Background
Benedict himself approached Boucicault to adapt The Colleen Bawn into an opera libretto in the spring of 1861. Although the two men worked well at first, relations became strained as Benedict asked Boucicault for revisions and reductions of his lengthy spoken dialogue to allow more space for Oxenford's lyrics, while Boucicault increasingly resented his original drama being reshaped into a workable operatic format. After Oxenford and Benedict's deaths in 1877 and 1885 respectively, Boucicault denounced opera in its entirety as being an impossible dramatic genre in the April 1887 issue of The North American Review, where he also recounted his experiences in creating the libretto for The Lily of Killarney as well as his general opinion of the work: "[...] Benedict clung to his affection for the Irish play, and we took John Oxenford into our counsels [sic]. Our names are coupled on the title page of the libretto, but all my share in the business was watching my lamb cut up into a marketable shape [...] All the sentiment, all the tenderness, all the simple poetry was swept away. [...] The glamour, the intoxication produced by the music not only covers and conceals the wretched thing on which it rests, but transmutes the poorest acting into admirable effort. The most wooden of tenors becomes a miracle of tragic passion when he pronounces an upper D from the chest." [2] Boucicault completely dismissed the opera's success, despite Benedict's considerable efforts in creating a believably "Irish" work worthy of its original source, and never took part in writing another opera libretto.
The Lily of Killarney became the most widely performed of Benedict's operas. It has been linked with Balfe's The Bohemian Girl and Wallace's Maritana as 'The Irish Ring', though it is musically and dramatically far more sophisticated than either Balfe's or Wallace's operas. [3] [4] Its convincing handling of Irish idiom is interesting considering Benedict's German-Jewish origins, but Benedict's training under Weber instilled a strong respect and instinct for appropriate musical atmosphere, and he also included some genuine Irish melodies, notably the 18th-century air "The Cruiskeen Lawn" which he set as a quartet (No. 6 in the opera's vocal score) in Act I. Some of the opera's songs – notably The moon hath raised her lamp above and Eily Mavourneen – remain in the repertoire. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses [5] and Djuna Barnes' Nightwood . [6]
Synopsis
- Time: Late 18th century.
- Place: In and around Killarney.
Act One
At Tore Cregan, the ancestral home of Hardress Cregan, guests praise the 'bachelor' heir, paying little heed to the fact that Cregan is secretly married to Eily (the 'Colleen Bawn' = Gaelic 'the fair maid'), the eponymous Lily of Killarney. They go off to an impromptu moonlight race between the horses of the two of the guests. Mrs Cregan is now left alone, and to her enters Corrigan, a 'middle man' who holds a mortgage on the Tore Cregan estates. Corrigan threatens to dispossess Cregan and his mother, who have mortgaged their lands to him, unless Cregan marries the heiress Ann Shute. Danny the boatman is now heard singing 'off'. Corrigan informs Mrs Cregan that he is waiting to row her son over the water to visit Eily.
In Eily's cottage, Father Tom urges her to persuade Hardress to proclaim their marriage to the world, but Hardress arrives and asks Eily to give up the certificate of their marriage altogether. Myles and the priest intervene, and Hardress departs enraged.
Act Two
Back at Tore Cregan, Hardress is reluctantly wooing Ann Shute, while Corrigan turns his attention towards Mrs Cregan. Danny determines to resolve the situation by killing Eily. Cregan demurs, but the unwitting Mrs. Cregan is persuaded by Danny to give him one on her son's gloves as a token for Eily's death. Primed with strong drink, Danny goes to put his scheme into execution at Eily's hut. Myles tries to dissuade Eily from going with him, but the sight of Hardress's glove convinces her that all is well. Danny rows her to a lonely cave.
Outside the cave, Danny, thinking that he has Eily at his mercy, tells her that she must either surrender her marriage certificate to him or take it with her to the bottom of the lake. Myles, who uses the cave as a refuge, mistakes Danny for otter and shoots him. He then proceeds to rescue Eily and bear her away with him.
Act Three
Hardress, believing Eily to be dead, is about to be married to Miss Shute. Danny, however, makes a confession on the point of death of the plot against Eily and suspicion falls on Hardress as the instigator of the scheme. On the wedding morning Corrigan arranges that soldiers will come and arrest the bridegroom. Then Myles produces Eily, alive, and Hardress acknowledges her as his lawful wife. Mrs Cregan relates how it was she who gave the glove to Danny. The opera ends with the joy of Hardress and Eily, and the discomfiture of Corrigan. Myles consoles Miss Shute with the reminder that he, too, is doomed to love in vain.
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially The Bohemian Girl.
Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre. Although The New York Times hailed him in his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century," he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, had applied for and received American citizenship in 1873.
Sir Julius Benedict was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career.
The Bohemian Girl is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, La gitanilla.
The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, on 27 March 1860 with Laura Keene playing Anne Chute and Boucicault playing Myles na Coppaleen. It was most recently performed in Dublin at the Project Arts Centre in July and August 2010 and in Belfast by Bruiser Theatre Company at the Lyric Theatre in April 2018. Several film versions have also been made.
Events from the year 1860 in Ireland.
Edmund Falconer, born Edmund O'Rourke, was an Irish poet, actor, theatre manager, songwriter and playwright, known for his keen wit and outstanding acting skills.
Lily of Killarney is a 1929 British silent drama film directed by George Ridgwell and starring Cecil Landau, Barbara Gott and Dennis Wyndham. The film is based on the play by Dion Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn, and is set in the Irish town of Killarney in the nineteenth century.
The Colleen Bawn is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Gaston Mervale starring Louise Lovely. It is adapted from a popular melodrama by Dion Boucicault.
The Colleen Bawn is a 1924 British silent drama film directed by W. P. Kellino and starring Henry Victor, Colette Brettel and Stewart Rome. It is an adaptation of the 1860 Irish play The Colleen Bawn by Dion Boucicault.
Sarah Frances Marie Martinot was an American actress and soprano singer who performed on stage in dramas, musical comedy and comic opera. Her career began at the age fifteen as Cupid in Ixion; or, the Man at the Wheel and, but for a few years absence, she remained active on stage in America and abroad until 1908. She was the first to play Hebe in an American production of H.M.S. Pinafore, the first Katrina in the comic opera Rip Van Winkle and the first to play the title role in an English adaptation of the operetta Nanon. Late in her life Martinot would fall victim to mental illness and spend her last few years confined to psychiatric institutions.
The Colleen Bawn is a silent 1911 American romantic drama film based on the 1860 play of the same name. A secret marriage leads to murder. It and the play are based on the actual 1819 murder of 15-year-old Ellen Scanlan.
William Harrison was an English tenor and opera impresario. He was best known for creating roles in new operas by British composers from the 1840s to the early 1860s. Among those who composed for him were William Vincent Wallace, Michael William Balfe and Julius Benedict. After working for Alfred Bunn at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Harrison set up a company in partnership with the soprano Louisa Pyne, which enjoyed success in North America and London in the 1850s.
Lily of Killarney is a 1934 British musical film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring John Garrick, Gina Malo and Leslie Perrins. The film was made at Twickenham Studios. It is based on the play The Colleen Bawn by the Irish writer Dion Boucicault. The film's sets were designed by the art director James A. Carter.
Peadar Lamb was an Irish actor. He was known for his roles in numerous Irish-language stage productions, including playing King Fin Varra in the television series Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, and lending his voice to Old Piggley Winks on the children's television series Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.
Ellen Scanlon, born Ellen Hanley, was an Irish murder victim. Born to a Limerick farming family in 1803, her murder at age 15 became the subject of books, plays, films, songs, and an opera, using the nickname given to her locally, "the Colleen Bawn,", which translates literally to "white girl," with "white" symbolically meaning purity, innocence, gentleness, or beauty. Thus the name can be interpreted as "the innocent maiden."
Olympic Theatre was the name of five former 19th and early 20th-century theatres on Broadway in Manhattan and in Brooklyn, New York.
Minnie Walton was an Australian-American singer and actress. She began her career in Australia in 1867, moving to California in 1868, where she played the title role in The Colleen Bawn, among others. She performed in the United States until 1874, when she appeared for a season in England playing Mary in Our American Cousin, among other roles. She then made appearances in Australia before returning to California, where she died in 1879.
John Billington was an English actor, for many years a member of the company of the Adelphi Theatre in London.
Arrah-na-Pogue, also known as Arrah-na-Pogue; or the Wicked Wedding, is a play in 3 acts by Dion Boucicault. Along with The Colleen Bawn (1860) and The Shaughraun (1874), it is considered one of the three major Irish plays penned by Boucicault. Set during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the play popularized the street ballad The Wearing of the Green; a rendition of which was included in the play with lyrics by Boucicault. It has had an enduring place in the canon of dramatic literature on the stage internationally, and has been adapted into other media.
