Ib and Little Christina refers to two theatrical adaptations by Basil Hood of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901).
Ib and Little Christina refers to two theatrical adaptations by Basil Hood of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901).
The first version was a play subtitled "A Picture in 3 Parts", with incidental music by Arthur Bruhns, first produced at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 May 1900 and running for 60 performances. It starred Martin Harvey and the nine-year-old Phyllis Dare. [1] The piece transferred to the Coronet Theatre that summer. [2] There was also a Broadway run in 1900. [3] It was revived at Terry's Theatre in January 1903, playing for 16 performances, and again at Terry's in early 1904, for 31 more performances. The play was also revived at the Adelphi Theatre in September 1908, playing for seven performances. [4]
Hood rewrote Ib and Little Christina as an opera styled "A Picture in 3 Panels", with music by Franco Leoni. It was first produced by William Greet at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901 and ran together with Hood's The Willow Pattern for 16 performances, until the end of November. [5] The libretto was published by Chappell & Co., and a copy is in the British Library at 11778.f.23(4) (1901).
The Times described the piece as "an opera of ultra-modern type" and compared it unflatteringly to the work of Arthur Sullivan, who had died earlier in that year. [6] The Manchester Guardian later said that "the music, though clever and attractive in many ways, was too realistic and too Southern to reflect the Northern symbolism of Andersen's story, and that its peculiar vein of passion was out of place." [7] The piece was revived at Daly's Theatre from 11 to 13 January 1904, then transferred to the Lyric Theatre from 19 January to 5 March 1904, running for a total of 23 matinee performances. [8] The opera is not quite a full-length piece and is played in three short scenes. [9]
Ib and his father are poor and live alone; Old Henrik and his granddaughter Christina are their neighbours. The two children are in love, and Ib is willing to sacrifice everything for her. An old gypsy woman visits Ib and grants him three wishes.
Fifteen years later, the children have grown up, and Christina is in love with John, a prosperous innkeeper. Broken‑hearted but faithful, Ib gives her up.
Seven years later, the marriage brought no happiness to Christina, who died in poverty. The gypsy woman brings Christina's daughter (also called Christina) to Ib, and they live happily together.
| Play, 1900 Prince of Wales | Play, 1900 Coronet | Opera, 1901 Savoy | Play, 1903 Terry's | Opera, 1904 Daly's | Play, 1904 Terry's | Play, 1908 Adelphi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ib's father | Charles Lander | Charles Lander | Henry Lytton | Julian Cross | Ivor Foster | William Dunlop | Albert E. Raynor |
| Little Ib | Vyvian Thomas | Vyvian Thomas | Laurence Emery | Philip Tonge | Louise Douste | Roy Lorraine | Bobbie Andrews |
| Old Henrik, Christina's grandfather | Holbrook Blinn | J. H. Barnes | H. Thorndike | J. D. Beveridge | Gordon Cleather | George Mudie, Jr | Phillip Hewland |
| Ib's Mother/Gipsy Woman | Mary Rorke | Mary Rorke | Isabel Jay | Mary Rorke | Susan Strong | Irene Rooke | Mary Rorke |
| Little Christina | Phyllis Dare | Phyllis Dare | Ela Q. May | Doris Middleton | Ela Q. May | Winifred Winter | Rita Leggiero |
| Ib | Martin Harvey | Holbrook Blinn | Robert Evett | Holbrook Blinn | Ben Davies | Sydney Blow | Martin Harvey |
| John | H. Nye Chart | H. Nye Chart | Powis Pinder | Vincent Sternroyd | Charles Bennett | Edward Bonfield | George Cooke |
| Christina | Eva Moore | Louie Pounds | Louie Pounds | Daisy Thimm | Edna Thornton | Dorothy Drake | Amy Coleridge |
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 impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical.
Arthur Reed Ropes, 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. He was the most important lyricist of the British stage during a career that spanned five decades. At a time when few shows had long runs, nineteen of his West End shows ran for over 400 performances.
Franco Leoni was an Italian opera composer. After training in Milan, he made most of his career in England, composing for Covent Garden and West End theatres. He is best known for the opera L'oracolo, written for Covent Garden but taken up successfully by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In addition to his operas, Leoni wrote several cantatas and oratorios and many ballads and other songs. He also worked as a conductor in London, both in the concert hall and in the theatre.
The Rose of Persia; or, The Story-Teller and the Slave, is a two-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Basil Hood. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 29 November 1899, closing on 28 June 1900 after a profitable run of 211 performances. The opera then toured, had a brief run in America and played elsewhere throughout the English-speaking world.
Rosina Brandram 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.
Basil Willett Charles Hood 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 Widow.
François Arsène Cellier, often called Frank, was an English conductor and composer. He is known for his tenure as musical director and conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the original runs and early revivals of the Savoy operas.
Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds 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.
Robert Evett 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.
The Willow Pattern is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Basil Hood and music by Cecil Cook. It was first produced by William Greet at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901, running for a total of 110 performances until 29 March 1902. It toured thereafter.
Phyllis Dare was an English actress and singer famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century.
Pretty Polly is a one-act playlet by Basil Hood, with music composed by François Cellier. The ten-minute long piece concerns the difficulties of a shy fellow who tries to use a talking parrot as a matrimonial agent.
Frederick John D'Auban was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the choreographer of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
Rudolph Lewis was a bass-baritone known for creating several small roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas including Go-To in The Mikado (1885) and Old Adam Goodheart in Ruddigore (1887).
Frederick Strafford Moss was a British tenor and actor. He appeared in the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1897 to 1913, mainly in touring companies of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, following which he had a career in musical theatre on the West End stage until 1931.
Agnes Fraser Elder Fraser-Smith 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 performer Walter Passmore, with whom she frequently appeared on stage.
Powis Pinder 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 long stage career. His later years were spent managing concert parties on the Isle of Wight where he later served as a volunteer fireman on the outbreak of World War II.
Charles Childerstone 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 film. His theatrical career spanned four decades and included musical comedy and the legitimate theatre.
Little Hans Andersen is a musical fairy pantomime in two acts and seven scenes for children with lyrics by Basil Hood and music by Walter Slaughter.
Ela Queenie May was a child actress of the Edwardian era. She is probably best remembered as Liza, the Darling family servant, in the original production of Peter Pan and later played Wendy Darling in the touring companies of Peter Pan (1906–08). Before that, she played roles at several West End theatres from 1900, including the title role in Ib and Little Christina in 1901 and again in 1904.