''The Lucky Star'' is an English

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 three acts, composed by

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...

, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield (revised by

Helen Lenoir Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impre ...

) and lyrics by

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

and

Aubrey Hopwood Aubrey Hopwood (4 April 1863 – 25 October 1917) was a British lyricist of Edwardian musical comedy and a novelist and author of nonsense books for children. He co-wrote the lyrics for the musicals '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1886), ''A Runaway ...

. It was produced by 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. Th ...

and opened at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

on 7 January 1899 for a run of 143 performances. The opera starred the usual Savoy Theatre cast from that period, including

Walter Passmore Walter Henry Passmore (10 May 1867 – 29 August 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Passmo ...

Henry Lytton Sir Henry Lytton (born Henry Alfred Jones; 3 January 1865 – 15 August 1936) was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the starring comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1909 to 1934. He also sta ...

Robert Evett Robert Evett (16 October 1874 – 15 January 1949) was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer. He was best known as a leading man in Edwardian musical comedies and later managed the George Edwardes theatrical empire. In 1892, at ...

Ruth Vincent Ruth Vincent (born Amy Ruth Bunn, 3 December 1873 Emmie Owen Emily Owen (November 28, 1871 – October 18, 1905) was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Beginning as a child actress, she performe ...

and

Isabel Jay Isabel Emily Jay (17 October 1879 – 26 February 1927) was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in Edwardian musical comedies. During ...

. Direction was by Richard Barker, choreography was by

Willie Warde Willie Warde (1857 – 18 August 1943) was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a ...

, and costumes were designed by Percy Anderson.

Background

The opera is based on '' L'étoile'', written in 1877 by

Eugène Leterrier Eugène Leterrier (1843 – 22 December 1884 in Paris) was a French librettist. Leterrier worked at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris but then turned to the theatre. He mainly collaborated in writing libretti with Albert Vanloo. Their working relatio ...

and Albert Vanloo, with additional material by

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...

and music by

Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

. It is also based on ''

The Merry Monarch The Merry Monarch (1842 – after 1859) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from July 1844 to May 1846 he ran four times and won only one race. That race, however, was the 1845 Epsom Derby, in which he reco ...

'', an American translation of ''L'étoile'' by J. Cheever Goodwin with music by

Woolson Morse Henry Woolson Morse (February 24, 1858 – May 3, 1897), usually credited as Woolson Morse, was an American composer of musical theatre. Often working with librettist J. Cheever Goodwin, he produced several scores for Broadway productions in the ...

, produced in 1890. Caryll used a small amount of Chabrier's music in the first act finale."Savoy Theatre"
''The Times'', 9 January 1899, p. 11Coles, Clifton

The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 23 March 2002, accessed 6 January 2014 ''The Lucky Star'' was the only

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 ...

where a woman plays a man's part. The piece has many other characteristics of

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...

, which had become popular on the London stage in the 1890s – broader comedy, a thin romance, bright tunes, comedians, a chorus of pretty girls, some risqué situations, a "coon" song, songs regarding news of the day, separate authors of dialogue and lyrics, and a star,

. This half-musical, half-comic opera, did not appeal strongly to the Savoy Theatre's audiences and was unable to achieve a long run.

Synopsis

King Ouf is a superstitious monarch. The King is informed by his astrologer Siroco that his destiny is linked with that of an itinerant painter named Lazuli, who is in love with the King's intended bride, the Princess Laoula. Siroco's astrological charts reveal that Lazuli's death will result in the King's. The King decrees that Siroco will be executed moments after the King's death, and so both have an interest in keeping Lazuli alive.

Roles

*King Ouf the First (comic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) –

*The Baron Tabasco, ''Ambassador-Extraordinary from King Mataquin'' (baritone) –

*Siroco, ''the Astrologer Royal'' – Sydney Paxton (replaced by Fred Wright, Jr.) *Tapioca, ''Private Secretary to Baron Tabasco'' (

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, 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 lo ...

) –

*Kedas, ''a Police officer'' – Frank Manning *Cancan, ''a Citizen'' – Leonard Russell *Chamberlain –

Charles Childerstone Charles Childerstone (3 July 1872 – 29 May 1947) was an English operatic tenor and actor who after a career on the stage including a period with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1903 later had a career on the music halls and in f ...

*Princess Laoula, ''Daughter of King Mataquin'' (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) –

Ruth Vincent Ruth Vincent (born Amy Ruth Bunn, 3 December 1873 Isabel Jay Isabel Emily Jay (17 October 1879 – 26 February 1927) was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in Edwardian musical comedies. During ...

*Maids of Honour: Oasis, Asphodel and Zinnia – Jessie Rose, Madge Moyse and Mildred Baker *Adza, ''the Court Dancer'' – Katie Vesey *Lazuli, ''a Travelling Painter'' (

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

, a woman portraying a man) –

Emmie Owen Emily Owen (November 28, 1871 – October 18, 1905) was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Beginning as a child actress, she performe ...

*Citizens, Guards, Courtiers, and Ladies-in-Waiting.

Musical numbers

*Overture Act I - A Public Square *No. 1 - Chorus - "Night is done, but it is not day, only a twilight, quiet and grey" *No. 2 - Laoula, Aloës, Tabasco & Tapioca - "Hush! hark! is anyone near?" *No. 3 - Laoula - "When I was a child of three, heigh-ho!" *No. 4 - Lazuli - "Say little star, when the soft summer glow trembles and dies out of the skies" *No. 5 - Laoula, Aloës, & Lazuli - "Of our disguise advantage take" *No. 6 - Chorus - "Bring on our King" *No. 6a - King & Chorus - "I'm a king in everything" *No. 7 - Finale Act I - "Young man, you have dared to strike the King!" Act II - Throne-Room in the King's Palace *No. 8 - Chorus, with Oasis & Asphodel - "Lolling in sinuous feminine fashion" *No. 9 - Lazuli & Chorus - "There was a minstrel gay" *No. 10 - King, Siroco, Lazuli, Tabasco & Tapioca - "It's the husband, harsh and hated" *No. 11 - Chorus - Entrance of the Ambassador - "In a courtly train let us welcome with dutiful homage" *No. 12 - Lazuli, Laoula & King - "Together, darling, let us roam, with staff and scrip and pocket-comb" *No. 13 - King & Chorus - "In an African land, that chiefly was sand, an Ostrich went his way" *No. 14 - Finale Act II - "It's a shot! Then a lot! Did they pot him, yes or not?" Act III - A Summer-Room in the Palace *No. 15 - Chorus - "When the tramp, tramp, tramp of our military march is heard" *No. 16 - Tapioca - "Dreaming in the dark, your vision comes upon my lonely slumber" *No. 17 - King & "Coons" - "Merry little darkie's very kind remark is: 'Life in the old dog yet!'" *No. 18 - Laoula & Lazuli - "There lived in a cage two turtle doves, in happy contentment of mind" *No. 19 - Chorus - "In courtly train, let us welcome, with dutiful homage" *No. 20 - Finale Act III - "Let us march away, brave and gay our display"

Reception

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'' (fou ...

'' commented, "One portion of a single finale is all that remains of Chabrier's work in the production. There is in the book of words a wholly unnecessary announcement to the effect that this portion is by a different hand from the rest; the 'join' is quite unmistakable, for during the too-short extract from the original score the music suddenly becomes humorous, charming and brilliantly melodious, besides being orchestrated in a fresh and musicianly way." ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised Caryll's music for its "tuneful dance melodies … while the concerted pieces are marked by abundant piquancy and animation." Passmore, the paper said, "maintains the spirit of fun at fever heat whenever he is upon the stage." Reviewing the touring production later in the same year, the paper commented on the libretto: "The Gilbertian kind of comic opera is not the worst kind. Though rather irritating with its unchanging tone of frigid banter, it is ambrosia compared with the stuff here offered by Messrs Leterrier, Vanloo, Goodwin, Morse, Brockfield, Ross, Hopwood and Co." ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' commented that the piece was of a different, and inferior, class to the customary Savoy Operas, but was nonetheless good of its kind."Last Night's Theatres", ''The Observer'', 8 January 1899, p. 5

References

External links

Site with links to the libretto, cast list and other information regarding ''The Lucky Star''
* ttp://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/savoy/lucky_star/ls_prog1/ls_prog1.html Programme from the original production {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucky Star, The English-language operas English comic operas Operas 1899 operas Operas by Ivan Caryll