''Weather or No'' is a one-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 ...

, styled a "musical duologue", by Bertram Luard-Selby with a libretto 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 William Beach. It was produced 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 ...

from 10 August 1896 to 17 February 1897 as a companion piece to ''

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 ...

'', and from 2 March 1897 to 24 April 1897 with ''His Majesty'', for a total of 209 performances. Copies of the libretto and the vocal score (published in 1896 by J. Williams) are found in British Library. There are five musical numbers, including three duets and a solo for each character.

Background

When 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 ...

partnership disbanded after the production of ''

The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time the ...

'' in 1889, impresario

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 ...

filled the Savoy Theatre with a combination of new works and revivals of the

operas. The fashion in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so producer

preceded 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 with

curtain raisers A curtain raiser is a short performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain. The first person on stage has "raised the curtain". The fashio ...

W. J. MacQueen-Pope Walter James MacQueen-Pope (11 April 1888 – 27 June 1960), known familiarly as Popie, was an English theatre historian and publicist. From a theatrical family which could be traced back to contemporaries of Shakespeare, he was in management for ...

commented, concerning such curtain raisers: :This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ...

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 ...

served to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important. One of the writers of ''Weather or No'',

, would go on to become one of the most prolific and successful lyricists of

Edwardian musical comedies 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 ...

Synopsis

The story concerns two figures who come in and out of a toy

weather house A weather house is a folk art device in the shape of a small German or Alpine chalet that indicates the weather. A typical weather house has two doors side by side. The left side has a girl or woman, the right side a boy or man. The female fig ...

according to whether it is wet or dry, and so they cannot meet. Nevertheless, the couple fall in love and eventually wrench themselves away from their supports so that they may be together.

Cast information

The original cast was: *She. Emmie Owen for the first week, then Beatrice Perry *He. Scott Russell

Critical reception

A review in ''The Musical Times'' of 1 September 1896 stated, :The book, by Messrs. Adrian Ross and W. Beach, is bright and smartly written, and the music, by Mr. B. Luard Selby, is graceful, refined, and by no means lacking in point and humour. The characters, impersonated with fair success by Miss Emmie Owen and Mr. Scott Russell, are the "He" and "She" of a toy weatherhouse, who emerge alternately from their respective doors in obedience to the vagaries of our fitful climate. The funny little couple fall in love, but find courtship so difficult under the circumstances that they wrench themselves away from their supports and leave the weather to take care of itself. The trifle will be welcome to those who require pieces suitable for private theatricals.''Weather or No''
''The Musical Times'', 1 September 1896

Notes

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References

External links

English-language operas English comic operas Operas 1896 operas Operas by Bertram Luard-Selby