''A Princess of Kensington'' 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 two acts by

Edward German Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of ...

to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...

, produced by

William Greet William Greet (1851 – 25 April 1914) was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager ...

. The first performance was 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances. The opera was the last new work performed by the members of 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 ...

at the Savoy Theatre, and is therefore considered by some to be the last

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 ...

. The original cast included a number of the famous Savoyards, including

Louie Pounds Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds (12 February 1872 – 6 September 1970) was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in musical comedies and in mezzo-soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Originally intended for ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Rosina Brandram Rosina Brandram (2 July 1845 – 28 February 1907) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for creating many of the contralto roles in the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Brandram joined the D'Oyly Carte compan ...

. After the original run at the Savoy, the show toured. After that tour, the cast mostly joined the new musical, ''

The Earl and the Girl ''The Earl and the Girl'' is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferre ...

'' (also produced by Greet). The piece was given a Broadway production from August to October 1903.A Princess of Kensington
at the IBDB Broadway Database, accessed 8 August 2010

Background

Following the successes of their earlier comic operas, ''

The Emerald Isle ''The Emerald Isle''; ''or, The Caves of Carrig-Cleena'', is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and Edward German, and a libretto by Basil Hood. The plot concerns the efforts of an Irish patriot to resist the oppressive "re-ed ...

'' and '' Merrie England'',

and

collaborated once more on ''A Princess of Kensington''. Despite a good reception from critics and Savoy opera devotees, the opera achieved a run of only 115 performances, owing partly to its dense plot and unwieldy libretto, and partly to the continued decline of comic operas in favour of

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

-style

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

as the London theatregoing public's choice entertainment. Despite its relative failure compared to the other Savoy operas, ''A Princess of Kensington'' became popular enough to be one of the first operas to have

original cast recordings A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sh ...

of selections made during the original run. The recordings themselves were popular enough that a 1907 silent film of one of the songs, "Four Jolly Sailor Boys" ic was produced to be played synchronized to the recording. The fairy backstory of the plot is derived from a poem by

Thomas Tickell Thomas Tickell (17 December 1685 – 23 April 1740) was a minor English poet and man of letters. Life The son of a clergyman, he was born at Bridekirk near Cockermouth, Cumberland. He was educated at St Bees School 1695–1701, and in 1701 ente ...

entitled ''

Kensington Garden ''Kensington Garden'' is a poem by Thomas Tickell, published in 1722, as a fictional origin story for the area which would eventually be known as Kensington Gardens. Plot Kensington Garden, according to the poem, was once a fairy realm ruled ...

'', featuring the history of the characters Albion, Azuriel, Kenna, and Oberon.

Roles and original cast

* Sir James Jellicoe, ''a Rich Banker'' (father of Joy Jellicoe) – Arthur Boielle * Brook Green, ''his Junior Clerk'' (

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 ...

) –

* Puck, ''the Imp of Mischief'' (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 ...

) –

* William Jelf, ''a Sailor from H.M.S. "Albion"'' (baritone) –

* Bill Blake, Will Weatherly, and Jem Johnson, ''Sailors from H.M.S. "Albion"'' (baritones) –

Powis Pinder Powis Pinder (6 September 1872 – 25 July 1941) was an operatic baritone who created a number of minor roles in the Savoy Operas and played a range of more important parts in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and other works during a two decade l ...

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 ...

and Rudolph Lewis * Yapp, ''a Policeman'' ( bass) – M. R. Morand * Mr. Reddish, ''Proprietor of "The Jolly Tar," Winklemouth'' (

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

) –

Reginald Crompton Reginald Crompton (14 July 1870 – 10 September 1945) was a British solicitor, stage actor and silent film screenwriter. A bass-baritone, he created several minor roles in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.Stone, DavidReg ...

* Old Ben and James Doubleday, ''Fishermen'' – George Mudie, Jr. and Edwin Bryan * Recruiting Sergeant, ''Royal Marines'' (baritone) – Percival Stevens * Oberon, ''King of Fairies'' (high baritone) – Alec Fraser * Azuriel, ''a Mountain Spirit'' (bass) – Ernest Torrence * Recruiting Sergeant – F. Percival Stevens * Joy, ''Sir James Jellicoe’s Daughter'' (

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 ...

) –

* Nell Reddish, ''Mr. Reddish’s Niece'' (

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, typically b ...

) –

* Titania, ''Queen of Fairies'' (

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 ...

) –

Olive Rae The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

* Butterfly (mezzo-soprano) –

Winifred Hart-Dyke Winifred Hart-Dyke (2 December 1881 – March 1976) was an English dancer and actress associated with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Edwardian Musical Comedy. Her surname appears with and without the hyphen. Early life Winifred Amy Hart Dyke ...

* Moth (mezzo-soprano) – Maude Thornton * Cobweb (soprano) – Nancy Pounds * Dragonfly – Lily Bircham * Peaseblossom (soprano) – Constance Drever * Lady Jellicoe, ''Wife of Sir James'' (contralto) – Cora Lingard * Kenna, ''Oberon’s Daughter'' (

coloratura Coloratura is an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material,''Oxford American Dictionaries''.Apel (1969), p. 184. or a passage of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, an ...

soprano) –

Agnes Fraser Agnes Fraser Elder Fraser-Smith (8 November 1876 – 22 July 1968) was a Scottish actress and soprano, known as Agnes Fraser, who appeared in the later Savoy Operas and in Edwardian musical comedy. She married the Gilbert and Sullivan perfor ...

* Chorus of Fairies, Fishermen and Fishergirls, Red Marines, etc.

Synopsis

* Act I – Kensington Gardens – Morning * Act II – Winklemouth-on-Sea – Afternoon The fairy prince, Azuriel, has been suffering from jealousy for a thousand years over the love shared by the lovely fairy Kenna (for whom Kensington is named) and the mortal Prince Albion. Although Albion is dead, the mischievous Puck has encouraged Azuriel's jealousy through the centuries. Puck, lying, claims that he taught Kenna a spell to awaken Albion after a thousand years. Azuriel's jealousy is inflamed at the thought that his rival might soon reawaken, and he demands that Albion be promptly married off to a mortal maiden. To calm the angry fairy prince, Puck and Kenna have to produce a false Albion and a false wedding. For their false Albion they choose a sailor, William Jelf, from the H.M.S. Albion. Jelf's cap conveniently bears the name "Albion". To provide a bride, Puck sees an opportunity in the appearance of two young lovers, Lieutenant Brook Green and Joy Jellicoe. Puck disguises himself as Sir James Jellicoe, Joy's father. He revokes Sir James's acceptance of Lt. Green as a husband for his daughter and encourages Jelf to woo the astonished Joy. An alehouse owner, Mr. Reddish, arrives with his daughter Nell, to whom Jelf is actually engaged. Reddish is anxious to get Nell off his hands as she is a prohibitionist reformer and has turned his pub into a coffee house, to the disgust of Mr. Reddish's cronies, one of whom happens to be Jelf's uncle. Reddish hopes to marry Nell to Jelf, if necessary by force. Reddish and Nell are unhappy with the state of affairs that they encounter. After additional complications, Azuriel is finally convinced that Albion is really dead, and the fairies can return to fairyland, where peace is restored. Joy can marry her lieutenant, and Nell decides to marry Jelf's uncle, her father's friend, who she believes deeply needs the benefits of her reforms. William Jelf goes back to sea, a highly relieved bachelor.

Musical numbers

;Act I #Solo – Peaseblossom. "Come, Fairies!" and Female Chorus "'Tis Midsummer Day" #Chorus – "From where the Scotch mountains" #Duet – Oberon and Titania. "Mortal King may ride a-horseback" #Song and Chorus – Puck. "If we pass beyond the portals" #Duet – Brook and Joy. "Seven o'clock in the morning" #Sextet – Joy, Kenna, Lady Jellicoe, Brook, Puck, and Azuriel. "Who that knows how I love you, love" #Quartette – Jelf, Weatherly, Johnson, and Blake. "We're four jolly sailormen" #Song – Nell. "Oh, what is woman's duty?" #Chorus – "We're butchers and bakers and candlestick makers" #Tarantelle – Butterfly. #Song – Kenna. "Twin butterflies" #Song – Brook and Chorus. "Now, here's to the 'Prentices" #Song – Jelf. "A sailor man's the sort of man" #Trio – Joy, Brook, and Puck. "If love in a cottage be all that they tell" #Act I Finale (including Song – Jelf. "A bachelor of navel cut") ;Act II #Chorus. "High and dry" #Song – Kenna. "A Mountain stood like a grim outpost" #Song – Puck. "By a Piccadilly cab-stand" #Trio – Kenna, Puck, and Jelf, with Chorus. "If you will spare the time" #Bridal Chorus and Duet (Azuriel and Kenna). "See a rainbow arch... Ye silver chimes of fall and fountain" #Song – Brook. "A blue sky and a blue sea" (this song was replaced during the original run, with the song "Where haven lies") #Trio – Nell, Puck, and Jelf. "A German Prince May wed me" #Song – Joy. "He was a simple sailor man" #Trio and Chorus – Sergeant, Puck and Yapp. "It's a pressing invitation that I bring" #Song – Puck and Butterfly. "Oh, if I were a barn-door owl" #Act II Finale. "Seven o'clock in the evening"

References

External links

''A Princess of Kensington''
at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
"'Four Jolly Sailor Boys' from ''The Princess of Kensington''"
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''A Princess of Kensington''
at The Edward German Discography

at the Stage Beauty site

mostly songs from ''A Princess of Kensington''
"A Princess of Kensignton"
at the Internet Broadway Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Of Kensington, A Operas by Edward German English-language operas English comic operas 1903 operas Operas