Doris (opera)
Encyclopedia
Doris is a "comedy opera" in three acts by Alfred Cellier
, with a libretto by B. C. Stephenson
. After the phenomenal success of Cellier and Stephenson's Dorothy
(1886), the pair were hoping for another big hit. Doris turned out to be only modestly successful.
It opened at the Lyric Theatre
in London on 20 April 1889 and ran for 202 performances. It starred Arthur Williams
, Ben Davies
, Alice Barnett
, Hayden Coffin, Furneaux Cook
and John Le Hay
.
The New York Times
review stated:
Another critic concluded, "The libretto of Doris is so feeble that I misdoubt even Cellier's music, the splendid mounting of the piece, and the interesting Elizabethan processions pulling it through. What judicious compression and unscrupulous 'gagging' may accomplish one cannot, of course, venture to prophesy. I understood that at the end of Dorothy's run very little if any of the original dialogue remained. It had been improved out of recognition. Still, both Dorothy and Falka rejoiced in plain straightforward stories everyone could understand. The difficulty is to make head or tail of Doris."
Sir Philip Carey is a fugitive, having been accused of participating in a plot against Queen Elizabeth I. He loves Anne Jerningham, one of the Queen's maids of honor. At a picnic given by her father, Alderman Shelton, Doris playfully runs away from Martin, her father's chief apprentice, and with whom she is in love. Attempting to hide in a hollow tree, she finds Sir Philip, already concealed there. She takes pity on him and convinces Martin and two friends to aid his escape. Dinniver, a comical wicked servant, hides behind a bush, overhears the plan and tells the Alderman about it. While the Alderman goes for the authorities, Dinniver is forced to exchange clothing with Philip, and so Dinniver is arrested in Philip's place. Philip escapes.
Act II
Philip is posing as an apprentice to the Alderman, but he is betrayed by Martin. After drawing the wrong conclusion from a letter, Martin has become jealous of Philip and Doris. When Martin realises that his jealousy is unfounded, he remorsefully dons the fugitive's original clothes and is arrested in his place. Sir Philip escapes again!
Act III
Both lovers appear at a masque given at the Alderman's house. After a number of complications, the Queen pardons all political prisoners, including Philip, and all ends happily.
Act II - Cheapside
Act III - Interior of Alderman Shelton's House
Alfred Cellier
Alfred Cellier was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing the overtures to some of them, Cellier conducted at many theatres in London, New York and...
, with a libretto by B. C. Stephenson
B. C. Stephenson
Benjamin Charles Stephenson or B. C. Stephenson was an English dramatist, lyricist and librettist. After beginning a career in the civil service, he started to write for the theatre, using the pen name "Bolton Rowe". He was author or co-author of several long-running shows of the Victorian theatre...
. After the phenomenal success of Cellier and Stephenson's Dorothy
Dorothy (opera)
Dorothy is a comic opera in three acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by B. C. Stephenson. The story involves a rake who falls in love with his disguised fiancée.It was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre in London on in 1886...
(1886), the pair were hoping for another big hit. Doris turned out to be only modestly successful.
It opened at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
in London on 20 April 1889 and ran for 202 performances. It starred Arthur Williams
Arthur Williams (actor)
Arthur Williams was an English actor, singer and playwright best remembered for his roles in comic operas, musical burlesques and Edwardian musical comedies...
, Ben Davies
Ben Davies (tenor)
Ben Davies was a Welsh tenor singer, who appeared in opera with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, in operetta and light opera, and on the concert and oratorio platform...
, Alice Barnett
Alice Barnett
Alice Barnett was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
, Hayden Coffin, Furneaux Cook
Furneaux Cook
Furneaux Cook , born John Furneaux Cook, was an English opera singer and actor best known for baritone roles in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and Alfred Cellier on the London stage. Cook appeared on stage for over 30 years in London, the British provinces and America.-Life and...
and John Le Hay
John Le Hay
John Le Hay was the stage name of John Healy was an Irish-born singer and actor best remembered for his portrayal of the comic baritone roles in the Savoy Operas.-Early career:...
.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review stated:
- "Musically considered, the new comic operaComic operaComic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
is an English classic.... The composer does not descend at any time from his ideal plane. There is [no] sacrifice of artistic form at any point to please the popular ear. All the numbers are charming, and several of them... are simply gems.... The libretto... is about as ingeniously bad a bit of construction as could be conceived.... The comic opportunities are few and very conventional; consequently... the opera is neither funny nor interesting...."
Another critic concluded, "The libretto of Doris is so feeble that I misdoubt even Cellier's music, the splendid mounting of the piece, and the interesting Elizabethan processions pulling it through. What judicious compression and unscrupulous 'gagging' may accomplish one cannot, of course, venture to prophesy. I understood that at the end of Dorothy's run very little if any of the original dialogue remained. It had been improved out of recognition. Still, both Dorothy and Falka rejoiced in plain straightforward stories everyone could understand. The difficulty is to make head or tail of Doris."
Roles and original cast
- Doris Shelton - Annette Albu
- Lady Anne Jerningham - Amy F. Augarde
- Mistress Shelton - Alice BarnettAlice BarnettAlice Barnett was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
- Dolly Spigott - Effie Chapuy
- Martin Bolder - Ben DaviesBen Davies (tenor)Ben Davies was a Welsh tenor singer, who appeared in opera with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, in operetta and light opera, and on the concert and oratorio platform...
- Sir Philip Carey - C. Hayden CoffinC. Hayden CoffinCharles Hayden Coffin was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes....
- Alderman Shelton - J. Furneaux CookFurneaux CookFurneaux Cook , born John Furneaux Cook, was an English opera singer and actor best known for baritone roles in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and Alfred Cellier on the London stage. Cook appeared on stage for over 30 years in London, the British provinces and America.-Life and...
- Crook (Apprentice) - John Le HayJohn Le HayJohn Le Hay was the stage name of John Healy was an Irish-born singer and actor best remembered for his portrayal of the comic baritone roles in the Savoy Operas.-Early career:...
- Dormer (Apprentice) - W. T. Hemsley
- Barnaby Spigott - Percy Compton
- Dinniver - Arthur WilliamsArthur Williams (actor)Arthur Williams was an English actor, singer and playwright best remembered for his roles in comic operas, musical burlesques and Edwardian musical comedies...
Synopsis
Act ISir Philip Carey is a fugitive, having been accused of participating in a plot against Queen Elizabeth I. He loves Anne Jerningham, one of the Queen's maids of honor. At a picnic given by her father, Alderman Shelton, Doris playfully runs away from Martin, her father's chief apprentice, and with whom she is in love. Attempting to hide in a hollow tree, she finds Sir Philip, already concealed there. She takes pity on him and convinces Martin and two friends to aid his escape. Dinniver, a comical wicked servant, hides behind a bush, overhears the plan and tells the Alderman about it. While the Alderman goes for the authorities, Dinniver is forced to exchange clothing with Philip, and so Dinniver is arrested in Philip's place. Philip escapes.
Act II
Philip is posing as an apprentice to the Alderman, but he is betrayed by Martin. After drawing the wrong conclusion from a letter, Martin has become jealous of Philip and Doris. When Martin realises that his jealousy is unfounded, he remorsefully dons the fugitive's original clothes and is arrested in his place. Sir Philip escapes again!
Act III
Both lovers appear at a masque given at the Alderman's house. After a number of complications, the Queen pardons all political prisoners, including Philip, and all ends happily.
Musical numbers
Act I - Highgate Hill- No. 1 - Opening Chorus - "A Gold! A Gold!"
- No. 2 - Scena - Crook and Dormer - "My arrow's nearest to the centre, see?"
- No. 3 - Song - Shelton, Mrs. Shelton and Chorus - "I hereby do require..."
- No. 4 - Scena and Exit - "The cavalcade approaches..."
- No. 5 - Song - Doris - "Love's race"
- No. 6 - Duet - Doris and Sir Philip - "How hardly fate with some us us doth deal..."
- No. 7 - Song - Martin - "I've sought the brake and bracken..."
- No. 8 - Quartett - Doris, Dame Shelton, Martin and Philip - "Who are you, may I ask..."
- No. 9 - Quartett - Doris, Mrs. Shelton, Martin and Philip - "True Heart."
- No. 10 - Soli and Chorus - "Silently! Warily!"
- No. 11 - Finale - Act I - "Where is the traitor who threaten'd Her Majesty?"
Act II - Cheapside
- No. 12 - Introduction and The Alderman's Glee
- No. 13 - The Alderman's Song - Shelton - "What craven dares to talk of his home..."
- No. 14 - Soli and Chorus - "Go to bed."
- No. 15 - Song - Dinnever - "What has become of the door?"
- No. 16 - Song - Anne Jerningham - "Sir Philip's Farewell."
- No. 17 - Song - Sir Philip - "Honour bids me speed away..."
- No. 18 - Recitative and Duet - Anne and Sir Philip - "The Parting."
- No. 19 - Cavatina - Doris - "Learn to wait."
- No. 20 - Soli and Chorus - "What do you lack, Ladies?"
- No. 21 - Chorus of Beefeaters - "In many climes..."
- No. 22 - Finale - Act II - "Ye Citizens of London."
Act III - Interior of Alderman Shelton's House
- No. 23 - Introduction and Chorus - "Who are you? What are you..."
- No. 24 - Duet - Doris and Martin - "If I am dreaming..."
- No. 25 - Quintett - Doris, Anne, Martin, Sir Philip and Shelton - "Fare thee well."
- No. 26 - Entrance of the Masquers and Chorus - "Far from eastern seas..."
- Nos. 27 and 28 - Recit. and Song - Doris and Martin - "I thank you for your gifts..." and "All the wealth..."
- No. 29 - Finale - Act III - "She will, she won't..."