''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 n ...

, 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 ...

, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield (revised by Helen Lenoir) and lyrics by Adrian Ross 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 Runawa ...

. 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. T ...

and opened at the Savoy Theatre 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, Robert Evett, Ruth Vincent, Emmie Owen and Isabel Jay. Direction was by Richard Barker, choreography was by Willie Warde, and costumes were designed by

Percy Anderson Percy Anderson may refer to: *Percy Anderson (designer) (1851–1928), English stage designer and painter *Percy Anderson (judge) (born 1948), United States District Judge *Percy McCuaig Anderson (1879–1948), Saskatchewan lawyer, judge and politi ...

Background

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

Albert Vanloo Albert Vanloo (; Brussels, 10 September 1846 – 1920, Paris) was a Belgium, Belgian librettist and playwright. Vanloo lived in Paris as a child and was attracted to the theatre. As a young student he began writing plays and opéra comique libret ...

, with additional material by Paul Verlaine and music by Emmanuel Chabrier. It is also based on '' The Merry Monarch'', an American translation of ''L'étoile'' by

J. Cheever Goodwin John Cheever Goodwin (1850 – December 1912) was an American musical theatre librettist, lyricist and producer. Goodwin was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard University. He began a career in journalism before turning to writing for the ...

with music by Woolson Morse, 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 ...

where a woman plays a man's part. The piece has many other characteristics of Edwardian musical comedy, 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) –

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

) – Robert Evett *Kedas, ''a Police officer'' – Frank Manning *Cancan, ''a Citizen'' – Leonard Russell *Chamberlain – Charles Childerstone *Princess Laoula, ''Daughter of King Mataquin'' ( soprano) – Ruth Vincent *Aloës, ''Daughter of Tabasco and Lady-in-Waiting to the Princess'' (soprano) – Isabel Jay *Maids of Honour: Oasis, Asphodel and Zinnia –

Jessie Rose Jessie Kate Rose (18 November 1875 – 27 May 1928) Gänzl, Kurt"Cartesians: Jessie Rose invades the 'C's!" Kurt of Gerolstein, 31 May 2020 was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her performances as principal mezzo-soprano in ...

, Madge Moyse and Mildred Baker *Adza, ''the Court Dancer'' – Katie Vesey *Lazuli, ''a Travelling Painter'' ( mezzo-soprano, a woman portraying a man) – Emmie Owen *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'' ...

'' 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'' 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 Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' 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