Gilbert and Sullivan

1) Gilbert and Sullivan had collaborated from 1871 to 1896 in 14 comic operas. Arthur Sullivan was a composer, while W.S Gilbert was a librettist.

2) Gilbert was born on November 18th, 1836 in London. When he was young, Gilbert wanted to gain money by making poems, illustrated stores and articles.

3) Arthur Sullivan was born on May 13th 1842 in London. When he was only 8 years old, he was able to play all kinds of band instruments. His father was a military band master.

4) Gilbert created fanciful topsy-turvy worlds for these operas, where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offense, gondoliers ascend to the monarchy, and pirates turn out to be noblemen who have gone wrong.

5) Sullivan, seven years younger than Gilbert, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humor and pathos.

6) Producer Richard D'Oyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration. He built the Savoy Theatre in 1881, to present their joint works—which came to be known as the Savoy Operas—and he founded the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted their works for over a century.

7) The two were first paired in 1871, when the manager of the Gaiety Theatre in the Aldwych, John Hollingshead, commissioned the two up and comers for the production of a musical burlesque show. Titled Thespis, the show was rushed, actors were under rehearsed and over worked. In fact, the first performance ran an hour long, lines were forgotten, and booing could be heard when it finally ended. Although it ran for a few performances, it was later disregarded and never became published. It is lost to us forever!

8) The most popular Gilbert and Sullivan works are still performed from time to time by major opera companies. A three-week long International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is held every August in Buxton, England.

9) Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world, and lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language (even if not originated by Gilbert), such as, "let the punishment fit the crime" and "A policeman's lot is not a happy one." The operas have influenced political style and discourse, literature, film, and television, have been widely parodied by humorists, and have been quoted in legal rulings.

10) Noel Coward wrote: I was born into a generation that still took light music seriously. The lyrics and melodies of Gilbert and Sullivan were hummed and strummed into my consciousness at an early age. My father sang them, my mother played them, my nurse, Emma, breathed them through her teeth while she was

washing me, dressing me and undressing me and putting me to bed. My aunts and uncles, who were legion, sang them singly and in unison at the slightest provocation….

11) Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas are commonly referenced in literature, film, and television—such as the 1998 film, Star Trek: Insurrection—in various ways that include extensive use of Sullivan's music or where action occurs during a performance of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera.

12) During the run of the Gilbert and Sullivan's opera, Patience, Carte built the Savoy Theatre, which became the partnership's permanent home and was the first theater in the world to be lit entirely by electric lighting.

13) The Mikado became the partnership's longest-running hit, enjoying 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre, which was the second longest run for any work of musical theater (surpassing the 571 performances of Pinafore and 576 of Patience) and one of the longest runs of any theater piece up to that time. The Mikado remains the most frequently performed production at the Savoy Opera, and is widely regarded as Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular and successful work.

14) Their final collaboration, The Grand Duke, was first performed in 1896, and marked the end of their oft-quarrelsome, quarter century-long partnership.

15) In 1883, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria. In 1907, Gilbert, too, was knighted, by King Edward VII.