Savoy Operas
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Savoy Operas
Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas (in both senses) were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical. Gilbert, Sullivan, Carte and other Victorian era British composers, librettists and producers, as well as the contemporary British press and literature, called works of this kind "comic operas" to distinguish their content and style from that of the often risqué continental European operettas that th ...
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1881 Patience
Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army defeats Peruvian forces. * January 15 – War of the Pacific – Battle of Miraflores: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores. * January 24 – William Edward Forster, chief secretary for Ireland, introduces his Coercion Bill, which temporarily suspends habeas corpus so that those people suspected of committing an offence can be detained without trial; it goes through a long debate before it is accepted February 2. * January 25 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company. * February 13 – The first issue of the feminist newspaper ''La Citoyenne'' is published by Hubertine Auclert. * February 16 – The Cana ...
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1881 Savoy Theatre
Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army defeats Peruvian forces. * January 15 – War of the Pacific – Battle of Miraflores: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores. * January 24 – William Edward Forster, chief secretary for Ireland, introduces his Coercion Bill, which temporarily suspends habeas corpus so that those people suspected of committing an offence can be detained without trial; it goes through a long debate before it is accepted February 2. * January 25 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company. * February 13 – The first issue of the feminist newspaper ''La Citoyenne'' is published by Hubertine Auclert. * February 16 – The Cana ...
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The Willow Pattern
''The Willow Pattern'' is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Basil Hood and music by Cecil Cook. It was first produced by William Greet at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901, running for a total of 110 performances until 29 March 1902. It toured thereafter. ''The Willow Pattern'' was a companion piece to ''Ib and Little Christina'' (for 16 performances) and later ''Iolanthe'' (94 performances). It and was toured in Britain and America. A copy of the printed libretto is in the British Library, at 11778.f.23(5). (1901). The vocal score was published by Chappells, and a copy is in British Library at F.690.j.(2) 902 A silent film of the legend was made in 1914, called ''Story of the Willow Pattern''. When the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership disbanded after the production of ''The Gondoliers'' in 1889, impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and, after his death, his widow Helen Carte and then lessee William Greet, filled the Savoy Theatre with a combination of new works and rev ...
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Ib And Little Christina
''Ib and Little Christina'' refers to two theatrical adaptations by Basil Hood of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901). Play The first version was a play subtitled "A Picture in 3 Parts", with incidental music by Arthur Bruhns, first produced at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 May 1900 and running for 60 performances. It starred John Martin-Harvey, Martin Harvey and the nine-year-old Phyllis Dare. The piece transferred to the Coronet Theatre, London, Coronet Theatre that summer. There was also a Broadway theatre, Broadway run in 1900. It was revived at Terry's Theatre in January 1903, playing for 16 performances, and again at Terry's in early 1904, for 31 more performances. The play was also revived at the Adelphi Theatre in September 1908, playing for seven performances. Opera Hood rewrote ''Ib and Little Christina'' as an opera styled "A Picture in 3 Panels", with music by Franco Leoni. It ...
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William Greet
William Greet (1851 – 25 April 1914) was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager in the 1890s and was associated with various London theatres, principally the Lyric, the Savoy and the Adelphi Theatres. Biography Greet was the seventh child and eldest son of Captain Wiliam Greet R.N., commander of the recruiting ship H.M.S. Crocodile, and the former Sarah Vallance Barling. Greet's younger brother was the actor-manager Ben Greet. Greet was born on his father's ship, christened at St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London, and educated at the Royal Naval School, New Cross. He served as a Lieutenant of the Royal Marine Artillery from 1871 to 1877. Career He worked first as a farmer and then began working in theatre management in the 1880s. Between 1884 and 1890, Greet was successively business manager at Toole's T ...
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Edward German
Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. Some of his light operas, especially '' Merrie England'', are still performed. As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra of Whitchurch, Shropshire. He also began to compose music. While performing and teaching violin at the Royal Academy of Music, German began to build a career as a composer in the mid-1880s, writing serious music as well as light opera. In 1888, he became music director of the Globe Theatre in London. He provided popular incidental music for many productions at the Globe and other London theatres, including ''Richard III'' (1889), ''Henry VIII'' (1892) and ''Nell Gwynn'' (1900). He also wrote symphonies, orchestral suites, symphonic poems and other works. He also wrote a consi ...
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The Emerald Isle
''The Emerald Isle''; ''or, The Caves of Carrig-Cleena'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, and a libretto by Basil Hood. The plot concerns the efforts of an Irish patriot to resist the oppressive "re-education" programme of the English, which has robbed the Irish of their cultural heritage. A quirky "Professor of Elocution" who is hired by the English to continue this "re-education" of the Irish switches sides to help the Irish defend their culture. Romantic complications cause a confrontation between the Irish patriots and the superstitious English at the supposedly haunted caves of Carric-Cleena, and disguises are employed to hold the English off; but the professor ultimately comes up with a solution that works out happily for all. The opera premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 27 April 1901, closing on 9 November 1901 after a run of 205 performances. The opening night cast included such Savoy regulars as Robert Evett, Walter Passmore, ...
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Helen Carte
Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impresario and hotelier Richard D'Oyly Carte, she is best remembered for her stewardship of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from the end of the 19th century into the early 20th century. Born in Wigtown, Scotland, she attended the University of London from 1871–1874 and pursued brief teaching and acting careers. In 1877 she obtained employment with Richard D'Oyly Carte and became his assistant and, later, business manager. She helped to produce the Gilbert and Sullivan and other Savoy Operas, beginning with ''The Sorcerer'' in 1877 and helped Carte with all his business interests. One of her principal assignments was to superintend arrangements for American productions and tours of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. She married ...
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Basil Hood
Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Widow''. He embarked on a career in the British Army, rising to the rank of captain, while writing theatrical pieces in his spare time. After some modest success, Hood and his collaborator, the composer Walter Slaughter, had a major hit with their long-running show, '' Gentleman Joe'', in 1895. Another long-running success was '' The French Maid'' (1896). Hood then resigned from the army to pursue his career as a librettist full-time. With Arthur Sullivan and then Edward German, he wrote several well-received pieces for the Savoy Theatre, including ''The Rose of Persia'' (1899), ''The Emerald Isle'' (1901), '' Merrie England'' (1902) and '' A Princess of Kensington'' (1903). After comic opera went out of fashion, Hood turned to Edwardian ...
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The Rose Of Persia
''The Rose of Persia''; ''or, The Story-Teller and the Slave'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitable run of 211 performances. The opera then toured, had a brief run in America and played elsewhere throughout the English-speaking world. The original cast included Savoy Theatre regulars Ellen Beach Yaw, Rosina Brandram, Emmie Owen, Louie Pounds, Isabel Jay, Walter Passmore, Henry Lytton and Robert Evett. Later, Decima Moore joined the cast as Scent-of-Lillies. The opera was regularly revived by amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, through the 1950s, but it has been produced only sporadically since then. The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players produced the opera professionally in 2007 at New York City Center. Background and original production When the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership collapsed after the production of ' ...
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The Grand Duke
''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, and ran for 123 performances. Despite a successful opening night, the production had a relatively short run and was the partnership's only financial failure, and the two men never worked together again. In recent decades, the opera has been revived professionally, first in the US and then in the UK. In ''The Grand Duke'', Gilbert and Sullivan come full circle, back to the theme of their first collaboration, ''Thespis (opera), Thespis'': a troupe of actors taking political power. The plot hinges on the mis-interpretation of a 100-year-old law regarding statutory duels (decided by drawing cards). The baffled leading man of the troupe, Ludwig, spearheads the rebellion against the hypochondriac, miserly Grand Duke and becomes engaged to four different w ...
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