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''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a
comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by
W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...
. It opened at the
Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway. ...
in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. The story takes place aboard the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
ship HMS ''Pinafore''. The captain's daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
. She abides by her father's wishes at first, but Sir Joseph's advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The Captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically near the end of the story. Drawing on several of his earlier "
Bab Ballad ''The Bab Ballads'' is a collection of light verses by W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), illustrated with his own comic drawings. The book takes its title from Gilbert's childhood nickname. He later began to sign his illustrations "Bab". Gilbert w ...
" poems, Gilbert imbued this plot with mirth and silliness. The opera's humour focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general. ''Pinafore'' also pokes good-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, the Royal Navy, and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The title of the piece comically applies the name of a garment for girls and women, a
pinafore A pinafore (colloquially a pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron. Pinafores may be worn as a decorative garment and as a protective apron. A related term is ''pinafore dress'' (known as a ''jumper'' in Ameri ...
, to the fearsome symbol of a warship. ''Pinafore''s extraordinary popularity in Britain, America and elsewhere was followed by the similar success of a series of Gilbert and Sullivan works, including ''
The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 187 ...
'' and ''
The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
''. Their works, later known as the
Savoy opera 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 impr ...
s, dominated the musical stage on both sides of the Atlantic for more than a decade and continue to be performed today. The structure and style of these operas, particularly ''Pinafore'', were much copied and contributed significantly to the development of modern musical theatre.


Background

In 1875,
Richard D'Oyly Carte Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...
, who was then managing the
Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.
for
Selina Dolaro Selina Simmons Belasco Dolaro (20 August 1849 – 23 January 1889) was an English singer, actress, theatre manager and writer of the late Victorian era. During her career in operetta and other forms of musical theatre, she managed several of ...
, brought Gilbert and Sullivan together to write their second show, a one-act opera entitled ''
Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...
''. This proved a success, and in 1876 D'Oyly Carte assembled a group of financial backers to establish the Comedy Opera Company, which was devoted to the production and promotion of family-friendly English comic opera. With this theatre company, Carte finally had the financial resources, after many failed attempts, to produce a new full-length Gilbert and Sullivan opera. This next opera was ''
The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas story, ''An Elixir of Lo ...
'', which opened in November 1877. It too was successful, running for 178 performances.Ainger, p. 157 Sheet music from the show sold well, and street musicians played the melodies. Instead of writing a piece for production by a theatre proprietor, as was usual in Victorian theatres, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte produced the show with their own financial support. They were therefore able to choose their own cast of performers, rather than being obliged to use the actors already engaged at the theatre. They chose talented actors, most of whom were not well-known stars and did not command high fees, and to whom they could teach a more naturalistic style of performance than was commonly used at the time. They then tailored their work to the particular abilities of these performers. The skill with which Gilbert and Sullivan used their performers had an effect on the audience; as critic
Herman Klein Herman Klein (born Hermann Klein; 23 July 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles Klein, Charles and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Cla ...
wrote: "we secretly marvelled at the naturalness and ease with which he Gilbertian quips and absurditieswere said and done. For until then no living soul had seen upon the stage such weird, eccentric, yet intensely human beings. ...
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
conjured into existence a hitherto unknown comic world of sheer delight." The success of ''The Sorcerer'' paved the way for another collaboration by Gilbert and Sullivan. Carte agreed on terms for a new opera with the Comedy Opera Company, and Gilbert began work on ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' before the end of 1877. Gilbert's father had been a
naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Speciali ...
, and the nautical theme of the opera appealed to him.Bradley (1996), p. 115 He drew on several of his earlier "
Bab Ballad ''The Bab Ballads'' is a collection of light verses by W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), illustrated with his own comic drawings. The book takes its title from Gilbert's childhood nickname. He later began to sign his illustrations "Bab". Gilbert w ...
" poems (many of which also have nautical themes), including "Captain Reece" (1868) and "General John" (1867). Some of the characters also have prototypes in the ballads: Dick Deadeye is based on a character in "Woman's Gratitude" (1869); an early version of Ralph Rackstraw can be seen in "Joe Go-Lightly" (1867), with its sailor madly in love with the daughter of someone who far outranks him; and Little Buttercup is taken almost wholesale from "The Bumboat Woman's Story" (1870).Allen (1975), Introduction to chapter on ''Pinafore'' On 27 December 1877, while Sullivan was on holiday on the French Riviera, Gilbert sent him a plot sketch accompanied by the following note:Jacobs, pp. 114–115 Despite Gilbert's disclaimer, audiences, critics and even the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, identified Sir Joseph Porter with W. H. Smith, a politician who had recently been appointed
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
despite having neither military nor nautical experience. Sullivan was delighted with the sketch, and Gilbert read a first draft of the plot to Carte in mid-January. Following the example of his mentor, T. W. Robertson, Gilbert strove to ensure that the costumes and sets were as realistic as possible. When preparing the sets for ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', Gilbert and Sullivan visited
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in April 1878 to inspect ships. Gilbert made sketches of H.M.S. ''Victory'' and H.M.S. ''St Vincent'' and created a model set for the carpenters to work from. This was far from standard procedure in Victorian drama, in which naturalism was still a relatively new concept, and in which most authors had very little influence on how their plays and libretti were staged. This attention to detail was typical of Gilbert's stage management and would be repeated in all of his
Savoy opera 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 impr ...
s. Gilbert's focus on visual accuracy provided a "right-side-up for topsy-turvydom", that is, a realistic point of reference that serves to heighten the whimsicality and absurdity of the situations. Sullivan was "in the full swing" of work on the piece by the middle of April 1878. The bright and cheerful music of ''Pinafore'' was composed during a time when Sullivan suffered from excruciating pain from a kidney stone. The cast began music rehearsals on 24 April, and at the beginning of May 1878, the two collaborators worked closely together at Sullivan's flat to finalise the piece. In ''Pinafore'', Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte used several of the principal cast members whom they had assembled for ''The Sorcerer''. As Gilbert had suggested to Sullivan in December 1877, "Mrs. Cripps ittle Buttercupwill be a capital part for
Everard Everard is a given name and surname which is the anglicised version of the old Germanic name Eberhard. Notable people with the name include: People First name *Everard Aloysius Lisle Phillipps (1835–1857), English East India officer awarded the V ...
 ... Barrington will be a capital captain, and Grossmith a first-rate First Lord." However,
Mrs Howard Paul Isabella Hill (1 April 1833 – 6 June 1879), better known as Mrs Howard Paul, was an English actress, operatic singer and actress-manager of the Victorian era, best remembered for creating the role of Lady Sangazure in the Gilbert and Sullivan ...
, who had played Lady Sangazure in ''The Sorcerer'', was declining vocally. She was under contract to play the role of Cousin Hebe in ''Pinafore''. Gilbert made an effort to write an amusing part for her despite Sullivan's reluctance to use her, but by mid-May 1878, both Gilbert and Sullivan wanted her out of the cast; unhappy with the role, she left. With only a week to go before opening night, Carte hired a concert singer,
Jessie Bond Jessie Charlotte Bond (10 January 1853 – 17 June 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of th ...
, to play Cousin Hebe.Stedman, p. 160 Since Bond had little experience as an actress, Gilbert and Sullivan cut the dialogue out of the role, except for a few lines in the last scene, which they turned into
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat ...
. Other new cast members were
Emma Howson Emma Howson (28 March 1844 – 28 May 1928) was an Australian opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of the principal soprano role of Josephine in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera '' H.M.S. Pinafore''. She began her ...
and George Power in the romantic roles, who were improvements on the romantic soprano and
tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
in ''The Sorcerer''.Stedman, p. 161 Gilbert acted as stage director for his own plays and operas. He sought realism in acting, just as he strove for realistic visual elements. He deprecated self-conscious interaction with the audience and insisted on a style of portrayal in which the characters were never aware of their own absurdity but were coherent internal wholes. Sullivan conducted the music rehearsals. As was to be his usual practice in his later operas, Sullivan left the overture for the last moment, sketching it out and entrusting it to the company's music director, in this case
Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing t ...
, to complete. ''Pinafore'' opened on 25 May 1878 at the
Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway. ...
.


Roles

* The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, KCB,
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
(comic baritone) * Captain Corcoran, Commander of H.M.S. ''Pinafore'' (lyric baritone) * Ralph Rackstraw,
Able Seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination o ...
(
tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
) * Dick Deadeye, Able Seaman ( bass-baritone) * Bill Bobstay,
Boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervise ...
's Mate ( baritone) * Bob Becket, Carpenter's Mate ( bass) * Josephine, The Captain's Daughter ( soprano) * Cousin Hebe, Sir Joseph's First Cousin ( mezzo-soprano) * Mrs. Cripps (Little Buttercup), A Portsmouth
Bumboat A bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore. The name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe—"''boomschuit''" ("''boom''" meaning "tree"), and "boat". In Tobias Smollett's 1748 no ...
Woman (
contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...
) * Chorus of First Lord's Sisters, His Cousins, His Aunts, Sailors, Marines, etc.


Synopsis


Act I

The British warship H.M.S. ''Pinafore'' is at anchor off
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. The sailors are on the quarterdeck, proudly "cleaning brasswork, splicing rope, etc." Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth "
bumboat A bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore. The name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe—"''boomschuit''" ("''boom''" meaning "tree"), and "boat". In Tobias Smollett's 1748 no ...
woman" (dockside vendor) – who is the rosiest, roundest, and "reddest beauty in all
Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
" – comes on board to sell her wares to the crew. She hints that she may be hiding a dark secret under her "gay and frivolous exterior". Ralph Rackstraw, "the smartest lad in all the fleet", enters, declaring his love for the Captain's daughter, Josephine. His fellow sailors (excepting Dick Deadeye, the grim and ugly realist of the crew) offer their sympathies, but they can give Ralph little hope that his love will ever be returned. The gentlemanly and popular Captain Corcoran greets his "gallant crew" and compliments them on their politeness, saying that he returns the favour by never ("well, hardly ever") using bad language, such as "a big, big D". After the sailors leave, the Captain confesses to Little Buttercup that Josephine is reluctant to consider a marriage proposal from Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Buttercup says that she knows how it feels to love in vain. As she leaves, the Captain remarks that she is "a plump and pleasing person". Josephine enters and reveals to her father that she loves a humble sailor in his crew, but she assures him that she is a dutiful daughter and will never reveal her love to this sailor. Sir Joseph comes on board, accompanied by his "admiring crowd of sisters, cousins and aunts". He recounts how he rose from humble beginnings to be "ruler of the Queen's Navee" through persistence, although he has no naval qualifications. He then delivers a humiliating lesson in etiquette, telling the Captain that he must always say "if you please" after giving an order; for "A British sailor is any man's equal" – excepting Sir Joseph's. Sir Joseph has composed a song to illustrate that point, and he gives a copy of it to Ralph. Shortly afterwards, elated by Sir Joseph's views on equality, Ralph decides that he will declare his love to Josephine. This delights his shipmates, except Dick Deadeye, who contends that "when people have to obey other people's orders, equality's out of the question". Shocked by his words, the other sailors force Dick to listen to Sir Joseph's song before they exit, leaving Ralph alone on deck. Josephine now enters, and Ralph confesses his love in terms surprisingly eloquent for a "common sailor". Josephine is touched, but although she has found Sir Joseph's attentions nauseating, she knows that it is her duty to marry Sir Joseph instead of Ralph. Disguising her true feelings, she "haughtily rejects" Ralph's "proffered love". Ralph summons his shipmates (Sir Joseph's female relatives also arrive) and tells them that he is bent on suicide. The crew expresses sympathy, except for Dick, who provides a stark counterpoint of dissent. Ralph puts a pistol to his head, but as he is about to pull the trigger, Josephine enters, admitting that she loves him after all. Ralph and Josephine plan to sneak ashore to elope that night. Dick Deadeye warns them to "forbear, nor carry out the scheme", but the joyous ship's company ignores him.


Act II

Later that night, under a full moon, Captain Corcoran reviews his concerns: his "kindly crew rebels", his "daughter to a
tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...
is partial", his friends seem to desert him, and Sir Joseph has threatened a court-martial. Little Buttercup offers sympathy. He tells her that, if it were not for the difference in their social standing, he would have returned her affection. She prophesies that things are not all as they seem and that "a change" is in store for him, but he does not understand her cryptic warning. Sir Joseph enters and complains that Josephine has not yet agreed to marry him. The Captain speculates that she is probably dazzled by his "exalted rank" and that if Sir Joseph can persuade her that "love levels all ranks", she will accept his proposal. They withdraw, and Josephine enters, still feeling guilty about her planned elopement with Ralph and fearful of giving up a life of luxury. When Sir Joseph makes the argument that "love levels all ranks", a delighted Josephine says that she "will hesitate no longer". The Captain and Sir Joseph rejoice, but Josephine is now more determined than ever to marry Ralph. Dick Deadeye intercepts the Captain and tells him of the lovers' plans to elope. The Captain confronts Ralph and Josephine as they try to leave the ship. The pair declare their love, justifying their actions because "He is an Englishman!" The furious Captain is unmoved and blurts out, "Why, damme, it's too bad!" Sir Joseph and his relatives, who have overheard this oath, are shocked to hear swearing on board a ship, and Sir Joseph orders the Captain confined to his cabin. When Sir Joseph asks what had provoked the usually polite officer's outburst, Ralph replies that it was his declaration of love for Josephine. Furious in his turn at this revelation, and ignoring Josephine's plea to spare Ralph, Sir Joseph has the sailor "loaded with chains" and taken to the ship's brig. Little Buttercup now comes forward to reveal her long-held secret. Many years ago, when she "practised
baby-farming Baby farming is the historical practice of accepting custody of an infant or child in exchange for payment in late-Victorian era, Victorian Britain and, less commonly, in Australia and the United States. If the infant was young, this usually in ...
", she had cared for two babies, one "of low condition", the other "a regular
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
". She confesses that she "mixed those children up. ... The wellborn babe was Ralph; your Captain was the other." Sir Joseph now realises that Ralph should have been the Captain, and the Captain should have been Ralph. He summons both, and they emerge wearing each other's uniforms: Ralph as Captain, in command of the ''Pinafore'', and Corcoran as a common sailor. Sir Joseph's marriage with Josephine is now "out of the question" in his eyes: "love levels all ranks ... to a considerable extent, but it does not level them as much as that." He hands her to Captain Rackstraw. The former Captain's now-humble social rank leaves him free to marry Buttercup. Sir Joseph settles for his cousin Hebe, and all ends in general rejoicing.


Musical numbers

* Overture ;Act I * 1. "We sail the ocean blue" (Sailors) * 2. "Hail! men-o'-war's men" ... "I'm called Little Buttercup" (Buttercup) * 2a. "But tell me who's the youth" (Buttercup and Boatswain) * 3. "The nightingale" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors) * 3a. "A maiden fair to see" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors) * 4. "My gallant crew, good morning ... I am the Captain of the Pinafore" (Captain and Chorus of Sailors) * 4a. "Sir, you are sad" (Buttercup and Captain) * 5. "Sorry her lot who loves too well" (Josephine) * 5a. Cut song: "Reflect, my child" (Captain and Josephine) * 6. "Over the bright blue sea" (Chorus of Female Relatives) * 7. "Sir Joseph's barge is seen" (Chorus of Sailors and Female Relatives) * 8. "Now give three cheers ... I am the Monarch of the sea" (Captain, Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe and Chorus) * 9. "When I was a lad" (Sir Joseph and Chorus) * 9a. "For I hold that on the sea" (Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe and Chorus) * 10. "A British
tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...
" (Ralph, Boatswain, Carpenter's Mate and Chorus of Sailors) * 11. "Refrain, audacious tar" (Josephine and Ralph) * 12. Finale, Act I (Ensemble) ** "Can I survive this overbearing?" ** "Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen" ** "Let's give three cheers for the sailor's bride" ** "A British tar" (reprise) ;Act II (Entr'acte) * 13. "Fair moon, to thee I sing" (Captain) * 14. "Things are seldom what they seem" (Buttercup and Captain) * 15. "The hours creep on apace" (Josephine) * 16. "Never mind the why and wherefore" (Josephine, Captain and Sir Joseph) * 17. "Kind Captain, I've important information" (Captain and Dick Deadeye) * 18. "Carefully on tiptoe stealing" (Soli and Chorus) * 18a. "Pretty daughter of mine" (Captain and Ensemble) and "He is an Englishman" (Boatswain and Ensemble) * 19. "Farewell, my own" (Ralph, Josephine, Sir Joseph, Buttercup and Chorus) * 20. "A many years ago" (Buttercup and Chorus) * 20a. "Here, take her, sir" (Sir Joseph, Josephine, Ralph, Cousin Hebe and Chorus) * 21. Finale: "Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen" (Ensemble)


Productions

''Pinafore'' opened on 25 May 1878 at the
Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway. ...
, before an enthusiastic audience, with Sullivan conducting. Soon, however, the piece suffered from weak ticket sales, generally ascribed to a heat wave that made the Opera Comique particularly uncomfortable.Bradley (1996), p. 116 The historian Michael Ainger questions this explanation, at least in part, stating that the heat waves in the summer of 1878 were short and transient. By mid-August, Sullivan wrote to his mother that cooler weather had arrived, which was good for the show. In the meantime, the four partners of the Comedy Opera Company lost confidence in the opera's viability and posted closing notices.Jacobs, p. 122 Carte publicised the piece by presenting a matinee concert performance on 6 July 1878 at the enormous
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. In late August 1878, Sullivan used some of the ''Pinafore'' music, arranged by his assistant
Hamilton Clarke James Hamilton Siree Clarke (25 January 1840 – 9 July 1912), better known as Hamilton Clarke, was an English conductor, composer and organist. Although Clarke was a prolific composer, he is best remembered as an associate of Arthur Sullivan, ...
, during several successful promenade concerts at Covent Garden that generated interest and stimulated ticket sales. By September, ''Pinafore'' was playing to full houses at the Opera Comique. The piano score sold 10,000 copies, and Carte soon sent two additional companies out to tour in the provinces. Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan now had the financial resources to produce shows themselves, without outside backers. Carte persuaded the author and composer that a business partnership among the three would be to their advantage, and they hatched a plan to separate themselves from the directors of the Comedy Opera Company. The contract between Gilbert and Sullivan and the Comedy Opera Company gave the latter the right to present ''Pinafore'' for the duration of the initial run. The Opera Comique was obliged to close for drain and sewer repairs, and it was renovated by E. W. Bradwell, from Christmas 1878 to the end of January 1879. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte believed that this break ended the initial run, and, therefore, ended the company's rights. Carte put the matter beyond doubt by taking a six-month personal lease of the theatre beginning on 1 February 1879, the date of its re-opening, when ''Pinafore'' resumed. At the end of the six months, Carte planned to give notice to the Comedy Opera Company that its rights in the show and the theatre had ended.Stedman, pp. 170–171 Meanwhile, numerous versions of ''Pinafore'', unauthorised by its creators, began playing in America with great success, beginning with a production in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
that opened on 25 November 1878. ''Pinafore'' became a source of popular quotations on both sides of the Atlantic, such as the exchange: "What, never?" "No, never!" "What, ''never?''" "Well, hardly ever!" In February 1879, ''Pinafore'' resumed operations at the Opera Comique. The opera also resumed touring in April, with two companies crisscrossing the British provinces by June, one starring
Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Life and career Mansfield was born ...
as Sir Joseph, the other W. S. Penley in the role. Hoping to join in on the profits to be made in America from ''Pinafore'', Carte left in June for New York to make arrangements for an "authentic" production there to be rehearsed personally by the author and composer. He arranged to rent a theatre and auditioned chorus members for the American production of ''Pinafore'' and a new Gilbert and Sullivan opera to be premiered in New York, and for tours. Sullivan, as had been arranged with Carte and Gilbert, gave notice to the partners of the Comedy Opera Company in early July 1879 that he, Gilbert and Carte would not be renewing the contract to produce ''Pinafore'' with them and that he would be withdrawing his music from the Comedy Opera Company on 31 July.Ainger, p. 169 In return, the Comedy Opera Company gave notice that they intended to play ''Pinafore'' at another theatre and brought a legal action against Carte and company. They offered the London and touring casts of ''Pinafore'' more money to play in their production, and although some choristers accepted their offer, only one principal player, Aeneas Joseph Dymott, accepted. They engaged the
Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed ...
but had no scenery. On 31 July, they sent a group of thugs to seize the scenery and props during Act II of the evening performance at the Opera Comique. Gilbert was away, and Sullivan was recovering from an operation for kidney stones. Stagehands and cast members managed to ward off their backstage attackers and protect the scenery, although the stage manager, Richard Barker, and others, were injured. The cast went on with the show until someone shouted "Fire!" George Grossmith, playing Sir Joseph, went before the curtain to calm the panicked audience. The police arrived to restore order, and the show continued. Gilbert sued to stop the Comedy Opera Company from staging their rival production of ''H.M.S. Pinafore''. The court permitted the production to go on at the Imperial, beginning on 1 August 1879, and it transferred to the
Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...
in September. Pauline Rita was one of a series of Josephines. The production received good notices and initially sold well but was withdrawn in October after 91 performances. The matter was eventually settled in court, where a judge ruled in Carte's favour about two years later. After his return to London, Carte formed a new partnership with Gilbert and Sullivan to divide profits equally after the expenses of each of their shows. Meanwhile, ''Pinafore'' continued to play strongly. On 20 February 1880, ''Pinafore'' completed its initial run of 571 performances. Only one other work of musical theatre in the world had ever run longer,
Robert Planquette Jean Robert Planquette (31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of songs and operettas. Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especially '' Les cloches de Corneville'' (1878), the length of ...
's operetta ''
Les cloches de Corneville ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (''The Bells of Corneville'', sometimes known in English as ''The Chimes of Normandy'') is an opéra-comique in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet. The st ...
''.


Taking ''Pinafore'' to the United States

Approximately 150 unauthorised productions of ''Pinafore'' sprang up in the United States in 1878 and 1879, and none of these paid royalties to the authors. Gilbert and Sullivan called them "pirated", although the creators did not have any international copyright protection.Prestige, Colin. "D'Oyly Carte and the Pirates: The Original New York Productions of Gilbert and Sullivan", pp. 113–148 at p. 118, ''Gilbert and Sulliva
Papers Presented at the International Conference
held at the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
in May 1970'', Edited by James Helyar. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries, 1971
The first of these productions, opening at the Boston Museum on 25 November 1878, made such a splash that the piece was quickly produced in major cities and on tour by dozens of companies throughout the country. Boston alone saw at least a dozen productions, including a juvenile version described by Louisa May Alcott in her 1879 story, "Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore".Kanthor, Harold. "H.M.S. Pinafore and the Theater Season in Boston 1878–1879", ''
Journal of Popular Culture ''The Journal of Popular Culture'' (''JPC'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes academic essays on all aspects of popular or mass culture. It is published six times a year, printed by Wiley-Blackwell. As of Summer 2022, the editor ...
'', Spring 1991, vol. 24, no. 4, Platinum Periodicals, p. 119
In New York, different productions of the piece played simultaneously in eight theatres within five blocks of each other and in six theatres in Philadelphia. These unauthorised performances took many forms, including burlesques, productions with men playing women's roles and vice versa, spoofs, variety acts,
Minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...
versions, all-black and Catholic productions, German,
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
and other foreign-language versions,Jones, p. 7 performances on boats or by church choirs,Stedman, p. 169 and productions starring casts of children. Few purported to play the opera as written. Sheet music arrangements were popular, there were ''Pinafore''-themed dolls and household items, and references to the opera were common in advertising, news and other media. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte brought lawsuits in the U.S. and tried for many years to control the American performance copyrights over their operas, or at least to claim some royalties, without success. They made a special effort to claim American rights for their next work after ''Pinafore'', ''
The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 187 ...
'', by giving the official premiere in New York. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte met by 24 April 1879 to make plans for a production of ''Pinafore'' in America. Carte travelled to New York in the summer of 1879 and made arrangements with theatre manager
John T. Ford John Thompson Ford (April 16, 1829 – March 14, 1894) was an American Theatre director, theater manager and politician during the nineteenth century. He is most notable for operating Ford's Theatre at the time of the Abraham Lincoln assassinatio ...
to present, at the
Fifth Avenue Theatre Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in New York City in the United States located at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway (1185 Broadway). It was demolished in 1939. Built in 1868, it was managed by Augustin Daly in the mid-1870s. In 1877, ...
, the first authorised American production of ''Pinafore''. In November, Carte returned to America with Gilbert, Sullivan and a company of strong singers, including
J. H. Ryley John Handford Ryley (11 September 1841Kurt Gänzl, Gänzl, Kurt"J H Ryley: setting at least some of the record straight ..." Kurt of Gerolstein, 13 May 2018 – 28 July 1922) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in th ...
as Sir Joseph, Blanche Roosevelt as Josephine,
Alice Barnett Alice Barnett (17 May 1846 – 14 April 1901) was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Barnett began her career by 1873 in ...
as Little Buttercup,
Furneaux Cook Furneaux Cook (1839 – 19 January 1903), born John Furneaux Cook, was an English opera singer and actor best known for baritone roles in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and Alfred Cellier on the London stage. Cook appeared on stage f ...
as Dick Deadeye,
Hugh Talbot Hugh Talbot (15 October 1844 – 31 October 1899), born Hugo Talbot Brennan, was an Irish tenor best known for creating, to universally bad reviews, the role of Frederic in the Gilbert and Sullivan hit ''The Pirates of Penzance'' in the original ...
as Ralph Rackstraw and
Jessie Bond Jessie Charlotte Bond (10 January 1853 – 17 June 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. She spent twenty years on the stage, the bulk of th ...
as Cousin Hebe.Jacobs, p. 129 To these, he added some American singers, including
Signor Brocolini John Clark, better known as Signor Brocolini (September 26, 1841 – June 7, 1906), was an Irish-born American operatic singer and actor remembered for creating the role of the Pirate King in the original New York City production of ''The Pirates ...
as Captain Corcoran.Ainger, pp. 182–183
Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing t ...
came to assist Sullivan, while his brother
François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...
remained in London to conduct ''Pinafore'' there. ''Pinafore'' opened in New York on 1 December 1879 (with Gilbert onstage in the chorus) and ran for the rest of December. After a reasonably strong first week, audiences quickly fell off, since most New Yorkers had already seen local productions of ''Pinafore''. In the meantime, Gilbert and Sullivan raced to complete and rehearse their new opera, ''The Pirates of Penzance'', which premiered with much success on 31 December. Shortly thereafter, Carte sent three touring companies around the United States East Coast and Midwest, playing ''Pinafore'' alongside ''Pirates''.Stedman, p. 175


Children's production

The unauthorised juvenile productions of ''Pinafore'' were so popular that Carte mounted his own children's version, played at matinees at the Opera Comique beginning on 16 December 1879.
François Cellier François Arsène Cellier (14 December 1849 – 5 January 1914), often called Frank, was an English conductor and composer. He is known for his tenure as musical director and conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the original runs ...
, who had taken over from his brother as Carte's music director in London, adapted the score for children's voices.Cellier and Bridgeman, chapter entitle
"The making of ''H.M.S. Pinafore''"
reproduced at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 10 March 2009
Between its two Christmas seasons in London, the children's production went on a provincial tour from 2 August 1880 to 11 December 1880. Carte's children's production earned enthusiastic reviews from the critic
Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...
and the other London critics, as well as the audiences, including children. However, Captain Corcoran's curse "Damme!" was uncensored, shocking such prominent audience members as
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
, who later wrote: "a bevy of sweet innocent-looking girls sing, with bright and happy looks, the chorus 'He said, Damn me! He said, Damn me!' I cannot find words to convey to the reader the pain I felt in seeing those dear children taught to utter such words to amuse ears grown callous to their ghastly meaning ... How Mr. Gilbert could have stooped to write, or Sir Arthur Sullivan could have prostituted his noble art to set to music, such vile trash, it passes my skill to understand".


Subsequent productions

After the opera became successful in London, Richard D'Oyly Carte quickly sent touring companies into the British provinces. At least one D'Oyly Carte company, and sometimes as many as three, played ''Pinafore'' under Carte's aegis every year between 1878 and 1888, including its first London revival in 1887. The opera was then given a rest, returning to the touring repertory between 1894 and 1900 and again for most of the time between 1903 and 1940. Gilbert directed all the revivals during his lifetime, and after his death, the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...
had exclusive performing rights to the Savoy operas until 1962. It continued to hew closely to Gilbert's directions throughout that period, as recorded in Gilbert's prompt books, and it also required its licensees to follow them closely. Until 1908, revivals of the opera were given in contemporary dress, with ladies' costumes executed by couture houses such as Redfern.Rollins and Witts, Appendix, p. VII After that, designers such as Percy Anderson,
George Sheringham George Sheringham (13 November 1884 – 11 November 1937) was a British painter and theatre designer. One of the first recipients of the Royal Designers for Industry distinction in 1937, he is remembered for his work for the D’Oyly Carte Opera ...
and Peter Goffin created Victorian costume designs. The 1887 set was designed by
Hawes Craven Henry Hawes Craven Green (3 July 1837 – 22 July 1910) was an English theatre scene-painter. He collaborated with Henry Irving, Richard D'Oyly Carte and Herbert Beerbohm Tree, producing stage sets of unprecedented realism. Craven's career la ...
. In the winter of 1940–41, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's scenery and costumes for ''Pinafore'' and three other operas were destroyed by German bombs during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The opera was revived in London in the summer of 1947. It was then included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory in every season from then on, until the company's closure in 1982. The D'Oyly Carte company performed ''Pinafore'' before Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family at
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...
on 16 June 1977, during the queen's Silver Jubilee year, the first
royal command performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...
of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera since 1891. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company did not allow any other professional company to present the Savoy operas in Britain and the Commonwealth until the copyrights expired at the end of 1961, although it licensed many amateur and school societies to do so, beginning in the 19th century.l "The 1968 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company Production of ''The Gondoliers''"
reprinted from theatre programme of 29 January 1968, ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', Retrieved on 11 March 2009
Other professional productions since the copyrights expired have included
Tyrone Guthrie Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at h ...
's 1960 production from Stratford, Ontario, seen on Broadway in 1960 and in London in 1962 and a New Sadler's Wells Opera Company production first seen on 4 June 1984 at Sadler's Wells Theatre, which was seen also in New York.
Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish ...
,
Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
and many of the other British opera companies have mounted productions, as did the reconstituted D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1990 and its closure in 2003.Bradley (2005), chapters 3 and 4, ''passim'' In recent decades, the
Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiered ...
has produced ''Pinafore'' several times, including in 2009,
Opera della Luna Opera della Luna (OdL), founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce '' Il mondo della lun ...
has toured it repeatedly,"Fun on the high seas", ''The Press and Journal'', 22 April 2010
English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...
presented it in 2021, it is regularly given by the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, and other British companies continue to mount the piece. The extraordinary initial success of ''Pinafore'' in America was seen first-hand by J. C. Williamson. He soon made arrangements with D'Oyly Carte to present the opera's first authorised production in Australia, opening on 15 November 1879 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. Thereafter, his opera company played frequent seasons of the work (and the subsequent Savoy operas) until at least 1963. In the U.S., the piece never lost popularity. The Internet Broadway Database links to a non-exhaustive list of 29 productions on Broadway alone. Among the professional repertory companies continuing to present ''Pinafore'' regularly in the U.S. are Opera a la Carte, based in California,
Ohio Light Opera The Ohio Light Opera is a professional opera company based in Wooster, Ohio that performs the light opera repertory, including Gilbert and Sullivan, American, British and continental operettas, and other musical theatre works, especially of the lat ...
and the
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (often known as NYGASP) is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan for over 40 years. It performs an annual season in N ...
, which tours the opera annually and often includes it in its New York seasons. ''Pinafore'' is still performed around the world by opera companies such as the Royal Theatre,
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
; Australian Opera (and
Essgee Entertainment Essgee Entertainment is a professional performing and publishing company formed in 1981 in Australia. Its founder and chief executive officer is entertainer Simon Gallaher. History Essgee began by financing and producing recording artists and reco ...
and others in Australia); in Kassel, Germany; and even Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions (excluding tours) in Gilbert's lifetime:


Reception


Initial critical reception

The early reviews were mostly favourable. '' The Era'' wrote: ''The Era'' also lavishly praised Emma Howson as Josephine. ''The Entr'acte and Limelight'' commented that the opera was reminiscent of ''Trial by Jury'' and ''Sorcerer'' but found it diverting and called the music "very charming. To hear so-called grand opera imitated through the medium of the most trifling lyrics, is funny"."London Theatres. Opera Comique", ''The Entr'acte and Limelight: Theatrical and Musical Critic and Advertiser'', 1 June 1878, 466: p. 12''Pinafore'' parodies the baby-switching plot device in ''
Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
''. See, e.g., Gurewitsch, Matthew
"There Will Always Be a ''Trovatore''"
''The New York Times'', 24 December 2000, accessed 22 April 2009
The paper praised Grossmith as Sir Joseph, noting with amusement that he was made up to look like portraits of Horatio Nelson, "and his good introductory song seems levelled at"
W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...
. It opined, further, that "He Is an Englishman" is "an excellent satire on the proposition that a man must necessarily be virtuous to be English". It found the piece, as a whole, well presented and predicted that it would have a long run. Similarly, ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'' concluded that the production was a success and that the plot, though slight, served as a good vehicle for Gilbert's "caustic humour and quaint satire". It found that there was "much to call forth hearty laughter in the occasional satirical hits. ... Dr. Sullivan's music is as lively as the text to which it is set, with here and there a touch of sentimental expression ... The piece is well performed throughout." The '' Daily News'', '' The Globe'', ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' (which particularly praised Grossmith, Barrington and Everard) and '' The Standard'' concurred, the last commenting favourably on the chorus acting, which, it said, "adds to the reality of the illusion". ''The Times'' also noted that the piece was an early attempt at the establishment of a "national musical stage" with a libretto free from risqué French "improprieties" and without the "aid" of Italian and German musical models.''The Times'', 27 May 1878, p. 6 ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' and the ''
Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...
'', however, greeted the opera with only mixed praise.Walbrook, chapter V ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...
'' complained that the ongoing collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan was "detrimental to the art-progress of either" because, although it was popular with audiences, "something higher is demanded for what is understood as 'comic opera'". The paper commented that Sullivan had "the true elements of an artist, which would be successfully developed were a carefully framed libretto presented to him for composition". It concluded, however, by saying how much it enjoyed the opera: "Having thus conscientiously discharged our duties as art-critics, let us at once proceed to say that ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' is an amusing piece of extravagance, and that the music floats it on merrily to the end". ''The Times'' and several of the other papers agreed that, while the piece was entertaining, Sullivan was capable of higher art. Only '' The Figaro'' was actively hostile to the new piece. Upon the publication of the vocal score, a review by '' The Academy'' joined the chorus of regret that Sullivan had sunk so low as to compose music for ''Pinafore'' and hoped that he would turn to projects "more worthy of his great ability". This criticism would follow Sullivan throughout his career. The many unauthorised American productions of 1878–79 were of widely varying quality, and many of them were adaptations of the opera. One of the more "authentic" ones was the production by the
Boston Ideal Opera Company The Boston Ideal Opera Company, later The Bostonians, was a comic opera acting company based in Boston from 1878 through 1905.Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. HischakThe Oxford Companion to American Theatre p. 87 (3d ed 2004) History Effie Hinckley O ...
, which was first formed to produce ''Pinafore''. It engaged well-regarded concert singers and opened on 14 April 1879 at the 3,000-seat Boston Theatre. The critics agreed that the company fulfilled its goals of presenting an "ideal" production. The ''Boston Journal'' reported that the audience was "wrought up by the entertainment to a point of absolute approval". The paper observed that it is a mistake to consider ''Pinafore'' a burlesque, "for while irresistibly comical it is not ''bouffe'' and requires to be handled with great care lest its delicate proportions be marred and its subtle quality of humor be lost". The ''Journal'' described the opera as "classical" in method and wrote that its "most exquisite satire" lay in its "imitation of the absurdities" of grand opera. The company went on to become one of the most successful touring companies in America. The first children's version in Boston became a sensation with both children and adult audiences, extending its run through the summer of 1879. The '' Boston Herald'' wrote that "the large audience of children and their elders went fairly wild with delight ... shrieks of laughter were repeatedly heard".


Subsequent reception

When ''Pinafore'' was first revived in London in 1887, it was already treated as a classic. ''The Illustrated London News'' observed that the opera had not been updated with new dialogue, jokes and songs, but concluded that this was for the best, as the public would have missed the "time-honoured jokes, such as 'Hardly Ever.' The Savoy has once more got a brilliant success." ''The Theatre'' concurred, stating that since the opera "has been heard in almost every part of this habitable globe and been enjoyed everywhere, there is not much occasion to descant". It called the revival a "most brilliant" success and predicted another long run. Reviewing the 1899 revival, '' The Athenaeum'' managed to praise the piece while joining in the musical establishment's critique of Sullivan. On the one hand, "The ''Pinafore'' ... sounds fresher than ever. The musical world has become serious – very serious – and it is indeed refreshing to hear a merry, humorous piece, and music, unassuming in character ... it is delicately scored, and in many ways displays ability of a high order". On the other hand, it wrote that if Sullivan had pursued the path of composing more serious music, like his symphony, "he would have produced still higher results; in like manner ''Pinafore'' set us wondering what the composer would have accomplished with a libretto of somewhat similar kind, but one giving him larger scope for the exercise of his gifts". In 1911,
H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
wrote: "No other comic opera ever written – no other stage play, indeed, of any sort – was ever so popular. ... ''Pinafore'' ... has been given, and with great success, wherever there are theaters – from Moscow to
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, from
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
; in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, Ottawa and
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
; even in Paris, Rome,
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
." After the deaths of Gilbert and Sullivan, the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...
retained exclusive rights to perform their operas in Great Britain until 1962, touring throughout Britain for most of the year and, beginning in 1919, often performing in London for a season of about four months. ''The Times'' gave the company's 1920 London production an enthusiastic review, saying that the audience was "enraptured", and regretting that ''Pinafore'' would be played for only two weeks. It praised the cast, singling out
Leo Sheffield Leo Sheffield (15 November 1873 – 3 September 1951), born Arthur Leo Wilson, was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He made his first stage ap ...
as the Captain, Henry Lytton as Sir Joseph,
Elsie Griffin Elsie Griffin (6 December 1895 – 21 December 1989) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Beginning her career by entertaining British troops ...
as Josephine, James Hay as Ralph, Bertha Lewis as Little Buttercup and the "splendid" choral tone. It concluded that the opera made a "rollicking climax to the season". Two years later, it gave an even more glowing report of that season's performances, calling
Derek Oldham Derek Oldham (29 March 1887 – 20 March 1968) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After performing in concerts as a boy soprano and workin ...
an "ideal hero" as Ralph, noting that Sydney Granville "fairly brought down the house" with his song, that Darrell Fancourt's Deadeye was "an admirably sustained piece of caricature" and that it was a "great pleasure" to hear the returning principals. A 1961 review of the company's ''Pinafore'' is much the same. In 1879, J. C. Williamson acquired the exclusive performing rights to ''Pinafore'' in Australia and New Zealand. His first production earned public and critical acclaim. Williamson played Sir Joseph, and his wife,
Maggie Moore Maggie Moore (April 10, 1851 – March 15, 1926) was an American-Australian actress born as Margaret Virginia Sullivan. She met and married producer J. C. Williamson in the U.S. and became popular as an actress in their production of '' Struc ...
played Josephine. Praising the production, Williamson, Moore and the other performers, the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' noted that the production, though "abounding in fun", was dignified and precise, especially compared with a previous "boisterous" unauthorized production, and that many numbers were encored and the laughter and applause from the "immense audience ... was liberally bestowed". Williamson's company continued to produce ''Pinafore'' in Australia, New Zealand and on tour into the 1960s with much success. Williamson said, "If you need money, then put on G&S". Meanwhile, ''Pinafore'' continued to garner praise outside Britain. The 1950s Danish version in Copenhagen, for example, was revived repeatedly, playing for well over 100 performances to "packed houses". Translations into German, Yiddish and many other languages, and professional productions in places as remote as Samarkand in Uzbekistan have been successful.Bradley (2005), Chapter 4, describing numerous productions beginning with 1962. In the U.S., where Gilbert and Sullivan's performance copyright was never in force, ''Pinafore'' continued to be produced continuously by both professional and amateur companies. ''The New York Times'', in a 1914 review, called a large-scale production at the 6,000-seat New York Hippodrome a "royal entertainment
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
comes up smiling". The opera had been turned into a "mammoth spectacle" with a chorus of hundreds and the famous Hippodrome tank providing a realistic harbour. Buttercup made her entrance by rowing over to the three-masted ''Pinafore'', and Dick Deadeye was later thrown overboard with a real splash. The ''Times'' praised the hearty singing but noted that some subtlety is lost when the dialogue needs to be "shouted". The production took some liberties, including interpolated music from other Sullivan works. The paper concluded, "the mild satire of ''Pinafore'' is entertaining because it is universal". The same newspaper deemed
Winthrop Ames Winthrop Ames (November 25, 1870 – November 3, 1937) was an American theatre director and producer, playwright and screenwriter. For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway, whose repertoir ...
' popular Broadway productions of ''Pinafore'' in the 1920s and 1930s "spectacular". Modern productions in America continue to be generally well received. ''The New York Times'' review of the
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (often known as NYGASP) is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan for over 40 years. It performs an annual season in N ...
' 2008 season at
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...
commented, "Gilbert's themes of class inequality, overbearing nationalism and incompetent authorities remain relevant, however absurdly treated. But the lasting appeal of ''Pinafore'' and its ilk is more a matter of his unmatched linguistic genius and Sullivan's generous supply of addictive melodies." With the expiry of the copyrights, companies around the world have been free to produce Gilbert and Sullivan works and to adapt them as they please for almost 50 years. Productions of ''Pinafore'', both amateur and professional, range from the traditional, in the D'Oyly Carte vein, to the broadly adapted, such as that of the very successful
Essgee Entertainment Essgee Entertainment is a professional performing and publishing company formed in 1981 in Australia. Its founder and chief executive officer is entertainer Simon Gallaher. History Essgee began by financing and producing recording artists and reco ...
(formed by
Simon Gallaher Simon Gallaher (born 24 October 1958) is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist. Biography Gallaher was born in Brisbane and educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. and studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Whi ...
) in Australia and
Opera della Luna Opera della Luna (OdL), founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce '' Il mondo della lun ...
in Britain. Since its original production, ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' has remained one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular comic operas.Bradley (1996), p. 117 Productions continue in large numbers around the world. In 2003 alone, The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company rented 224 sets of orchestra parts, mostly for productions of ''Pinafore'', ''Pirates'' and ''Mikado''. This does not take into account other rental companies and the theatre companies that borrow scores or have their own, or that use only one or two pianos instead of an orchestra. Hundreds of productions of ''Pinafore'' are presented every year worldwide.


Analysis

Theatre historian
John Bush Jones John Bush Jones (August 3, 1940 – December 31, 2019) was an American author, theatre director and critic, educator and scholar. He taught theatre for more than two decades at Brandeis University and wrote widely about musical theatre, publishing ...
wrote that ''Pinafore'' has "everything a musical theatregoer could ask for. An engaging and even relatively suspenseful story is populated with varied and well-drawn characters who speak and sing witty, literate, and often outrageously funny dialogue and lyrics ndhas a score that ... has plenty of tunes for the audience to go away humming".Jones, p. 8 George Power, the tenor who created the role of Ralph Rackstraw, opined in later life that the secret of the success of the Savoy operas is the way in which "Sullivan entered into the spirit of Gilbert's topsy-turvy humour, and was pompous when Gilbert was sprightly, or, when Gilbert's satire was keenest and most acid, consciously wallowed in sentiment." Another commentator has suggested that the opera's enduring success lies in its focus on "mirth and silliness". Even the title of the piece is silly, applying the name of a little girl's garment, a
pinafore A pinafore (colloquially a pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron. Pinafores may be worn as a decorative garment and as a protective apron. A related term is ''pinafore dress'' (known as a ''jumper'' in Ameri ...
, to the fearsome symbol of a naval warship, which usually bore names like ''
Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...
'', '' Goliath'', ''
Audacious Audacious may refer to: * ''Audacious'' (album), a 2016 album by Cupcakke * Audacious (software), an open-source media player Ships * List of ships named ''Audacious'' * HMS ''Audacious'', various ships of the British Royal Navy * ''Audaci ...
'' and '' Minotaur''.


Satiric and comic themes

Gilbert's biographer Jane Stedman wrote that ''Pinafore'' is "satirically far more complex" than ''The Sorcerer''. She commented that Gilbert uses several ideas and themes from his Bab Ballads, including the idea of gentlemanly behaviour of a captain towards his crew from "Captain Reece" (1868) and the exchange of ranks due to exchange at birth from "General John" (1867). Dick Deadeye, based on a character in "Woman's Gratitude" (1869), represents another of Gilbert's favorite (and semi-autobiographical) satiric themes: the misshapen misanthrope whose forbidding "face and form" makes him unpopular although he represents the voice of reason and common sense. Gilbert also borrows from his 1870 opera, '' The Gentleman in Black'' which includes the device of baby-switching. Historian H. M. Walbrook wrote in 1921 that ''Pinafore'' "satirizes the type of nautical drama of which
Douglas Jerrold Douglas William Jerrold (London 3 January 18038 June 1857 London) was an English dramatist and writer. Biography Jerrold's father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 Dougla ...
's ''
Black-Eyed Susan ''Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs'' is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold. The story concerns a heroic sailor, William, who has been away from England for three years fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Meanwhile, his wife, Susa ...
'' is a typical instance, and the 'God's Englishman' sort of patriotism which consists in shouting a platitude, striking an attitude, and doing little or nothing to help one's country". G. K. Chesterton agreed that the satire is pointed at the selfishness of "being proud of yourself for being a citizen" of one's country, which requires no virtuous effort of will to resist the "temptations to belong to other nations" but is merely an excuse for pride. In 2005, Australian opera director
Stuart Maunder Stuart Lionel Maunder (born 1957) is an Australian theatre director, currently appointed as the artistic director of State Opera of South Australia. He has also directed for Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, New Zealand ...
noted the juxtaposition of satire and nationalism in the opera, saying, "they all sing 'He is an Englishman', and you know damn well they're sending it up, but the music is so military ... that you can't help but be swept up in that whole jingoism that is the British Empire."Interview of Stuart Maunder
''The Music Show'', ABC
Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...
, Australia, 14 May 2005, accessed 10 March 2009
In addition, he argued that the song ties this theme into the main satire of class distinctions in the opera: "''H.M.S. Pinafore'' is basically a satire on ... the British love of the class system. ... course
alph Alph may refer to: * Alpheus River, a river on the Peloponnese *Alph River, a river in Antarctica * Alph Lake, a lake in Antarctica *Alph, a fictional river in the poem ''Kubla Khan'' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge *Alph, a character from ''Luminous Arc ...
can marry he Captain'sdaughter, because he's British, and therefore he's great'". Jacobs notes that Gilbert is lampooning the tradition of nautical melodrama in which the sailor's "patriotism guarantees his virtue". One of Gilbert's favourite comic themes is the elevation of an unqualified person to a position of high responsibility. In ''
The Happy Land ''The Happy Land'' is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert (under the pseudonym F. Latour Tomline) and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, ''The Wicked World''. The blank verse piece op ...
'' (1873), for example, Gilbert describes a world in which government offices are awarded to the person who has the least qualification to hold each position. In particular, the one who has never heard of a ship is appointed to the cabinet post of First Lord of the Admiralty. In ''Pinafore'', Gilbert revisits this theme in the character of Sir Joseph, who rises to the same position by "never go ngto sea". In later Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the characters Major-General Stanley in ''Pirates'', and Ko-Ko in ''
The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
'', are similarly appointed to high office though lacking the necessary qualifications. Gilbert also pokes fun at party politics, implying that when Sir Joseph "always voted at isparty's call", he sacrificed his personal integrity. The "commercial middle class" (which was Gilbert's main audience) is treated as satirically as are social climbers and the great unwashed."Savoy Theatre: The Sullivan Opera Season, ''H.M.S. Pinafore''", ''The Times'', 10 December 1929, p. 14 In addition, the apparent age difference between Ralph and the Captain, even though they were babies nursed together, satirises the variable age of Thaddeus in ''
The Bohemian Girl ''The Bohemian Girl'' is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, ''La Gitanilla''. The best-known aria from the piece is " I Dreamt I Dwe ...
''. ''The Times'' wrote, in reviewing the 1929 production, that ''Pinafore'' was quintessentially Gilbertian in that the absurdities of a "paternal" Captain and the "ethics ... of all romanticism" are accepted "unflinchingly" and taken to their logical conclusion: "It is the reference to actuality that is essential; without it, the absurdity will not stand starkly out". A theme that pervades the opera is the treatment of love across different social ranks. In the previous Gilbert and Sullivan opera, ''The Sorcerer'', a love potion causes trouble by inducing the villagers and wedding guests to fall in love with people of different social classes. In ''Pinafore'', the captain's daughter, Josephine, loves and is loved by a common sailor, but she dutifully tells him, "your proffered love I haughtily reject". He expresses his devotion to her in a poetic and moving speech that ends with "I am a British sailor, and I love you". It finally turns out that he is of a higher rank than she. This is a parody of the Victorian "equality" drama, such as Lord Lytton's ''
The Lady of Lyons ''The Lady of Lyons; or, Love and Pride'', commonly known as ''The Lady of Lyons'', is a five act romantic melodrama written in 1838 by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton. It was first produced in London at Covent Garden Theatre on 15 Februar ...
'' (1838), where the heroine rejects a virtuous peasant who makes a similarly moving speech, ending with "I am a peasant!"Stedman, p. 162 It then turns out that he has become her social superior. Furthermore, in ''Pinafore'', Sir Joseph assures Josephine that "love levels all ranks". In
Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...
's ''The Serf'', the heroine again loves a worthy peasant who turns out to be of high rank, and she declares happily at the end that "love levels all". In a satire of the libertarian traditions of nautical melodrama, Sir Joseph tells the crew of the Pinafore that they are "any man's equal" (excepting his), and he writes a song for them that glorifies the British sailor. Conversely, he brings the proud captain down a notch by making him "dance a hornpipe on the cabin table". Jones notes that the union between Ralph and Josephine "becomes acceptable only through the absurd second-act revelation of Buttercup's inadvertent switching of the infants" and concludes that Gilbert is a "conservative satirist houltimately advocated preserving the status quo ... ndset out to show
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
love definitely ''does not'' level all ranks". There is a divide among Gilbert and Sullivan scholars as to whether Gilbert is, as Jones argues, a supporter of the status quo whose focus is merely to entertain or, on the other hand, predominantly to satirise and protest "against the follies of his age".Crowther, Andrew. "The Land Where Contradictions Meet", ''W. S. Gilbert Society Journal'', vol. 2, no. 11, pp. 325–331, Autumn 2000 (discussing the views of various scholars) The Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther posits that this disagreement arises from Gilbert's "techniques of inversion – with irony and topsyturvydom", which lead to "the surface meaning of his writings" being "the opposite of their underlying meaning". Crowther argues that Gilbert desires to "celebrate" society's norms while, at the same time, satirising these conventions. In ''Pinafore'', which established many patterns for the later Savoy operas, Gilbert found a way to express his own conflict that "also had tremendous appeal to the general public". He creates "a highly intelligent parody of nautical melodrama ...
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controlled by the conventions it mocks". While nautical melodrama exalts the common sailor, in ''Pinafore'' Gilbert makes the proponent of equality, Sir Joseph, a pompous and misguided member of the ruling class who, hypocritically, cannot apply the idea of equality to himself. The hero, Ralph, is convinced of his equality by Sir Joseph's foolish pronouncements and declares his love for his Captain's daughter, throwing over the accepted "fabric of social order". At this point, Crowther suggests, the logic of Gilbert's satiric argument should result in Ralph's arrest. But to satisfy convention, Gilbert creates an obvious absurdity: the captain and Ralph were switched as babies. By an "accident of birth", Ralph is suddenly an appropriate husband for Josephine, and both the social order and the desire for a romantic happy ending are satisfied at once. Crowther concludes, "We have an opera which uses all the conventions of melodrama and ridicules them; but in the end it is difficult to see which has won out, the conventions or the ridicule." Thus, ''Pinafore'' found broadbased success by appealing to the intellectual theatregoer seeking satire, the middle-class theatre-goer looking for a comfortable confirmation of the "existing social order" and the working-class audience who saw a satisfying melodramatic victory for the common man.


Songs and musical analysis

According to musicologist Arthur Jacobs, Gilbert's plot "admirably sparked off Sullivan's genius".Jacobs, p. 118 Sullivan embraces the nautical setting; in "We Sail the Ocean Blue", for example, he "presents his twist on a traditional sea shanty". In the Captain's opening song, "I am the Captain of the Pinafore", he admits that his gentlemanliness "never ... well, hardly ever" gives way to swearing at his men, and although he has experience at sea, he "hardly ever" suffers from seasickness."'HMS Pinafore' – the Comic Opera"
Edited Guide Entry from ''The Lives and Works of Gilbert and Sullivan'', BBC h2g2, 24 August 2001, accessed 10 March 2009
Sullivan "unerringly found the right musical setting for the key phrase 'What never?' ... cunningly sharpened ... through the chromatic touch on the bassoon."Jacobs, p. 119 Audrey Williamson argued that the music of ''Pinafore'' is quintessentially English and free of European influences throughout most of the score, from the "glee" for Ralph, the Boatswain and the Carpenter, to "For He Is an Englishman". The best-known songs from the opera include "I'm called Little Buttercup", a
waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
tune introducing the character, which Sullivan repeats in the entr'acte and in the Act II finale to imprint the melody on the mind of the audience; and "A British tar" (a
glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
for three men describing the ideal sailor), composed by Sir Joseph "to encourage independent thought and action in the lower branches of the service, and to teach the principle that a British sailor is any man's equal, excepting mine". Sullivan's voicing advances the satiric lyric, which mocks the "equality" plays while underlining the hypocrisy of Sir Joseph. Another popular number is Sir Joseph's song "When I was a Lad", recounting the meteoric rise of his career, which bears similarities to that of
W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...
, the civilian news entrepreneur who had risen to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty in 1877. In ''Pinafore'', Sullivan exploits minor keys for comic effect, for instance in "Kind Captain, I've important information". Further, he achieves a musical surprise when he uses the subdominant minor in "Sorry her lot". The musicologist Gervase Hughes was impressed with the introduction to the opening chorus which includes "a rousing nautical tune ... in a key of no nonsense, C major ... a modulation to the mediant minor, where to our surprise a plaintive oboe gives us the first verse of "Sorry her lot" in 2/4 ime After this closes on the local dominant B major the violins (still in 2/4) introduce us to Little Buttercup ... meeting her under these conditions one would hardly expect her to blossom out later as a queen of the waltz." He continues, "the bassoon and basses ... assert vigorously who is the Captain of the Pinafore ... in the improbable key of A flat minor. ... Buttercup makes a last despairing attempt to make herself heard in D flat minor, but the others have never known that such an outlandish key existed. So in a flash they all go back to C major on a good old 6/4". According to Jacobs, "Ralph, Captain Corcoran, Sir Joseph and Josephine all live in their interactive music (particularly 'Never mind the why and wherefore'), and almost as much musical resource is lavished on two characters parodied from opera or melodrama, Little Buttercup with 'gypsy blood in her veins' and the heavy-treading Dick Deadeye." Jacobs also opined that the
leading tone In music theory, a leading-tone (also called a subsemitone, and a leading-note in the UK) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, ''the ...
that begins "Never mind the why and wherefore" "serves to emphasize the phrase like a Johann Strauss-ian grace-note". The Sullivan scholar
David Russell Hulme David Russell Hulme (born 19 June 1951) is a Welsh conductor and musicologist. He is an Emeritus Reader and the former Director of Music at Aberystwyth University and is known for his research and publications on the music of Arthur Sullivan, t ...
noted Sullivan's parody of operatic styles, "particularly the Handelian recitatives and the elopement scene (evocative of so many nocturnal operatic conspiracies), but best of all is the travesty of the patriotic tune in 'For he is an Englishman!'" Buttercup's Act II song, in which she reveals the dark secret of the baby-switching is preceded by a quote from
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
's " Erlkönig" and also parodies the opera ''
Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
''. Jacobs notes that Sullivan also adds his own humorous touches to the music by setting commonplace expressions in " Donizettian recitative". But on the serious side, he enhances the moments of true emotional climax, as in Josephine's Act II aria, and added musical interest to concerted numbers by "subtly shifting the rhythms and bar groupings."


Revisions and cut material


Ballad for Captain Corcoran, "Reflect, my child"

During rehearsals for the original production, Gilbert added a ballad for Captain Corcoran in which he urged his daughter to forget the common sailor with whom she is in love, because "at every step, he would commit solecisms that society would never pardon." The ballad was meant to be sung between No. 5 and No. 6 of the current score, but it was cut before opening night. The words survive in the libretto that was deposited with the
Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...
for licensing. Before 1999, all that was known to survive of Sullivan's setting was a copy of the leader violin part.Perry, Helga J
"Lost Pinafore Song Found"
"Reflect my Child" reconstruction, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 15 April 1999, accessed 21 April 2009
In April 1999, Sullivan scholars Bruce I. Miller and Helga J. Perry announced that they had discovered a nearly complete orchestration – lacking only the second violin part – in a private collection of early band parts. These materials, with a conjectural reconstruction of the partially lost vocal lines and second violin part, were later published and professionally recorded. This piece has now been performed a number of times by amateur and professional companies, although it has not become a standard addition to the traditional scores or recordings.DeOrsey, Stan

the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 2003, accessed 10 June 2016


Dialogue for Cousin Hebe

In the licensing copy of the libretto, Sir Joseph's cousin Hebe had lines of dialogue in several scenes in Act II. In the scene that follows No. 14 ("Things are seldom what they seem"), she accompanied Sir Joseph onstage and echoed the First Lord's dissatisfaction with Josephine. After several interruptions, Sir Joseph urged her to be quiet, eliciting the response "Crushed again!" Gilbert would later re-use this passage for Lady Jane in ''
Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...
''. Hebe was also assigned several lines of dialogue after No. 18 ("Carefully on tiptoe stealing") and again after No. 19 ("Farewell, my own").Young, Percy M. (ed.) "''H.M.S. Pinafore''", critical edition, 2003, 2 vols., Broude Brothers Limited Late in rehearsals for the original production, Jessie Bond assumed the role of Hebe, replacing
Mrs Howard Paul Isabella Hill (1 April 1833 – 6 June 1879), better known as Mrs Howard Paul, was an English actress, operatic singer and actress-manager of the Victorian era, best remembered for creating the role of Lady Sangazure in the Gilbert and Sullivan ...
. Bond, who at this point in her career was known primarily as a concert singer and had little experience as an actress, did not feel capable of performing dialogue, and these passages were revised to cut Hebe's dialogue. Hebe's cut dialogue is occasionally restored in modern performances.


Recitative preceding the Act II finale

The dialogue preceding the Act II finale, starting with "Here, take her sir, and mind you treat her kindly", was originally recitative. The music for this passage was printed in the first edition of the vocal score as No. 20a. Shortly after opening night, the recitative was dropped, and the lines thereafter were performed as spoken dialogue. In modern productions, the recitative is occasionally restored in place of the dialogue.


Recordings

There have been numerous recordings of ''Pinafore'' since 1907.Shepherd, Marc
"Recordings of H.M.S. Pinafore"
the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 5 April 2003, accessed 10 June 2016
Ian Bradley Ian Campbell Bradley (born 28 May 1950) is a British academic, author and broadcaster. He is Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at the University of St Andrews, where he was Principal of St Mary's College and honorary Churc ...
counted seventeen recordings of the opera available on CD in 2005. The 1930 recording is notable for preserving the performances of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company stars of the era. The 1960 D'Oyly Carte recording, which contains all the dialogue, has been repeatedly praised by reviewers.Buckley, Jonathan (ed). ''The Rough Guide to Classical Music'' (1994 edition, ), p. 367; Chislett, W. A.,''The Gramophone'', February 1960, p. 70; March, Ivan (ed). ''The Great Records'', Long Playing Record Library, 1967, pp. 100–101; March, Ivan (ed). ''Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008'', , p. 1136 The 1994 Mackerras recording, featuring grand opera singers in the principal roles, is musically well regarded.March, Ivan (ed). ''Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008'' The 2000 D'Oyly Carte recording also contains complete dialogue and the first recording of the "lost" ballad for Captain Corcoran, "Reflect, my child", as a bonus track.Shepherd, Marc
"The New D'Oyly Carte Pinafore (2000)"
the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 November 2001, accessed 10 June 2016
A 1957 Danish-language recording of the opera is one of the few foreign-language professional recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1939, ''Pinafore'' was chosen by NBC as one of the earliest operas ever broadcast on American television, but no recording is known to have been saved. The 1973 D'Oyly Carte video recording, directed by Michael Heyland, features the company's staging of the period, but some reviewers find it dull. It is, however, one of only three video or film recordings of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Shepherd, Marc
"The 1973 D'Oyly Carte ''Pinafore'' Video"
the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 24 December 2003, accessed 10 June 2016
In 1982, Brent Walker Productions produced ''Pinafore'' as part of its series of Gilbert and Sullivan television films. According to discographer Marc Shepherd, the ''Pinafore'' video "is widely considered one of the worst" in the series. More recent professional productions have been recorded on video by the
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival 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 opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands ...
. ;Selected recordings * 1930 D'Oyly Carte – London Symphony Orchestra; Conductor:
Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
* 1958 Sargent/Glyndebourne –
Pro Arte Orchestra The Pro Arte Orchestra was a British symphony orchestra founded in 1955.Potts, Joseph E.“Orchestral Profile – The Pro Arte Orchestra” '' The Gramophone'', October 1959, p. 163 (p. 33 in online version) Background The Pro Arte Orchestra was fo ...
, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus; Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent * 1960 D'Oyly Carte (with dialogue) – New Symphony Orchestra of London; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey * 1972 G&S for All – G&S Festival Chorus & Orchestra; Conductor: Peter Murray * 1973 D'Oyly Carte (video) – Conductor: Royston Nash * 1981 Stratford Festival (video) – Conductor: Berthold Carrière; Director: Leon Major * 1987 New Sadler's Wells Opera – Conductor: Simon Phipps * 1994 Mackerras/Telarc – Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera; Conductor: Sir
Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...
* 1997 Essgee Entertainment (video; adapted) – Conductor: Kevin Hocking * 2000 D'Oyly Carte (with dialogue) – Conductor: John Owen Edwards


Adaptations

''H.M.S. Pinafore'' has been adapted many times. W. S. Gilbert wrote a 1909 children's book called ''The Pinafore Picture Book'', illustrated by Alice Woodward, which retells the story of ''Pinafore'', giving considerable backstory details not found in the libretto. Many other children's books have since been written retelling the story of ''Pinafore'' or adapting characters or events from ''Pinafore''. Many musical theatre adaptations have been produced since the original opera. Notable examples include a 1945
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical adapted by George S. Kaufman, called ''
Hollywood Pinafore ''Hollywood Pinafore, or The Lad Who Loved a Salary'' is a musical comedy in two acts by George S. Kaufman, with music by Arthur Sullivan, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's ''H.M.S. Pinafore''. The work premiered on May 8, 1945, at Ford's Grand Opera ...
'', using Sullivan's music. This was revived several times, including in London in 1998.Bradley (2005), p. 170 Another 1945 Broadway musical adaptation, ''
Memphis Bound ''Memphis Bound'' (usually styled ''Memphis Bound!'') is a 1945 American Musical theater, musical based on the Gilbert and Sullivan opera ''H.M.S. Pinafore''. The score was adapted and augmented by Don Walker (orchestrator), Don Walker and Clay W ...
'', was written by Don Walker and starred
Bill Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...
and an all-black cast. In 1940, the American Negro Light Opera Association produced the first of several productions set in the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
, ''Tropical Pinafore''. An early
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
adaptation of ''Pinafore'', called ''Der Shirtz'' (Yiddish for "apron") was written by Miriam Walowit in 1949 for a Brooklyn Hadassah group; they toured the adaptation, and they recorded 12 of the songs. In the 1970s, Al Grand was inspired by this recording and urged the Gilbert and Sullivan Long Island Light Opera Company to perform these songs. He later translated the missing songs and dialogue, with Bob Tartell, and the show has been toured widely under the name ''Der Yiddisher Pinafore''. The group have continued to produce this adaptation for over two decades, in which "He is an Englishman" becomes "Er Iz a Guter Yid" ("He is a good Jew").
Essgee Entertainment Essgee Entertainment is a professional performing and publishing company formed in 1981 in Australia. Its founder and chief executive officer is entertainer Simon Gallaher. History Essgee began by financing and producing recording artists and reco ...
produced an adapted version of ''Pinafore'' in 1997 in Australia and New Zealand that has been much revived. Another musical adaptation is ''Pinafore! (A Saucy, Sexy, Ship-Shape New Musical)'', adapted by Mark Savage. It was first performed at the Celebration Theater in Los Angeles on 7 September 2001, directed by Savage, where it ran with great success for nine months. It then played in Chicago and New York in 2003. In this adaptation, only one character is female, and all but one of the male characters are gay. An original cast recording was issued in 2002 by Belva Records. ''Pinafore Swing'' is a musical with music arranged by
Sarah Travis Sarah Travis is a British orchestrator and musical supervisor for theatre and film. She received the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for the 2005 revival of Stephen Sondheim's ''Sweeney T ...
. It premiered at the
Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...
in England in 2004 in a production directed by John Doyle. The adaptation, set in 1944, changes the characters into members of a band entertaining the sailors on a
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
troop ship in the Atlantic. The reduced-size acting cast also serve as the orchestra for the singing roles, and the music is infused with swing rhythms. Numerous productions in recent decades have been set to parody '' Star Trek'' or '' Star Wars''.


Cultural impact


Development of the modern musical

Among its other influences on popular culture, ''Pinafore'' had perhaps its most profound influence on the
development of musical theatre Development of musical theatre refers to the historical development of theatrical performance combined with music that culminated in the integrated form of modern musical theatre that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. Although m ...
. According to theatre historian John Kenrick, ''Pinafore'' "became an international sensation, reshaping the commercial theater in both England and the United States." The music writer Andrew Lamb notes, "The success of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' in 1879 established British comic opera alongside French opéra bouffe throughout the English-speaking world". The historian John Bush Jones opines that ''Pinafore'' and the other Savoy operas demonstrate that musical theatre "can address contemporary social and political issues without sacrificing entertainment value" and that ''Pinafore'' created the model for a new kind of musical theatre, the "integrated" musical, where "book, lyrics, and music combined to form an integral whole". He adds that its "unprecedented ... popularity fostered an American audience for musical theatre, while the show itself became a model for form, content, and even intention of ... musicals ever since, especially socially relevant musicals." Its popularity also led to the musical theatre adaptations of ''Pinafore'' described above, musicals in which the story line involves a production of ''Pinafore'' and other musicals that parody the opera or that use or adapt its music. The first such parody was a short-lived burlesque presented at the Opera Comique in 1882, called ''The Wreck of the Pinafore'' by William Horace Lingard and
Luscombe Searelle William Luscombe Searelle (1853 – 18 December 1907) was a musical composer and impresario. He was born in Devon, England, and brought up in New Zealand, where he attended Christ's College, Christchurch. Searelle began working as a pianist ...
; the opera's characters are shipwrecked on a desert island. It was described by ''The Era'' as "chiefly remarkable for its impudence".


Literary and political references

The opera's popularity has led to the widespread parody and pastiche of its songs in comedy routines, literature and other media. Many comedians have used ''Pinafore'' songs for comic and satiric effect. For example, in his comedy album ''
My Son, the Celebrity ''My Son, the Celebrity'' is a musical comedy album by Allan Sherman, released in the United States by Warner Bros. in January 1963. The album was the second of three straight albums by Sherman to reach #1 on the Billboard album charts. It rea ...
'',
Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...
parodies "When I Was a Lad" from the point of view of a young man who goes to an
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
school and then rises to prominence in business. At the end of the song, he "thanks old Yale", "thanks the Lord" and thanks his father, "who is chairman of the board". Literary references to ''Pinafore'' songs include Harris's attempt to sing "When I Was a Lad" in
Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
's ''
Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...
''. Another is found in the story " Runaround" from ''
I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and '' Astounding Science Fiction'' be ...
'' by Isaac Asimov, where a robot sings part of "I'm Called Little Buttercup". ''Pinafore'' and its songs have been performed by rock musicians such as
Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
,
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
and Michele Gray Rundgren, who performed "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore" on ''Night Music'' ('' Sunday Night'') in 1989. Political references include a 1996 satiric pastiche of "When I Was a Lad" aimed at
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
by
Virginia Bottomley Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, (née Garnett, born 12 March 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician, and headhunter. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1984 ...
, heritage secretary under John Major. Sporting references include a racehorse named "H.M.S. Pinafore". ''Pinafore'' songs and images have been used extensively in advertising. According to Jones, "''Pinafore'' launched the first media blitz in the United States" beginning in 1879, and recent ads include a television campaign for
Terry's Chocolate Orange Terry's Chocolate Orange is a chocolate product created by Terry's in 1932 at Terry's Chocolate Works in York, England. The brand has changed ownership several times, and production was moved to Eastern Europe in 2005. Since 2018, the Terry' ...
featuring a pastiche of "When I Was a Lad". ''Pinafore''-themed merchandise includes trading cards that were created in the 1880s.


Film and television references

Songs from ''Pinafore'' have been used to give period flavor to such films as the 1981 historical film ''
Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...
'', in which the protagonist,
Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Biography Early life ...
, and others from
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, sing "He Is an Englishman".Vineberg, Steve
"Beyond the mundane"
, ''Boston Phoenix'', 19 February 1998, accessed 21 June 2016
This song also features at the end of the 1983 BBC drama ''
An Englishman Abroad ''An Englishman Abroad'' is a 1983 BBC television drama film based on the true story of a chance meeting of actress Coral Browne with Guy Burgess, a member of the Cambridge spy ring who spied for the Soviet Union while an officer at MI6. The pr ...
''. In the 2003 movie ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'', the Darling family sings "When I Was a Lad".Bradley (2005), p. 12 In ''
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which l ...
'' (1994), the famed lawman meets his future wife when he sees her playing in an early production of ''Pinafore''. A 1953 biopic, ''
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan ''The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan'' (also known as ''Gilbert & Sullivan'' and ''The Great Gilbert and Sullivan'') is a 1953 British musical drama film dramatisation of the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan. Librettist W. S. Gilbert a ...
'', uses music from ''Pinafore''. Characters also sing songs from ''Pinafore'' in such popular films as '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981) and '' Star Trek: Insurrection'' (1998), where
Captain Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''T ...
and Lt. Commander Worf sing part of "A British Tar" to distract a malfunctioning Lt. Commander Data. '' The Good Shepherd'' (2006) depicts an all-male version of ''Pinafore'' at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1939;
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
s character plays Little Buttercup, singing in falsetto.
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
sings "I Am the Monarch of the Sea" in the 1963 film, ''
I Could Go On Singing ''I Could Go On Singing'' is a 1963 British-American musical drama film directed by Ronald Neame, starring Judy Garland (in her final film role) and Dirk Bogarde. Originally titled ''The Lonely Stage'', the film was renamed so that audiences w ...
''. The soundtrack of the 1992 thriller '' The Hand that Rocks the Cradle'' prominently features songs and music from ''Pinafore'', and the father and daughter characters sing "I Am the Captain of the Pinafore" together. An example of a film based on ideas from ''Pinafore'' is the 1976 animated film by
Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...
called ''
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done ''Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done'' is a 1975 British animated musical comedy film directed by Bill Melendez and designed by Ronald Searle, based on the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.Smith, Winfield. "Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done", ...
'' is based on the character and songs from ''Pinafore''. In the 1988 drama '' Permanent Record'', a high school class performs ''Pinafore''. Television series that include substantial ''Pinafore'' references include ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...
'', for example in the 2000 episode "
And It's Surely to Their Credit The second season of the American political drama television series ''The West Wing'' aired in the United States on NBC from October 4, 2000 to May 16, 2001 and consisted of 22 episodes. Production The second season made frequent use of flashba ...
", where "He Is an Englishman" is used throughout and quoted (or paraphrased) in the episode's title. Among other notable examples of the use of songs from ''Pinafore'' on television are several popular animated shows. In the "
Cape Feare "Cape Feare" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 7, 1993. The episode features guest star Kelsey Grammer i ...
" episode of ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'',
Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
stalls his would-be killer
Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger Jr., PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode " The Telltale Head". Bob is a se ...
with a "final request" that Bob sing him the entire score of ''Pinafore''. Similarly, the 1993 "HMS Yakko" episode of ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until ...
'' consists of pastiches of songs from ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' and ''The Pirates of Penzance''. In a '' Family Guy'' episode, " The Thin White Line" (2001), Stewie sings a pastiche of "My Gallant Crew". Stewie also sings "I Am the Monarch of the Sea" (including the ladies' part, in falsetto) in " Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story". A 1986 '' Mr. Belvedere'' episode, "The Play", concerns a production of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', and several of the songs are performed. In 1955, NBC broadcast a variety special including a 20-minute compressed jazz version, "H.M.S. Pinafore in Jazz", produced and directed by
Max Liebman Max Liebman (August 2, 1902 – July 21, 1981) was a Broadway theater and TV producer-director sometimes called the "Ziegfeld of TV", who helped establish early television's comedy vocabulary with ''Your Show of Shows''. He additionally helped bring ...
, starring Perry Como,
Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...
,
Kitty Kallen Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene and the early ...
, Bill Hayes,
Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'', and NB ...
and Herb Shriner.


Historical casting

The following tables show the most prominent cast members of significant D'Oyly Carte Opera Company productions and tours at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:Rollins and Witts (and supplements). An examination of Rollins and Witts and Gänzl (1986) shows that cast lists taken at ten-year intervals is sufficient to indicate the bulk of the notable performers who portrayed these roles in authorised productions during that period.


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Also, five supplements, privately printed. * * * * *


External links

Information
''H.M.S. Pinafore'' at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
*
vocal score
at IMSLP

Images


Photos of ''Pinafore'' characters and scenes, NYPL






Audio/visual * * {{Authority control 1878 operas English comic operas English-language operas Fictional ships of the Royal Navy Operas Operas by Gilbert and Sullivan Operas set in the British Isles Works set on ships