Happy Arcadia
Encyclopedia
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and music originally by Frederic Clay
Frederic Clay
Frederic Emes Clay was an English composer known principally for his music written for the stage. Clay, a great friend of Arthur Sullivan's, wrote four comic operas with W. S...
that premiered on 28 October 1872 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration
Royal Gallery of Illustration
The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a performance venue located at 14 Regent Street near Waterloo Place in London, in what was formerly the home of John Nash, designer of Regent Street, Regent's Park, and other urban improvements undertaken at the commission of George IV.From 1855 to about 1876,...
. It was one of four collaborations between Gilbert and Clay between 1869 and 1876. The music is lost. The piece is a satire on the genre of pastoral plays in which the characters, who each wish that they could be someone else, have their wish granted, with unhappy results.
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
later produced a popular comic opera
Comic opera
Comic 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...
, Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
in which two of the characters, Strephon and Phyllis, are "Arcadian" shepherds. Phyllis, like Chloe, is torn between two suitors. The character of Lycidas also anticipates the character of Archibald Grosvenor in Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
, who is cursed with perfect beauty.
Background
This work is the fifth in a series of six one-act musical plays written by Gilbert for Thomas German ReedThomas German Reed
Thomas German Reed was an English composer and theatrical manager best known for creating the German Reed Entertainments, a genre of musical plays that made theatre-going respectable at a time when the stage was considered disreputable...
and his wife Priscilla
Priscilla Horton
Priscilla Horton, later Priscilla German Reed , was a popular English singer and actress, known for her role as Ariel in W. C. Macready's production of The Tempest in 1838 and "fairy" burlesques at Covent Garden Theatre. Later, she was known, along with her husband, Thomas German Reed, for...
between 1869 and 1875. The German Reeds presented respectable, family-friendly musical entertainments
German Reed Entertainment
German Reed Entertainment was founded in 1855 and operated by Thomas German Reed together with his wife, Priscilla Reed née Horton...
at their Gallery of Illustration beginning in 1855, at a time when the theatre in Britain had gained a poor reputation as an unsavory institution and was not attended by much of the middle class. Shakespeare was played, but most of the entertainments consisted of poorly translated French operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s, risque burlesques and incomprehensible broad farces. The Gallery of Illustration was a 500-seat theatre with a small stage that only allowed for four or five characters with accompaniment by a piano, harmonium and sometimes a harp.
The title of Happy Arcadia is an oxymoron, as the inhabitants of this fictional Arcadia are anything but happy. Arcadia was a legendary site of rural perfection, first described by the Ancient Greeks, that was a popular setting for writers of the 19th century and artists such as Jean-Antoine Watteau. Happy Arcadia is a satire on the genre of pastoral plays, which were set in an ideal world. The piece has a typical Gilbertian topsy-turvy plot in which magic items grant wishes, and each of the characters uses his or her wish to become someone else. The magic items cause the sort of transformation that fascinated Gilbert throughout his career and that he used in all his "lozenge plot" works, including The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer
The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876...
, Foggerty's Fairy
Foggerty's Fairy
Foggerty's Fairy, subtitled "An Entirely Original Fairy Farce", is a three-act farce by W.S. Gilbert based loosely on Gilbert's short story, "The Story of a Twelfth Cake", which was published in the Christmas Number of The Graphic in 1874, and elements of other Gilbert plays...
and The Mountebanks. Theatre historian Kurt Gänzl
Kurt Gänzl
Kurt Gänzl is an award-winning writer, musicologist, casting director and singer best known for his books about musical theatre....
noted that "the highlight of the show was a scene in which, various jealousies having arisen, everyone is simultaneously wishing he were one of the others – and consequently everyone is! [demonstrating Gilbert's] favourite theme of change of identity or personality."
As the original score is long lost, others have created their own, and Jonathan Strong's adaptation of Sullivan's non-Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
music may be heard on the video of the work by the Boston Massachusetts-based group, Royal Victorian Opera Company.
Gilbert (who directed and designed his own shows) was busy in the days leading up to the opening of Happy Arcadia: Four days before Happy Arcadia opened, Gilbert's one-act farce, A Medical Man, opened at St. George's Hall
St. George's Hall
St. George’s Hall may refer to:*St George's Hall, Bradford*St. George's Hall, Liverpool*St. George's Hall, Reading*One of the state rooms at Windsor Castle*St George's Hall and Apollo Room of the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg...
, although it had been published in 1870. The original production of Happy Arcadia played from 28 October 1872 to 2 May 1873. A revival, produced by and starring Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades...
, played at St George's Hall from 15 July 1895 to 10 August and again from 4 November until 30 November 1895. Although Happy Arcadia was one of the later pieces by Gilbert for the German Reeds, it was a step backwards in terms of dramat development.
Synopsis
Flageolet
The flageolet is a woodwind musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. Its invention is ascribed to the 16th century Sieur Juvigny in 1581. There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four finger holes on the front and two thumb holes on the back; and the...
s. Chloe: "I always pinch my lamb when nobody's looking." Strephon: "And I always play out of tune when nobody's listening". They irritably agree to break off their engagement. Chloe's parents are also miserable. Her father was a criminal who evaded punishment by fleeing to Arcadia and is now tired of living a life of innocence. He would happily return to a life of iniquity if he could do so without being sentenced to penal servitude. Meanwhile, Strephon's lodger, Astrologos, owes him three months' rent, but as an Arcadian, Strephon can't ask him to pay it, since Arcadians don't care about money. Astrologos notes that he has four magic items, a stick, a ring, a cloak, and a cap, each of which grants one wish, but that he has used up the wishes.
Daphne has news: The handsome, wealthy, gifted Lycidas has determined to renounce the vanities of a worldly life and is going to become an Arcadian, and he has taken a fancy to Chloe. Strephon protests that Chloe is betrothed to him, and that, in order to put up a fight, he'll resign from Arcadia. Lycidas appears, saying he will live in Arcadia, and he asks to be left alone with Chloe. Strephon reluctantly withdraws, and Lycidas asks Chloe to "be mine". Strephon returns with a stick, and Lycidas withdraws, agreeing to return in half an hour. Strephon says that he is no longer an Arcadian and will smash Lycidas if he presumes to address Chloe again.
Astrologos has departed, leaving a package for Strephon containing the four magic items. The instructions say, "Distribute them as you think fit". Strephon decides to auction off three of the items. Each item is auctioned off for four pence. Daphne, left alone, inadvertently wishes that she were in Strephon's shoes, and she immediately changes into Strephon. Meanwhile, Colin has turned into Daphne -- as a woman, he would be able to get away with crimes. Chloe has changed into Colin, hoping to be "a grumpy... old bear like papa," to be out from between her two suitors. Strephon has turned into Chloe. Everyone is distressed by their transformations, and the idea occurs to them that if they exchange magic items, they will each get another wish. They do so and wish to return to their original forms, which they do, and they all happily embrace. Lycidas returns, declaring that Arcadia is no place for him, and he is leaving. They auction all the items to Lycidas, and all ends happily.
Roles and casts of 1872 and 1895 productions
- Strephon - A happy Arcadian, betrothed to Chloe (tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) – Arthur CecilArthur CecilArthur Cecil Blunt, better known as Arthur Cecil was an English actor, comedian, playwright and theatre manager. He is probably best remembered for playing the role of Box in the long-running production of Cox and Box, by Arthur Sullivan and F. C...
; Rutland BarringtonRutland BarringtonRutland Barrington was an English singer, actor, comedian, and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his performing career spanned more than four decades... - Colin - A virtuous old peasant, father of Chloe (baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) – Alfred Reed; Charles Wibrow - Daphne - An elderly Arcadian, Chloe’s mama (married to Colin) (contraltoContraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
) – Priscilla German Reed; Fanny HollandFanny HollandFanny Holland was an English singer and comic actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in numerous German Reed Entertainments.-Life and career:...
(then Emily Cross, then Marion German Reed) - Chloe - A happy Arcadian, betrothed to Strephon (sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) – Fanny HollandFanny HollandFanny Holland was an English singer and comic actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in numerous German Reed Entertainments.-Life and career:...
; Maria Garcia (replaced by Chrystal Duncan) - Astrologos - A blighted bogey – R. Corney GrainRichard Corney GrainRichard Corney Grain , known by his stage name Corney Grain, was an entertainer and songwriter of the late Victorian era.-Biography:...
; George Traill (then Roland Carse) - Lycidas - The handsomest man in all the world – R. Corney Grain; Hilton St Just
Musical numbers
- No. 1. Duet. "Let us sing" - Strephon and Chloe
- No. 2. Song. "Only a Woman" - Colin
- No. 3. Solo "Far away from care and strife" - Lycidas and quartette
- No. 4. Quartette. "Good people all, attend, attend to me"
- No. 5. Identity quartette. "The question of identity, Suppose we now discuss"
- No. 6. Finale. "In this innocent little vale" - Strephon and chorus
External links
- Contains a link to Happy Arcadia libretto
- Happy Arcadia at the G&S Discography