''Haste to the Wedding'' is a three-act

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 ...

with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, ''The Wedding March''. The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmith. The piece was produced under the management of Charles Wyndham at the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development ...

, London, opening on 27 July 1892. It closed on 20 August 1892, after a run of just 22 performances. Although a failure, the opera introduced the 18-year-old

George Grossmith, Jr. George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important inn ...

, the composer's son, to the London stage. He would go on to a long career in the theatre.

Background

''The Wedding March''

On 15 November 1873, Gilbert's play ''The Wedding March'' debuted at the Court Theatre, written under his pseudonym F. Latour Tomline. It was a free adaptation of Eugène Marin Labiche's '' Un chapeau de paille d'Italie'' ("The Italian Straw Hat"). The play was first to have been called ''Hunting a Hat'', but the title was changed to capitalise on the popularity of the wedding march from

Wagner's Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

'' Lohengrin''. The name of the hero, Woodpecker Tapping, was taken from

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

's ballad, "The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech tree." The play ran for about 92 performances, until 3 March 1874, a good run for the time.Moss, Simon
"The Wedding March"
at ''Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia'', c20th.com, accessed 21 November 2009 On the play's success, Stedman notes: :Gilbert's adaptation is a model of how a French farce could be intelligently suited to the English stage.... It depended on split-second timing, on rapid intrusions and concealments, on frantically invented expedients and mistaken identities, and on the pursuit of a crucial object: a hat of Italian straw. ''The Era'' commented that there was "enough fun... to make half-a-dozen ordinary farces." The piece was "one of Gilbert's most frequently played successes and brought him £2,500". He told the critic

William Archer William or Bill Archer may refer to: * William Archer (British politician) (1677–1739), British politician * William S. Archer (1789–1855), U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia * William Beatty Archer (1793–1870), Illinois politician ...

, in 1904, that he had written it in just a day and a half. The play was given as part of a benefit matinee at the

Gaiety Theatre, London The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known a ...

, on 4 December 1884 with a cast starring

Lionel Brough Lionel "Lal" Brough (10 March 1836 – 8 November 1909) was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s. He ...

and Lydia Thompson. The idea of turning ''The Wedding March'' into an opera was on Gilbert's mind for many years. The project was mooted in 1876 as a successor to ''

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 significant ...

''.

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

would have composed the score, and the composer's brother Fred (''Trials Learned Judge) would have played the bridegroom, Woodpecker Tapping, but the opera didn't materialise, perhaps due to the illness that ultimately led to Fred's early death. The script of ''The Wedding March'' makes several references to an Irish song called "Haste to the Wedding", which became the title of the later version.

Creation of the opera; subsequent adaptation

By the 1890s, Gilbert's partnership with Sullivan had unravelled, and Gilbert had to find other partners. He wrote ''

The Mountebanks ''The Mountebanks'' is a comic opera in two acts with music by Alfred Cellier and Ivan Caryll and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The story concerns a magic potion that causes the person to whom it is administered to become what he or she has pre ...

'' with

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 th ...

, and then turned to George Grossmith, the 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 ...

of the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

pieces from ''

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 ...

'' (1877) through to ''

The Yeomen of the Guard ''The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid'', is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 and ran for 423 performances. This was the eleventh ...

'' (1888). Grossmith had composed hundreds of songs and duets for his own private drawing-room entertainments, as well as a few short comic operas, but never a full-length work as ambitious as ''Haste to the Wedding''. By opening night, 27 July 1892, Gilbert was approaching a reconciliation with Sullivan, who was in attendance. Notable among the cast were

Frank Wyatt Frank Wyatt (7 November 1852 – 5 October 1926) was an English actor, singer, theatre manager and playwright. After beginning his career as an illustrator and painter, in 1877 Wyatt began a stage career in comedy, Victorian burlesque, pantomim ...

as Woodpecker Tapping, veteran actor

(Pietro in ''The Mountebanks'') as Maguire, and

George Grossmith Jr. George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and Actor-manager, manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also a ...

, the composer's son, in his stage debut as Foodle. The opera was not a success, however, playing only 22 performances. Stedman suggests that the timing of the premiere in July, traditionally a slow season, worked against it. The writer

Kurt Gänzl Kurt-Friedrich Gänzl (born 15 February 1946) is a New Zealand writer, historian and former casting director and singer best known for his books about musical theatre. After a decade-long playwriting, acting and singing career, and a second ca ...

sums up the failure: :...the setting of the lyrics proved rather too much for Grossmith, whose musical talent, though tuneful and amusing, was definitely on the small scale. The songs added nothing to the play and indeed, by breaking down the plot and slowing the pell-mell pace of the action, exposed the improbability of the situations. After a first night which evoked some wrathful comments from a disappointed audience, ''Haste to the Wedding'' survived only twenty-two performances. At Chichester (1975) and Exeter (1976), an adaptation was created using Gilbert's ''The Wedding March'' as a starting point, adding the lyrics and music from ''Haste to the Wedding'', as well as additional original lyrics written to music adapted from Jacques Offenbach’s '' Barbe-Bleue''. This piece was called ''The Italian Straw Hat'' and played strongly for limited seasons.

Roles and 1892 cast

* Woodpecker Tapping, ''a Bridegroom'' –

* Mr. Maguire, ''a Market Gardener'' –

* Uncle Bopaddy – William Blakely * Cousin Foodle –

* The Duke of Turniptopshire, ''an Emotional Peer'' –

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

* Major-General Bunthunder – Sidney Valentine * Captain Bapp – Frank Atherley * Cripps, ''a Milliner's Bookkeeper'' – Welton Dale * Wilkinson, ''a Policeman'' – Percy Brough * Barns, ''a Family Retainer'' – Fred Bond * Jackson, ''a Valet'' – W. R. Shirley * The Marchioness of Market Harborough, ''an Emotional Peeress'' –

Ellis Jeffreys Minnie Gertrude Ellis Jeffreys (12 May 1868(?) – 21 January 1943) was an English actress, best known for her comedy roles. Jeffreys was born in Ceylon and made her stage debut in London in 1889. She quickly became a leading West End player. I ...

* Maria Maguire, ''a Bride'' –

Marie Studholme Caroline Maria Lupton (10 September 1872 – 10 March 1930),Peter Bailey"Studholme, Marie (1872–1930)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press (2004), Retrieved on 27 June 2008 known professionally as Marie Studho ...

* Leonora – Day Ford * Bella Crackenthorpe, ''a Milliner'' – Sybil Carlisle * Patty Parker, ''a Lady's Maid'' – Haidee Crofton Chorus of Wedding Guests and Members of the Upper Aristocracy :''Note:'' Captain Bapp and Leonora are omitted in the ''dramatis personæ'' of the published libretto, although they appear in the text itself.

Synopsis

Act I

Scene 1: A room in Woodpecker Tapping's house.

It is Woodpecker Tapping's wedding day. Jackson, the valet, explains to Patty that the bride, Miss Maria Maguire, lives in a remote corner of Wales, and as Woodpecker cannot get leave to travel that far, Maria and her family must come to him. Woodpecker's Uncle Bopaddy arrives with a wedding gift, which he gives to Patty for safekeeping. Woodpecker comes in to tell his uncle about a strange incident that had happened in Hyde Park. His horse bolted, and when he caught up with the animal, it was chewing on a lady's straw hat. Woodpecker paid the lady a shilling for her damaged hat. Uncle Bopaddy remarks that the hat is curiously similar to his wedding gift. Left alone, Woodpecker remarks that he is delighted with his bride-to-be, but that her father is a "human porcupine." He is also exasperated with her foppish cousin Foodle, who is allowed to kiss her, even though Woodpecker may not. Leonora, the lady whose hat Woodpecker's horse had chewed up, arrives with Captain Bapp, her cousin. Woodpecker apologises to them, and offers more money, but they insist he must replace the hat, as Leonora's husband is insanely jealous and won't forgive her if she returns without it. Woodpecker promises to find a replacement from a local milliner. In the meantime, he insists they hide, as it would be awkward if his bride and father-in-law discover another woman in the house. The rest of the wedding party arrive. Maguire says that the wedding is off, because Woodpecker has kept them waiting outside, and he declares that Maria will marry Foodle. After Woodpecker apologises, Maguire says that he can marry Maria after all. Woodpecker needs an excuse to stop at a milliner's shop on the way to the registrar, so he tells them that he's lost the marriage license. Maguire once again calls the wedding off but is pacified when Woodpecker says that they'll stop off at a Doctor's CommonsDoctors’ Commons was a society of London lawyers. The society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked and a big library. Court proceedings of the civil law courts were also held in Doctors’ Commons. The society was dissolved in 1865. Gilbert is introducing an anachronism by having characters visit it in 1873. See Robinson, Arthur and David Trutt
Introduction to the script of ''The Wedding March''
the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 2010, accessed 17 December 2010. Note that this Introduction includes some material that first appeared in this article. and get a new license. Woodpecker observes that the bride's family are country people and won't know the difference between a Doctor's Commons and a milliner's shop.

Scene 2: A Milliner's Show-room

Bella, the milliner, recognises Woodpecker, who had once proposed marriage and then abandoned her; he insists that he still intends to abide by his promise. Bella agrees to give him a fine straw hat, provided that he takes her to lunch that afternoon and to the theatre that evening. He agrees, and she leaves to go fetch the hat. The wedding party enters, having grown impatient. They believe they are in a Doctor's Commons. When Cripps, the milliner's bookkeeper, enters, they mistake him for the Registrar, and confusion ensues as they try to dictate their names to him as if to obtain a marriage license. Foodle observes Woodpecker embracing Bella in an adjoining room. Maguire again cancels the wedding, and gives Maria to Foodle. Woodpecker says that Bella is his cousin, and the wedding is on again. Cripps leaves, and the wedding party pursue him. Bella tells Woodpecker that she can't match the kind of straw hat that he is looking for, and she cannot get another one like it for three weeks. The only matching hat she's seen in London is a specimen she sold to the Marchioness of Market Harborough. Woodpecker resolves that he must visit the Marchioness to persuade her to part with her hat. Cripps re-enters, breathless, followed by the wedding party, who still believe he is the Registrar.

Act II

Scene 1: A handsomely furnished drawing-room

The Duke of Turniptopshire arrives at the Marchioness of Market Harborough's home for a concert by the Italian falsetto singer, Nisnardi. The Duke remarks that he would far prefer to be a commonplace man than a "highly-strung sensitive Duke". Woodpecker arrives. He and Maria are now married, and the wedding party are waiting in carriages outside. He has told them that the Marchioness's home is

St. James's Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadill ...

, and that he is inside making arrangements for the wedding breakfast. The Duke mistakes Woodpecker for the Italian singer and goes off to tell her that Nisnardi has arrived. The Marchioness enters, and likewise assumes that Woodpecker is Nisnardi. He asks if she received his note. She replies that she did, and presents Woodpecker with a flower. He says that it is not a flower, but an article of her attire that he wants. When she quotes from Nisnardi's note, Woodpecker realises the confusion, but before he can explain, the Marchioness's guests arrive for the concert. Playing along, Woodpecker tells them that his voice has deserted him, but he will be able to sing if the Marchioness indulges his whim – he wants her straw hat. Maguire enters, rather tipsy. The Marchioness takes him to be Nisnardi's accompanist. She escorts him to meet her guests. Her maid enters with a hat-box, but when Woodpecker opens it, he finds it is a black hat. The maid explains that the Marchioness gave her white straw hat to her niece, Mrs. Major-General Bunthunder. Woodpecker resolves to visit the Major-General's home at once, but the Duke stops him before he can leave. Woodpecker claims that he had left his tuning fork behind and was going home to fetch it. The Marchioness's guests insist that he start singing. Maguire tries to play the piano. The rest of the wedding party burst in and start eating the Marchioness's food. The Marchioness faints into the Duke's arms, and Woodpecker escapes.

Act III

Scene 1: Dressing-room in Major-General Bunthunder's House

The Major-General is soaking his feet in a hot bath. He has never fought in battle, but remarks that he would perform heroic deeds if he were asked to do so. His wife, Leonora, has been gone all day, and he wonders if she is deceiving him. Woodpecker arrives and explains the aftermath of the Marchioness's concert. Bunthunder wonders why Woodpecker is telling him this irrelevant story. Woodpecker asks to see Bunthunder's wife. He says that she is "not at home", but Woodpecker goes downstairs looking for her, putting up a screen around Bunthunder and his foot bath. Bunthunder shouts that he will go after Woodpecker as soon as he is dressed. Maguire enters, believing the house to be Woodpecker's. His boots are hurting him, and when he sees Bunthunder's boots, he switches them with his own. He then goes to let in the wedding party. Uncle Bopaddy enters, and Bunthunder assumes that his home is under assault. He hears the tumult and rushes downstairs, wearing Maguire's ill-fitting boots. Maguire returns with the wedding party. Maguire assumes that Woodpecker is getting dressed behind the screen and advises him that if he wants a happy marriage, "In all things give into your wife." They leave. Woodpecker has found several hats, but none matching the damaged one. Bunthunder confronts him, assuming he is a burglar. Woodpecker explains the need for the hat. Bunthunder is at first amused, until he realises that it is his own wife's straw hat that Woodpecker's horse had ruined. He vows to take his case to court.

Scene 2: A street near Woodpecker's house

Maguire and Maria wonder why Woodpecker keeps giving them the slip. Having finally ascertained that they've found Woodpecker's house, they knock on the door. Jackson, the valet, tells them that they cannot come in, because "the lady without a hat" is still inside. Maguire is astonished to hear that another lady is in the house. Vowing to get Maria a divorce and marry her to Foodle, he orders Jackson to retrieve all the wedding gifts. Woodpecker arrives and admits that Leonora is in the house. Jackson returns with the presents. Maguire tells everyone to grab a present and head for the train station. Uncle Bopaddy urges them to be careful, because his gift is a delicate straw hat. Woodpecker frantically opens the hat-box; the hat is identical to the one his horse had eaten. He rushes inside to find Leonora. Police Officer Wilkinson enters and assumes that all of the presents are stolen property. He arrests the whole wedding party and ushers them into the station-house. Woodpecker returns with Leonora and Captain Bapp, but the hat is gone. Bunthunder is fast approaching, and Leonora does not want him to find her with Woodpecker. Thinking quickly, Woodpecker tells Officer Wilkinson that Leonora is drunk and disorderly. She and Bapp are arrested and taken to the station-house. Bunthunder arrives at Woodpecker's house in a fury. Captain Bapp tosses the hat out of a window of the station-house, but it lands on a lamp-post, just out of reach. Bunthunder, not finding Leonora, concludes that his accusation of Woodpecker was unjust. Woodpecker tries to use his umbrella to dislodge the hat without arousing Bunthunder's suspicions. Leonora and the wedding party return from the police station. Maguire has bribed the Chief Inspector, and they are cleared of wrongdoing. One of the wedding guests manages to retrieve the hat, and Leonora claims it. She tells her husband that she had been waiting for him all day at her aunt's. Everyone is reconciled. Woodpecker and Maria go into the house together.

Musical numbers

Act I *No.1. Patty and Jackson (Today, at eleven) *No.2. Woodpecker (Maria is simple and chaste) *No.3. Chorus and Maguire (Ring, ye joybells, long and loudly... You've kept us all waiting outside!) *No.4. Bella (By dreams of ample profit lured) *No.5. Bella and Woodpecker (I want a hat of finest straw) *No.6. Cripps and Maguire with Chorus (Gracious, how I have been running) Act II *No.7. Duke (Oh butcher, oh baker, oh candlestick-maker) *No.8. Woodpecker and Marchioness (The slave of impulse I) *No.9. Maguire with Chorus (Now, Woodpecker!... Why, we're all making merry) *No.10. Finale: (Hurrah for the bride with a right good will) Act III *No.11. Bunthunder (Though called upon I've never been) *No.12. Woodpecker and Bunthunder (Your pardon, sir... From the Marchionesses) *No.13. Maguire with Chorus (If you value a peaceable life) *No.14. Woodpecker and Bunthunder (I've come across hats of all colours and sorts) *No.15. Finale: (Free, free! Hurrah!)

Notes

References

* * * * {{cite book, last=Stedman, first=Jane W., year=1996, title=W. S. Gilbert: A Classic Victorian & His Theatre, location=Oxford, publisher=Oxford University Press

External links

''Haste to the Wedding'' at The Gilbert & Sullivan ArchiveScore of ''Haste to the Wedding''
* ttp://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/gilbert/plays/wedding_march/times_1873.html Review of ''The Wedding March'' in ''The Times'', 19 November 1873br>Review of ''Haste to the Wedding'' in ''The Times'', 28 July 1892Photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt in a school production of ''The Wedding March''
1892 operas Works by W. S. Gilbert English-language operas English comic operas Operas Operas by George Grossmith