Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert and Sullivan. In the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal; this is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies. The opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. The confrontation between the fairies and the peers is a version of one of Gilbert's favourite themes: a tranquil civilisation of women is disrupted by a male-dominated world through the discovery of mortal love.
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.
San Toy, or The Emperor's Own is a "Chinese" musical comedy in two acts, first performed at Daly's Theatre, London, on 21 October 1899, and ran for 768 performances. The book was written by Edward Morton, and the musical score was written by Sidney Jones with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton. The cast included Marie Tempest, Scott Russell, Huntley Wright and Rutland Barrington.
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.
Charles Herbert Workman was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He was variously credited as Charles H. Workman, C. Herbert Workman and C. H. Workman.
Sydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
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.
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 Spectre Knight is a one-act "fanciful operetta" with a libretto by James Albery and music by Alfred Cellier. It was first performed on 9 February 1878 at the Opera Comique by the Comedy Opera Company as a companion piece to The Sorcerer. The piece continued to run until 23 March 1878 and was revived by the company from 28 May 1878 to 10 August 1878 as a companion piece to H.M.S. Pinafore. The piece had a run in New York in 1880 and was toured in Britain and America.
Mock Turtles is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Eaton Faning. It was first produced at the Savoy Theatre on 11 October 1881 as a curtain raiser to Patience, then from 26 November 1882 to 30 March 1883 with Iolanthe. The piece also toured from December 1881 throughout 1882. It also toured in 1883 and 1884 and enjoyed further revivals, including a tour in 1897 with J. M. Gordon and his company.
A Private Wire is a one-act musical "vaudeville" operetta with a libretto by Frank Desprez and Arnold Felix and music by Percy Reeve. It was first produced at the Savoy Theatre on 31 March 1883 to 1 January 1884 as a companion piece to Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. The piece also toured from March to July 1884.
Quite an Adventure is a one-act comic opera by Edward Solomon with a libretto by Frank Desprez. The farcical plot concerns a house-guest who mistakes his hostess's husband for an intruder.
A Welsh Sunset is a one-act comic opera composed by Philip Michael Faraday, with a libretto by Frederick Fenn. It was produced at the Savoy Theatre from 15 July 1908 and played with revivals of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance until 17 October 1908, and from 2 December 1908 until 24 February 1909, a total of 85 performances. A copy of the vocal score, but no printed libretto, is found in the British Library. The score contains all the dialogue.
Mirette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by André Messager, first produced at the Savoy Theatre, London, on 3 July 1894.
Barry Clark is an English opera singer and actor. Beginning in the 1970s, Clark played tenor roles in the Savoy Operas for over a decade with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He then sang in various opera companies, including New Sadler's Wells and Scottish Opera, and played in musicals on the West End. Later, Clark concentrated on oratorio and, in recent years, appeared with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, among others.
Ellen Sophia Taylor, known professionally as Sybil Grey, was a British singer and actress during the Victorian era best known for creating a series of minor roles in productions by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including roles in several of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas, from 1880 to 1888. Afterwards, she went on to a long West End theatre career, appearing in both musical theatre and plays.
The Outpost is an opera or operetta by the composer Hamilton Clarke with a libretto by A. O'D. Bartholeyns. The story is an adaptation of the Singspiel Der vierjährige Posten by Theodor Körner with music by Franz Schubert.
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.
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.
