Director, Topsy-Turvy (1999) Features of Gilbert’s stagecraft

• Topsy-Turvydom (a/k/a Gilbertian logic) • Firm directorial control • Effective dramatic use of the chorus • Act I sets up the problem, Act II resolves it • The issue, usually (but not always): Who will marry the soprano? Usually (but not always) between the tenor and the patter baritone • The Lozenge Plot • The Virtual Lozenge Elements of the G&S Plot

• Act I usually (but not always) opens with a chorus • Characters introduce themselves with a • Act I Finale The False Resolution The News Flash

• Act II: More ensembles, fewer chorus numbers • Act II Finale: Wrapping it all up Key sources: and earlier plays

• The Bab Ballads were a series of comic verses published in magazines, written and illustrated by Gilbert. They were later assembled into a book.

• He also used plot devices from plays that he had written before his collaboration with Sullivan Bard Moments

Like all educated Britons of his day, W. S. Gilbert was intimately familiar with the works of Shakespeare, and he assumed the same familiarity on the part of his audience.

His works contain many Shakespearean allusions, references, and even direct quotes, which will be indicated in “Bard Moments” throughout the course. Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old

December 26,1871 Gaiety 63 Performances Place: A temple at the summit of Mount Opympus Note: The YouTube links on these slides will not work in the pdf version, but all of the clips can be found with the YouTube search function (e.g. “Star Trek HMS Pinafore” or “Muppet Show Pirates of Penzance”)

Incidentally, I hope that you find search terms like “Star Trek HMS Pinafore” and “Muppet Show Pirates of Penzance” as intriguing as I did when I was preparing this lecture.

Trial by Jury

March 25, 1871 131 performances Place: A contemporary courtroom Dramatis Personae

The Learned Judge [Patter Baritone] Counsel for the Plaintiff [Heavy Baritone] Usher [Bass] The Defendant [Tenor] Foreman of the Jury The Plaintiff [Soprano] First Bridesmaid Chorus of Jurors, Bridesmaids, and Spectators Source: Trial by Jury, a Bab Ballad (1868)

Angelina v. Edwin

The cause of action: of Marriage Opening chorus, TNCC virtual chorus, 2020 Sullivan as musical parodist

Chorus: “All Hail, Great Judge” Sextet: “A Nice Dilemna” Sullivan does Handel Sullivan does Donizetti A Tale of Two Sextets: Lucia di Lammermoor and Trial by Jury 1. At a moment of high dramatic tension, everyone on stage suddenly freezes in place. 2. Opening section featuring the four lead singers (Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass). 3. The two secondary characters join in. 4. The chorus joins in, singing a rhythmic “oom-pah-pah” underneath the six principals. 5. Just before the final phrase the music comes to a full stop. Lucia sextet TBJ sextet (1837-1877): The First Patter Baritone Frederick Sullivan, Jr. (1872-1937) Duck Soup (1933) The Sorcerer

November 17, 1877 Opera Comique 175 performances Place: The village of Ploverleigh Dramatis Personae Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre [Temple] Alexis, his son, an army officer [Tenor] Dr. Daly, the village vicar [Barrington] John Wellington Wells, a sorcerer [Grossmith] A notary Lady Sangazure [Contralto] Aline, her daughter [Soprano] Mrs. Partlet Constance, her daughter [Mezzo] Chorus of Villagers The Sorcerer

• First extant full length G&S work • Set the pattern for what was to come • The first fast “My name is John Wellington Wells” • The strongest example in the canon of the Lozenge Plot • The first opera to be revived (1884) • Beginnings of the standard set of G&S characters: The young lovers, the elderly contralto, the patter baritone, etc. Love potion stories, old and new

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare (1595) • L’elisir d’Amore, Donizetti (1832) • Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack, Gilbert (1866) • Tristan und Isolde, Wagner (1865) • Bell, Book, and Candle ( 1950, Film 1958)

• The Up-to-Date Sorcerer, Asimov (1958), reprinted in Nightfall and Other Stories (1969) The Rules of the Love Potion (not consistently applied in Act II) 1. Whoever drinks it falls asleep immediately.

2. On waking, the person falls in love with the first person he or she sees of the opposite sex, provided that the other person has also taken the potion. However;

3. The potion has no effect on married people. Bard Moment

The love potion works similarly to the one in A Midsummer Night’s Dream—The person falls in love with the first person he or she sees.

In Dream the magical juice is applied to the eyes of a person who is already asleep, while in Sorcerer the potion makes the person fall asleep (except when it doesn’t, as with Aline in Act II)

More importantly, characters in Sorcerer, unlike those in Dream, retain residual feelings from their original affections. Act I Incantation Scene from 1884 revival Topsy Turvy (1999) 1976 Sinfonicron production: Act II quintet Wells’ Patter Song (Abridged)

My name is John Wellington Wells, I’m a dealer in magic and spells, in blessings and curses and ever-filled purses, in prophecies, witches, and knells.

If you want a proud foe to "make tracks"-- if you'd melt a rich uncle in wax-- you've but to look in on the resident djinn, Number 70 Simmery Axe! Wells’ Patter Song (Abridged)

We've a first-rate assortment of magic; and for raising a posthumous shade, with effects that are comic or tragic, there's no cheaper house in the trade. love-philtre--we've quantities of it! and for knowledge if any one burns, we’re keeping a very small prophet, a prophet who brings us unbounded returns: Wells’ Patter Song (Abridged)

For he can prophesy with a wink of his eye, peep with security into futurity, sum up your history, clear up a mystery, humour proclivity for a nativity--for a nativity; He has answers oracular, bogies spectacular, tetrapods tragical, mirrors so magical, facts astronomical, solemn or comical, and, if you want it, he makes a reduction on taking a quantity! Oh! Wells’ Patter Song (Abridged)

My name is John Wellington Wells, I’m a dealer in magic and spells, in blessings and curses and ever-filled purses, in prophecies, witches, and knells.

And if any one anything lacks, he'll find it all ready in stacks, if he'll only look in on the resident djinn, Number 70, Simmery Axe! Fun fact: It’s a limerick

My name is John Wellington Wells, I’m a dealer in magic and spells, In blessings and curses And ever-filled purses, In prophecies, witches, and knells.

And if anyone anything lacks, He'll find it all ready in stacks, If he'll only look in On the resident djinn, Number 70, Simmery Axe! HMS Pinafore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor

May 25, 1878 Opera Comique 571 performances Place: Quarterdeck of HMS Pinafore in Harbor Dramatis Personae Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, First Lord of the Admiralty [Grossmith] Captain Corcoran, Commanding HMS Pinafore [Barrington] Ralph Rackstraw, Able Seaman [Tenor] Dick Deadeye, Able Seaman [Temple] Bill Bobstay, Boatswain’s Mate Bob Becket, Carpenter’s Mate Josephine Porter, the Captain’s Daughter [Soprano] Hebe, Sir Joseph’s Cousin [Bond] Little Buttercup, a Bumboat Woman [Contralto] Chorus of Sailors, Sisters, Cousins, and Aunts Bab Ballad Sources

• Joe Golightly • The Bumboat Woman’s Story • Captain Reece • General John and Private James Discussion Topic: Dick Deadeye, the “villain” of the piece

“From such a face and form as mine, the noblest sentiments sound like the black utterances of a depraved imagination. It’s human nature, I’m resigned.” Discussion Topic: Do we believe Little Buttercup? Should we?

Her story is a. Completely uncorroborated b. Self-serving, and c. (let’s face it) implausible on its face. And yet,

Everyone on stage buys it! The Right Honourable William Henry Smith, First Lord of the Admiralty Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

John Rhys-Davies sings HMS Pinafore

I am the Monarch of the Sea: https://youtu.be/ZpSrKyGLt1k

A British Tar: https://youtu.be/GMMCz07zfeA

The training montage, (1981) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998): “A human, a Klingon, and an android walk into a bar.”

https://youtu.be/-_kXyLMWdqw Just kidding. They don’t walk into a bar, but they do sing a few bars: https://youtu.be/0fGZh-eotQ0 https://youtu.be/wKXtv2_IaCY : Season 5 “”

Featuring the mellow sounds of Sideshow Bob , or The Slave of Duty

April 3, 1880 Opera Comique 363 performances (December 30, 1879 Paignton, ) (December 31, 1879 New York, NY, USA) Place: 1. A beach on the Cornish coast 2. A ruined chapel by moonlight The Pirates of Penzance

The time: Approximately 11:15 A.M., either February 28 or March 1, either 1873 or 1877.

Sources: (Gilbert, 1870) Inter gravissimas (Pope Gregory XIII, 1582) A young apprentice buccaneer Told his fiancée “Mabel, I fear That for decades more I’m Stuck in a life of crime Because I was born in leap year.” Dramatis Personae

Major-General Stanley [Grossmith] The Pirate King [Temple] Samuel, his lieutenant Frederic, an apprentice pirate [Tenor] Sergeant of Police [Barrington] Mabel [Soprano] Edith [Mezzo] Kate Isabel Ruth, the piratical maid of all work [Contralto] Chorus of Pirates, Policemen, and Daughters The Pirate King, then and now Richard Temple, 1880 , 1980 “I am a Pirate King” 1983 film Poor Wand’ring One 1980 Central Park Poor Wand’ring One concluded 1983 film The Modern Major-General General Sir Garnet Wolseley The Major-General’s Song 1980 Act I Finale Act II “A policeman’s lot is not a happy one” Police entrance Central Park 1980 Bonus: Police Sergeant Tony Azito in a 1982 Federal Express commercial Catlike Tread Central Park Epilogue Unconventional versions of Pirates music , The Elements

• Live concert version from 1967: https://youtu.be/AcS3NOQnsQM

• Album version, with lyrics: https://youtu.be/U2cfju6GTNs

• Big Bang Theory: https://youtu.be/yYdMyMtb67k 1967 concert version (with Danish subtitles) Despicable Me 3 (2017)

https://youtu.be/_RG8hoGMxKw

Karaoke version: https://youtu.be/XaDp6YC3NKk

Gilda Radner, Muppet Show, 1978 Pirates of Penzance Medley: https://youtu.be/LGPjwv-r6jw

Anamaniacs: “The Very Model of a Cartoon Individual” Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: “The Very Model of a Modern Network TV Show”