Precious Nonsense: The Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan Osher Lifelong Learning Institute College of William and Mary May 2021 Ken Krantz, W&M J.D. 1977 [email protected] Patience: Well, it seems to me to be nonsense. Lady Angela: Nonsense? Yes, perhaps. But oh, what precious nonsense. Patience, Act I Sir Arthur Sullivan •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, Thespis, was never published and has been lost. The last two, Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke are seldom produced. The standard repertory consists of the 11 works from Trial by Jury to The Gondoliers. The next slides give the dates and length of the original London run for each opera. Lecture 1 May 6 •Thespis 1871 (63) •Trial by Jury 1875 (131) •The Sorcerer 1877 (178) •HMS Pinafore 1878 (571) •The Pirates of Penzance 1879 (363) Lecture 2 May 13 •Patience 1881 (578) •Iolanthe 1882 (398) •Princess Ida 1884 (246) •The Mikado 1885 (672) Lecture 3 May 20 •Ruddigore 1887 (288) •The Yeomen of the Guard 1888 (423) •The Gondoliers 1889 (554) •Utopia, Limited 1893 (245) •The Grand Duke 1896 (123) The G&S Cast: Women •The Soprano: Josephine, Mabel, Yum-yum •The Mezzo-soprano (Jesse Bond): Hebe, Edith, Pitti-sing •The Contralto (Rosina Brandram): Little Buttercup, Ruth, Katisha The G&S Cast: Men •The Tenor: Ralph Rackstraw, Frederic, Nanki-poo •The Patter Baritone (George Grossmith): Sir Joseph Porter, Major-General Stanley, Ko-ko •The Heavy Baritone (Rutland Barrington): Captain Corcoran, Police Sergeant, Pooh-bah •The Bass (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. Mike Leigh, 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 song • 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: Bab Ballads 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 Theatre 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 Royalty Theatre 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: Breach of Promise 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 Fred Sullivan (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 patter song “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 (Play 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 Portsmouth 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.