Rip Van Winkle is an 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:...

 in three acts by Robert Planquette

Robert Planquette

Jean Robert Planquette was a French composer of songs and operettas.Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, including Les cloches de Corneville , the length of whose initial London run broke all records for any piece of musical theatre up to that time, and Rip...

. The English libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie

Henry Brougham Farnie

Henry Brougham Farnie , often called H. B. Farnie, was a British librettist and adapter of French operettas and an author...

 was based on the stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820...

 and Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle

"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon...

 by Washington Irving

Washington Irving

Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...

 after the play by Dion Boucicault

Dion Boucicault

Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as 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...

 and Joseph Jefferson

Joseph Jefferson

Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....

.

Performance history

The operetta opened at the Royal Comedy Theatre in London on October 14, 1882, adapted by Dion Boucicault, and ran for a very successful 328 performances, starring Fred Leslie, W. S. Penley

W. S. Penley

William Sydney Penley was an English actor, singer and comedian best remembered as producer and star of the phenomenally successful 1892 Brandon Thomas farce, Charley's Aunt and as the Reverend Robert Spalding in many productions of The Private Secretary.-Life and career:Penley was born at...

, Lionel Brough, Rose Moncreiff and H. B. Farnie. Others who joined the cast during the run included Fred Billington

Fred Billington

Fred Billington was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...

. There was also a brief New York run in 1882 starring J. H. Ryley

J. H. Ryley

John Handford Ryley, was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, particularly in America...

, Richard Mansfield

Richard Mansfield

Richard Mansfield was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and for his portrayal of the dual title roles in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

 and Selina Dolaro

Selina Dolaro

Selina Dolaro was an English singer, actress, theatre manager and writer. During a career in operetta and other forms of musical theatre, she managed several of her own opera companies and raised four children as a single mother...

. It also toured internationally.

French version

It was adapted as Rip with a French libretto by Henri Meilhac

Henri Meilhac

Henri Meilhac , was a French dramatist and opera librettist.-Biography:Meilhac was born in Paris in 1831. As a young man, he began writing fanciful articles for Parisian newspapers and vaudevilles, in a vivacious boulevardier spirit which brought him to the forefront...

 and Philippe Gille

Philippe Gille

Philippe Gille was a French dramatist and opera librettist. He wrote over twenty librettos between 1857 and 1893, the most famous of which are Massenet's Manon and Delibes' Lakmé.-Librettos by Philippe Gille:...

 and given at the Folies-Dramatiques in Paris, opening on November 11, 1884 for a long run.

Roles and original cast

• Rip Van Winkle (A Village Good-For-Nothing) – Fred Leslie
• Derrick Van Slous (The Village Lawyer and Rip's Rival) – W. S. Penley
  W. S. Penley
  William Sydney Penley was an English actor, singer and comedian best remembered as producer and star of the phenomenally successful 1892 Brandon Thomas farce, Charley's Aunt and as the Reverend Robert Spalding in many productions of The Private Secretary.-Life and career:Penley was born at...
  
  
• Peter Van Dunk (Burgomaster of Sleepy Hollow) – Louis Kelleher
• Diedrich Knickerbocker (Village Schoolmaster and Local Poet) – E. Wilmore
• Captain Hugh Rowley (Of the British Army) – Fred Darrell
• Nick Vedder (Landlord of The "George III" Inn) – Lionel Brough
  Lionel Brough
  Lionel Brough was a British actor and comedian. After beginning a journalistic career and performing as an amateur, he became a professional actor, performing mostly in Liverpool during the mid-1860s...
  
  
• Gretchen (Wife of Rip Van Winkle) – Violet Cameron
• Sara And Jacintha (Two of her Gossips) – Clara Graham and Constance Lewis
• Katrina (A Village Flirt - Daughter of Nick Vedder) – Sadie Martinot
• Little Hardcase (Clerk to Derrick) – Madge Milton
• Hans (His Nephew) – Effie Mason
• Alice (Rip's Little Daughter) – Alice Vicat
• Tom Tit (Bugler to Rowley's Company) – Rosie Moncrieff
• Leedle Jan (Katrina's Brother) – Master Gollop
• Gape (Waitress At The "George III" Inn) – Grace Hawke
• Captain Hendrick Hudson – S. H. Perry
• Four Lieutenants – W. S. Rising, Constance Lewis, Clara Graham and Miss Rosie Moncrieff
• Cabin Boy – Madge Milton
• The Goblin Steward – Mr. Storey
• Master Gunner – M. Villa
• Max Schneider (Rural Postman) – Clara Graham
• Chicken (Potboy at the "George Washington Hotel") – Rosie Moncrieff
• Mopps (Chambermaid at the Inn) – Madge Milton

The following cast changes occur as children in Act I later become adults:

• Alice Van Winkle (Daughter of Rip) – Violet Cameron
• Lieut. Hans Van Slous (Now of the U.S. Frigate "Constitution") – W. S. Rising
• Jan Vedder (Now Proprietor of the "George Washington Hotel") – Lionel Brough

Musical numbers

• Overture

Act I

• No. 1 - Opening Chorus, Scene and Couplets - "Far and near our cry be heard, Long life to great George the Third! ..."
• No. 2 - Exit of Peasants, etc. - "Yes, it is a common thing, thus to use one's Queen or King..."
• No. 3 - Air - Rip Van Winkle - "Oh! where's my girl of whom I'm fond? Wherever can my darling be? ..."
• No. 4 - Canoe Song - Gretchen & Rip - "Where floweth the wild Mohawk river, a-down the long rushes that quiver..."
• No. 5 - Chorus of Cowards - "Can't you see we're coming? (Hang their horrid drumming...)"
• No. 6 - Legend of the Kaatskils - Gretchen & Chorus - "From deep forest hoary, lift in awful glory mountains grey and old..."
• No. 7 - Trio and Air - Rip Van Winkle & Children - "Ere the marriage contract is drawn, what have you got to live upon? ..."
• No. 8 - Rondo - Katrina & Chorus - "'Tis the hour we girls ne'er fail, with a pitcher and a tale, at the old draw-well..."
• No. 9 - Finale Act I - "When I come back 'twill be no more to roam; thenceforth to stay with thee at home..."

Act II - Scene 1

• Entr'acte & Melodrame
• No. 10 - Lantern Chorus & Ballad - Gretchen & Katrina - "By the thicket path we are trudging slow..."
• No. 10½ - Exit & Reprise - "Our search in vain, let's home again! By the thicket path we are trudging slow..."
• No. 11 - Patrol Chorus - "Keep all in step! Keep all in step! Keep all in step! The night is dark and low'ring..."
• No. 12 - Trio - Gretchen, Rip & Derrick - "Now won't you come along with me? You do not care for me I see! ..."
• No. 13 - Echo Song - Rip van Winkle & Chorus - "Ho! ho! ho! ho! Friend echoes, why do ye fail? ..."
• No. 13½ - Melodrame - (The Demon Dwarf)

Act II - Scene 2

• No. 14 - Scene - Rip & Chorus, and Sea Song - Hudson, - "Hendrick Hudson I am call'd, from the underwaters hailing..."
• No. 15 - Nine-Pins Song - 2nd. Lieutenant & Chorus - "Say, my lads, what game we'll play? ..."
• No. 16 - Serenade - 1st. Lieutenant & Chorus - "I've had lady-loves in my day, with lips rose-red and a lustrous eye ..."
• No. 17 - Pas Seul - Danse des Buveurs, and Pas de Fascination
• No. 18 - Finale Act II - "Sunk to sleep on the ground, he's spell-bound! Slumber, mortal bold..."

Act III - Scene 1

• Entr'acte and Woodcutters' Chorus - "Before our broad axes, lo! they fall, the kings of the forest, old and tall! ..."

Act III - Scene 2

• No. 19 - Election Chorus, Couplets & Ensemble - Katrina - "Whatsoever may be won in this afternoon's elections..."
• No. 20 - Rondo - Katrina & Chorus - "Folks do say, who are wise and able, that when tongues got all mixt at Babel..."
• No. 21 - Letter Song - Alice - "I dare not break the seal! What fear, what doubt I feel... I've liv'd so long with sorrow..."
• No. 22 - Hammock Song - Lieutenant van Slous & Chorus - "Oh, proud and high the feeling, o'er the sailor stealing..."
• No. 22½ - Melodrame - Entrance of Rip Van Winkle
• No. 23 - Song - Rip Van Winkle - "The thirsty sun burns on the noon-tide brink, yet hotter, yet hotter! ..."
• No. 24 - Trio - Alice, Van Slous, & Rip - "I know you not! My father's dead! ... Old man, I fear your reason's fled! ..."
• No. 25 - Chorus - "Some say, now that the voting is done, the finish will be exciting..."
• No. 26 - Finale Act III - "From deep forest hoary, lift in awful glory, mountains grey and old, that myst'ry and tradition hold! ..."