Precious Nonsense: The Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
College of William and Mary
May 2021
Ken Krantz, W&M J.D. 1977
Patience: Well, it seems to me to be nonsense.
Lady Angela: Nonsense? Yes, perhaps. But oh, what precious nonsense.
Patience, Act I
Patience, or Bunthorne’s Bride
April 23, 1881
Opera Comique
October 10, 1881, Savoy Theatre
578 performances
Place: Act I : Exterior of Castle Bunthorne
Act II: A Glade
Source: Bab Ballad “The Rival Curates”
The Savoy Theatre:
A technological marvel
The first theater in the world lit entirely with electricity
Dramatis PersonaeColonel Calverley [Temple]Major MurgatroydLieutenant, the Duke of Dunstable [Lely]Reginald Bunthorne, a Fleshly Poet [Grossmith]Archibald Grosvenor, an Idyllic Poet [Barrington]Bunthorne’s SolicitorLady Angela [Bond]Lady SaphirLady EllaLady Jane [Contralto]Patience, a Dairy Maid [Braham]Chorus of Rapturous Maidens and Officers of Dragoon Guards
Bunthorne returns to the stage and reveals himself
Recitative:
“Am I alone, and unobserved? I am.
Then let me own, I’m an aesthetic sham . . . . . .
In short, my medievalism’s affectation,
Born of a morbid love of admiration.”
This is the only G&S introductory patter song performed by a character alone on the stage.
Bunthorne can only reveal his true nature to the audience in the theater.
Patience learns what love is (sort of)
Lady Angela: Love is, of all passions, the most essential . . . It is the one unselfish emotion in this whirlpool of grasping greed.
. . . . . . . .
Love that is tainted by selfishness is no love.
Grosvenor explains to Patience
“. . . It is my hideous destiny to be madly loved at first sight by every woman I come across.”
“I am called “Archibald the All-Right” for I am infallible.”
Hold that thought
Patience realizes
Grosvenor loves her, is perfect, and would make her happy.
Therefore, loving him would be selfish.
In order to love unselfishly, she should marry Bunthorne, since he will not make her happy.
Act I Finale
The False Resolution:
Based on her understanding of what love is, Patience agrees to marry Bunthorne. The disappointed maidens agree to marry the officers.
The News Flash
Enter Grosvenor
To recap, at the end of Act I:
Lady Jane is miserable because she is still in love with Bunthorne
The other ladies are miserable because Grosvenor does not love them
Grosvenor is miserable because he loves Patience
The officers are miserable because the ladies have once again abandoned them for a poet
Patience is miserable because she “loves” Bunthorne
Bunthorne is sort of happy because he is engaged to Patience,
but miserable because the ladies are now in love with Grosvenor
This is way too much misery for a romantic comedy!
Bunthorne/Jane duet
“So go to him and say to him in compliment ironical
. . . . . . .
Your style is much too sanctified, your cut is too canonical.”
That line is one of the few survivals from the earliest draft, when the rivals were clergymen instead of
poets.
The Maidens accept Gilbertian logic:
Lady Angela: If the All-Right chooses to discard aestheticism, it proves that aestheticism ought to be discarded.
Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri
November 25, 1882
Savoy Theatre
398 performances
Act I: An Arcadian glade
Act II: Westminster, outside the houses of Parliament
Dramatis Personae: Men
The Lord Chancellor [Grossmith]
Earl Tolloller [Lely]
Earl of Mountararat [Barrington]
Strephon, an Arcadian Shepherd [Temple]
Private Willis
Chorus of Peers
Dramatis Personae: Women
Queen of the Fairies [Contralto]
Iolanthe, a Fairy, Strephon’s mother [Bond]
Phyllis, an Arcadian Shepherdess [Braham]
Celia
Leila
Fleta
Chorus of Fairies
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (1924-2005)A Dedicated G&S Fan, wearing the robe inspired by Iolanthe
Act I Finale
The False Resolution:
Because she doesn’t believe that Iolanthe is Strephon’s mother, Phyllis rejects him and agrees to marry either Tolloller or Mountarrarat (she doesn’t care which).
The News Flash:
Enter the Fairies. The Queen decrees that Strephon will go into Parliament, and their magic will ensure that he will win all of the votes there.
Act II: Private Willis’ aria
“When in that House, MPs divide, if they’ve a brain and cerebellum too
They’ve got to leave that brain outside, and vote just as their leaders tell ‘em to.
But then, the prospect of a lot of dull MPs, in close proximity
All thinking for themselves is what no man can face with equanimity.”
Todd Rundgren, 1973“The Lord Chancellor’s Nightmare”
Album version (Audio only):• https:://youtu.be/C4ULXOnYhYw
Recent live concert versions:
• https://youtu.be/KcavSNzXAt4
• https://youtu.be/rWqAwgjs6CU
• https://youtu.be/TzorstCZAxI
Historical digression
Trial by Jury (1875) to Iolanthe (1882):
Six operas, all set in 19th
Century England
Princess Ida (1884) to The Grand Duke (1896):
Seven operas, of which only one, Ruddigore, is set in 19th Century England
Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant
January 5, 1884
Savoy Theatre
246 performances
Setting: Vaguely medieval European
Act I: Castle Hildebrand
Acts II and III: Castle Adamant
Source: The Princess (Gilbert 1870) and Tennyson (1847)
Dramatis Personae--Men
King Hildebrand [Barrington]
Hilarion, his son
Cyril [Lely]
Florian
King Gama [Grossmith]
Arac [Temple]
Guron
Scynthius
Chorus of Courtiers (Act I) and Soldiers (Acts II and III)
Dramatis Personae -- Women
Princess Ida, Gama’s daughter [Braham]
Lady Blanche [Brandram]
Lady Psyche
Melissa, Lady Blanche’s daughter [Bond]
Sacharissa
Chloe
Ada
Chorus of Courtiers (Act I) and Students (Acts II and III)
Bard Moment
MacBeth:
But wherefore could not I pronounce “Amen?”
I had most need of blessing and “Amen” stuck in my throat.
--MacBeth, Act II
Melissa:
My mother guessed your sex.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Why these are men” she would have added, but “are men” stuck in her throat.
--Princess Ida, Act II
Act II Finale
The False Resolution:
Their identities revealed, Hilarion and his friends have been captured and sentenced to death.
The News Flash:
King Hildebrand’s army arrives and storms the castle. He has her father and brothers as hostages.
The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu
March 14, 1885
Savoy Theatre
672 performances
Act I: Courtyard of Ko-ko’s Official Residence
Act II: Ko-ko’s Garden
Dramatis PersonaeThe Mikado of Japan [Temple]
Nanki-poo, his son, disguised as a wandering minstrel [Lely]
Ko-ko, Lord High Executioner of Titipu [Grossmith]
Pooh-bah, Lord High Everything Else [Barrington]
Pish-tush, A Noble Lord
Yum-Yum [Braham]
Pitti-sing [Bond] Three sisters, wards of Ko-ko
Peep-bo
Katisha, An elderly noblewoman [Brandram]
Chorus of Noblemen and Schoolgirls
It has nothing to do with JapanIt’s about Great Britain
From Act II:
We couldn’t tell who the gentleman really was.
It wasn’t written on his forehead, you know.
It might have been written on his pocket handkerchief, but Japanese don’t use pocket handkerchiefs.
They talk about Japanese people in the third person.
“In all of literature there are only two plots: (1) a person goes on a journey, and (2) a stranger comes to town.”
---Attributed to Leo Tolstoy
Act I Finale
The False Resolution:
Nanki-poo will marry Yum-yum and after a month Ko-ko will behead him. Yum-yum will be condemned to a loveless marriage to Ko-ko for the rest of her life.
The News Flash:
Enter Katisha
Bard MomentRichard III:
Lady Anne is courted by the man who killed her husband. Although initially repulsed, she ends up marrying him.
The Mikado::
Katisha is courted by the man who she believes to have killed her fiancée. Although initially repulsed, she ends up marrying him.
Groucho Marx television adaptation of The Mikado, 1960, Bell Telephone HourAct II Ko-ko Katisha Duet
https://youtu.be/T83W3rgQuXQ
Full length, audio only
https://youtu.be/I9pUgl2Y1M4
Duet with Groucho and his 8 year old daughter c. 1954
https://youtu.be/53SlhNi02As
Nanki-poo: The most interesting G&S tenor
His character arc:
1. Lovesick doofus. Just like Ralph Rackstraw.
2. Suicidal lovesick doofus. Again, like Ralph Rackstraw.
3. Rational calculator: If you’re going to die, why not have a month of marriage first.
4. Manipulator of events: “Very well, then. Behead me.”
5. Complete master of the situation: Maneuvers Ko-ko into marrying Katisha, in order to save himself from Katisha’s vengeance.