The Lucky Star is an English comic opera, in three acts, composed by Ivan Caryll, with dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield (revised by Helen Lenoir) and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Aubrey Hopwood. [1] It was produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and opened at the Savoy Theatre on 7 January 1899 for a run of 143 performances.
The opera starred the usual Savoy Theatre cast from that period, including Walter Passmore, Henry Lytton, Robert Evett, Ruth Vincent, Emmie Owen and Isabel Jay. Direction was by Richard Barker, choreography was by Willie Warde, and costumes were designed by Percy Anderson.
The opera is based on L'étoile , written in 1877 by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo, with additional material by Paul Verlaine and music by Emmanuel Chabrier. It is also based on The Merry Monarch , an American translation of L'étoile by J. Cheever Goodwin with music by Woolson Morse, produced in 1890. Caryll used a small amount of Chabrier's music in the first act finale. [2] [3]
The Lucky Star was the only Savoy Opera where a woman plays a man's part. The piece has many other characteristics of Edwardian musical comedy, which had become popular on the London stage in the 1890s – broader comedy, a thin romance, bright tunes, comedians, a chorus of pretty girls, some risqué situations, a "coon" song, songs regarding news of the day, separate authors of dialogue and lyrics, and a star, Walter Passmore. This half-musical, half-comic opera, did not appeal strongly to the Savoy Theatre's audiences and was unable to achieve a long run. [3]
King Ouf is a superstitious monarch. The King is informed by his astrologer Siroco that his destiny is linked with that of an itinerant painter named Lazuli, who is in love with the King's intended bride, the Princess Laoula. Siroco's astrological charts reveal that Lazuli's death will result in the King's. The King decrees that Siroco will be executed moments after the King's death, and so both have an interest in keeping Lazuli alive.
Act I - A Public Square
Act II - Throne-Room in the King's Palace
Act III - A Summer-Room in the Palace
The Times commented, "One portion of a single finale is all that remains of Chabrier's work in the production. There is in the book of words a wholly unnecessary announcement to the effect that this portion is by a different hand from the rest; the 'join' is quite unmistakable, for during the too-short extract from the original score the music suddenly becomes humorous, charming and brilliantly melodious, besides being orchestrated in a fresh and musicianly way." [2] The Manchester Guardian praised Caryll's music for its "tuneful dance melodies … while the concerted pieces are marked by abundant piquancy and animation." Passmore, the paper said, "maintains the spirit of fun at fever heat whenever he is upon the stage." [4] Reviewing the touring production later in the same year, the paper commented on the libretto: "The Gilbertian kind of comic opera is not the worst kind. Though rather irritating with its unchanging tone of frigid banter, it is ambrosia compared with the stuff here offered by Messrs Leterrier, Vanloo, Goodwin, Morse, Brockfield, Ross, Hopwood and Co." [5] The Observer commented that the piece was of a different, and inferior, class to the customary Savoy Operas, but was nonetheless good of its kind. [6]
L'étoile is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier with a libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo.
His Majesty, or, The Court of Vingolia is an English comic opera in two acts with dialogue by F. C. Burnand, lyrics by R. C. Lehmann, additional lyrics by Adrian Ross and music by Alexander Mackenzie.
Félix Marie Henri Tilkin, better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language. He composed some forty musical comedies and operettas.
A Runaway Girl is a musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank. It was produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre, London, opening on 21 May 1898 and ran for a very successful 593 performances. It starred Hicks's wife, Ellaline Terriss and Edmund Payne.
Sir Henry Lytton, néHenry Alfred Jones, was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1909 to 1934. He also starred in musical comedies. His career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company spanned 50 years, and he is the only person ever knighted for achievements as a Gilbert and Sullivan performer.
The Chieftain is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand based on their 1867 opera, The Contrabandista. It consists of substantially the same first act as the 1867 work with a completely new second act. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on December 12, 1894, under the management of Richard D'Oyly Carte, for a run of 97 performances.
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.
Walter Henry Passmore was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
The Earl and the Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll. It was produced by William Greet and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 10 December 1903. It transferred to the Lyric Theatre on 12 September 1904, running for a total of 371 performances. It also ran at the Casino Theatre in New York beginning on 4 November 1905 for 148 performances, starring Eddie Foy and W. H. Denny. A production toured Australia in 1906 and 1907. A revival in London in 1914 ran for a total of 107 performances, and there were later revivals and tours.
A Princess of Kensington is an English comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a libretto by Basil Hood, produced by William Greet. The first performance was at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 22 January 1903 and ran for 115 performances.
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.
Ruth Vincent was an English opera singer and actress, best remembered for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1890s and her roles in the West End during the first decade of the 20th century, particularly her role as Sophia in Tom Jones.
Fisch-Ton-Kan is an opéra bouffe in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier of which only some numbers survive. The French libretto was by Paul Verlaine, and probably Lucien Viotti, after the 'parade chinoise' Fich-Tong-Khan ou L'orphelin de le Tartarie of 1835 by Thomas Sauvage (1794-1877) and Gabriel de Lurieu (1792-1869).
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Stéphanie d'Oustrac is a French mezzo-soprano.
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Jessie Kate Rose was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her performances as principal mezzo-soprano in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. From 1896 to 1899 she originated several mostly smaller roles in Savoy operas and then continued to play a variety of smaller and larger roles in repertory with the company. She was its principal mezzo-soprano from 1904 to 1909.
Ma mie Rosette is an opéra comique in four acts with music by Paul Lacôme and words by Jules Prével and Armand Liorat. It is set in 16th-century Navarre, ruled by the young and famously amorous Henri of Navarre. His acceptance of refreshment from Rosette, a young woman on a farm, provokes jealousy in her fiancé. The young couple are brought to Henri's court, where they are married and raised to the aristocracy. The King's attentions to Rosette provoke a furious response from her husband. All the events at court turn out to be a dream of the sleeping Rosette. She wakes on her father's farm in time to receive the King who brings her a generous dowry.
Agnes Fraser was a Scottish actress and soprano 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.
Aubrey Hopwood was a British lyricist of Edwardian musical comedy and a novelist and author of nonsense books for children. He co-wrote the lyrics for the musicals Alice in Wonderland (1886), A Runaway Girl (1898) and The Lucky Star (1899), among others.