The comic operas of William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are some of the best
loved, and most well-known works in the history of musical theatre.
Between 1871 and 1896 Gilbert and Sullivan wrote fourteen comic
operas and although they both produced comic opera with other
collaborators, none was ever as successful as those they wrote
together. Despite their success, their partnership was often
problematic. Both men were Londoners but their backgrounds were
very different.
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Gilbert’s first play, Dulcamara; or, The
Little Duck and The Great Quack, a satire on the opera
L’Elisir d’Amore, was produced in London
in 1866, after which he wrote a stream of comedies, dramas,
farces and burlesques, even appearing in some himself. During
their partnership Sullivan was always the reluctant one –
wanting to compose more ‘serious music’. Nevertheless,
he composed music for two comic operas, Cox and Box
and The Contrabandista , before John Hollingshead asked
him to write one with Gilbert.
Their first collaboration Thespis, or the Gods Grown Old,
was performed at the Gaiety Theatre in December 1871, and although
it ran for a month, it was not a great success. Both men continued
with their separate careers, and would probably never have worked
together again without a London theatre manager called Richard
D’Oyly Carte.
Ballad Operas
D’Oyly Carte Collaboration
