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Lytton. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.tnote { + border: dashed 1px; + margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secrets of a Savoyard, by Henry A. Lytton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The Secrets of a Savoyard + +Author: Henry A. Lytton + +Release Date: April 6, 2012 [EBook #39392] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD *** + + + + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari, Charlene Taylor and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h1>THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"><img src="images/frontis-lo.jpg" width="400" height="522" alt="The Author as +"Jack Point"" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />The Author as +"Jack Point"</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD</h1> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="500" height="301" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="center"> +<br />BY<br /> +</div> + +<h2>HENRY A. LYTTON</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<br /><br /> +JARROLDS<br /> +PUBLISHERS (LONDON) LTD +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="center"> +TO<br /> +RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE.<br /> +THE UPHOLDER<br /> +OF<br /> +A GREAT TRADITION +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> +<h2>"THE GONDOLIERS."</h2> + +<p>(After assisting at the first night of the new Gilbert-and-Sullivan +revival.)</p> + +<div class="poem"> +You may boast of your Georgian birds of song<br /> +And say that never was stuff so strong,<br /> +That its note of genius simply mocks<br /> +At yester-century's feeble crocks,<br /> +And floods the Musical Comedy stage<br /> +With the dazzling art of a peerless age.<br /> +But for delicate grace and dainty wit,<br /> +For words and melody closely knit,<br /> +Your best purveyors of mirth and joy<br /> +Were never in sight of the old Savoy;<br /> +They never began to compete, poor dears,<br /> +With Gilbert-and-Sullivan's <i>Gondoliers</i>.<br /> +<br /> +For me, as an out-of-date Victorian,<br /> +Prehistoric and dinosaurian,<br /> +I hardly feel that I dare reflect<br /> +On the art of the day with disrespect;<br /> +But if anyone asks me, "Who'll survive—<br /> +The living dead, or the dead alive?<br /> +Which of the two will be last to go—<br /> +The Gondoliers or the latest show?"<br /> +I wouldn't give much for the latter's chance;<br /> +That is the view that I advance,<br /> +Trusting the public to bear me out<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(The good from the bad they're quick to sever);</span><br /> +"Of this I nurse no manner of doubt,<br /> +No probable, possible shadow of doubt,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">No possible doubt whatever."—O. S.</span><br /> +</div> + +<p><i>(Reprinted by kind permission of the proprietors of "Punch," and +of Sir Owen Seaman.</i>)</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> +<h2>Contents.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">FOREWORD. BY MR. RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE </td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">HENRY A. LYTTON: AN APPRECIATION</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">CHAPTER.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left">YOUTH AND ROMANCE</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left">VAGABONDAGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left">CLIMBING THE LADDER</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left">LEADERS OF THE SAVOY</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left">ADVENTURES IN TWO HEMISPHERES</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left">PARTS I HAVE PLAYED</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left">FRIENDS ON AND OFF THE STAGE</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left">HOBBIES OF A SAVOYARD</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left">GILBERT AND SULLIVAN</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">THE STORIES OF THE OPERAS</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">A SAVOYARD BIBLIOGRAPHY</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> +<h2>FOREWORD.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>There have been many who have made great reputations +in the Gilbert and Sullivan characters and have established +themselves as favourites with the public who love and +follow the operas, and when the roll comes to be written +down finally, if ever it is, Henry Lytton undoubtedly will +be assigned a foremost place. He has played a wide +variety of the parts, and the scope and versatility of his +work is unique. It is unlikely that his record as a Gilbert +and Sullivan artiste will ever be surpassed.</i> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><br /> +<img src="images/i008.jpg" width="300" height="80" alt="Rupert D'Oyly Carte" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><br />Rupert D'Oyly Carte</span> +<br /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> +<h2>HENRY A. LYTTON.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span class="smcap">By</span><br /><br /> +AN ADMIRER OF HIS ART. +</div> + +<p>Sincerely indeed do I offer my good wishes to my +old friend, Henry A. Lytton, on his giving to the world +this most interesting book, "The Secrets of a Savoyard."</p> + +<p>Lytton represents a distinct type on our musical +comedy stage. No other artiste, I think, has quite that +gift of wit which makes one not merely a happier, but +a better, man for coming under its spell. Its touch is +so true and refined and delightful. Somehow we see in +him the mirror of ourselves, our whimsicalities, and our +little conceits, and could ever a man captivate us so +deliciously with the ironies of life or yet chide us so well +with a sigh?</p> + +<p>Certainly it was fortunate both to him and to us that +circumstances, in the romantic manner this book itself +describes, first turned his early steps towards Gilbert +and Sullivan, and thus opened a career that was to +make him one of the greatest, as he is now the last, of +the Savoyards. Like the natural humorist he is, he +could be and has been a success in ordinary musical +comedy rôles, but it is in these wonderful operas that +he was bound to find just his right sphere. Lytton in +Gilbert and Sullivan is the "true embodiment of +everything that is excellent." He was made for these +parts, just as they might have been made for him, and +no man could have carried into the outer world more of +the wholesome charm of the characters he depicts on +the stage. He himself tells us on these pages how his +own outlook on life has been coloured by his long association +with these beautiful plays.</p> + +<p>So closely,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> indeed, is he identified in the public mind +with the wistful figure of <i>Jack Point</i>, or the highly +susceptible <i>Lord Chancellor</i>, or the agile <i>Ko-Ko</i> that +the thousands of Gilbert and Sullivan worshippers who +crowd the theatres know all too little of the man behind +the motley, the real Henry A. Lytton. For that reason +I want to speak less about the great actor whom the +multitude knows and more about the manner of man +that he is to those, relatively few in numbers, whose +privilege it is to own his personal friendship.</p> + +<p>Lytton's outstanding quality is his modesty. No +"star" could have been less spoilt by the flatteries of +success or by those wonderful receptions he receives +night after night. Something of the eager, impetuous +boy still lingers in the heart of him, and he loves the +society of kindred souls who have some good story to +tell and then cap it with a better one. But all the while +he lives for the operas. Even now, after playing in +them for twenty-five years, he is constantly asking +himself whether this bit of action, this inflection of the +voice, this minor detail of make-up, is right. Can it be +improved in keeping with the spirit of genuine artistry? +So severe a self-critic is he that he will take nothing +for granted nor allow his work to become slipshod +because of its very familiarity. If ever there was an +enthusiast—and there is much in this book to show that +he is as great an enthusiast in private life as he is while +in front of the footlights—it is Harry Lytton.</p> + +<p>The great enthusiasm of his life is Gilbert and Sullivan. +Nobody who reads these reminiscences will have any +doubt about that, for it shows itself on every page, and +it is such an infectious enthusiasm that even we who +love the operas already find ourselves loving them +more, and agreeing with Lytton that they must not be +tampered with and brought "up-to-date." From +Sir William Gilbert's own lips he heard just what the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +playwright wanted in every detail, and both by his +own acting and by his help to younger colleagues on the +stage he has worthily and faithfully upheld the traditions +of the Savoy. I have been told more than once +by members of the company how, when they have felt +disheartened for some reason or other, he would come +along with some cheery word, some little bit of advice +and encouragement that would make all the difference +to them. Often and often he has brightened up the +dreary work of rehearsals by his buoyant humour and +all-compelling good spirits.</p> + +<p>What a happy family must be a company that is +led by one who is so entirely free from vanity and petty +jealousy and whose one aim is to help the performance +along! Lytton is <i>bound</i> to have that aim because of +his intense loyalty to the operas themselves, but how +much springs as well from that inherent kindness of +his, which, with that complete lack of affectation, +makes him so truly one of Nature's gentlemen. "Each +for all and all for each" was the motto of the heart-breaking +Commonwealth days, of which he tells us such +a pathetic human story here, and it seems to remain his +motto now that he has climbed to the top of his profession +as a principal of the D'Oyly Carte Company.</p> + +<p>Lytton's acting always seems to me in such perfect +"poise." It is so refined and spontaneous. Each point +receives its full measure, and yet is so free of exaggeration +or "clowning." He is, that is to say, an artiste to his +finger-tips, and no real artiste, even when he is a humorist, +has any place for buffoonery. Like the Gilbert and +Sullivan operas themselves, he is always so clean and +wholesome and pleasant. The clearness of his enunciation +is a gift in itself, and his dancing reminds us of the time +when all our dancing was so charming and graceful, +and thus so different to what it is to-day. And then his +versatility! Could one imagine a contrast so remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +as that between his characterisation of the ugly, repulsive +<i>King Gama</i> in "Princess Ida" and the infinitely +lovable <i>Jack Point</i> in the "Yeoman of the Guard"? +Or between his studies of the engaging and more than +candid <i>Lord Chancellor</i> in "Iolanthe" and that pretentious +humbug <i>Bunthorne</i> in "Patience"? Or +between the endless diversions of his frolicsome <i>Ko-Ko</i> +in "The Mikado" and the gay perplexities of the sedate +old <i>General Stanley</i> in "The Pirates of Penzance"?</p> + +<p>So one might continue to speak of his quite remarkable +gallery of portraits, both in these operas and apart from +them, and one might search one's memory in vain for +a part which was not a gem of natural and clever characterisation, +rich in humour and unerring in its sympathetic +artistry.</p> + +<p>Yet no rôle of his, I think, stands out with such +fascination in the minds of most of us as does dear <i>Jack +Point</i>, the nimble-witted Merryman. The poor strolling +player, with his honest heart breaking beneath the tinsel +of folly, is a figure intensely human and intensely +appealing, and no less so because of the mingling +romance and pathos with which it is played. If Lytton +had given us only this part, if he had shown us only in +this case how deftly he can win both our laughter and +tears, he would have achieved something that would be +treasured amongst the tenderest, most fragrant memories +of the modern stage.</p> + +<p>Long may he remain to delight us in these enchanting +operas of the Savoy! By them English comic opera has +had an infinite lustre added to it—a lustre that will never +be dimmed—and no less surely do the operas themselves +owe a little of their evergreen freshness and spirit to the +art of Henry A. Lytton.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD.</h2> + +<h2>I.<br /> +YOUTH AND ROMANCE. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>Apologia—Early Misfortunes of Management—Stage Debut +in Schoolboy Dramatics—St. Mark's, Chelsea—The School's +Champion Pugilist—The Sale of Jam-Rolls—Student Days with +W. H. Trood—An Artist of Parts—A Fateful Night at the Theatre—The +Schoolboy and the Actress—A Firm Hand With a Rival—Three +Months' Truancy—Our Marriage and Our Honeymoon +in a Hansom—The Dominie and the Married Man—First Engagement +with D'Oyly Carte—Dilemma of a Sister and Brother.</i> +</div> + + +<p>Eight-and-thirty years on the stage!</p> + +<p>Looking back over so long a period, memory +runs riot with a thousand remembrances of dark +days and brighter, and of times of hardship which, in +their own way, were not devoid of happiness. It has +been my good fortune to own many valued friendships, +and it is to my friends that the credit or the guilt, +as it may happen to be, of inspiring me to begin this +venture belongs. Not once, but many times, I have +been asked "Why don't you write your reminiscences, +Lytton?" The late Lord Fisher strongly urged me +to write them when I paid my last visit to his home a +few months before he passed to the Great Beyond. +So great was my respect for Lord Fisher, one of the +noblest Englishmen of our age, that I felt bound to +adopt his suggestion, and it is thus partly in homage +to his sterling qualities and gifts that I begin now to +reveal these "Secrets of a Savoyard." This much +let me say at the very beginning. Naught that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +written here will be "set down in malice." Searchers +for those too numerous chronicles of scandal will look +here for spicy tit-bits in vain. For what it is worth this +is the record of one who has lived a happy life, whose +vocation it has been to minister to the public's enjoyment, +and whose outlook has inevitably been happily +coloured by such a long association with the gladsome +operas of the old Savoy.</p> + +<p>I cannot say that my love of the footlights was +inherited, but at least it began to show itself at a very +early age. One of my earliest recollections is concerned +with a little diversion at the village home of my guardian. +No doubt my older readers will remember the old +gallanty shows which were in vogue some forty or fifty +years ago. Explained briefly, these were contrived by +use of a number of cardboard figures which, with the aid +of a candle, were reflected on to a white sheet, and +which could be manipulated to provide one's audience +with a rather primitive form of enjoyment. Well, +I do not recall where I had been to get the idea, but I +decided to have a gallanty show at the bottom of the +garden, and to invite the public's patronage. This +ranks as my first venture in managerial responsibility. +I rigged up a tent—a small and jerry-built contrivance +it was—and an announcement of the forthcoming +entertainment in my bold schoolboy's hand was pasted +on to the outer wall of the garden. The charges for +admission were original. Stalls were to be purchased +with an apple, lesser seats with a handful of chocolates +or nuts, while a few sweets would secure admission to +the pit. The boys of the village, having read the notice, +turned up and paid their nuts and sweets in accordance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +with the advertised tariff, but the sad fact has to be +related that the show did not please them at all, and +by summarily pulling up the pole they brought the +tent and the entertainment to grief. In other words, +I "got the bird." Nor can I say that was the end +of the tragedy. Under threats I had to repay all that +the box-office had taken, and as most of the lads claimed +more than they had actually given, the stock of nuts +and sweets was insufficient to meet the liabilities. So +in the cause of art I found myself thus early in life in +bankruptcy! My partner in the enterprise proved to be +a broken reed, for when the roughs of the village got +busy he showed a clean pair of heels and left me alone +with the mob and the wreckage.</p> + +<p>Seeing that this is an actor's narrative, I ought to +place on record at once that my first appearance on +any stage was in schoolboy dramatics in connection +with St. Mark's College, Chelsea. Of St Mark's I shall +have much to say. I played the title rôle in "Boots +at the Swan." Except that I enjoyed being the cheeky +little hotel "Boots" and fancied myself not a little in +my striped waistcoat and green apron, I don't remember +whether my performance was held to be successful or +not, but unconsciously the experience did give me a +mental twist towards the stage.</p> + +<p>St. Mark's was regarded in those times—and I am glad +to know is still regarded—as an excellent school for +young gentlemen. But certainly my name was never +numbered amongst the brightest educational products +of that academy. What claim I had to fame was in an +entirely different sphere. I was the school's champion +pugilist! In those days I simply revelled in fighting.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +A day without a scrap was a day hardly worth living. +Occasionally the older lads thought it good sport to tell +the new-comers what an unholy terror they would be up +against when they met Lytton. In most cases this was +said with such vivid embellishments that the youngsters +got a heart-sinking feeling. But there was one lad who +was more adroit. He argued that it was all very well +for the school champion to fight surrounded by and +cheered on by his friends, but that this must put the +challenger at a distinct disadvantage. He also considered +that no harm would be done if he measured up this +much-boomed light-weight before the time came for +him to stand up publicly as his antagonist. Luring +me, therefore, into a quiet corner one day, he commanded +me in so many words to "put 'em up." Now +while it is the privilege of a champion to name his own +time and conditions, it really was too much to tolerate +the pretensions of such an impudent upstart. So we +set to in earnest, and very speedily the new boy was +giving me some of his best—a straight left timed to the +moment—and it needed only two such lefts to make +me oblivious of time altogether. Certainly he succeeded +in instilling into my mind a decided respect for his +prowess.</p> + +<p>Not being too richly endowed with pocket money, I +conceived the idea that to set up in business as the +school pastrycook would serve a "long-felt want." +Strictly cash terms were demanded. Each day I bought +a number of rolls at ½d. each and a pot of jam for 4½d. +With these I retailed slices of most appetising bread and +jam at a penny a time and made an excellent profit. If +the truth must be told the smaller boys got no more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +than a smear of jam on their bread and the bigger boys +rather more than their share, but on the average it +worked out fairly well, and the juniors had sufficient +discretion not to complain.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i016.jpg"><img src="images/i016-lo.jpg" width="400" height="686" alt="Yr. Sincerely Henry A Lytton" title="" /> +<br /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />Yr. Sincerely<br />Henry A Lytton</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>If I had any bent in those days—apart from fighting +and selling jam rolls—it was in the direction of painting. +For water-colour sketches I had a certain aptitude, and +painting remains one of my hobbies, taking only second +place to my enthusiasm for golf. For tuition I went to +W. H. Trood at his studio in Chelsea. Trood in his time +was an artist of parts. He had a fine sense of composition +and painted many beautiful pictures. If he had not been +deaf and dumb he would have made a great actor, for +his gift of facial expression was extraordinary. Clubmen +are familiar with a well-known set of five action photographs +representing a convivial card-player who has +gone "nap." Trood was the subject of those photographs.</p> + +<p>For some time I attended St. Mark's during the day +and went to the studio each evening. I realised very +early that there was no money in painting and that it +was of little use as a profession. We students were a merry +band, and though we had little money, we made the +most of what we had to spend. Our studio was only a +garret, and it was a common thing for each of us to buy +a tough steak for no more than fourpence, grill it with a +fork over the meagre fire, and make it serve as our one +substantial meal for many hours. It was a Bohemian +existence and I have remained a Bohemian ever since.</p> + +<p>Trood and I were more than master and pupil. We +were, if not brothers, then at least uncle and nephew. +From time to time we contrived to visit the theatre, +for although he could not hear, he loved to study the +colour effects on the stage, and had an uncanny talent for +following the course of the plot. And one of these nights +out was destined to be most fateful for me in my future +career. We had gone together into the gallery at the +Avenue Theatre (now the Playhouse). The attraction +was a French opera-bouffe called "Olivette." And +I must confess that my susceptible heart was at once +smitten with the charms of a young lady who was +playing one of the subsidiary parts. From that moment +the play to me was <i>not</i> the thing. Eyes and thoughts +were concentrated on that slim, winsome little figure, +and I remember that at school the following day the +sale of jam rolls was pushed with redoubled vigour in +order that I might have the wherewithal to go to the +theatre and see my charmer again.</p> + +<p>I am getting on delicate ground, but the story is +well worth the telling. It was clear I could not go on +worshipping my fair divinity afar from the "gods." +We must make each other's acquaintance. So to Miss +Louie Henri I addressed a most courteous note, paying +her some exquisite compliments, and inviting her to +meet her unknown admirer at the stage door after the +performance one night. And my invitation was accepted. +I ought to mention here that I was then scarcely seventeen +years of age. Louie Henri, as it afterwards transpired, +was the same.</p> + +<p>Well, I bedecked myself in my best and marched +off in good time to the trysting place at the stage door. +I spent my last sou on a fine box of chocolates. Nothing +I could do was to be left undone to make the conquest +complete. But first there came a surprise. Another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +St. Mark's boy was at the stage door already. He, too, +had a box of chocolates, and it was bigger than mine.</p> + +<p>"Who are those for?" I demanded. The tone of my +voice must have been forbidding I already had my +suspicions.</p> + +<p>"Louie Henri," answered the lad. Seemingly he +thought it wise to be truthful.</p> + +<p>I had a rival! Crises of this kind have to be met with +vigour and thoroughness.</p> + +<p>"Give them to me," I insisted, "and hook it." The +command was terrible in its severity. More than that, +I was not the school's champion light-weight for +nothing. The rival almost threw the chocolates into +my hands and vanished like lightning. When Louie +came out there I was with a double load of offerings! +She was sensibly impressed.</p> + +<p>From time to time further delightful meetings took +place. Luckily the jam roll trade was flourishing, and +so it was seldom the youthful swain met his lady-love +empty-handed. Only once did the rival attempt to +steal a march on me again. I discovered him loitering +round the stage door, but when he saw my fists in a +business-like attitude, he apparently realised that +discretion was the better part of valour and bolted into +the night. All of which proves anew that "faint heart +never won fair lady."</p> + +<p>Louie and I got on famously together, and although +we were but children it was not long before we had +decided to become engaged. The course of true love +was complicated by the fact that while I was at St. +Mark's in the daytime she at night had to play her part +in "Olivette." So it occurred to me that the only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +thing was to give up school. I accordingly wrote a +letter, in my guardian's name, saying that I was being +taken away from St. Mark's for a three-months' holiday, +and posted it to the headmaster at Chelsea. Then +followed the rapture of sweetheart days. Our pleasures +were few—there were no funds for more than an occasional +ride on a 'bus—but into the intimacies of those +blissful times there is no need to enter.</p> + +<p>We were married late in 1883 at St. Mary's, Kensington. +Louie and I certainly never realised the responsibilities +of married life, and love's young dream +was not spoiled by anxious reflections about the problem +of ways and means, as may be gathered from the fact +that our funds were exhausted on the very day of the +marriage. I remember that, after the fees at church had +been paid, the cash at our disposal amounted to eighteen-pence. +The question then was how far this would take +us in the matter of a honeymoon. Strolling into Kensington +Gardens we decided that we would spend it on +the thrills of a ride in a hansom-cab, and the driver was +instructed to take us as far as he could for eighteen-pence. +The journey was not at all long. I rather think +that if the cabby had known the romantic and adventurous +couple he had picked up as fares he would have +been sport enough to give us a more generous trip.</p> + +<p>Our plan of action after this honeymoon in a hansom +had already been decided upon. My wife went to the +theatre for the evening performance. I, on my part, +had arranged to go back to school and put the best +face on things that was possible. During my absence, +of course, it had become known that my guardian's +letter was a deception and that my three months<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +care-free existence was truancy. Where I had been +the headmaster did not know. What I had done he +knew even less. But the delinquency was one which, +in the interest of school discipline, had to be visited +with extreme severity. The Dominie took me before the +class and commenced to use the birch with well-applied +vigour.</p> + +<p>When at the mature age of seventeen one is made +a public exhibition of one can have a very acute sense +of injured dignity. The rod descended heavily.</p> + +<p>"Stop it!" I shouted. "You can't thrash me like +this. Do you know what you are doing? <i>You're thrashing +a married man!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> a married man! You lie!" The birching, +bad as it had been, was redoubled in intensity. The +master declared that he would teach me a lesson for +lying.</p> + +<p>"But I <i>am</i> a married man," I yelled. "I was married +yesterday."</p> + +<p>But even the dawn of truth meant no reprieve. The +explanation put the offence in a still more lurid light. +It was bad enough to tell a lie, but a good deal worse +to get married, and the headmaster whacked me all the +more severely as an awful example to the rest of the +boys.</p> + +<p>Following the thrashing, I enjoyed a fleeting notoriety +in the eyes of my school mates, who crowded round to +see the interesting matrimonial specimen. "Look +who's married!" they shouted. "What's it like?" +I'm afraid at the moment that, smarting under the +rod, the joys of married life seemed to me to be, as +Mark Twain would say, "greatly exaggerated." And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +worse was to come. Next day the master, considering +my knowledge of life made me too black a reprobate +to remain in his school any longer, terminated my +career as a pupil. For a married man to be in one of the +lower classes was too much of an absurdity.</p> + +<p>Here was a pretty how-d'ye-do! A bridegroom in sad +disgrace, and finding himself on the day after his marriage +with no work, no prospects, no anything! Louie +it was who came to the rescue. "Princess Ida" had +just been produced at the Savoy, and she had been +engaged for chorus work in the company which was +being sent out on a provincial tour, commencing at +Glasgow. My wife contrived to see Mr. Carte, and she +faithfully followed the strategy that had been decided +upon. Seeing that theatrical managers were understood +to dislike married couples in companies on tour, she +was to ask him whether he would engage her brother +for the tour, pointing out that he had a good voice and +was "fairly good looking." The upshot was that I was +commanded to wait on Mr. Carte. Later in life I came +to know him well and to receive many a kindness from +him, but this first interview remains in my mind to this +day, because it was destined to put my foot on the first +rung of the theatrical ladder.</p> + +<p>"Not much of a voice," was the conductor's +comment—not a very flattering compliment, by the +way, to one who had been for a long time solo boy in the +choir of St. Philip's, Kensington. "Never mind," +replied Mr. Carte; "he will do as understudy for +David Fisher as <i>King Gama</i>." And as chorister and +understudy I was engaged. Each of us was to have £2 +a week, and in view of our circumstances the money was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +not merely welcome, but princely. Our troubles seemed +to have vanished for ever.</p> + +<p>One of our difficulties was that, having entered the +company as brother and sister, that pretty fiction had +to be kept up, and for a devoted newly-married couple +that was not very easy. For a brother my attentiveness +was almost amusing. The rôle was also sometimes +embarrassing. Louie's charms quickly captivated a +member of the company who afterwards rose very high +in the profession—it would hardly be fair to give his +identity away!—and one night he gave me a broad +hint that my dutiful watchfulness was carried too far. +"Leave her to me," he whispered, affably. When I +told him I had promised mother I would not leave +her, or some such story, a compromise was arranged +whereby after the show, when we were going home, I +should drop back and give him the opportunity for playing +the "gallant." To have refused would have aroused +suspicions that might have led to the discovery of our +secret. So like <i>Jack Point</i>, I had to walk behind +while the other fellow escorted my bride and paid her +pretty compliments. It seemed less of a joke at the +time than it does to-day.</p> + +<p>Naturally, the little bubble was bound to explode +before long, and it exploded when everything seemed +to be going splendidly. It happened when one of +the assistant managers, who also admired my wife, +somehow induced us to invite him to visit our +"digs."</p> + +<p>"Nice rooms, these," he commented, taking them +in at a glance. "What do you pay?"</p> + +<p>"Sixteen shillings."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Only sixteen shillings? Three rooms for sixteen +shillings!"</p> + +<p>"No! Only two——." The fatal slip! Truth at +last had to out.</p> + +<p>We told him that we had been afraid that, if we had +said we were man and wife, we should not have got the +engagement, and we were in too much of a dilemma +to be sticklers for accuracy. Our "marriage lines" +were then and there produced.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the manager, "you <i>are</i> remarkably +alike; no wonder you easily passed for brother and +sister." That, in fact, was true. Our marriage, he +went on to tell us, would not have been a handicap in +the D'Oyly Carte Company. Most managers, he said, +did not care for husband and wife to travel together, +but that was not the case with Mr. D'Oyly Carte.</p> + +<p>The news quickly spread through the company, and +on every hand we received congratulations. Only one +of our colleagues considered that he had a grievance. +He was the usurper who had insisted that I should allow +him to escort my alleged sister from the theatre to our +lodgings. "What a fool you've made of me," he +complained. "Why I was going to propose! I did +think she would make such a nice little wife!"</p> + +<p>Long after this it was Mr. Carte's custom, when +making enquiries as to my wife, to say dryly, "And +how's your sister, Lytton?" Similarly, whenever he +spoke to my wife, there was invariably a twinkle in his +eye whenever he asked after the welfare and whereabouts +of her "brother."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a href="images/i024.jpg"><img src="images/i024-lo.jpg" width="400" height="614" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON AT THE AGE OF TWENTY." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />HENRY A. LYTTON AT THE AGE OF TWENTY.</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> +<h2>II.<br /> +VAGABONDAGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>£. s. d. on Tour—The Search for Independence—The Old +Showman of Shepherd's Bush—Not the "Carte" I Wanted—The +Commonwealth—Our Repertory and Our Creditors—"Well, Mr. +Bundle"—A Thirsty Situation and a Melodramatic Finale—A +Stammerer's Story—Comradeship in Adversity—Roaming the +Country—Back in London and the Search for Work—Diverse +Occupations and Little Pay—A Savoy Engagement at Last—Understudy +to Grossmith—A Real Opportunity.</i> +</div> + + +<p>The "Princess Ida" tour, as I have said, opened +at Glasgow. It ran for about a year, with enthusiasm +and success wherever the company played, though +unluckily for me, my services as understudy were never +required. The D'Oyly Carte companies then, as now, +were always a happy family, the members of which +were always helpful to one another and always remarkably +free from those petty jealousies that distinguish +some ranks of the profession.</p> + +<p>Looking back on those romantic times, my wife and +I often marvel how, with all our inexperience in housekeeping, +our slender finances withstood the strain of +our extravagance. Whenever we moved on to a new +town we had the usual fears as to what sort of a landlady +we were to get. In these times landladies do not always +look on actors as their legitimate "prey." But then +they were extortioners, though there were, of course, +some pleasant exceptions. I remember, for instance, +that in some places we were charged 5s. a week for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +potatoes, and in others only 6d. On the whole, on +that tour, we must have been in luck. Notwithstanding +that we had lived fairly well—and we did indulge odd +tastes for luxuries—we found that at the end of the +52 weeks' engagement we had saved £52.</p> + +<p>Following the "Princess Ida" tour, we were sent out +into the provinces again with other productions, and +in this way we served under the Gilbert and Sullivan +banner for the best part of two years. But they +were not continuous engagements. From time to time +we would find ourselves idle and our tiny resources +steadily dwindling. Luckily, during this period we +always managed to secure a fresh engagement before we +had spent our last sovereign, though we were hardly as +fortunate in the dark days that were coming.</p> + +<p>I remember receiving at this time the advice of a +dear old friend, a Mr. Chevasse, of Wolverhampton. +"The turning-point in your career," he said to me, +"will come when you have got 'independence.'" +"What," I asked him, "do you mean by that?" +"Get £100 in the bank," was his answer, "and in your +case that will bring the sense of independence. It will +put you on a different footing with everyone you meet, +and you will know that at last you are beginning to +shape your career yourself. Save everything you can. +Save a shilling a week, or two shillings a week, but +save whatever happens." And he was right. Later, +when I had that £100 stored away, I found myself in a +position that enabled me to assert my claim for principal +parts, and I was sent out into the provinces to take +three leading rôles—<i>Ko-Ko</i>, <i>Jack Point</i>, and <i>Sir Joseph +Porter</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + +<p>But this is anticipating my story. Before that time +came there were dark days to pass through, days when +we did not know where the next meal would come from, +and days when we tramped the country as strolling +players, footsore and weary. When our modest savings +had been exhausted during one prolonged period of +"resting," I remember being driven by sheer necessity +to apply for an engagement at the booth of an old +showman at Shepherd's Bush. I had to do something. +So I walked up to the showman, who was standing +outside the tent in a prosperous-looking coat with an +astrakhan collar, and asked him for a job. What did I +want to be? I wanted, I told him, to be an actor, +and would play anything from melodrama to low +comedy.</p> + +<p>"All right," said the showman. "Go over there and +wash that cart!"</p> + +<p>I went "over there" and started the washing. +But it was no use. Sorry as things were with us, I +just could not come down to that, and off I bolted. That +was not the sort of "<i>Carte</i>" I wanted.</p> + +<p>Our next venture was very interesting. It brought +us no fame, precious little money, a great deal of +hardship, and yet a host of pleasant remembrances +to look back upon in the brighter days. "We were +seven" and one and all down on our luck. Failing to +obtain any engagements in town, we decided to band +ourselves together as fellow-unfortunates, and to seek +what fortune there was as entertainers in the villages +and small towns of Surrey. It was to be a Commonwealth. +Whatever profits there were made were to be +divided equally. One week this division enabled us to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +take 7s. 10d. each! That was the record. What ill-success +our efforts had was certainly not due to any +want of "booming." The services of a bill-poster were +obviously prohibitive. So at the dead of night we used +to put our night-shirts over our clothes to save these +from damage, creep out into the streets with our paste-bucket +and brush, and fix our playbills to any convenient +hoarding or building. It had to be done in double-quick +time, but we had spied out the land beforehand, and +generally we made sure that our notices were pasted +where they would prominently catch the public eye.</p> + +<p>Our repertory consisted of a striking drama entitled +"All for Her," a touching comedy called "Masters and +Servants," and an operetta known as "Tom Tug the +Waterman." In addition, we did songs and dances, +and as it happened these were the best feature of the +programme. We had no capital available to spend on +dresses and scenery. What we did was to take some +ramshackle hall or barn, and then to make a brave show +with our posters, though the printer was often lucky +if he got more than free tickets for all his family to see +our performance. Generally our creditors considered +that, as there was small chance of getting any money +from us, they might as well have an evening out for +nothing. Our costumes were improvised from our +ordinary attire. The men figured as society swells by +using white paper to represent spats or by tucking in their +waistcoats and using more white paper to indicate +that they were in immaculate "evening dress." As to +scenery all we had was our own crude drawings in crayons +and pencil.</p> + +<p>We presented our plays by what is known as "winging."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +By that I mean that only one manuscript copy +of the play was usually available, and each player had +to get an idea of the lines which he or she had to speak +after each entrance, though the actual words used on the +stage were mainly extemporised. "Winging," even +when one has theatrical experience behind one, is not +at all easy. I know that in "Tom Tug" I dreaded the +very thought of having to go on and make what should +have been a long speech designed to give the audience a +more or less intelligent idea of the plot. I was so uncertain +about it that I took the book on with me in the +hope of getting furtive glimpses at it as we went +along.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Bundle," I began.</p> + +<p>"Well?" Mr. Bundle responded.</p> + +<p>"Well," I stammered again.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well."</p> + +<p>The next "Well" did not come from the stage; it +came from the audience. "Well?" it yelled, accompanied, +so to speak, by a tremendous note of interrogation. +"Well?" it echoed again. "Say <i>something</i>, +can't you?"</p> + +<p>This was too much. In confusion I rushed off the +stage. Even that was not all. I should, as I have said, +have outlined the course of the story, but not only did +I not do this but in my confusion I left behind me the +book of words on which we were all depending. From +the others in the wings there came anguished whispers. +"Where's the book?" "You've left the book on the +table!" So I had to put the best face on things and +walk on to get it. But the audience had had enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +of me that night. "Get off" they shouted—and +I did.</p> + +<p>"Tom Tug" was also once the occasion of a painful +fiasco. Instead of dashing on to the stage where my +wife was playing the part of a simple fisher-girl, and +greeting her like the jolly sailor-man I was with a +boisterous "Here I am my darling," I found myself, +standing behind her in such a state of stage-fright +that I was absolutely "dried up." I could not utter +a word. I simply stood behind her limp, speechless +and motionless, and no amount of prompting would +induce me to go on with the wooing. So there was +nothing for it but to ring down the curtain, and for +the rest of the evening we had songs and dances, with +which we made amends.</p> + +<p>"All for Her" was a drama of a desert island that +should have melted hearts of stone. We were all dying +of thirst (at least, according to the plot). Nowhere on +that desert island was water to be found. They sent +me out to explore for it while they rolled about the stage +moaning and groaning in agony. During my absence +from the stage I sat near a fire-bucket in the wings. +Then came my cue to reappear.</p> + +<p>I staggered on famished and weary. The quest had +been in vain. "Not a drop," I croaked in a parched, +dry voice; "not a drop of water anywhere."</p> + +<p>"Liar!" screamed the audience in unison. Our +audiences, as you will have gathered, were often critical +folk who could sit with dry eyes through our most +anguishing scenes. It transpired that while I was +sitting near that fire-bucket the bottom of my Arab +cloak had dipped into the water and there it was dripping,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +dripping, dripping right across the stage! The dramatic +situation was absolutely spoilt.</p> + +<p>The company included, besides my wife and myself, +a young actress named Emmeline Huxley, who after +these hard times with us went to America and there +undoubtedly "made good." Then there was a "character" +whom we called "'Oppy." He was the general +utility man who acted as conductor and orchestra +rolled into one, and then went behind the scenes to +play the cornet, to act as stage adviser, or at a pinch +to take a small part. He was an enthusiast who was +here, there and everywhere. "'Oppy," in addition to +having a wall eye and a club foot, had a decided impediment +in his speech, but, strangely enough, he was entirely +unconscious of this disability. For that reason we often +used to induce him to tell his story of the lady who sang +"Home, Sweet Home."</p> + +<p>This story is bound to lose some of its effect when put +into cold print. As "'Oppy" told it the humour was +irresistible. "Sh-sh-she wan-wan-ted to go on the +sta-sta-sta-stage," he used to say, "and the man-an-an-ager +he sa-a-a-aid to her, 'Wh-wh-wh-what can you +sing?' And she said, 'Ho-ho-ho-home, Sw-we-we-we-weet +Ho-ho-home,' And he told her to sing-sing-sing +it. And (here he could not keep a straight face over +the poor lady's misfortunes) she-she-she couldn't sing-sing-sing +it for-for-for stam-stam-stam-stam-stam-mering."</p> + +<p>Never did "'Oppy" tell this story, of the ridiculousness +of the telling of which he seemed entirely unconscious, +without his hearers exploding with laughter. +"Wh-what makes you all lau-lau-laugh so?" he used<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +to ask, incredulously. "You lau-lau-lau-lau-laugh +altogether to-to-to-too hearty. It's a good-good-good +yarn, but I'm dam-dam-dam-damned if it's as fun-fun-fun-funny +as that."</p> + +<p>Once he received an unexpected windfall in the shape +of a postal order from a relative for two or three shillings. +"Come and have a little dinner with me to morrow," +he said to me and my wife. "I know you're hungry." +When we arrived we found his plate was already on +the table and empty. He apologised profoundly. +He had been too hungry to wait for us and had already +eaten his dinner. So while my wife and I each enjoyed +a chop—the first square meal we had had for +many a day—he sat by and kept us entertained. +Splendid fellow! Little did we guess that as he did so +he was suffering the pangs of hunger accentuated by +the sight of our satisfaction. Next day the landlady +confided to us the fact that as our friend's windfall had +been insufficient to provide chops and vegetables for +three, he had smeared his plate with the gravy from the +chops we were to have, and then made us believe that +he had satisfied his hunger already.</p> + +<p>What became of him later on I have never discovered. +I only know that I have tried hard to find him +in order that that noble act of self-denial might be in some +generous manner repaid. Neither inquiries nor advertisements, +however, have ever revealed his whereabouts to +me, and it may be that already this honest fellow has +gone to receive his reward. God rest his soul!</p> + +<p>Then there was Arthur Hendon. If ever a Christian +lived it was that sterling fellow. Time after time in those +heart-aching days we were on the verge of despair.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +Luck was dead out. Life was a misery. But Hendon, +though he was as sore of heart and as hungry as the +rest of us, was always ready with some cheery word, +some act of kindness, some "goodness done by stealth." +Louie and I were rather small in size, and often as we +tramped from one place to another he carried one of us +in turn in his arms. For we had little food, and were +tired, footsore and "beat." And he, too, was "done." +Only his great heart sustained him in those terrible times +as our "captain courageous."</p> + +<p>The Commonwealth venture lasted for about three +months altogether. As I have shown it was one continual +struggle against adversity and poverty. For some time +we were located at Aldershot. Our show ran as a rule +from six to eleven o'clock, and for want of better amusement +the soldiers gave us a fair amount of patronage at +threepence a head. If we did not please them they did +not hesitate to fling the dregs of their pint pots on to the +stage. One night we felt ourselves highly honoured by +the presence of a number of military officers at our +performance. "All for Her," I am glad to say, went +without a hitch on that gala occasion. Our "theatre" +was an outhouse owned by a publican, who was very +considerate towards us in the matter of rent, because he +found that our presence meant good business for his +bar-parlour receipts.</p> + +<p>From Aldershot we went on to Farnham, and from there +to other hamlets where we believed there was an audience, +however uncouth and untutored, to be gathered +together. Eventually we reached Guildford. By then +matters were getting desperate. The Mayor or some +other local public man heard of our plight. He drove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +out to where we were playing, witnessed part of our +performance, and engaged us to sing at a garden-party. +I remember that, exhausted as we were, gratitude enabled +us to give of our very best as the only return we could +make for his kindness. He told us it was a great pity +that such clever people should be living a precarious +existence in the country villages, and offered to pay our +train fares to London in addition to the fee for the +engagement we had fulfilled. This generosity we accepted +with alacrity. The next morning we were back in town +again—each to follow his or her different way. So ended +the vagabondage of the Commonwealth. It was an +experience which none of us was ever likely to forget.</p> + +<p>Once more in London it would be idle to say that +our troubles had disappeared. It meant the dreary +search again for employment. Mr. D'Oyly Carte had no +immediate vacancies. Other managers had nothing more +to offer than promises. Lucky is the actor—if he ever +exists—who throughout his career has been free from +this compulsory idleness. During this period I had to +turn my hand to all sorts of things. Once I called at a +draper's shop and secured casual work as a bill distributor. +I had to go from door to door in a certain +select part of Kensington. I remember I looked at those +gilded walls and those red-carpeted stairs with a good +deal of envy. Later on I was destined to visit some of +those very houses and walk up those same red-carpeted +stairs as a guest—those very houses at which to earn +an odd shilling or so to buy bread I had delivered +those bills! Yes; and there was one house at which +I called in those humble days where they abruptly +opened the door, showed me a ferocious-looking dog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +with the most business-like teeth, and significantly +commanded me to "get off—and quick!" I had done +nothing wrong, and my body and my heart were aching. +Years afterwards I became a breeder of bulldogs—about +that you shall hear later on—and sold one of them +to those very people. And, as if in poetic justice, that +bulldog bit them!</p> + +<p>My training under Trood was turned to advantage +during these empty days. A fashion had just set in for +plaques. I painted some scores of these terra-cotta +miniatures, and although it was not remunerative work, +it served to put bare necessities into the pantry. We +were living about that time in Stamford Street, off the +Waterloo Road, and in those days it was a terrible +neighbourhood where one's sleep was often disturbed +by cries of "murder" and "police." Our baby's +cradle was a travelling basket—we could not afford +anything better. I remember, in connection with those +plaques, that in after years I was dining at the house +of a well-known writer and critic, and he showed me +with keen admiration two beautiful plaques, which, he +said, had been won by Miss Jessie Bond in a raffle at +the Savoy. She had made a present of them to him. +"Yes," I commented, "and I painted them." He was +kind enough to say that that enhanced their value to +him considerably.</p> + +<p>For a time I went into a works where they made dies +for armorial bearings. Here I had to do a good deal of +tracing, and the work was fairly interesting. I drew +five shillings the first week—hardly an imposing stipend +for a family man—but the second week it was ten +shillings and the third twenty shillings. Singing at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +occasional smoking concerts and running errands +supplemented this money very acceptably. The job +at the die-sinkers might have continued, but the foreman +wanted me to clean the floors in addition to doing my +artistic work, and at that my dignity revolted. I left.</p> + +<p>Some months went by in this flitting from one job into +another, but it is useless to attempt a full catalogue +of my versatility, for it is neither impressive nor very +inspiring. During all this hand-to-mouth existence +I was calling on theatrical managers. Slender as the +rewards which the stage had thus far given me were—just +a meagre livelihood and precious little encouragement—the +call to return to it remained insistent and +strong. Sooner or later I was bound to return, and +whether it were to be to good fortune or ill, the very hope +buoyed me up. I had worried Mr. Carte with ceaseless +importunity. Every week at least I went round to try +and see him on the off-chance of an engagement. And +at last there came the turn of the tide.</p> + +<p>It happened on the eve of the first London production +of "Ruddigore." Concerning this new opera, the +producers had for good reasons maintained an air of +secrecy, and the unfolding of the mystery was thus +awaited with more than usual public curiosity. It was +the talk of the town and the subject of many skittish +references in the newspapers. Calling once again at Mr. +Carte's office, I caught him, after a long wait, just leaving +his room and hurrying along a corridor. Without more +ado I button-holed him and asked him once again for +an engagement. Mr. Carte was not a man who liked that +sort of conduct. "You should not interrupt me like +this," he said, in a tone that betrayed his annoyance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +"You ought to send up your name." Explaining that +I had done so and had been told he was out of town, +I repeated my plea for an engagement. Hurrying on +his way Mr. Carte told me to go down to the stage. +Success had come at last! When Mr. Carte sent a +man to the stage that man became <i>ipso facto</i> a member +of the company. Later the news came through that +Mr. Carte had chosen me as understudy to Mr. George +Grossmith as <i>Robin Oakapple</i>. This was indeed a +slice of good fortune. Understudy to Mr. George +Grossmith!</p> + +<p>"Ruddigore" was produced for the first time on +Tuesday, the 22nd January, 1887, at the Savoy. Towards +the end of that week Grossmith was taken seriously ill +with peritonitis. By an effort he was able to continue +playing until the Saturday. Then he collapsed and was +taken home for a serious operation. Upon the Monday +morning I was told I was to play his part—and play +it that very night.</p> + +<p>Chosen to step into the shoes of the great George +Grossmith! Faced with such an ordeal to-day I verily +believe I should shirk it. But then, the audacity of +youth was to carry me through. The supreme chance +had come. At all costs it had to be grasped.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> +<h2>III.<br /> +CLIMBING THE LADDER. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>The "Ruddigore" Success—Congratulations from everyone—My +First Meeting with Grossmith—Gilbert's Advice to a beginner—Irving's +wonderful Acting and its Effect—Speaking to the Man +in the Gallery—The Mystery of Jack Point—How My Tragic +Ending Was Introduced—Gilbert's Approval—A Memorable +Hanley Compliment—Laughter I ought not to have had—Bunthorne's +Fall—Accidents, Happy and Otherwise—Ko-Ko's +Mobile Toe—Not a Mechanical Trick—The Myth of the Poor +Old Man of Seventy—Still Youthful in Spirit and Years.</i> +</div> + + +<p>The Savoy Theatre had its usual large and fashionable +audience on that Monday night when I was to +play my first big principal part either in or out of +London. What my sensations were it would be hard to +describe. Nervous I certainly was, and in the front +of the house my wife was sitting wondering, wondering +whether the stage-fright fiasco in "All for Her" was going +to be repeated in this critical performance of "Ruddigore." +Both of us knew that here was my great +opportunity. If I won the future was assured. If I +lost——! I knew the dialogue, and I knew the songs, +but during the previous week there had been all too +little chance for me to study Grossmith's conception +of the part from the "wings."</p> + +<p>Then my cue came and I went on. The silence of +the audience was deathly. They gave me not the +slightest welcome. The great Grossmith, the lion +comique of his day, was not playing! <i>Oakapple</i> +was being taken by an unknown stripling! No wonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +they were disappointed and chilling. First I had a +few lines to speak, and then I had a beautiful little duet +with Miss Leonora Braham, who was playing <i>Rose +Maybud</i>. And when that duet, "Poor Little Man" +was over, and we had responded to the calls for an +encore, all my tremors and hesitation had gone. I knew +things were all right. With every number the audience +grew more and more hearty. The applause when the +curtain fell was to me unforgettable. It betokened a +triumph.</p> + +<p>Behind the scenes the principals and the choristers +almost mobbed me with congratulations. Up in my +dressing-room there were many further compliments. +Sir (then Mr.) William Gilbert and Sir Arthur +Sullivan came to see me together. I heard afterwards +that they had been very anxious about the performance. +Gilbert, as he shook me by the hand, declared "To-night +there is no need for the Lyttons to turn in their graves." +Mr. Carte, though always a man of few words, gave me +to understand that he realised that his confidence in +me had not been misplaced. Cellier, who had occupied +the conductor's seat, told me that "From to-night +you will never look back." He and I remained fast +friends for life.</p> + +<p>The second act was no less successful. Since then +I have come to know how wonderful receptions can be, +but never did applause fall more gratefully than when +as a young man under the first ordeal of a terrible test, +I was making that first appearance at the Savoy. Late +as it is, I should like to thank any who were there and +who read these lines for that sympathy and encouragement. +It gave me confidence in myself and helped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +me along. For every young artist who comes for the +first time before the footlights, may I bespeak always +the same kindly feeling? It does mean so much. The +Press, to whom my debt has always been great, also +said many nice things about that performance. "Carte +and Company, it must be admitted," said one leading +paper, "are wonderful people for finding out hitherto +unexploited talent."</p> + +<p>Although George Grossmith was at first not expected +to live, he made an amazingly rapid recovery, and in +about three weeks he was able to resume his part in +"Ruddigore." One of the first things he did was to +send for me. "Gee-Gee," as the older generation +remembers, was in his day a veritable prince of comedians, +and in the theatre he was always paid the deference +due to a prince. Outside his dressing-room a factotum +was always on duty. None dare think of entering +without permission. Thus, when I, a mere member of +the chorus, was summoned there into the great man's +presence, it was regarded by the company as an event, +and everyone wanted to know what it was like! +Grossmith told me he had heard of my success, gave me +a signed copy of his photograph as a memento, and thus +laid the foundation of a friendship that was destined +to grow very intimate during the coming years.</p> + +<p>Grossmith was a man of brilliant accomplishments, +and as an artiste in facial expression and in wistful +fancy, perhaps we have not seen his equal. Shortly +after he left the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, he went on +tour with a repertory of charming songs he had himself +composed, and in that venture he made a good deal of +money. For a reason theatre-goers will understand—the +desire to avoid becoming a pale imitation of a +man playing the same part as oneself—I was never +a spectator "in front" when he was in the cast at +the Savoy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i040.jpg"><img src="images/i040-lo.jpg" width="400" height="614" alt="THE LATE SIR WILLIAM S. GILBERT." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />THE LATE SIR WILLIAM S. GILBERT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Connected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> with my "Ruddigore" success I was proud +to become the recipient from Gilbert of a gold-mounted +walking-stick that is still one of my most treasured +possessions, and the letter accompanying this gift it +may be well to reproduce:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<div class="right"> +39, Harrington Gardens,<br /> +South Kensington,<br /> +22nd February, '87.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>,—</p> + +<p>Will you do me the favour to accept the accompanying +walking-stick as a token of my appreciation +of your excellent performance of the part of <i>Robin +Oakapple</i>, undertaken, as it was, at a very few +hours' notice, and without any adequate rehearsal.</p> + +<div class="right"> +Faithfully yours,<br /> +<span class="smcap">W. S. Gilbert</span>. +</div> + +<p>H. A. Henri, Esq.</p> +</div> + +<p>Let me explain here that, in consequence of the +"brother and sister" deception, when I joined the +D'Oyly Carte organisation just after my marriage, I +adopted my wife's name and was known as H. A. Henri +during the early part of my career. It was on +Gilbert's own suggestion that I made the change.</p> + +<p>It was true, as Gilbert said, that I had no adequate +rehearsal when I was bidden to step at short notice +into George Grossmith's shoes, but during the next +few weeks it was my good fortune to be under the +playwright's personal coaching. Subsequently I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +have to tell many reminiscences of Gilbert, who in after +years gave me the privilege of being both his friend and +confidant, but at this moment I want to refer to advice +he gave me while "putting me through my paces" in +"Ruddigore." In my anxiety I was rather hurrying +the speech I was supposed to address to the picture +gallery of my ancestors. He pulled me up.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you something, young man," he began. +"That speech, 'Oh! my forefathers!' is now a short +speech, but originally it consisted of three pages of +closely-written manuscript. I condensed and condensed. +Every word I could I removed until it was of the length +you find it to-day. Each word that is left serves some +purpose—there is not one word too many. So when +you know that it took me three months to perfect that +one speech, I am sure you will not hurry it. Try to +remember that throughout your career in these operas." +Later on he also gave me this sound counsel, "Always +leave a little to the audience's imagination. Leave it +to them to see and enjoy the point of a joke. I am +sure you are intelligent," he went on to say, "but +believe me, there are many in the audience who are +more intelligent than you!"</p> + +<p>Now, if an actor in these operas has to be careful of +one thing above everything else, it is that of avoiding +forcing a point. Gilbert's wit is so neat and so beautifully +phrased that it would be utterly spoilt by +buffoonery. The lines must be declaimed in deadly +seriousness just as if the actor believes absolutely in the +fanciful and extravagant thing he is saying. I can +think of no better illustration of this than the scene in +"Iolanthe" where <i>Strephon</i> rejects recourse to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +Chancery Court and says his code of conduct is regulated +only by "Nature's Acts of Parliament." <i>The Lord +Chancellor</i> then talks about the absurdity of "an +affidavit from a thunderstorm or a few words on oath +from a heavy shower." What a typical Gilbertian +fancy! Well, you know how the "comic" man would +say that, how he would whip up his coat collar and +shiver at the suggestion of rain, and how he would do +his poor best to make it sound and look "funny." +And the result would be that he would kill the wittiness +of the lines by burlesque. The <i>Lord Chancellor</i> says +the words as if he believed an affidavit from a thunderstorm +was at least a possibility, and the suggestion that +he does think it possible makes the very idea, in the +audience's mind, more whimsical still. Imagine, again, +in "Patience" how the entire point would be lost if +<i>Bunthorne</i> acted as if he himself saw the absurdity of +his poem "Oh! Hollow, Hollow, Hollow!" <i>Grosvenor</i>, +in the same opera, is intensely serious when he laments +sadly that his fatal beauty stands between him and +happiness. If he were not, the delightful drollery of the +piece would, of course, be destroyed.</p> + +<p>Gilbert, by the way, gave me two other hints which +should be useful to those just beginning their careers +in the theatre, and they are hints which even older +actors may study with profit. He held that it was +most important that the artiste who was speaking and +the artiste who was being addressed should always be +well to the front of the stage. "If you are too far +back," he said to me, "you not only lose grip over the +audience, but you also lose the power of clear and +effective speech." Then there is that old trouble—nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +every novice is conscious of it—as to what one +should do with one's hands when on the stage. Somehow +they do seem so much in the way, and one does +feel one ought to do something with them, though +what that something should be is always a problem. +I mentioned this matter to Gilbert. "Cut them off +at the wrists, Lytton," was his quick reply, "and forget +you've got any hands!" Every young professional +and young amateur should remember this. So long as +one worries about one's hands or one's fingers, one is +very liable to be nervous and to do something wrong, +and so the only sound rule to follow is to forget them +entirely.</p> + +<p>For a good reason I am going to digress here to tell +a story of Sir Henry Irving. It was my good fortune +once to be in the wings at the Lyceum when he was +playing <i>Shylock</i> in the "Merchant of Venice." The +power of his acting upon me that day was extraordinary. +Every word I listened to intently until at last, in the +trial scene, he had taken out his knife to cut the pound +of flesh. I knew, of course, that he was never really +going to cut that pound of flesh, but the sharpening of +the knife, the dramatic gleam in the great tragedian's +eyes, the tenseness of the whole situation, was all too +vivid and all too like reality. I hated the sight of +bloodshed, and in the shock of anticipation, I fainted.</p> + +<p>When I came round I was in the green room, and a +little later, amongst those who came to see me, was +Irving himself. I was deadly white, and if the truth +must be told, rather ashamed. But Irving was +immensely pleased. He took it as a compliment to the +force of his acting. Learning that I was a young actor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +he declared that my emotionalism was a good omen, +and said that my sensitive and highly-strung nature +would help me in my work enormously. Then he went +on to give me many hints that should be valuable to +every aspirant for success on the stage. One hint I +have never forgotten. "See to it," he said, "that you +always imagine that in the theatre you have a pal who +could not afford the stalls, and who is in the back of +the pit or the gallery. Let him hear every line you +have to say. It will make you finish your words distinctly +and correctly."</p> + +<p>If it is true, as friends have often told me, that one +of the chief merits of my work is the clearness of my +elocution in all parts of the house, it is due to the advice +given to me in those early days by two of the greatest +figures connected with the stage, Gilbert and Irving. +Seeing that these operas are now being played by hundreds +of amateur societies each year, I want to pass on to +those who perform in them this golden rule: Always +pitch your voice to reach the man listening from the +furthest part of the building. Since Gilbert's death I +have often had the feeling that someone is still intently +listening to me—someone a long way away!</p> + +<p>But now I must proceed with my story. When +George Grossmith returned to the cast, I was sent out +as a principal in one of the provincial companies, and in +this work continued for years. Sometimes we played +one opera only on tour—the opera most recently produced +in town—and sometimes a number of them in +repertory. It was towards the end of 1888 that I first +played what is, I need hardly say, the favourite of all +my parts, <i>Jack Point</i>, in the "Yeomen of the Guard,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +the opera which was Gilbert and Sullivan's immediate +successor to "Ruddigore." And in connection with +this part let us finally clear up a "mystery." It has +been a frequent source of enquiry and even controversy +in the newspapers.</p> + +<p>When at the close of "Yeomen" <i>Elsie</i> is wedded to +<i>Fairfax</i>, does <i>Jack Point</i> die of a broken heart, or does +he merely swoon away? That question is often asked, +and it is a matter on which, of course, the real pathos +of the play depends. The facts are these. Gilbert had +conceived and written a tragic ending, but Grossmith, +who created the part, and for whom in a sense it was +written, was essentially the accepted wit and laughter-maker +of his day, and thus it had to be arranged that +the opera should have a definitely humorous ending. +He himself knew and told Gilbert that, however he +finished it, the audience would laugh. The London +public regarded him as, what in truth he was, a great +jester. If he had tried to be serious they would have +refused to take him seriously. <i>Whatever</i> Grossmith +did the audience would laugh, and the manner in which +he did fall down at the end was, indeed, irresistibly +funny.</p> + +<p>So it came about that while he was playing <i>Jack +Point</i> in his way in London I was playing him in my +way in the provinces. The first time I introduced my +version of the part was at Bath. For some time I had +considered how poignant would be the effect if the poor +strolling player, robbed of the love of a lady, forsaken +by his friends, should gently kiss the edge of her garment, +make the sign of his blessing, and then fall over, not +senseless, but—dead! I had told the stage manager<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +about my new ending. From time to time he asked me +when I was going to do it, and then when at last I did +feel inspired to play this tragic dénouement, what he +did was to wire immediately to Mr. Carte: "Lytton +impossible for <i>Point</i>. What shall I do?"</p> + +<p>I ought to explain that any departure from tradition +in the performance of these operas was strictly prohibited +by the management. Thus, while I might +demur to the implication that my work was impossible, +the fact that he should report me to headquarters was +only consistent with his duty. But the sequel was hardly +what he expected. The very next day Mr. Carte, +unknown to me at the time, came down to Bath. He +watched the performance and, after the show, the +company were assembled on the stage in order that, in +accordance with custom, he could express any criticisms +or bestow his approval. What happened seemed to me +to be characteristic of this great man's remarkable tact. +He first told us that he had enjoyed the performance. +"For rehearsals to-morrow," he went on, "I shall +want Mr. So-and-so, Mr. So-and-so, Miss So-and-so, +Miss So-and-so," and several others. The inference was +that there were details in their work that needed +correcting. Then he turned to me, shook me most warmly +by the hand, and just said very cordially, "Good night, +Lytton." And then he left. No "Excellent"—that +might have let down the stage manager's authority—but +at the same time no condemnation. It was all noncommittal, +but it suggested to me, as it actually transpired +was the case, that he was anything but displeased +with my reading.</p> + +<p>Gilbert and I, when we had become close friends,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +often had long talks about this opera, and particularly +about my interpretation of the lovable Merryman. I told +him what had led me to attempt this conception, and +asked him whether he wished me to continue it, or +whether it should be modified in any particular way. +"No," was his reply; "keep on like that. It is just +what I want. <i>Jack Point</i> should die and the end of +the opera should be a tragedy."</p> + +<p>For the sake of fairness I must mention that a fortnight +after I had introduced this version of the part, +another popular artiste, who was out with one of the +other provincial companies, played the rôle in just the +same way. It was entirely a coincidence. Neither +of us knew that the other had evolved in his mind precisely +the same idea, even down to the minutest details, +and still less had either of us seen the other play it.</p> + +<p>One little detail in my make-up for this part may be +worth recording. Whenever kings or noblemen in the +old days were pleased with their jesters they threw +them a ring. For that reason I invariably wear a ring +when I appear as <i>Jack Point</i>. Simple ornament as it is, +it was once owned by Edmund Kean and worn by him +on the stage, and another treasured relic of the great +tragedian that I possess is a snuff-box, also given to me +by my old friend, Charles Brookfield.</p> + +<p>One of the finest compliments ever paid to me as an +artiste occurred at Hanley. We were playing "Yeomen." +Many of our audience that night were a rough lot of +fellows, some of whom even sat in their shirt sleeves, +but there could be no question but that they were +keenly following the play. Everywhere we had been +on that tour there had been tremendous calls after the +curtain. At Hanley when the curtain fell there was—a +dead silence! It was quite uncanny. What had +happened? Were they so little moved by the closing +scene of the piece that they were going out in indifference +or in disgust? Gently we drew the edge of the curtain +aside, and there, would you believe it, we saw those +honest fellows silently creeping out without even a +whisper. He was <i>dead</i>. <i>Jack Point</i> was <i>dead</i>!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i048.jpg"><img src="images/i048-lo.jpg" width="400" height="556" alt="THE LATE SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />THE LATE SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p><p>I changed in silence myself. The effect of the incident +had been so extraordinary. And when I went down to +the stage door a crowd of these rough men were waiting. +Somehow they knew me for <i>Point</i>. "Here he is!" they +shouted. "Are you all right, mister, now?" Then, as I +walked on, they turned to one another and I overheard +one of them say: "He <i>wasn't</i> dead, after all." As they +saw the end of the opera they verily believed something +had gone wrong. Such a thing in the theatre may possibly +be understandable, but that the illusion should have +lingered after the curtain had dropped, and even after +they had left the theatre and come really to earth in the +street, seemed to me extraordinary.</p> + +<p>The "Yeomen of the Guard" was staged again the +following night, but this time the audience must have +been told by their pals that they had actually seen me +afterwards, and that it was "only a play." <i>Jack</i> didn't +die—not really. It was only "pretended."</p> + +<p>That Hanley audience rather overdrew the gravity +of things. Some audiences, on the other hand, go to the +opposite extreme and they have their biggest laugh when +and where I least expect it. I remember once playing +the <i>Pirate King</i> in the "Pirates of Penzance," and as a +result of a slip (a physical one) I was the sorry figure in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +one of those incidents which I might catalogue as +"laughs I ought not to have got." I had to come in, +armed to the teeth, high up on the stage. By some mischance +I slipped down the rocks, and encumbered with +all those knives, pistols and cutlasses about me it was +a pretty bad drop. The audience, of course, thought my +undignified entrance a capital joke. I didn't—it hurt. +But I turned the mishap to account, first picking up a +dagger and putting it between my teeth, then groping +round for the other weapons, and all the while cowing +my pirate swashbucklers with a vicious look that suggested +"Come on at your peril; I'm ready." That +incident was not in the book.</p> + +<p>Lovers of "Patience" will recall that little diversion +where <i>Lady Jane</i> picks up <i>Bunthorne</i> in her arms and +carries him off. Well, when Miss Bertha Lewis was +playing with me in this scene quite recently, she did +something quite unauthorised. She dropped me—it +was a terrible crash—and the audience thought it a +"scream." In the shelter of the wings I remonstrated +with her, pointing out that this was a distinct departure +from what Gilbert intended. All the sympathy I got +was, "Well, I've dropped you only twice in eight +years!" Scarcely an effectual embrocation for bruises!</p> + +<p>When we were doing "Ruddigore" in Birmingham, +some years ago, I broke my ankle in the dance with +which the first curtain fell. Somehow I finished the performance, +but when I went up to my dressing-room to +change I fainted. When I came to I found that my foot +had swollen enormously, that the top boot I was wearing +had burst, and that they were doing their best to cut it +away. The speediest medical aid to be found was that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +of a veterinary surgeon, and although the pain was +awful it was nothing like the feeling of doom when I overheard +him saying, "He may not walk again!" Luckily +his fears were altogether unfounded, but although the +accident has not affected my dancing, the ankle has +never been quite right to this day.</p> + +<p>Once, in the "Yeomen," I kicked one of the posts +near the executioner's block. It dislocated my toe, but +what a happy accident it was I did not realise until +some weeks later, when we were playing "The Mikado," +and when I was doing the dance in the "Flowers that +Bloom in the Spring," I trod upon a tin-tack, and +instinctively drew my toe away, as it were, from the +pain. From the audience there came a tremendous +roar of laughter. For a moment I could not understand +it at all. Looking down, however, I was amazed to +find that big toe upright, almost at right angles to the +rest of the foot. With my fan I pressed it down—then +raised it again. This provoked so much merriment +among the audience that I did it a second time, and a +third. All this time the theatre was convulsed. I +confess that to myself it seemed jolly funny. Here, +indeed, was a quaint discovery.</p> + +<p>This "toe" business has ever since been one of +<i>Ko-Ko's</i> greatest mirth-provokers in the "Flowers that +Bloom in the Spring." The explanation of its origin +shows that it is not a trick mechanical toe nor, as some +people suppose, that it is done with a piece of string. +The fact is simply that the toe is double-jointed.</p> + +<p>Now that I have made a brief reference to dancing, +I think it may be well to correct a legend which has +grown up about my age, and which usually turns up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +when we have been encored a first or a second time for +a dance or some boisterous number, especially in +"Iolanthe" or "The Mikado." "Isn't it a shame?" +I know some dear kind friends say, "making him do it +again. Poor old man! He's well over seventy." +Others declare, "Isn't he a marvel for sixty-five?" +Well, if a man is as old as he feels, then my age must +still be in the thirties, and certainly there is no intention +on my part of retiring just yet. But if we have to go by +the calendar, and if it is necessary that there should be +"no possible shadow of doubt" in the future as to +my age, I had better put on record the fact that I was +born in London on January 3rd, 1867. The rest, a +small matter of arithmetic, may be left to you. At +all events I am still some distance from the patriarchal +span.</p> + +<p>The stage is a wonderful tonic in keeping one healthy +and strong. Not once, but many times, I have gone to +the theatre in the evening suffering from neuralgia, but +the moment my cue comes the pain has entirely disappeared. +No sooner, worse luck, have I finished for +the night than it has returned!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> +<h2>IV.<br /> +LEADERS OF THE SAVOY. +</h2> + + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>Memories of Gilbert—His instinct for stagecraft—Stories of +rehearsals—Jack Point's unanswered conundrum—The craze for +the Up-to-Date—Gilbert's experiments on a miniature stage—Nanki-Poo's +address—The Japanese colony at Knightsbridge—The +geniality of Sullivan—A magician of the orchestra—The cause +of an unhappy separation—Only a carpet—Impressions of D'Oyly +Carte—Merited rebukes and generous praise—D'Oyly Carte +and I rehearse a love scene—A wonderful business woman—Mrs. +Carte's part in the Savoy successes—Our leader to-day.</i> +</div> + + +<p>Sir William Gilbert I shall always regard as a +pattern of the fine old English gentleman. Of that +breed we have only too few survivors to-day. Some +who know him superficially have pictured him as a +martinet, but while this may have been true of him +under the stress of his theatrical work, it fails to do +justice to the innate gentleness and courtesy which +were his great and distinguishing qualities. Upright +and honourable himself, one could never imagine that +he could ever do a mean, ungenerous action to anyone, +nor had any man a truer genius for friendship.</p> + +<p>Gilbert, it is true, had sometimes a satirical tongue, +but these little shafts of ridicule of his seldom left any +sting. The <i>bons mots</i> credited to him are innumerable, +but while many may be authentic there are others that +are legendary. He was a devoted lover of the classics, +and to this may be attributed his command of such +beautiful English. Nimble-witted as he was, he would +spend days in shaping and re-shaping some witty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +fancy into phrases that satisfied his meticulous taste, +and days and weeks would be given to polishing and +re-polishing some lyrical gem. But when a new opera +was due for rehearsal, the libretto was all finished and +copied, and everything was in readiness.</p> + +<p>Few men have had so rare an instinct for stagecraft. +Few men could approach him in such perfect +technique of the footlights. Up at Grim's Dyke, his +beautiful home near Harrow, he had a wonderful miniature +stage at which he would work arranging just where +every character should enter, where he or she should +stand or move after this number and that, and when +and where eventually he or she should disappear. +For each character he had a coloured block, and there +were similar devices, of course, for the chorus. Thus, +when he came down for rehearsals, he had everything +in his mind's eye already, and he insisted that every +detail should be carried out just as he had planned. +"Your first entrance will be here," he would say, "and +your second entrance there. 'Spurn not the nobly +born' will be sung by <i>Tolloller</i> just there, and while +he sings it <i>Mountararat</i> will stand there, <i>Phyllis</i> there," +and so on.</p> + +<p>When the company had become familiar with the +broader outlines of the piece, he would concentrate +attention upon the effects upon the audience that +could be attained only by the aid of facial expression, +gesture and ensemble arrangement. Not only did he +lay down his wishes, but he insisted that they must be +implicitly obeyed, and a principal who had not reached +perfection in the part he was taking would be coached +again and again. I remember once that, in one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +those moods of weariness and dullness that occasionally +steal over one at rehearsals, I did not grasp something +he had been telling me, and I was indiscreet enough to +blurt out, "But I haven't done that before, Sir William." +"No," was his reply, "but I have." The rebuke to +my dullness went home! It was Durward Lely, I think, +whom he told once to sit down "in a pensive fashion." +Lely thereupon unmindfully sat down rather heavily—and +disturbed an elaborate piece of scenery. "No! +No!" was Gilbert's comment, "I said pensively, not +ex-pensively." That quickness of wit was very typical.</p> + +<p>George Grossmith once suggested that the introduction +of certain business would make the audience +laugh. Gilbert was quite unsympathetic. "Yes!" +he responded in his dryest vein, "but so they would if +you sat down on a pork pie!" Grossmith it was, too, +who had become so wearied practising a certain gesture +that I heard him declare he "had rehearsed this confounded +business until I feel a perfect fool." "Ah! +so now we can talk on equal terms" was the playwright's +instant retort. And the next moment he administered +another rebuke. "I beg your pardon," said the comedian, +rather bored, in reference to some instructions he had +not quite understood. "I accept the apology," was the +reply. "Now let's get on with the rehearsal."</p> + +<p>You will remember that in "The Yeomen" poor +<i>Jack Point</i> puts his riddle, "Why is a cook's brainpan +like an overwound clock?" The Lieutenant interposes +abruptly with "A truce to this fooling," and the poor +Merry-man saunters off exclaiming "Just my luck: +my best conundrum wasted." Like many in the +audience, I have often wondered what the answer to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +that conundrum is, and one day I put a question about +it to Gilbert. With a smile he said he couldn't tell me +then, but he would leave me the answer in his will. +I'm sorry to say that it was not found there—maybe +because there was really no answer to the riddle, or +perhaps because he had forgotten to bequeath to the +world this interesting legacy.</p> + +<p>Sir William not only studied the entrances and exits +beforehand, but he came with clear-cut ideas as to the +colour schemes which would produce the best effect in +the scenery, laid down the methods with which the +lighting was to be handled, and arranged that no heavy +dresses had to be worn by those who had dances to +perform. No alterations of any kind could be made +without his authority, and thus it comes about that +the operas as presented to-day are just as he left them, +without the change of a word, and long may they so +remain!</p> + +<p>I ought, perhaps, to answer criticisms which are often +laid against me when, as <i>Ko-Ko</i> in "The Mikado," I +do not follow the text by saying that <i>Nanki-Poo's</i> +address is "Knightsbridge." I admit I substitute the +name of some locality more familiar to the audience +before whom we are playing. Well, it is not generally +known that Knightsbridge is named in the opera because, +just before it was written, a small Japanese colony had +settled in that inner suburb of London, and a very +great deal of curiosity the appearance of those little +people in their native costumes aroused in the Metropolis. +Gilbert, therefore, in his search for "local +colour" for his forthcoming opera, had not to travel +to Tokio, but found it almost on his own doorstep near +his home, then in South Kensington. A Japanese +male-dancer and a Geisha, moreover, were allowed to +come from the colony to teach the company how to +run or dance in tiny steps with their toes turned in, how +to spread or snap their fans to indicate annoyance or +delight, and how to arrange their hair and line their +faces in order to introduce the Oriental touch into their +"make-up." This realism was very effective, and it +had a great deal to do with the instantaneous success +of what is still regarded as the Gilbert and Sullivan +masterpiece.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i056.jpg"><img src="images/i056-lo.jpg" width="400" height="597" alt="THE LATE MR. RICHARD D'OYLY CARTE." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />THE LATE MR. RICHARD D'OYLY CARTE.</span> +</div> + +<p>But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> to return to the point about Knightsbridge. +When "The Mikado" was produced at the Savoy, +the significance of the reference to a London audience +was obvious and amusing enough, but it was a different +matter when the opera was sent into the provinces. +Gilbert accordingly gave instructions that the place +was to be localised, and there was and always is something +very diverting to, say, a Liverpool audience in +the unexpected announcement that <i>Nanki-Poo</i>, the +great Mikado's son, is living at "Wigan." In the case +of Manchester it might be "Oldham" or in that of +Birmingham "Small Heath." What I want to make +clear is that, so far from any liberty being taken on +my part, this little variation is fully authorised, and it +is the only instance of the kind in the whole of the +operas.</p> + +<p>Sir Arthur Sullivan I knew least of the famous triumvirate +at the Savoy. I was under him, of course, at +rehearsals, and we had pleasant little talks from time +to time, but my relations with him were neither so +frequent nor so intimate as they were with the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +two partners. We had a mutual friend in Francois +Cellier, about whose work as conductor I shall have +more to say, and it was through him that I learned +much about the fine personal and musical qualities +of the composer.</p> + +<p>Certainly Sullivan was a great man, intensely devoted +to his art, and fame and fortune never spoilt a man +less. A warm-hearted Irishman, he was always ready +to do a good turn for anyone, and it was wonderful +how the geniality of his nature was never clouded by +almost life-long physical suffering. Sullivan lived and +died a bachelor, and I believe there was never a more +affectionate tie than that which existed between him +and his mother, a very witty old lady, and one who took +an exceptional pride in her son's accomplishments. +Nor is it generally known that he took upon himself all +the obligations for the welfare and upbringing of his +dead brother's family. It was to Herbert Sullivan, +his favourite nephew, that his fortune was bequeathed.</p> + +<p>Of Sullivan the musician I cannot very well speak. +I have already owned that I have little real musical +knowledge. But at the same time he always seemed to +me to be something of a magician. Not only could he +play an instrument, but he knew exactly what any +instrument could be made to do to introduce some +delightful, quaint effect into the general orchestral +design. "No! No!" he would say at a rehearsal to +the double bass, "I don't want it like that. I want a +lazy, drawn-out sound like this." And, taking the bow +in his fingers, he would produce some deliciously droll +effect from the strings. "Oh, no! not that way," +he would say to the flutes, and a flute being handed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +up to him, he would show how the notes on the score +were to be made lightsome and caressing. Then it +would be the turn of the violins.</p> + +<p>At the earlier rehearsals it was often difficult for the +principals to get the tune of their songs. The stumbling +block was the trickiness of rhythm which was one of the +composer's greatest gifts. Now, although I cannot +read a line of music, my sense of rhythm has always +been very strong, and this has helped me enormously +both in my songs and my dancing. Once when Sir +Arthur was rehearsing us, and we simply could not get +our songs right, I asked him to "la la" the rhythm to +me, and I then got the measure so well that he exclaimed +"That's splendid Lytton. If you're not a +musician, I wish there were others, too, who were not."</p> + +<p>One story about Sullivan—I admit it is not a new +one—well deserves telling. Standing one night at the +back of the dress-circle, he commenced in a contemplative +fashion to hum the melody of a song that was +being rendered on the stage. "Look here," declared +a sensitive old gentleman, turning round sharply to the +composer, "I've paid my money to hear Sullivan's +music—not yours." And whenever Sir Arthur told +this story against himself he always confessed that he +well deserved the rebuke.</p> + +<p>Gilbert and Sullivan were collaborators for exactly +twenty-five years. It was in 1871 that they wrote +"Thespis," a very funny little piece of its kind that was +produced at the Gaiety, and it was this success that +induced Mr. Richard D'Oyly Carte to invite them to +associate again in the writing of a curtain-raiser destined +to be known as "Trial by Jury." From that time until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +1889 they worked in double harness without a break, +and it was in that latter year, after the most successful +production of "The Gondoliers" that there came the +unfortunate "separation." It lasted four years. When, +in 1893, the two men re-united their talents, they gave +us that delightfully funny play, "Utopia Limited." But +with "The Grand Duke" in 1896—and the superstitious +will not overlook that this was the thirteenth +piece they had written together—the curtain finally +came down upon the partnership.</p> + +<p>It may be expected of me that I should say something +about the cause of the famous "separation." It is a +matter I should prefer to ignore, partly because the +consequences of it were so very unfortunate to the cause +of dramatic and musical art, and partly because the +reason of it was trivial to a degree. Slight "tiffs" +there may have been between the two from time to +time—that was inevitable under the strain of rehearsals—but +these minor differences were mended within a +day or a night. What caused the rift was—would +you believe it?—a carpet! This Mr. Carte, who under +the contract was responsible for furnishings, had bought +for £140, as a means of adding to the comfort, as he +believed, of the patrons of the Savoy. Seeing this item +in the accounts, Mr. Gilbert objected to it as a sheer +waste of money, arguing that it would not bring an +extra sixpence into the exchequer. The dispute was a +mere "breeze" to begin with, but Gilbert and Carte +had each a will of his own, and soon the "breeze" had +developed into a "gale." And that miserable carpet +led at last to the break-up of the partnership.</p> + +<p>Sullivan, whether he agreed with the purchase or not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +did his best to put an end to the quarrel, but as in the +end he had to adhere to one side or the other, he linked +himself with Mr. Carte. This, then, was the sole cause +of the breach, and by none was it more regretted than +by the principals. Gilbert, I know, felt this severance +from his old friend very acutely, though in our many +talks in after years he was always inclined to be a little +reticent as to this subject. Sullivan, too, though he +went on composing, was not at all fortunate in his choice +of lyrical writers, none of whom had the deftness and +quaint turn of fancy of the playwright with whom he +had worked so long and so successfully.</p> + +<p>Before I leave Sullivan, I think students of music +will be interested to hear what Cellier once told me as +to the composer's methods in writing his beautiful +songs. With Gilbert's words before him, he set out +first to decide, not what should be the tune, but the +rhythm. It was this method of finding exactly what +metre best suited the sentiment of the lyric that gave +his music such originality. Later, having decided what +the rhythm should be, he went on to sketch out the +melody, but it was seldom that he set to work on the +orchestration until the rehearsals were well under way. +In the meanwhile the principals practised their songs +to an accompaniment which he vamped on the pianoforte. +Sullivan, who could score very quickly, had a +mind running riot with musical ideas, and he could +always pick out the idea for a given number that fitted +it like the proverbial glove. "I have a song to sing O!" +he regarded, I have been told, as the most difficult +conundrum Gilbert ever set him, and musicians tell +me that, in sheer constructive ingenuity, it is one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +of the cleverest numbers in the "Yeomen of the +Guard."</p> + +<p>Now I must turn to Mr. D'Oyly Carte. From time +to time in this book I have given indications as to the +manner of man that he was, but although much is +known about his capacity as a business manager, the +world knows very little indeed of his kindly generosity. +It was impossible, of course, for him to take into the +company every poor actor who was down on his luck, +but certain it is that he never sent him empty away. +Seldom did he leave his office without seeing that his +pockets were well laden with sovereigns. Out in the +Strand, as he knew, there would be some waif of our +profession waiting for him, always sure that under +cover of a handshake, Mr. Carte would press a golden +coin upon him with a cheery "see you get yourself a +good lunch," or "a good supper."</p> + +<p>Mr. Carte, as I have said before, was a man of few +words and of a rather taciturn humour, but it would be +wrong to think that he was not fond of his joke. First, +however, let me tell the story of a small youthful folly +of mine, in "The Mikado." It happened in the second +act where <i>Ko-Ko</i>, <i>Pooh Bah</i> and <i>Pitti Sing</i> are prostrate +on the floor in the presence of the <i>Emperor</i>. We three +had to do our well-known "roll-over" act in which I, +like <i>Pitti Sing</i> herself, had to bear the weight of the +20-stone of dear old Fred Billington. Well, an imp of +mischief led me one night to conceal a bladder under +my costume, and when Fred rolled over it exploded +with a terrible "bang." Billington had the fright of his +life. "What's happened Harry?" he whispered anxiously, +his nose still to the floor, "What have I done?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>I am afraid that in those days I had an incurable +weakness for practical joking. One night I went for +dinner into a well-known hotel in the Strand. Soon after +I had entered the restaurant I was roughly grasped by +one would-be diner, who was obviously in a very bad +temper, and who demanded to know why no one had +been to take the order for himself and his guests. Well, +if I was to be mistaken for a waiter, it would be just as +well to play the part. "Pardon, monsieur!" I exclaimed, +dropping at once into a most deferential +attitude, and immediately getting ready to write down +his order on the back of a menu-card that was handy. +The diner, still in the worst of humours, recited the +courses he had selected. "And wine, monsieur?" I +asked. Yes, he wanted wine as well, and that order also +was faithfully booked. Then I went to the far end of +the room to join my own party of friends. What combustible +heat the diner developed when he found that his +wishes were still unattended to, and what verbal +avalanche the real waiter had to endure when he had to +ask that the order should be repeated, are matters upon +which no light can be thrown—by myself! But to +return to the story of the "explosion" in "The +Mikado."</p> + +<p>My little bit of devilment was duly reported to the +management. Mr. Carte summoned me before him +and looked very grave. Unauthorised diversions of this +kind would never do—and certainly not when perpetrated +by a leading principal. "I think it is about +time you stopped your schoolboy pranks," was his +rebuke.</p> + +<p>But a different side of Mr. Carte was seen in connection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +with a certain incident at the Savoy. The point to +remember is that it had reference to something that +did not involve any liberties with the performance, +and this fact put it, in his eyes, in an entirely different +category. We had in the company a man who was +always telling tales about the rest to the stage manager. +So one night some of us got hold of him, ducked his +head in a bucket of dirty water, and kept it there as +long as we dare. Naturally he reported us, and in due +course we were summoned to attend and explain our +conduct to Mr. Carte. We were bidden to enter his +room one by one. I, as one of the ring-leaders, was the +first to go in. "This is very serious," said Mr. Carte, +but having heard my explanation of the incident, and +still looking exceedingly severe, he warned me that +"this sort of thing must not happen again." Then, as a +smile stole over his face, he added "All the same I might +have done it myself!"</p> + +<p>With that he told me, when I went out of the room, +to put one hand on my temple and, with the other +stretched out in the air, to exclaim "Oh! it's terrible—terrible." +What the effect of this melodramatic posture +was on those anxiously waiting outside may well be +imagined. It could only mean instant dismissal for +all of us. Then Mr. Carte had another culprit before +him, and having formally rebuked him, commanded +him to make his exit in much the same way. It was +an excellent joke—except for those at the end of the +queue.</p> + +<p>It was Mr. D'Oyly Carte, by the way, who once did +me the compliment of saying, "My dear Lytton, you +have given me the finest performance I have ever seen +of any part on any stage." Strange as it may seem +to-day, the rôle which I was playing then, and which +drew those most cordial words from one whose praise +was always so measured and restrained, was that of +<i>Shadbolt</i> in the 1897 London revivals of "The Yeomen +of the Guard." It was impossible for a small man to +play the part just as the big men had played it, and so +my interpretation of it was that of a creeping, cringing +little dwarf who in manner, in method and in mood +was not unlike Uriah Heep. This seemed to me to be +consistent with the historical figure from which the +part was drawn. Gilbert, it is not generally known, +took him from a wicked, wizened little wretch who, +in the sixteenth century, so legend says, haunted the +Tower when an execution was due, and offered the +unhappy felon a handful of dust, which was, he said, +"a powder that will save you from pain." For reward +he claimed the victim's valuables.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i064.jpg"><img src="images/i064-lo.jpg" width="400" height="610" alt="MR. RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />MR. RUPERT D'OYLY CARTE.</span> +</div> + +<p>When,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> by the way, Mr. Carte told me that mine was +the best performance he had ever seen on any stage, +I was so flattered by the compliment that I asked him +if he would write his opinion down for me, and he +readily promised to do so. Within a day or two I received +a letter containing those words over his signature, +and it remains amongst my treasured possessions. +Only once did I know him to be guilty of forgetfulness, +and that was when, meeting me in London, he said: +"Oh! I think I can offer you an engagement, Lytton." +I had to point out to him that I was actually playing +in one of his companies. We were, I think, at Greenwich +at the time, and I was making a flying visit to London.</p> + +<p>Mr. Carte was a great stage manager. He could take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +in the details of a scene with one sweep of his eagle +eye and say unerringly just what was wrong. Shortly +before I was leaving town for a provincial tour he +noticed that <i>Ko-Ko's</i> love scene with <i>Katisha</i> might be +improved, and so we went together for an extra rehearsal +into the pit bar at the Savoy. Mr. Carte said he +would be <i>Katisha</i> and I, of course, was to be <i>Ko-Ko</i>. +Now, to make love to a bearded man, and a man who +was one's manager into the bargain, was rather a task +but we both entered heartily into the spirit of the thing. +"Just act as you would if you were on the stage," was +his advice, "though you needn't actually kiss me, you +know!" For this scene we had an audience of one. +Little Rupert D'Oyly Carte was there, and before the +rehearsal commenced I lifted him on to the bar counter, +where he sat and simply held his sides with laughter +watching me making earnest love to his father! I +imagine he remembers that incident still.</p> + +<p>That "eye" for stagecraft, which in Mr. Richard +D'Oyly Carte amounted to genius, has been inherited +in a quite remarkable degree by his son, Mr. Rupert +D'Oyly Carte. He, too, has the gift of taking in the +details of a scene at a glance, and knowing instinctively +just what must be corrected in order to make the colours +blend most effectively, the action move most perfectly, +and the stage arrangement generally to be in balance and +proportion. I need not say that in all this he most +faithfully observes all the traditions which have stood so +well the test of time.</p> + +<p>So far I have given in this chapter my random +reminiscences of the chief three figures—the triumvirate, +as I have called them—at the Savoy. But there was also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +a fourth, and it would be a grave omission were I not +to mention one who, in my judgment, was as wonderful +as any of them. I refer to Miss Helen Lenoir, who, +after acting for some years as private secretary to Mr. +Carte, became his wife. There was hardly a department +of this great enterprise which did not benefit, little +though the wider public knew it, from Mrs. Carte's +remarkable genius. It was not alone that hers was the +woman's hand that lent an added tastefulness to the +dressing of the productions. She was a born business +woman with an outstanding gift for organisation. No +financial statement was too intricate for her, and no +contract too abstruse. Once, when I had to put one of +her letters to me before my legal adviser, though not, I +need hardly say, with any litigious intent, he declared +firmly "this letter <i>must</i> have been written by a +solicitor." He would not admit that any woman could +draw up a document so cleverly guarded with qualifications.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Carte, besides her natural business talent, had +fine artistic taste and was a sound judge, too, of the +capabilities of those who came to the theatre in search +of engagements. The New York productions of the +operas were often placed in her charge. Naturally +enough, the American managers did not welcome the +"invasion" any too heartily, and her responsibilities +over there must have been a supreme test of her tact +and powers of organisation. Yet the success of these +transatlantic ventures could not be gainsaid.</p> + +<p>When her husband died Mrs. Carte took the reins +of management entirely into her keeping, and it was +one of her most remarkable achievements that, notwithstanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +constant pain and declining health, this +wonderful woman should have carried the operas +through a period when, owing to the natural reaction +of time, they were suffering a temporary eclipse. Long +before she died in 1913 they had entered upon a new +lease of life, and to-day we find them once more on the +flood tide of prosperity, loved alike by those who are +loyal to their favourites of other days and no less by +those of the younger generation who have been captivated +by all their joyous charm of wit and melody.</p> + +<p>Our leader to-day is Mr. Rupert D'Oyly Carte. Of +him I find it difficult to speak, as is bound to be the case +when one is working in constant association with one +who has the same cause at heart, and sharing with him +the earnest intention that the great tradition of these +operas shall be worthily and faithfully upheld. Upon +Rupert D'Oyly Carte's shoulders has fallen the +mantle of a splendid heritage. Speaking as the oldest +member of his company, and no less as one who may +claim also to be a friend, I can assure him that the +happy family of artistes who serve under his banner, +and who play in these pieces night by night with all the +more zest because they love them for their own freshness +and grace, will always do their part under him in keeping +alight the "sacred lamp" of real English comedy that +was first kindled into undying fires within the portals +of the Savoy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> +<h2>V.<br /> +ADVENTURES IN TWO HEMISPHERES. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><i>Actors in real life—Reminiscences of my American visit—A +thrill in Sing-Sing—The detective and the crook—Outwitting +the Pirates—In "The Gondoliers" in New York—A cutting +Press critique—Orchestral afflictions—Our best audiences—Enthusiasm +in Ireland and a short-lived interruption—Exciting +fire experiences—Too realistic thunder and lightning—"Hell's +Full."</i> +</div> + + +<p>"Lytton," said a well-known man of affairs to me, +"we are all actors. You are an actor. I am an actor. +Come with me to a meeting at which I am to make a +speech and I will show you a real-life drama truer than +ever you will see or hear on the stage. The audience +would kill me if they dare. They would rend me limb +from limb. And yet in half-an-hour—mark my words, in +half-an-hour!—they will be shaking me by the hand +and everything will be ending happily."</p> + +<p>We were in Holborn at the time and we took a short +cab-ride into the City. My friend had to meet the +shareholders of a company which he had promoted and +which had not been prospering. No sooner had he +entered the meeting room than he was met with a +hostile reception. Epithets of an unequivocally abusive +kind were flung at him from every side. Men shook +their fists in his face. When he reached the platform +the demonstration was redoubled, and at first he was +not allowed to speak. Solidly he stood his ground waiting +for the storm to subside. Eventually they did allow +him to speak, and first to a crescendo and then to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +diminuendo of interruption he told them how the failure +of things could not be his fault at all, how he was +ready to stand by the venture to the very end, how he +would guarantee to pay them all their money back +with interest, and how he would work the flesh off his +bones to put the company right.</p> + +<p>Here, indeed, was real drama—and at a company +meeting. Here was a man fighting for his commercial +existence, and by the force of wits, sheer self-confidence +and personal magnetism gradually winning. Just after +the meeting closed a number of those infuriated shareholders +were on the platform shaking him by the hand +and telling him what a fine fellow he was. Towards the +end of his speech I had seen him look at his watch and +flash a significant glance in my direction. "Well," he +said, when he rejoined me, quite calm and collected, +"I did it under half-an-hour—in fact, with just a minute +to spare."</p> + +<p>It is an incident like this which proves that histrionics +is no theatrical monopoly. I once met another +actor in real life—this time in America. I had gone to +New York to do the <i>Duke</i> in "The Gondoliers." Amongst +the many delightful people I met there was General +Sickles. Sickles was a "character," and also a man of +influence. Only a few weeks before he had met Captain +Shaw, the chief of the London Fire Brigade, whom +Gilbert has immortalised in the Queen's beautiful song +in "Iolanthe." Shaw had argued with the General that +America's fire-fighting methods were not as speedy as +they were in England.</p> + +<p>"Oh! aren't they?" was the reply. "Come and +see." Forthwith the General, who was not a fire chief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +himself, but who had been Sheriff of New York and was +thus a powerful individual, ordered out the New York +Fire Brigade. No sooner had a button been touched +than the harness automatically fell on the horses, the +men came flying down a pole right on to the engine, +and in so many seconds the brigade was ready. Long +since, of course, all these methods have been adopted +in this country, and I believe I am right in saying that +the improvement followed this visit of Captain Shaw +to the United States. I myself saw a turn-out of the +brigade and thought their swiftness astonishing.</p> + +<p>It was General Sickles who introduced me to Mr. +Burke, a famous New York detective of his day, who +took me on a most interesting tour of Sing-Sing Prison. +He persuaded me to sit in the electric chair, and having +put the copper band round my head and adjusted +the rest of the apparatus, he took a big switch in his hand +and said, "I've simply got to press this and you're +electrocuted—dead in a jiffy!" I'll own up I did not +share his affection for his plaything. The experience +was not at all pleasant.</p> + +<p>Burke, as an additional thrill, asked me if I should +like to meet a notorious bank robber, whom I will call +Captain S. It was arranged that the three of us should +have dinner together. Captain S., the other real-life actor +referred to, was at that time enjoying a spell of liberty, +and to me it was amazing how cordial was the friendship +between the great detective and the great "crook." +When "business" was afoot it was a battle of wits, +with the bank robber bringing off some tremendous +haul and the detective hot on his tracks to bring him to +justice, and probably it was because each had so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +respect for the other's talents that socially they could be +such excellent pals.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Burke," I heard Captain S. say, "you've +'lagged' me before this and I expect you'll do it again." +I found him a delightful companion, with a fund of good +stories, and he played the violin for us most beautifully.</p> + +<p>Captain S. told us how he planned one of his earlier +exploits. It was his custom to pose as an English +philanthropist, who was almost eccentric in his liberality +and who made himself <i>persona grata</i> in society. Even +the most suspicious would have been disarmed by one +so benevolent both in manner and in appearance. In +this particular case, having decided on the bank he +intended to rob, he took a flat over the building. One +part of the day was spent in preparing his gang for the +coup and the other part in performing kindly acts of +charity. "I really felt sorry," he told us, "when the +time had come to do the trick. I had been spending a +lot of money and thoroughly enjoying myself. Luckily, +we had found that, although the bank had steel walls +and a steel floor, it had just an ordinary ceiling. That, +of course, helped us enormously, and we got away with a +regular pile. I left a note on the counter: 'You must +blame the designer of the bank for this, not me.'"</p> + +<p>I have not yet explained the circumstances that took +me to America. Shortly after "The Gondoliers" had +been produced in London it was put on in the States. +No sooner had any new Savoy opera been successfully +launched in London than preparations were pushed +forward for its production on the other side of the +Atlantic. This, in point of fact, was done as a precaution. +Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte had learnt the need of that +by bitter experience in their earlier ventures, which +had been exploited by "pirates." These nimble +gentlemen, having secured a rough idea of the new opera +that was being produced in London, lost no time in +bringing out a miserable travesty of it under the +identical title that it was given at the Savoy. Thus not +only did they trade on the reputation of these operas, +but they were able to prevent the genuine production +being given under its own title, inasmuch as this would +have transgressed the law of copyright. So the "pirates" +had to be forestalled by an immediate staging of the +real operas, and in some cases these were put on in +America simultaneously with, and in one case actually +before, the productions in England.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i072.jpg"><img src="images/i072-lo.jpg" width="400" height="620" alt="THE LATE MRS. RICHARD D'OYLY CARTE." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />THE LATE MRS. RICHARD D'OYLY CARTE.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p><p>"The Gondoliers" in America was not a success. +Mr. Carte, who was there at the time, tried to mend +matters by completely re-casting the play. I was in +York, and I received a cable "Come to New York." It +was never my custom to question my manager's requests. +Whenever he commanded I was ready to obey. +So from York to New York I travelled by the first +available steamer and was soon playing the <i>Duke of +Plaza-Toro</i>. During my first interview with Mr. Carte +after my arrival there occurred an incident characteristic +of the great manager. "Lytton," he said, producing his +note-book, "I believe you owe me £50." I admitted +it—the loan had been for a small speculation. "Well," +was his reply, striking his pen through the item, "that +debt is paid." It was in this way that he chose to +show his appreciation of my action in responding to +his summons immediately.</p> + +<p>What I remember most about "The Gondoliers"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +was the simply uproarious laughter with which the +audience greeted the line in the Grand Inquisitor's +song, "And Dukes were three a penny." It was quite +different to the smiles with which the phrase is received +in England. The significance of their merriment was +the fact that no fewer than seven men had taken the +part of the <i>Duke of Plaza-Toro</i>! I myself was there as +the seventh! A Press critic, having drawn attention to +this rather prolific succession, proceeded to place the +seven in the order of merit—at least, as it appeared to his +judgment. He gave six of the names in his order of +preference in ordinary type, and then came a wide gap +of space, followed by the last name in the minutest +type. While I do not remember where I stood I do +know that mine was not the name in such conspicuous +inconspicuousness!</p> + +<p>Speaking of Press criticisms, which in this country +are almost invariably fair and judicious, it was my +curious experience once to go into a barber's shop in a +small town in which we were playing and to find the +wielder of the razor very keen about discussing the +operas. He then urged me to be sure to buy a copy of +the <i>Mudford Gazette</i>. "I've said something very nice +about you," he said. I looked perplexed. "Oh! I'm +the musical critic, you know," explained the worthy +Figaro.</p> + +<p>Our "properties" in the small towns were sometimes +a little primitive. Once in "The Gondoliers" our +gondola was made of an egg-box on a couple of rollers, +and we had to wade ashore. This was at Queenstown, +where there was a strike, and we could not get all our +baggage from the liner that had brought us from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +America. But often the chief affliction was the orchestra. +I remember one violinist whose efforts were woeful. +"You can't play your instrument," the conductor told +him at last in exasperation. "Neither would you if your +hands were swollen with hard work like mine," was his +retort. "This job doesn't pay me. I just come here in +the evening." It transpired that he was a bricklayer. +At another place the musicianship of one instrumentalist +was truly appalling. "How long have you been playing?" +asked the conductor. "Thirty years man and +boy," was the response. "It is thirty years too long," +was the retort.</p> + +<p>From time to time I am asked where our best audiences +are found. Really it is hard to say. Except for +one big city—and why not there it is impossible to +explain—the company has a wonderful reception everywhere. +The Savoy audiences in the old days, of course, +were like no other audiences, and it was something to +remember to be at a "first night." Long before the +orchestra was due to commence—with Sullivan there +to conduct it, as he usually was also at the fiftieth, the +hundredth and other "milestone" performances—it +was customary for many of the songs and choruses from +the older operas to be sung by the "gods." And wonderful +singers they were.</p> + +<p>The London audiences of to-day are also splendid. +Our welcome in the 1920 season was a memorable experience. +Gilbert and Sullivan operas depend for their +freshness and their spirit far more on the audience than +do any of the ordinary plays, and as it happens this +enthusiasm on both sides is seldom wanting. Yet now +and then we find an audience that is cold and quiet at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +the beginning and then works up to fever-heat as the +opera proceeds, whereas on the other hand there is the +audience that begins really too well and towards the +end has simply worn itself out, being too exhausted to +let itself go.</p> + +<p>The North, if not so demonstrative as the South, is +always wonderfully responsive to the spirit of the witty +dialogue and the sparkling songs, and two cities in which +it is always a pleasure to play are Manchester and +Liverpool. And those who declare that the Scots cannot +see a joke would be disabused if they were to be at the +D'Oyly Carte seasons at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our +visits there are always successful. But if I had to decide +this matter on a national basis I should certainly bestow +the palm on Ireland.</p> + +<p>Nowhere are there truer lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan +than the Irish. It may be that Gilbert's fantastic wit +is the wit they best understand, and it may be, too, that +their hearts are warmed by the "plaintive song" of +their fellow countryman, Sullivan. Whatever the cause, +we have no better receptions anywhere. One feature of +our Dublin and Belfast audiences is, oddly enough, +shared with those at Oxford and Cambridge. They do +not merely clap, but openly cheer again and again, +throwing all conventional decorum away. And when the +Irish are determined to have encores—no matter how +many for a particular piece—there is no denying them.</p> + +<p>What we have found in the Emerald Isle—even +during the unhappy times during and after the war—was +that they kept their pleasures and their politics in +watertight compartments. Sinn Feiners they might be +outside the theatre, but inside it they are determined to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +enjoy themselves, as an interrupter found on one of our +latest visits, when he tried to protest against the song, +"When Britain Really Ruled the Waves." "No +politics here," shouted someone from the stalls, and +the audience agreeing very heartily with this sentiment +the protestor subsided into silence.</p> + +<p>Looking back on the reference earlier in this chapter +to fire brigades, I am reminded that I have more than +once been on the stage at times when events have +occurred which might have had terrible results, though +my success as a panic-fighter is a distinction I would +rather have foregone. One incident of this kind was at +Eastbourne when we did "Haddon Hall." It will be +remembered that in one part there are indications of +an oncoming storm of thunder and lightning. Nowadays +the authorities take care that effects of this kind are +contrived with absolute safety to all concerned, but in +those times the lightning was produced by a man in +the wings taking pinches of explosive powder out of a +canister, throwing these on a candle flame, and so +securing a vivid flash over the darkening stage. Well, +our man had done this so often that he had grown +contemptuous of danger, and this time he took such an +ample helping of the powder that the flash caught the +canister, and there was a tremendous explosion. The +canister went right through the stage and embedded +itself in the ground.</p> + +<p>In "Haddon Hall" I was <i>McCrankie</i>, dressed in a +kilt and playing the bagpipes when the explosion +occurred. It plunged both stage and auditorium into +darkness. I could hear the injured stage-hand groaning +near the wings. Somehow I managed to grope my way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +to the man, pick him up in my arms, and carry him to +one of the exits from the stage. I remember that a +number of the chorus ladies, who could not find the door +in the darkness, were clawing the walls of the scenery, +for in their panic that was the only way they thought +they could make their escape. The strange thing was +that the door was not a yard away.</p> + +<p>Still dressed as a kilted Scot, I carried the injured +man into the street, and already a crowd had gathered +in the belief that there had been a terrible disaster. If +not as serious as that, it had been quite bad enough, +and it was a miracle that there had not actually been a +calamity. In one of the boxes was one of those hardy +playgoers who attended our shows night after night. We +had nicknamed him "Festive." The concussion had +lifted him out of his seat on to the floor. He complained +that the thunder had been far too realistic!</p> + +<p>Fortunately we were able to go on with the performance, +though many of us were suffering from nerves +very badly. The stage hand had been speedily taken +to hospital with serious injuries. It was typical of Mr. +Carte's kindness that, although the man had been +guilty of a very grave fault, he did not dismiss him from +his service, but on his recovery made him a messenger +and afterwards gave him a pension.</p> + +<p>Early in my career as a D'Oyly Carte principal on +the provincial tours, we had a fire on the stage at the +Lyceum, Edinburgh. It was the week before Henry +Irving was due there to give his first production of +"Faust." I remember that because we had his great +organ behind the stage. Our piece that night was +"Ruddigore" and while I was singing one of my numbers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +I became aware that something was amiss. It +proved to be an outbreak of fire in the sky borders over +the stage, and small smouldering fragments were falling +around me in a manner that was entirely unpleasant. +The steps at the back also caught fire, and it was a +lucky thing that, the piece being then a new one, the +audience should have taken it as a bit of realism added +to the ghost scene. Otherwise nothing could have +avoided a panic.</p> + +<p>I remember the stage manager shouting to me from +the wings "Keep singing, keep singing." It was not +easy, I can assure you, to keep on with a humorous +number in circumstances like those, and with sparks +dropping over one's head, but I did keep on with the +song until they decided to ring down the curtain. Then +I was told to run upstairs to warn the girls, whose +dressing-rooms were near the flies. Now, as a young +man I had made a reputation for myself as a practical +joker, and one of my favourite antics was to tell this +person or that, quite untruly, "You're wanted on +the stage." Thus, when I rushed up to sound the real +alarm, it was treated as a cry of "wolf." I banged the +doors and entreated them to come out, but it was not +until the smoke began to creep into the rooms that the +girls knew positively that there was a fire, and promptly +scurried for safety. Fortunately the outbreak was +speedily subdued and the performance proceeded.</p> + +<p>A minor incident of this kind may be worth mentioning. +We were in "Erminie" at the Comedy, and at the +close of one of the acts the chorus, the ladies dressed +as fisher girls and holding lighted candles, were singing +a concerted "Good Night." Suddenly I noticed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +one of the girls who was not paying much attention +to her work had let the candle ignite the mob cap she +was wearing. If the flame had reached her wig—and wigs +in those days were cleaned with spirit—she must have +been seriously burnt. So I ran up and tore off her cap, +only to be rewarded with a haughty, "How dare you!" +Later, when she realised what her danger had been, her +apology and thanks were profuse.</p> + +<p>It may not, I think, be amiss if to these combustible +reminiscences is added just one more story, though in +a much lighter vein. It occurred in "The Sorcerer." +<i>John Wellington Wells</i>, the "dealer in magic and spells," +disappears at last into the nether regions, as it were, +through the trap-door in the stage. One night the trap, +having dropped a foot or so, refused to move any further, +and there was I, enveloped in smoke and brimstone, +poised between earth and elsewhere. So all I could do +was to jump back on to the boards, make a grimace at +the refractory trap-door, and go off by the ordinary +exit. "Hell's full!" shouted an irreverent voice from +the "gods." The joke, I know, was not a new one, for +legend has it that a similar incident occurred during a +performance of "Faust." Whether it did or not I do +know that it occurred in that performance of "The +Sorcerer."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i081.jpg"><img src="images/i081-lo.jpg" width="400" height="615" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "JACK POINT" IN "THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br /> +AS<br />"JACK POINT" IN "THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD."</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> +<h2>VI.<br /> +PARTS I HAVE PLAYED. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>List of my Gilbert and Sullivan Rôles—Parts in Other Comedies—Excursions +into Vaudeville—A Human Shuttlecock—When +Gilbert Appeared before the Footlights—Essays as a playwright—A +Burlesque of Shakespeare—Embarrassing Invitations—A +Jester's Hidden Remorse—My Life's Helpmate.</i> +</div> + + +<p>It is my melancholy distinction to be the last of the +Savoyards. Numbers of my old comrades, of course, +are playing elsewhere or living in their well-earned retirement, +but I alone remain actively in Gilbert and +Sullivan. In all I have played thirty parts in the operas—no +other artiste connected with them has ever played so +many—and it may interest my innumerable known and +unknown friends if I "put them on my list." In the +following table I give incidentally the date of the +original production of the comedies in London.</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Trial by Jury" (1875)</td><td align="left"><i>Judge</i>; <i>Counsel</i>; <i>Usher</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Sorcerer" (1877)</td><td align="left"><i>Hercules</i>; <i>Dr. Daly</i>; <i>Sir</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Marmaduke</i>; <i>John Wellington Wells</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"H.M.S. Pinafore" (1878)</td><td align="left"><i>Dick Deadeye</i>; <i>Captain Corcoran</i>;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Sir Joseph Porter</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Pirates of Penzance" (1880)</td><td align="left"><i>Samuel</i>; <i>The Pirate King</i>,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Major-General Stanley</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Patience" (1881)</td><td align="left"><i>Grosvenor</i>; <i>Bunthorne</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Iolanthe" (1882)</td><td align="left"><i>Strephon</i>; <i>Lord Mountararat</i>,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Lord Chancellor</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Princess Ida" (1884)</td><td align="left"><i>Florian</i>; <i>King Gama</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Mikado" (1885)</td><td align="left"><i>The Mikado</i>; <i>Ko-Ko</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Ruddigore" (1887)</td><td align="left"><i>Robin Oakapple.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Yeomen of the Guard" (1888) </td><td align="left"><i>Lieutenant of the Tower</i>;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><i>Shadbolt</i>; <i>Jack Point</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Gondoliers" (1889)</td><td align="left"><i>Giuseppe</i>; <i>The Duke of Plaza-Toro</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Utopia Ltd" (1893)</td><td align="left"><i>The King.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Grand Duke" (1896)</td><td align="left"><i>The Grand Duke.</i></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>My connection with the D'Oyly Carte company falls +into three periods. The first of these was in 1884 and +1885, when I went on tour for twelve months with +"Princess Ida," to be followed by the heart-breaking +time I have recounted in the "Vagabondage of the +Commonwealth." Then, in 1887, I rejoined it to win my +first success as George Grossmith's understudy in +"Ruddigore." That period was destined to continue +almost without interruption until 1901. For most of +this time I was touring in the provinces, though I was +in London for many of the revivals, as well as for several +of the plays not by Gilbert and Sullivan produced by +Mr. D'Oyly Carte. Eventually this latter enterprise +was brought to an end by the death of Sir Arthur +Sullivan in 1900, and by that of Mr. Carte himself four +months later in 1901. London saw the Gilbert and +Sullivan works no more until 1906, though the suburban +theatres were sometimes visited by the provincial +company, which in the country kept alight the flickering +torch that was to burn once more with all its accustomed +brightness.</p> + +<p>Shortly after my old chief had passed away, I closed +my second period with the company in order to throw +in my lot with the musical comedy stage, and it was my +good fortune to play leading comedy parts under several +successful managements. Looking back on those years, +I regard them as amongst the most prosperous and happy +in my career, and yet it is no affectation to say that +all other parts seemed shallow and superficial when one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +has played so long in Gilbert and Sullivan. Shall I say +I was anxious to return to them? In a sense that +would be true. Certainly the yearning was there—if not +the opportunity. Then, in 1909, Sir William Gilbert +earnestly invited me to rejoin the company, and I +relinquished a very profitable engagement in order to +play once more the parts I loved so well. Thus began +my third period with the operas. This period has still +to be finished.</p> + +<p>Sir William, I ought to say, was at this time an ageing +man, and he had retired with a comfortable fortune. +Grim's Dyke and its beautiful grounds gave him all the +enjoyment he wanted, and to the end he had the +solace and companionship of his devoted wife, Lady +Gilbert. He died in 1911. Following a visit to town, he +had gone to bathe in the lake in his grounds, and had +a heart seizure whilst swimming. He was rescued +from the water and carried to his room, but there life +was found to be extinct. The curtain had fallen.</p> + +<p>But to proceed. I propose to give a list of the +comedies in which I played between 1901 and 1909. +Lacking a good memory for dates, I cannot guarantee +at all that the order in which they appear is correct, +though approximately this may be the case:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center">Comedy.</td><td align="center">Part.</td><td align="center">Management.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Rose of Persia"</td><td align="left"><i>The Sultan</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Emerald Isle"</td><td align="left"><i>Pat Murphy</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Merrie England"</td><td align="left"><i>Earl of Essex</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Beauty Stone"</td><td align="left"><i>Simon</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Lucky Star"</td><td align="left"><i>Tobasco</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"His Majesty"</td><td align="left"><i>The King</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Grand Duchess"</td><td align="left"><i>Prince Paul</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Vicar of Bray"</td><td align="left"><i>The Vicar</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Princess of Kensington" </td><td align="left"><i>Jelf</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Earl and the Girl"</td><td align="left"><i>The Earl</i></td><td align="left">William Greet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>"The Spring Chicken"</td><td align="left"><i>Boniface</i></td><td align="left">George Edwardes</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Little Michus"</td><td align="left"><i>Aristide</i></td><td align="left">George Edwardes</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"My Darling"</td><td align="left"><i>Hon. Jack Hylton</i></td><td align="left">Seymour Hicks.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Talk of the Town"</td><td align="left"><i>Lieut. Reggie Drummond</i> </td><td align="left">Seymour Hicks.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The White Chrysanthemum"</td><td align="left"><i>Lieut. R. Armitage</i></td><td align="left">Frank Curzon.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Amateur Raffles"</td><td align="left"><i>Raffles</i></td><td align="left">Music Halls.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Mirette"</td><td align="left"><i>Bobinet</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Chieftain"</td><td align="left"><i>Peter Grigg</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Grand Duchess"</td><td align="left"><i>Prince Paul</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Billie Taylor"</td><td align="left"><i>Captain Flapper</i></td><td align="left">D'Oyly Carte.</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>In the opinion of many friends, my best piece of +pure character acting was that as <i>Pat Murphy</i>, the +piper in "The Emerald Isle." Without a doubt it +<i>was</i> a fine part. I had to be blind, and in contrast to +the manner in which most blind characters were played +at that time, my eyes were wide open and rigid. From +the moment I entered I riveted my gaze tragically +on one particular spot, and my eyes never moved, no +matter who spoke or however dramatic the point. +Naturally the strain was tremendous. Then, at last, +<i>Pat's</i> colleen lover began to have suspicions that he was +not really blind—that the idle good-for-nothing fellow +was shamming. And when <i>Pat</i> admitted it, the +subterfuge had been kept up so long that, both to those +on the stage and to the audience, the effect was marvellous +to a degree. I loved playing the piper and +speaking the brogue. "The Emerald Isle," as is now +generally known, was the last work that Sir Arthur +Sullivan composed, and on his lamented death the +music was completed by my gifted friend, Edward +German. I remember that when, later on, the piece +was taken to Dublin, we had doubts as to +whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +anything in it might offend the susceptibilities of the +good people of the "disthressful counthree." Strangely +enough, no objection of any kind was raised until +the jig in the second act, and as it was believed that this +was not done correctly and that the girls were lifting +their heels too high, the dance was greeted with an +outburst of booing. This was quelled by the lusty voice +at the back of the pit. "Shame on ye," he shouted. +"Can't ye be aisy out of respect for the dead?" +And another voice: "Eh, an' Sullivan an Oirishman +too, so he was!" The appeal was magical. The interruption +died away and the performance proceeded.</p> + +<p>"The Earl and the Girl," the most successful of all +the musical comedies in which I appeared and the one +which gave me my biggest real comedy part, ran for +one year at the Adelphi, and then for a further year +at the Lyric. When it was withdrawn I secured the +permission of the management to use "My Cosy +Corner," the most tuneful of all its musical numbers, +as a scena on the music-halls, and with my corps of +Cosy Corner Girls it was a decided success.</p> + +<p>One other venture of mine on the music-halls was +in conjunction with Connie Ediss when we had both +completed an engagement at the Gaiety. "United +Service," in which we figured together, ran for fourteen +weeks at the Pavilion, and it provided me with one of +the best salaries I ever drew. The idea of this piece was +a contrast in courtships. First we would imitate a +stately old colonel paying his addresses to an exquisite +lady, and then a ranker making love to the cook, with an +idiom appropriate to life "below-stairs." Eighteen +changes of dress had to be made by each of us, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +fun waxed fast and furious when the colonel commenced +pouring his courtly phrases into the ears of the cook, +and when, by a similar deliberate mishap, the soldier in +his most ardent vernacular declared his passion for +m'lady.</p> + +<p>Connie Ediss and I might have done as well with a +successor to "United Service." But the theatre, she +said, "called her back," and accordingly we went our +separate ways in "legitimate."</p> + +<p>Some reminiscences still remain to be told of my +struggling early days on the stage. One of these +concerns my brief and boisterous connection with the +well-known Harvey Troupe. I was chosen as deputy +for their page boy, whom these acrobats threw hither +and thither as if he were a human shuttlecock, and a very +clever act it was, however uncomfortable for the unfortunate +youngster. I scarcely relished the job, but +old Harvey told me "All you've to do is to come on the +stage; leave the rest to us; we'll pull you through." +It was not a case of pulling me through. They literally +<i>threw</i> me through. For half-an-hour I was thrown +from one to another with lightning speed, and that was +about all I knew of the performance. "You did very +well," they told me afterwards, "didn't you hear the +laughs?" I am afraid I hadn't heard them. I had been +conscious only of an appalling giddiness and of feeling +bruised and sore. Next day I was black and blue, +and unable to perform, but in those hard days, when +food was scarce, one had to be ready for anything.</p> + +<p>It was about this time in my career that I secured +a pantomime engagement at the Prince's, Manchester, +though my rôle was merely that of standard-bearer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +in the finale, to the "show lady," before whom I +walked with a banner inscribed, "St. George and the +Dragon." Unfortunately, in my nervousness, I marched +on with the reverse side of the banner to the front, +and at the sight of this piece of tawdry linen the audience +laughed uproariously.</p> + +<p>When the Second Demon was absent I was chosen +as his understudy, and it seemed to me to be a wonderful +honour, because it gave me eight words to speak. I had +the comforting feeling of being a big star already. How +well I remember those lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +Second Demon (sepulchral and sinister): Who calls on me in this unfriendly way?<br /> +Fairy Queen (in a piping treble): A greater power than yours; hear and obey!<br /> +</div> + +<p>Coming to a much later date, I include in my list of +memorable theatrical occasions the benefit matinee +given in the Drury Lane Theatre for Nellie Farren, for +many years the bright particular star at the Gaiety. +The stage was determined to pay the worthiest tribute +it could to the brilliant artiste who, once the idol of her +day, was now laid aside by sickness and suffering, and +never had such a wonderful programme been presented. +King Edward, then Prince of Wales, gave the benefit +his gracious patronage, and it was in every way a +remarkable success. The D'Oyly Carte contribution +to the entertainment was "Trial by Jury." Gilbert +himself figured in the scene as the <i>Associate</i>. It was, +I believe, his only appearance before the footlights in +public, and it was a part in which he had not a line to +speak. I played the <i>Foreman</i>. Amongst other benefit +performances in which I have taken part were those +to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Dacre and Miss Ellen Terry. +We gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +"Trial by Jury" on these occasions also, and +my part was <i>Counsel</i>.</p> + +<p>Speaking of King Edward, I am reminded that when, +by going to the Palace Theatre after his accession, His +Majesty paid the first visit of any British Sovereign +to a music-hall, the occasion coincided with the run +there of an operetta of my own, called the "Knights of +the Road." It was a Dick Turpin story, for which I +had written the lyrics, and the music had been provided +by my good friend Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Principal +of the Royal Academy of Music. I conceived the idea +that pieces of this kind, based on English stories and +typically English alike in sentiment and musical setting, +might be made an attractive feature on the music-halls, +and in point of fact, all that was wrong with the experiment +was that it was a little too early. To-day, when the +better-class music-halls have attained a remarkable +standard of taste, they would be just the thing. Nevertheless, +my "Knights of the Road" had a successful +career, and it served to give Walter Hyde, now one of +our leading operatic tenors, one of his first chances to +sing in the Metropolis.</p> + +<p>I wrote about eight of these pieces altogether. The +libretto and the scores are still in existence, and for +better or for worse, they may be produced even yet. +One of them is written round the well-known picture, +"The Duel in the Snow." This depicts a beautiful +woman rushing between the two swords in a duel, +and my object was to fill in the dramatic significance +of the picture, representing how it came about that the +men were fighting in those wintry surroundings for the +hand of the lady.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For one night only" I appeared with the Follies. +I was at the Palace in "My Cosy Corner," and Pellissier +asked me to come on, garbed as the poet, in their +burlesque on Shakespeare. Leaning from my pedestal, +I had to reproach them for daring to take such liberties, +and we finished up with a boxing match. Our jokes on +that occasion were mainly extemporised. Nobody in the +audience knew that I was acting deputy, but those in the +wings had heard that a conspiracy of some kind was +afoot, and they entered heartily into the spirit of the +burlesque.</p> + +<p>It is far easier, I think, to improvise on the stage +than it is away from the footlights, and I well remember +my dilemma when I was once invited to an "at home." +It was a children's party, and my hostess had told the +youngsters that they were going to see <i>Ko-Ko</i>, the +"funny man" in "The Mikado." No doubt if I had +come in my Oriental costume it would have been less +difficult to act up to the part, but it was quite another +thing to arrive in an immaculate frock-coat and silk +hat, to be escorted at once into the circle of children, +and invited then and there to act the clown in the +circus with "jibe and joke and quip and crank." For +some moments I stood almost tongue-tied. Luckily, +as it happened, my hostess handed me a cup of tea, and +in my nervousness I dropped it. The children giggled +hugely. With that trivial incident the ice was broken.</p> + +<p>Enjoyable as it is to meet so many people in the +social sphere, our good friends who see us from the +auditorium, and then shower their invitations upon us, +are at times a little embarrassing. Kind as they undoubtedly +are—and we do appreciate the hospitality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +so readily offered to us wherever we go—they are +perhaps forgetful that every week we have to get +through seven or eight hard performances. With +rehearsals taken into account, we have not over-much +leisure for social enjoyment, and certainly no +great reserves of energy. A Scotch lady was once most +pressing that I should attend a dance she was arranging. +Now, much as I love dancing on the stage, I have never +had any taste at all for the conventional ball-room +dancing, and really how could one have after doing, say, +the courtly gavotte in "The Gondoliers?" "I never +dance," I told my Scottish friend, "unless I'm paid for +it." Evidently she mistook my meaning, for with her +invitation to her dance she enclosed me—a cheque for £5. +I returned it with my compliments.</p> + +<p>From time to time on these social occasions we are +prevailed upon to give one or two of our songs from the +operas. Songs from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, +nevertheless, seldom sound well away from the stage +and their familiar surroundings, and long ago most +amateur vocalists dropped them from their repertory. +I, personally, have found that the most suitable of my +numbers for private circles are the <i>Lord Chancellor's</i> +"Dream Song"—it is so dramatic that it goes quite well +as an unaccompanied recitation—and <i>King Gama's</i> +"I can't tell why." Here I must note a remarkable fact. +When I am on the stage, I know not only my own +lines, but the lines of everyone else, but away from the +stage and the atmosphere of the play my otherwise +excellent memory is not always so amenable to discipline. +Indeed, I can recall an occasion when, at a garden party, +I was asked to sing "Tit Willow." I cheerfully undertook<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +to do so, but half-way through I stumbled, and try +as I would even with the promptings of obliging friends, +I could get no further than the middle of the second +verse. And yet on the stage I have sung "Tit Willow" +without a fault many thousands of times.</p> + +<p>I think I was only once in any danger of forgetting +my lines on the stage. It happened in "The Mikado." +Behind the scenes, unknown to me, <i>Pooh Bah</i> had +fainted, and one of his entrances had to be made by +<i>Pish Tush</i>. Well, I was on as <i>Ko-Ko</i> at the time, and the +sound of an unexpected voice was so strange, so bewildering, +that for a moment it seemed to me that my +reason had gone! "Get off! It's <i>Pooh Bah</i>" I +whispered, excitedly. <i>Pish Tush</i> managed to give me a +hint that something had happened, and we continued +our comedy scene, though in my frame of mind this +might easily have come to grief!</p> + +<p>Speaking of memory, I am reminded that my first +recollection in life was that of listening, as a very small +child, to a lad playing a quaint little tune on a banjo. +I never heard that tune again, but it has ever since +remained in my mind, and only a few years ago I was +talking about it to a man who had spent nearly all his +life in Australia. When we were children we were +neighbours in the same village. "Yes," said my long-lost +friend, "I was the lad who played that tune on the +banjo, and you were lying in a cot in the garden!" +Between that incident and our mutual recollection of +it nearly fifty eventful years for both of us had +passed.</p> + +<p>Before I close this chapter of random reminiscences +I feel I must pay my tribute to the best, the oldest and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +the truest of all my friends—my helpmate in life, "Louie +Henri." As Albert Chevalier would put it, "We've been +together now for (almost) forty years, and it don't +seem a day too much." Louie Henri, as I have already +told, secured me my first engagement, and from that +time to this she has been the intimate sharer in whatever +troubles and successes have fallen to me in what is now +a long and eventful career. Optimistic as I may be in +temperament, there were times when her encouragement +meant a great deal, and to my wife I pay this brief +tribute (as brief it is bound to be). Our family has +consisted of three sons and two daughters. Our two +elder sons served during the war in the Royal Air Force, +and one of them was lost whilst flying in a night-bombing +raid in France. I well remember the time when my +boy was first reported missing. With that anxious +sorrow weighing on my mind, it was no small trial to +keep alive the semblance, at least, of comedy.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +Oh, a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon,<br /> +If you listen to popular rumour.<br /> +</div> + +<p><i>Jack Point's</i> song appealed to me with peculiar poignancy +during that time of heavy anxiety. But to return to +my wife.</p> + +<p>Louie Henri, as the older generation well remembers, +is able to count herself amongst the distinguished +Savoyards. Before she retired she had probably +played a greater number of parts—soprano, contralto, +and soubrette—than any other lady connected with +the company. I am sure it will be of interest if I +enumerate here the rôles she has played:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Trial by Jury"</td><td align="left"><i>Plaintiff.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Sorcerer"</td><td align="left"><i>Constance</i>; <i>Mrs. Partlet</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"H.M.S. Pinafore"</td><td align="left"><i>Josephine</i>; <i>Hebe</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>"The Pirates of Penzance"</td><td align="left"><i>Edith.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Patience"</td><td align="left"><i>Lady Angela.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Iolanthe"</td><td align="left"><i>Iolanthe.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Princess Ida"</td><td align="left"><i>Melissa.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Mikado"</td><td align="left"><i>Pitti Sing.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Ruddigore"</td><td align="left"><i>Mad Margaret.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Yeoman of the Guard" </td><td align="left"><i>Phœbe.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Gondoliers"</td><td align="left"><i>Tessa.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Utopia, Ltd"</td><td align="left"><i>Nelraya.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Grand Duke"</td><td align="left"><i>Julia.</i></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>Mrs. Lytton, apart from her success as an actress, +has always been an accomplished musician, and in +that respect I owe much to her for the way in which, +during the preparation of my new rôles, she has helped +me, "a lame, unmusical dog, over the stile." Our +pianoforte at home is the one on which Sir Arthur +Sullivan first played over his music for "The Mikado." +It is a handsome satinwood grand, designed for Mr. +D'Oyly Carte by the late Sir Alma Tadema, R.A., and +this most interesting and valuable souvenir was presented +to me by Mrs. D'Oyly Carte.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> +<h2>VII.<br /> +FRIENDS ON AND OFF THE STAGE. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Lessons to the Prince on the Bagpipes—A Charming and +Lovable Personality—Queen Alexandra's Compliment—An Afternoon +with Fisher—Stories of the Great Seaman—George Edwardes +and His Genius for Stagecraft—His Successes on the Turf—"Honest +Frank" Cellier—A Model Conductor—Traditions +of the Savoy—Rutland Barrington—An Admiral in Disguise—Fred +Billington—A Strange Premonition—Our War-Time Experiences—Caught +in the Toils of the Dublin Rebellion. +</div> + + +<p>It was my great privilege and pleasure, when we were +at Oxford on one occasion, to be introduced to the +Prince of Wales, who was then in residence at Magdalen. +Nothing impressed me more than his sunny nature and +the wonderful knack he had of putting everybody at +their ease immediately. Since then it has been just +those qualities which have made him so immensely +popular in his tours of the Empire.</p> + +<p>Our first meeting was in His Royal Highness's own +rooms, where he was accompanied by his tutor, Mr. +H. P. Hansell. I remember that as I was speaking to +him the members of a college team were brought in to be +presented. "Ah!" exclaimed the Prince, "that's the +best of being a celebrity, Lytton. I could not draw a +muster like this." It was just a little pleasantry, this +suggestion that it was myself who was the attraction, +but it was an example of his happy knack of putting +everybody at their ease immediately. I recall, too, +that the Prince at that time was learning the chanter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +with which one proceeds to the full glory of playing the +bagpipes. Greatly to his surprise, I took the chanter +and proceeded to give him a lesson, to which he listened +most attentively, and then played a skirl, with which he +was delighted. It so happens that, although I am no +musician, I do know how to handle the bagpipes, and +once a group of Scottish yokels who were listening to +me stood open-mouthed with astonishment that such +skill should be possessed by a trousered Englishman. +This was when I visited my old colleague Durward Lely's +place in the Highlands. The Scotties were enjoying a +homely dance in a barn, and as the piper had been hard +at it and seemed tired, I volunteered to act as his +deputy. I don't want to be boastful, but my performance +was regarded as a <i>tour de force</i>, at least for a Saxon.</p> + +<p>The Prince came to the theatre frequently during +our stay, and one night he came round to our dressing-room, +where once more one fell irresistibly under the +spell of his lovable and attractive personality. He +invariably addressed me as "Ko-Ko." The Prince +told me then, as he had done on other occasions, how +really delightful he thought the operas were, and he +said he looked forward to seeing them again and again. +Then he asked to be introduced to a member who, in +more than one sense, is one of the stalwarts of the +choristers, Joe Ruff. Seeing that Joe had been with +us so many years, I thought this special "recognition" +was particularly happy, and it was a very great pleasure +to me to be allowed to introduce my colleague to the +Heir-Apparent.</p> + +<p>From time to time, both during my connection with +D'Oyly Carte and when temporarily away from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +company, I have played before Royalty. Especially do +I recall a night when Queen Alexandra occupied a +box at the Savoy. It was in the "Yeoman of the +Guard" revivals and my rôle was <i>Shadbolt</i>. Her +Majesty was kind enough to send Sir Arthur Sullivan +to my dressing-room to compliment me on the clearness +of my enunciation, and I need hardly say how gratifying +such praise was to me.</p> + +<p>Seldom was "H.M.S. Pinafore" staged during the +1920 season without Lord Fisher coming to chuckle +over Gilbert's clever satire on the "ruler of the Queen's +Navee." He revelled in that opera. It was not only, I +think, that it smacked of the sea, but he loved the gibes +at the politicians and the hearty loyalty of the honest +salt who, "in spite of all temptation," firmly resolves +to "remain an Englishman." It was after he had seen +me several times as <i>Sir Joseph Porter</i> that he invited me +to bring a few of my colleagues and spend an afternoon +with him at his home in London. I reproduce his very +typical letter on another page. My recollections of that +afternoon are very delightful. Lord Fisher was a wonderful +veteran, and it was difficult afterwards to realise +that a fortnight later he was stricken down with his last +illness, to which he succumbed in the following July.</p> + +<p>I remember that we did not have to do much of the +talking. Lord Fisher walked up and down, up and +down the room as if it were the quarter-deck, and he +was telling us all the while such capital stories that we +forgot that we, too, were still standing up! Of his +yarns there were two that were very typical of the man +and his ways.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i096.png"><img src="images/i096-lo.png" width="400" height="508" alt="A LETTER FROM THE LATE LORD FISHER." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A LETTER FROM THE LATE LORD FISHER.</span> +</div> + +<p>"One<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> day," he began, "I was walking through +Trafalgar Square, and as I always do, I looked up at the +statue of the greatest man that ever lived. Then a woman +who was munching a bun came along. 'Here, master,' +she said, 'who's 'e?' 'That's Lord Nelson,' I answered. +'Is it?' she returned, 'and who's 'e?' +Fancy! Never heard of Nelson! Such ignorance! +'Well,' I said, 'if it had not been for him, that bun +would have cost you, not a halfpenny, but fourpence. +Good day!' And I walked on. I suppose she thought +she had been talking to a lunatic."</p> + +<p>Then Lord Fisher spoke of the exertion needed in +our dances on the stage. "Energy! Energy! That's +what we want," he declared. "Why, I was fed by my +mother until I was quite a big baby. I refused to be +weaned—I was so determined even in those days! +You must have good natural food when you are born. +It means everything. It gives you stamina—it makes +a man of you."</p> + +<p>From that interview I brought away a signed portrait +of the great seaman. "I'm an ugly blighter, aren't I?" +he reflected, sadly, as he handed it to me, "but I'm +good." Candour would have compelled one to admit +that he was anything but strikingly handsome, but in +that small, intensely sallow face there was, after all, +something that was extraordinarily kindly and strong. +In that sense his face was the faithful mirror of his +character.</p> + +<p>"Jackie Fisher's" candour reminds me of a frank +admission made to me by a statesman who still wields +a leading influence in present-day politics. I think +I had better not mention his name, although he is +numbered amongst my friends, and he has often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +been exceedingly kind in his appreciation of my work +on the stage. He told me he once met a lady whom he +had not seen for several years, and having cordially +greeted her, he said, "I'm so delighted to see you, +Sybil." That he should have remembered her, and still +more, that he should have remembered her first name, +pleased the lady immensely. She said she was charmed +that he had not forgotten her name. "Oh," responded +the statesman, with the best of intentions, "I've a +remarkable memory for trifles." The next moment +he realised he had committed an awful <i>faux pas</i>. What +was more, he saw that he, though a politician, could +not explain it away.</p> + +<p>Not many people remember now that Mr. George +Edwardes, who created the vogue for musical comedies +as we now know them, and who made a fortune out of +his connection with the Gaiety and Daly's, was in his +early days Mr. D'Oyly Carte's manager at the Savoy. +When he became a producer his flair for stage effect +amounted to genius. He could decide in a moment to +make the most revolutionary changes in a production. +For instance, I have heard him give orders that the first +act should be made the second one and the second the +first, because he saw that it would better work up the +interest in the play. He would transpose a certain +scene from here to there because he knew instinctively +that there was its proper place. "I don't like that +man singing that song," he said once, just before a new +comedy was due to have its first performance, and when +even the dress rehearsals were almost complete, "We'll +give it to a lady." "But," it was objected, "it's a man's +song—a military song." "Never mind," he answered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +in that familiar drawling voice of his, "we'll dress her +in a red coat, and we'll bring the chorus on as soldiers +too." And his judgment was absolutely right. That +girl's soldier song was the great hit of the piece.</p> + +<p>George Edwardes was a generous, kindly-natured man, +accessible to everybody, and a splendid companion. +Keenly interested as he was in his theatrical ventures, +he never made these his sole and only pre-occupation. +Upon the Turf, as every sportsman knows, he was a +shining light, and many horses from his stables won the +biggest prizes of their year. He often invited me to +join him at the races, and never failed to tell me the +winners—"well, hardly ever." One day he gave me +three running. Just then I was arranging to play under +his management for a term of three years, and he said +those three winners proved that we could make money +together both on and off the stage, and that we must +sign up the contract, which we did the next day.</p> + +<p>One of my closest friends was Francois Cellier, of whom +it would be literally true to say that he devoted his life, +his talents and all his enthusiasm to the operas at the +Savoy. For thirty-five years he served them as conductor, +to the exclusion of all the fame he might have +won in a wider field, for he was a musician of surpassing +accomplishments. He was the younger brother of +Alfred Cellier, who was the composer, amongst other +delightful comedies, of "Dorothy." Both men were +Bohemians, and both of them might have been the +architects of their own fortunes if they had put only +their own goal in front of them, and pursued it steadily.</p> + +<p>Francois Cellier—Honest Frank they called him, and +the name suited him well—was a prince of good fellows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +and a most charming and helpful companion. I can +never tell the debt I owe to him for all the advice he +gave to me regarding our performances. He knew +Gilbert's and Sullivan's ideas to the minutest detail, +and, with all his love of the operas, he wanted those ideas +carried through exactly on the stage. Even with the +audiences he had a magnetic personality. Unlike most +conductors, who feel they must allow just as many +encores as the audience demands, he could indicate by +some strange method to those behind him that an +encore would be unreasonable or inconsiderate, and +immediately the applause would subside and the play +would proceed.</p> + +<p>Cellier had his heart and soul in every performance, +and what that means is known only to those who work +on the stage, and who do sometimes become dull and +listless because of their very familiarity with the parts +they are playing or because the audience cannot easily +be aroused to "concert pitch." What brightness they +may give to their acting is of a superficial and mechanical +kind that can give them no pleasure. It is at just such +times as these that a real conductor is worth his weight +in gold. Notwithstanding that he may have seen the +piece hundreds of times—and might with reason be more +bored than the principals themselves—he comes to +each new performance with an enthusiasm which +shakes the company out of themselves and makes everything +go with a will.</p> + +<p>Some conductors I have known have shown so little +interest in their work that they did not even attempt +to conceal their boredom. This is very unfair to the +players. Can anyone expect there to be any spirit in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +singing of a chorus when the conductor is just listlessly +waving his baton, or when he shows such little respect +for the artistes that, during their dialogues, he either +yawns sleepily or leans over for a chat with the strings? +Cellier was never guilty of that discourtesy. From the +time he picked up his baton for the first bar of the overture +the "play was the thing." During a chorus you +would see him alert and awake and stirring on the +company to give their best, and during your own solos +or dialogues you would see him listening intently so +that, like a friendly critic, he could afterwards praise you +for what you had done well or give you hints where +there was cause for improvement. It is a great +thing to the artistes to see a genial face at the conductor's +desk, and the operas go with a great spirit and +nerve whenever the conductor, seconded by the orchestra, +is doing everything to help us along. Our company's +record has been a very fortunate one in this +respect.</p> + +<p>Everybody who plays in Gilbert and Sullivan makes +it a point of honour to do his or her best to preserve +what we call the traditions of the Savoy. If I were asked +to name the secret of the charm of these operas, I +should have to answer that there was not one secret, +but many, but that one of the chief is their sense of +"repose." Gilbert, like the master playwright he was, +would never have two situations running together. If, +that is to say, the leading character was going to offer +his hand to the heroine, the whole company must look +on eagerly and expectantly. It would never do for them +to be indifferent and uninterested. Still less would it do +for subsidiary characters to do something that might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +attract the audience's eye to them in some other part +of the stage. Everything must be focussed on the +central incident, and to this end every member of the +company must think first and all the time of the play, +and not indulge in those hateful individual touches of +"pantomime."</p> + +<p>What I mean is best seen in what happens quite +frequently in ordinary plays. Nearly every minor +actor and actress seems to take, or is allowed to take, +licence to put in a little bit of "business" on his or +her own account, and so draw kudos to himself or +herself by being supposed to be "funny." It is really +only "supposed." Generally it is not funny at all, and +it mars the effect of the play by making the entire +atmosphere restless and perplexed. Eyes are strained +here, there and everywhere, and the poor audience in +trying to catch this, that and the other point, is probably +missing what is the chief point of the play. Well, if +refinement is not the keynote of a production, this may +possibly not matter so much, but it is certainly foreign +to the tranquil atmosphere of Gilbert and Sullivan.</p> + +<p>No one, I think, could have done more by his example +on the stage to encourage refinement in these operas +than my good friend, Rutland Barrington. During his +playing career—now at an end, unhappily—he was an +artiste to his finger tips. He had also a great asset +in his fine presence and personality. Our friendship +has been of the closest, and I call to mind an incident +when we were at Portsmouth and when there was something +important occurring at the Royal Dockyard. +"We can't get in without a pass," I said to him, but he +only smiled and said that, at all events, we could try.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +"Watch me," he commanded. Straightening himself +up, he walked to the gates as if in the manner born, +took the salute from the sentries, and entered the yard. +It looked ridiculously easy. So I decided to follow suit. +The sentries would not let me through. "Can't come +in without a pass," I was told, and let me through they +would not on any account, however much I tried to +"flatter, cajole and persuade." Barrington always +did have "a way with him." I imagine the sentries +were impressed by his bearing, or it may be that they +had mistaken him for his brother, Admiral Fleet.</p> + +<p>This naval reference serves to recall a most interesting +story bearing on the subject of "make-up." Now, +"make-up" has always been a fascinating study to +me, and many kind friends tell me that I have a special +gift for it, instancing how completely I transform my +appearance for parts so different, for example, as the +hunchback <i>King Gama</i> and the martial old <i>General +Stanley</i>. Certainly I do spend more time than most +actors do over the arts and deceptions of the dressing-room. +For <i>King Gama</i> the make-up of the face alone +takes an hour, apart from all the physical deformities +that have to be contrived when playing this ugly, ungainly +character in "Princess Ida." But all this +by the way. What I was going to write about was +an incident when a worried young naval lieutenant +came to see me at the close of our show at the Savoy. +He was at the romantic age then, a trifle oblivious to +the passing of time when there was a charming lady +at his side, and at the theatre he overlooked that by a +certain hour he should have been back at the Naval +College at Greenwich. Lieutenant X came round to see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +me in a terrible state. What was he to do? If he +went back, he told me, he would be stopped at the gates +by the sentries and he would have to give explanations, +of which none he could think of would be adequate. If, +on the other hand, he did not return there would be +a court-martial, and he would be dismissed from the +Service. Before him, whichever way he turned, was +the blank ruin of his career and he disgraced in the eyes +of his family. Well I don't know which of us actually +suggested it, but it occurred to us that if only he could +be disguised as an Admiral, he might easily get into the +college! An Admiral had to keep no strict hours when +absent from duty, and if only he could look and act +the part, the sentries would let him pass and ask no +awkward questions. So in a very few minutes I was +busy treating him with all the arts of "make-up." +Certainly the addition of a pointed beard made a most +effective disguise, and it answered splendidly, for at +Greenwich he marched boldly through the gates to the +dutiful salutes of the sentries. The situation was saved. +For my own part I felt that I had done something to +save a career, and as it happens, the romantic young +friend of those days is now a real Admiral, and a +very well-known and popular one, in his Majesty's +Navy.</p> + +<p>Numerous are the stories told about my friend and +colleague for so many years—Fred Billington. In +temperament and character we were entirely opposites, +but there was scarcely one disagreement throughout +our long companionship, during which we played +together almost continuously. He was a Yorkshireman, +and before he joined the company, with which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +remained for thirty-seven years, he was in the office of +the Water Board at Huddersfield. The whole of his +stage career was spent with these operas.</p> + +<p>It was not everybody who understood Billington. +Sometimes he could be uncommonly moody and gruff, +and if he did not feel in the mood to talk, he would make +it clear that he wanted no introductions to one's own +acquaintances. But under the rugged surface he was +a fine-hearted fellow, who lived life heartily and lived it +well, and nothing pleased him better, apart from a +game of golf, than to sit and gossip with those whose +society he liked.</p> + +<p>One day he invited three of us to a round of golf, +and it being a cold morning, he told us that he was +ordering "a good beef-steak and kidney pudding." +Well, when we had finished the game and returned to +the club-house, in came that steaming pudding. +Billington looked at it long and earnestly. "It won't +do for four," he reflected. Then a pause. "It would +make a poor meal for three. There's scarcely enough +for two. I'll tell you what. I'll have it—and you three +can have chops." And that is just what we did.</p> + +<p>Billington had a gift of robust eloquence, and unless +one was accustomed to it, the freedom with which it +flowed from his tongue was most embarrassing. He +was playing a clergyman one day at golf. The cleric, +whenever he made a bad shot, invariably relieved his +feelings by exclaiming, "Oh, Pickles! Pickles!" +Language of this kind in Billington's ears was exceedingly +trying, and as if determined to give the parson a lesson, +he came out with a string of oaths of the richest and +most vivid description. "Thank you very much,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +Mr. Billington," said the clergyman, smilingly, "thank +you very much!" Evidently those were the sort of words +which, but for respect for his cloth, he wanted to say!</p> + +<p>One day he went out for a match with a bishop. The +club officials, knowing how exuberant his language +could be, were on tenter-hooks of anxiety all the time +they were out, and on their return the secretary hastened +to take the episcopal visitor apart. "Mr. Billington, +the actor, you know, my lord," he explained. "I hope +his language didn't shock you." "Oh, no!" responded +the bishop, diplomatically, "he did once call on the +Almighty, but otherwise his language was beyond +reproach."</p> + +<p>Dear old Billington! Earlier in life he had been with +the company on a South African tour, and the wide +spaces, the ample life and the boundless opportunities +of that vast country appealed to him irresistibly. South +Africa had a "call" for him, and he had ambitions, +when the time came for him to retire, to settle there. +That ambition was never realised. Only the night +before he died, while we were in our dressing-room, he +surprised me with the question, "How would you like +to die, Harry?"</p> + +<p>From a man so little inclined to brood on the morbid +the question was strange. I told him I didn't know. I +had never, I told him, thought it out, and didn't intend +to, either.</p> + +<p>"But if you had to die," he insisted, "how would you +prefer to go?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't know," I retorted. "Anyhow, we're +not going to die just yet."</p> + +<p>"Well," was his answer, "if I had my way, it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +be a good dinner, a bottle of wine, a good cigar, a good +joke, and—pop-off!"</p> + +<p>It must have been a premonition. The very next day, +while still apparently in perfect health, he left Cambridge +to keep a luncheon engagement with Mr. Rupert +D'Oyly Carte at the Great Eastern Hotel, London. +The intention was that he should be back for the night +performance. With the lunch they had a bottle of +wine, and afterwards, over cigars, they talked with +many a hearty joke in between. Then he went out into +the foyer—and collapsed. It was at least good to +think that the passing of my dear old friend was free +from pain or suffering.</p> + +<p>Fred Billington's end must have been hastened by a +sequence of events during the war. Strangely enough, +when we were at Sheffield, the town was visited by a +Zeppelin raid, and there was another raid when we were +at Hull, a third when we were at Kennington, and a +fourth when we were at Wimbledon. Billington's +nerves, naturally enough, were very upset. Wherever +we went the Zepps seemed to be after us. "Do you +know, Harry," he said, at last, "I believe that bally +Kaiser has got our tour." What he meant, of course, +was that our list of bookings had got into the hands of +the All-Highest, and that he thought, apparently, that +if he could wipe out the Gilbert and Sullivan operas he +would be able to break the spirit of England. Looked +at in that way, the attention paid to us, whether intentional +or not, was certainly flattering.</p> + +<p>Worse than those raids, however, was the Dublin +rebellion, into which we ran at Easter 1916. We should +have opened there on the Bank Holiday. In point of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +fact we did not play one single night. Fred and I were +at the Gresham Hotel. The very first day we were not +allowed out at all, for we were in the very centre of +hostilities, and no one could go into the street except at +his peril. Chafing under the restraint, I did at last +attempt to venture out, though feeling that there were +too many bullets about for things to be healthy. +Opposite the Gresham, at the door of the Irish Club, I +saw the well-known figure of the Dublin Coroner, Mr. +Friery. I rushed across to him, and it was because I +spoke to him, I believe, that I was ever able to get back +alive. Mr. Friery, with his top hat and frock-coat, +was an easily distinguished citizen, and neither the +military nor the rebels would have been likely to fire at +him deliberately. "You ought never to have come +across," he told me, and as it happened, the very same +thought had occurred to me.</p> + +<p>Conditions in the hotel itself were the reverse of +pleasant, what with the noise of the firing outside and +bullets shooting through our own windows, though these +were shuttered and protected as far as possible. Our +food stocks commenced to run low—by the end of the +week's siege we had only biscuits and ham—and the +strain on the larder was added to by the arrival of scores +of visitors who had been turned out of the Metropole +Hotel. They had been told to take their valuables with +them, and it was remarkable how, in the fright of such +an emergency, men would grasp the first thing that +came into their hands and leave their real treasures +behind. One man rushed over clutching two dirty +collars, while another had a bath-towel which he had +picked up, it seemed, instead of a dressing-gown.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +English jockeys who were there for the race week +hurried over holding a saddle case.</p> + +<p>Our anxieties were increased in the meanwhile by the +systematic operations of the military around Eden Quay. +One by one the houses were being demolished by shellfire, +and in one of the threatened houses, as we +knew, were many of the ladies of the company. +To get to them was impossible. Luckily for them a +sergeant on signalling duty heard their cries, and at once +rushed to their help. "Who are you?" he shouted. +"What are you doing here?" "We're the D'Oyly +Carte," they answered. The D'Oyly Carte name +worked like magic. Signalling to the gunners to cease +fire, the sergeant hurried them out and through the +streets, where sniping was going on at every corner, and +took them to a police-station for safety.</p> + +<p>All the other members of the company had more or +less miraculous escapes. Leicester Tunks, Frederick +Hobbs, Leo Sheffield, and several others lost all their +luggage, but fortunately none sustained any more +serious mishap. From the good people of Dublin we +received every possible kindness, but as you will +imagine, we were thankful when we heard that there +were berths on a boat to take us back to Holyhead.</p> + +<p>I have not, of course, told all my experiences of that +awful week, though in memory these still linger vividly. +But one of the things I remember best of all was a +quaint remark of Billington's. Outside there was still +the noise of the fighting, and most persistent of all was +the crack! crack! crack! of a sniper somewhere near +our own building. "Oh! Harry," said poor Fred, +in utter weariness, "I do wish that bally wood-pecker +would chuck it!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> +<h2>VIII.<br /> +Hobbies of a Savoyard. +</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<i>Luckless ventures in Theatrical Management—Farces that +failed—New outlets for Enthusiasm—Baldness in the poultry +run—Captain Corcoran and the crooks—Floricultural topsy-turvydom—The +flowers that did not bloom in the Spring—Recreations +that remain—Prize Costumes at fancy-dress balls—The +big-game shot and the tiger.</i> +</div> + + +<p>Like "Mr. Punch" in another connection, I have a +sound piece of advice for those who may ever think of +embarking on theatrical management. "Don't!" +I say this after bitter experience. It was not only that +my gallanty show as a boy ended disastrously. This, of +course, was itself a bad omen, and it ought to have +taught me that public taste is fickle and that the gamble +of theatrical management is surrounded by all kinds of +perils. A West-end audience may be just as capricious +and as hard to please as my audience of village lads in +the garden.</p> + +<p>My first real venture, a London one, was at the +Criterion Theatre, which with a few others I took on +lease from Sir Charles Wyndham, in order to produce +"The Wild Rabbit." It was by Mr. George Arliss, +who has since given up writing plays in order to act +them, and he is now a "star" in America. It was one +of those rollicking farces which, one would have thought, +would have filled the house every night. I was playing +elsewhere at the time, but we got together a really +excellent company, amongst whom were the Broughs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +But fate was against us from the very beginning. The +production coincided with a heat wave, which is bound +to be disastrous to all but the best of shows, and one of +the facetious complaints of the newspaper critics was +that they had to come to the theatre when the temperature +was eighty in the shade.</p> + +<p>"The Wild Rabbit" survived three weeks only. It +drew £34 the first night—and that was the high-water +mark in the matter of receipts. One night the box-office +took a mere £8. Seeing that the expenses were +about £600 a week, it will be understood that the failure +was severe and complete, and in most circumstances one +lesson of the kind would have been enough. However, +a number of friends of mine had secured the rights of +"Melnotte," an operatic version of that good old +comedy, "The Lady of Lyons." They did not ask me to +invest any capital, but they invited me to let them +have the use of my name in booking a tour for +the provinces, as they themselves were unknown +to theatrical managers. Upon that basis an eight +weeks' tour was arranged. Gathering together +about sixty artistes all told, they rehearsed them +and bought all the scenery, and were almost on the +eve of the first production of "Melnotte." Then one +fine morning there came the thunderbolt. They told +me that all the money they had put into the venture +had gone! It had gone before the company had even +left London. What was to be done? Seemingly their +idea was centred in how speedily they could cut their +losses and abandon the venture. Such a thing to me +was impossible. With my name attached to the tour, +a breach of faith with so many provincial managers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +would have been a serious blow to my reputation, +and apart from that, the fact that sixty of my fellow +artistes were in danger of being thrown out of work +compelled me to take both a moral and a financial +obligation on my shoulders and run the show myself. +I could only hope for the best and wait patiently for the +report of my manager that the tour was flourishing.</p> + +<p>That report never came. Every week I had to post a +big cheque to cover the deficit on the takings, and every +week made it clearer that, although the play itself was +a good one, it was a thoroughly bad speculation. Something +certainly was amiss. I could not leave London +myself, and the only alternative was to offer a friend his +railway fare and expenses and ask him to run into the +country, see the play and tell me frankly what was amiss. +"Harry," said my friend very meaningly, "I've never +done you a bad turn. I've seen it—<i>once</i>." Once was +enough!</p> + +<p>Eight weeks saw the end of "Melnotte." From the +first it was a forlorn hope, and in any case it was impossible +to run a company successfully unless one could +be on the spot to superintend the production. The only +satisfaction I had out of it—and I admit it with some +feelings of pride—was that of standing by my fellow +professionals, and, at whatever cost to myself, "playing +the game." I have never made—and never shall be +lured to make—another plunge into management. +The risks are too great.</p> + +<p>Sometimes I am inclined to contrast my bad luck +in these business ventures with the good fortune of a +friend who once asked me for a loan of £90. He was in +humble circumstances then, but he had a little money of +his own and his ambition was to buy the licence of a +public-house in Holloway. I lent him the cash, and +later on he came to repay me, with many thanks for +thus giving him his opportunity. Years afterwards we +met again. Upon the basis of that little public-house +he had built a comfortable fortune, for he was a director +of a brewery concern, had a big interest in various +industrial undertakings, and eventually became a well-known +member of Parliament. "You have been my +mascot," he said—and there have been others who for +various reasons have said the very same thing!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i112.jpg"><img src="images/i112-lo.jpg" width="400" height="605" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "THE LORD CHANCELLOR" IN "IOLANTHE."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br />AS<br /> +"THE LORD CHANCELLOR" IN "IOLANTHE."</span> +</div> + +<p>Once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> I met a "dear friend"—you may know the +kind yourself—who was terribly anxious that I should +be "in" with him in a rich gold mine in Alaska. He +brought some nuggets to show me, and they were so +plentiful, he told me, that he had picked these from the +top of the ground. Evidently I must have been a particularly +credulous person, because he got a good deal +of my money, whereas all I got was experience!</p> + +<p>Where hobbies are concerned my luck always seems +to be appalling. I have had a mania for turning my +hands to all sorts of things. It began, I remember, with +my determination to commence breeding poultry, and +having made up my mind to this, it had to be done very +thoroughly. I bought quite a number of chickens +and wired them within a very small space. The poor +things had nothing like enough room, and they began +to get bad tempered, to fight one another, and to pull +out their feathers. Further, having pulled out their +rivals' feathers and found the oil at the roots very tasty, +they set to in earnest, and before long there was not +one bird with a feather left in the place. They were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +all bald! A more miserable collection of freaks you +could never imagine. With characteristic humour Dan +Leno sent me a bottle of Tatcho for them!</p> + +<p>From hens to ducks was not a far cry. So I bought a +number of ducks' eggs, hatched them in an incubator, and +at last decided that it was time the little wretches had +their first swim. I accordingly carried them down to +a pond to put them in. Alas! once more for my +amateur enthusiasm! The ducklings were too young +for that, and they got cramp and died.</p> + +<p>Nothing daunted, I turned now to bulldogs, and in +order to do things well I bought seven big kennels, +complete with iron gates. They would have done credit +to a big estate, where breeding is done on up-to-date +lines, and were quite out-of-place in my suburban garden +at Chiswick. To begin with we could not get the kennels +into the garden. For hours they were on the street +pavement while we cogitated just how we were going to +get them round to the back of the house, and it was +only after a police-officer had intervened with an order +to remove them forthwith, because they were a nuisance, +that we found that if there is a will, there must be a way.</p> + +<p>"Captain Corcoran" was the name I gave to my +best bulldog, and as he brought me luck, I was glad I +had chosen that name from "Pinafore." He was a +sturdy fellow, the winner of very many championships, +and his progeny have since also carried off valuable +prizes. But even my one successful hobby was doomed +to be blighted. One day two crafty-looking individuals +came to my house and said they wanted to see me about a +dog. They were Americans, and they wanted, they +told me, to buy "Captain Corcoran." I told them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +I would not sell him—not at any price. They found it +a waste of time to try to fix up a deal. "Well," they +said as their parting shot, "we're going to have him, +anyhow." Within a day or two police officers called to +warn me that two expert dog thieves had taken rooms +in the neighbourhood, and I was forced to the conclusion, +much as I disliked it, that I must dispose of "Captain +Corcoran." Later on I commenced to breed dachshunds +and Borzois, but somehow I did not care for the "doggy" +people with whom I had to mix, and the end was that I +gave up dogs altogether.</p> + +<p>Then I determined I would venture into the more +tranquil arts of floriculture. I would have my own +flower garden, and what was more, everything in it +should be done by myself. My wife, shrewd woman, +said nothing. It was a case of "leave him alone, and +he'll play for hours." From Holland I ordered an +immense number of bulbs and put them into the ground. +Months went by, but not a sign was there of my hyacinths. +I pondered deeply over my manual of useful +hints for gardening. Watered them? Yes. Raked +the soil? Yes. What was wrong? Certain it was that +these flowers never bloomed in the spring!</p> + +<p>Eventually, I saw a tiny yellow spike creeping out of +the earth, but the colour and nature of it were not +"according to plan." At last I called in a gardener. +"Oh," he declared, doing his best to soften the blow, +"you've planted the bulbs upside down." And so I +had! The poor little shoots had to dig down into the +soil before they could curve round and creep into the +light. Nearly everything in that unfortunate garden +had been planted upside down.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>Friends of mine chaffed me unmercifully over that +topsy-turvy exploit. When they came to my house they +would turn all the ornaments upside down. Before I +entered the room they would reverse the chairs, the +settee and anything they could lay their hands upon, +and then they would explain themselves by saying, "We +thought you liked things like that, old man. The bulbs +you know. We've just heard about the bulbs."</p> + +<p>Well, after the failure with the hens, the ducks, +and the flowers, there seemed only one other +diversion to try, and that was photography. Even +that did not survive very long, nor yet did my attempt +to cultivate mushrooms in my cellar, a craze that +threatened very literally to get the place into bad odour. +But there are two recreations to which I still remain +faithful, and they, after all, are worth all the rest put +together. One is golf and the other painting. Golf is +a great game for keeping the actor fit, and his mind +clear for his work, and it is very popular in our profession. +Now and then, too, a day with the palette and +easel is a wonderful pleasure to me, and seldom do I +take up the brush without a thought of poor old Trood +and his studio at Chelsea.</p> + +<p>One diversion at least in which I have had my share +of success has been in the fancy dress balls at Covent +Garden. Once I took the first prize with a representation +of Nelson, the costume of which was copied in every +detail from the uniform of the great seaman preserved +in Greenwich Museum, and I remember that my entry +was signalised by Dan Godfrey's orchestra striking up +"'Twas in Trafalgar Bay." Then I took the chief +honours with a wonderful bust of Nero, in connection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +with which I received enormous help from my old friend, +the celebrated sculptor, Albert Toft. From my waist +downward I was encased in what appeared to be a blood-marble +pedestal. My face was whitened, my eyes were +closed, and my brow was adorned with the laurel leaf, +and when the lights were focussed on my rigid figure +and the plaster frame it was acclaimed as a marvellously +clever imitation of the statue of the great +Roman Emperor. Once again I took the first prize at +Covent Garden with the subject of the Knave of Clubs. +The costume was a silk one, half black and half white, +and on it were fastened the names of all the well-known +clubs in London. Even the members of the Beef Steak +Club found that their institution had not been overlooked—and +that this title appeared on the costume +in an appropriate place!</p> + +<p>Nowadays, when we are on tour, it is very pleasant +to be able to travel by motor-car instead of by train. +With my Austin-20 car I have now covered well over +42,000 miles, and probably the only occasion when +I deliberately exceeded the speed limit was once +outside Plymouth. A doctor with a troublesome car +was held up in the roadway. When I drew up and +asked whether I could help him, he told me he had been +a quarter-of-an-hour trying to get the engine to go, +though he was due at a very critical operation some +miles away. It was, indeed, a matter of life and death, +and in my own car he was very speedily taken to the +hospital. It was in the same district, I think, that I +gave a "lift" to a man who was footsore and weary, +and who said at the end of the journey, "I suppose +you won't tell the gov'nor about this, will you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +Evidently he had mistaken me for somebody's +chauffeur!</p> + +<p>Some years ago, when I was setting out from my +home at Chiswick, I was held up by a 'bus bound for +Twickenham. It was crowded already, and the conductor +had to refuse a poor old woman who wanted to +board it, and who was very distressed, because she had +a job at Twickenham, "and if I don't get there," she +told me, "they'll think I'm too old for work and they +won't want me again." The problem was easily solved. +I offered to take her where she was going. She had +never been in a motor-car before, and in trying to +stammer her thanks, she asked me to tell her my name +"so that I shall never forget you." So I handed her +my card—she certainly did not know anything about +me or what was my profession—and went on my way. +Judge of my surprise when, soon after the end of the war, +I found that that old lady had bequeathed to me the +two little rooms and all the furniture that had been her +poor, but neat and cosy, home at Hammersmith. +Luckily, I heard of a demobilised soldier who, with his +wife and child, was urgently in need of a shelter, and +it was a great pleasure to me to be able to turn this +touching legacy to such good account.</p> + +<p>Speaking of hobbies, I don't think I knew a more +curious taste than that of an old friend of mine who +was a big-game shot and traveller, and who had a +miniature zoo of his own at his home at Derby. Once, +when the company was playing in that town, he invited +me to go and stay the night with him after the performance, +and in his library we sat chatting until the early +hours of the morning. He told me many graphic stories<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +about his expeditions into strange lands, about the tigers +and elephants he had shot, and about his marvellous +escapes. One story was about a faithful servant of his, +a powerfully-built black, who stood right in front of an +infuriated wounded elephant, which trampled on him and +killed him, as the poor fellow doubtless knew would be +the case, though he was ready to chance all so that his +master might be protected. I remember that my +friend, having told me this incident, added, "They +are the greatest men on God's earth, are these +blacks."</p> + +<p>"Just half-a-minute," then said the explorer. Listening +to those strange adventures in the jungle had already +set my nerves on edge, and to be left alone in that dimly-lit +room, with everything outside and inside it silent +and still, was really uncanny. I heard my host walk +along the corridor, open one or two doors, and apparently +enter the garden. He had left me alone in that +house! In a few moments I heard an unnatural tread +in the corridor. Pit-pat, pit-pat! My eyes almost +sprang out of my head. Pit-pat, pit-pat. Nearer and +nearer it came until at last into the room there sauntered +a—tiger! My friend walked in behind it.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake take it away," I screamed, drawing +my feet up into the chair and expecting every second +the beast would pounce, "Take it away!" The tiger +was really only a cub, but coming like an apparition into +that room, it seemed to be the biggest and most ferocious +and most ghastly sight on earth. Large beads of +perspiration were on my forehead, my heart was beating +itself out of my body, and through my mind flashed +the countless sins of my youth. My last hours had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +come. "Take it away," I yelled, again and again, "it +will tear us to pieces."</p> + +<p>Now I think of it, the tiger did not really look as if +it had much of an appetite, or if it had, the idea of +making a tough meal of an actor did not appeal to its +palate. The hunter tried to assure me that the beast +was "quite all right." It flopped down by his side, and +as he stroked it, the cub purred in a manner which, to +me at all events, was not at all pleasant. "I know just +how long you can keep them," my host explained. "This +one will be harmless for another month. Then it will be +dangerous. It is quite all right to-night. Come and +stroke it!"</p> + +<p>Not I! So long as the tiger remained there I kept +cringed up in my seat on the other side of the room, +and mighty thankful I was when he had taken his +strange pet away. I've an old-fashioned notion that a +library is not the happiest place for a menagerie. +I heard that just a month afterwards the beast did, in +fact, turn on the big-game shot, and his arm was +terribly ripped. He must have trusted it just a day +too long.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i121.jpg"><img src="images/i121-lo.jpg" width="400" height="559" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "KO-KO" IN "THE MIKADO"" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br />AS<br /> +"KO-KO" IN "THE MIKADO"</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> +<h2>IX.<br /> +GILBERT AND SULLIVAN.</h2> + +<p><i>World-wide Fame of the Operas—The Secrets of Their Charm—Sullivan's +Music and the Popular Taste—Gilbert and the Englishman—Stage +Figures That Are True to National Type—The +Germans and "H.M.S. Pinafore"—Characters That Mirror +Ourselves—Gilbert's Versatility—Pedigree of the Operas—Practical +Hints for Amateurs—The Importance of the First Entrance—Studying +the Art of Make-up—A Splendid Heritage of Humour +and Song.</i></p> + + +<p>The Gilbert and Sullivan public are said to number +three millions. Exactly how this figure is arrived at I +cannot say, but it is presumed to represent those who +make it a point of honour to see the operas whenever +they possibly can, who are familiar with all the music +and the songs, and who lose no chance of making others +as enthusiastic as they are. Literally they are to be +found the whole world over—from China to Peru—and +the operas are as successful in Australia and America +as they are in the United Kingdom. I was told once of an +Englishman, exiled in the wilds of China, who had an +audience of Celestials listening at his garden gate while +he was warbling to himself "Take a Pair of Sparkling +Eyes!"</p> + +<p>What a wonderful thing it is that plays which are all +well over thirty years old should have such a faithful +following! Clearly there must be something exceptional +about them, some magnetic force that draws the +multitudes to them, some elixir that gives to them the +freshness of eternal youth. Imitators have tried hard +to capture the secret of their sweet simplicity. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +they have failed so far to do so is a misfortune. The +Savoy operas still stand alone, unchallenged either by +any changing in popular taste or by the passage of +time, though if there were more of them it would be +good for the public that loves such honest, wholesome +enjoyment. It would also be good for the stage. +What is the secret?</p> + +<p>Sullivan's music often reminds me of a beautiful +garden. No attempt is there here to picture in bold +orchestral strokes the frowning peaks, the expansive +landscapes or the scenes of pomp and splendour. The +canvas is ever a miniature one. Each melody is comparable +to a lily or a daffodil—just as unpretentious and +just as charming—while the whole has the fragrance of +the flowers that bloom in the spring. We love this +music because it soothes and delights. It is not too +"intellectual." We appreciate it as a free and easy +distraction, just as we appreciate a popular novel, +though we may have high-brow moments when we peer +into our Darwin and Spencer. Sullivan's greatest +virtue was that he wrote music that was "understanded +of the people."</p> + +<p>British folk, as we know, are easy going. We are +a little too inclined to doff the thinking-cap at the +first opportunity. Speaking generally, we are not a +studious race, and we don't want to be bothered with +"problems." Sullivan's music is never in the problem +style—the problem of intricate chords and modern +progressions—and just as certainly does it avoid the +strident atrocities of the modern ragtime type. It is +transparent and simple. It sparkles like the stream in +the sunshine, and it is always joyous, buoyant and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +happy. We want more of such music. Give the people +more of these delicate melodies—frankly popular as +they are, and yet supremely good music—and into their +own lives will enter much of the same romantic warmth +and content.</p> + +<p>All this shows how Sullivan in his music was perfectly +and typically British. What about Gilbert? In his +way I think he was the same. British audiences, he +knew, did not want either abstruse plots or out-and-out +farces, but they did like to be indulged with gentle +ripples of laughter. They did not care over-much for +the incongruous, but they did love rollicking, good-natured +burlesque. And Gilbert was a master of +burlesque. Endless arrows are released from his bow, +but they hit the mark without disfiguring it, for the tips +are not dipped in poison. The Briton can laugh +with the best when his own weaknesses and foibles are +held up to satire. Certain people would go at once into +a tantrum. The Germans, as we know, could never understand +"H.M.S. Pinafore." They said it was impossible! +No doubt to them it was impossible. +Gilbert was making play with Britain's proudest +possession—her Navy. Well, the Germans could never +have produced a Gilbert of their own in any case, but +imagine the enormity of the crime if such a one had +written a play caricaturing the omnipotent German War +Lords and the old German Army!</p> + +<p>Whatever the national costume in which the Gilbert +characters are dressed, and however remote the age to +which these costumes belong, we know at once that the +garb is the purest "camouflage." We have met their +like in present-day London or Glasgow or Liverpool.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +What a lot of folk in real life we know with the same +little oddities! <i>The Duke of Plaza-Toro</i>, though +described as a Spanish grandee, is really very much an +Englishman. He sings, too, about the human weakness +for small titles and orders, and we know that that is +not an exclusive weakness of the Venetians or the +Baratarians in "The Gondoliers." The cap can find a +head to fit it much nearer home. Then there is the +character of <i>Sir Joseph Porter</i> in "Pinafore." No doubt +he is an exaggerated political type, but he is not +exaggerated, after all, beyond recognition.</p> + +<p>"The Yeomen of the Guard" is, of all operas ever +written, the one most essentially English. The Elizabethan +setting is there, and so is the happy spirit of +old Merrie England. Slightly, perhaps, it may be a +drama, but it brings to the surface the tears of gentle +melancholy only. That also stamps it as typically British. +<i>Colonel Fairfax</i>, under the shadow of the executioner's +axe, does not strike a dramatic pose and tell us that +it is a far, far better thing he is going to do than he has +ever done. Not a bit! In effect, he says its rather +hard luck, but there it is anyhow, and after all +things might be very much worse. A British officer +always was ready to face death with a smile. Nor does +<i>Jack Point</i> himself, the most lovable of characters, +make a parade of his grief. The burning, aching pain +is smothered almost to the end beneath the outward +jesting, and when his honest heart breaks there is no +murmur against the cruelty of fate, nor any cry +of vengeance upon the rival who has won <i>Elsie +Maynard</i>.</p> + +<p>Yes, we British people can often see ourselves in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +these characters as if in a mirror, and it is probably due +to this, together with the exquisite blend of inimitable +music and wit, that the popularity of these operas is so +strong and enduring. Stage "puppets" as they may +be, they do show us a lot about both our virtues and +follies, but rather more about our follies, because as a +race we are notoriously shy of our praises being sung! +They are always ready to own up to their weaknesses in +some capital song. So like the self-depreciating British! +Like the rest of us, too, they are for ever getting into +some dilemma or other, and they disentangle themselves +without excitement or flurry. Each point is made +without the banging of drums or the sounding of +trumpets. Contrast this with Wagner, who makes a +terrible fuss about the merest trifle, and works up his +orchestration in a manner that might suggest that +the heavens were falling. Whether we like our music +like this must be a matter of taste and individual +discretion. Here in Gilbert and Sullivan at all events +we have common sense—for there can be common +sense even in the ridiculous—and a tranquilising atmosphere. +In a busy, workaday world, with its ceaseless +nervous and physical strain, it is surely a grateful +attribute, a pleasant diversion between the burdens +of one day and those of the next!</p> + +<p>Sir William Gilbert, as I have said before, had a master +mind as a playwright. Every opera he wrote had a +definite and an interesting plot, and a plot which had, +moreover, a purpose. "H.M.S. Pinafore," as we know, +was a shrewd shaft aimed at some of the absurdities of our +political life, though I say this without being in any way +a politician myself! In "Patience" he held up to ridicule<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +the æsthetic craze of the 'eighties. With "Iolanthe" +we enter the fantastic field, and to me there is +always something uncommonly whimsical in the +idea that Parliament is ruled by the fairies, who +thus must be the real rulers of England. "Princess +Ida" was a clever anticipation of the women's +movement, though it is well-known that Gilbert +took the outlines of the story from Tennyson. Then +"The Mikado" transports to the romantic and +picturesque land of Japan. "Ruddigore" was +intended to be a travesty on the melodramatic +stage. Following this came an historical play, designed +to show his gifts in a new, more serious and no less +successful light. I refer, of course, to "The Yeomen of +the Guard." Then "The Gondoliers" carried us to +beautiful Venice, whilst last of all were "Utopia +Limited," which I trust will soon be revived, and "The +Grand Duke." It is remarkable that so wide a range +could be covered in one series of plays.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Gilbert, at an O.P. Club dinner in 1906, admitted +his "indebtedness to the author of the 'Bab Ballads,' +from whom I have so unblushingly cribbed." The +diligent student of the ballads and the operas will find +many evidences of the development of ideas from the +chrysalis to the butterfly stage. I have to thank Mr. +Robert Bell for the following notes—confirmed and +amplified by Gilbert during his lifetime—on the pedigree +of a few of the more popular operas:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"H.M.S. Pinafore"</td><td align="left">"Captain Reece," "The Baby's Vengeance," "General John,"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">"Lieutenant-Colonel Flare," "The Bumboat Woman's Story,"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">"Joe Golightly," "Little Oliver."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Yeoman of the Guard" </td><td align="left">"Annie Protheroe," "To Phœbe."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Iolanthe"</td><td align="left">"The Fairy Curate," "The Periwinkle Girl."</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Patience"</td><td align="left">"The Rival Curates."</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>"H.M.S. Pinafore," it will be seen, owed more to the +ballads than did any of the later operas, and it will be +noticed that <i>Captain Corcoran</i>, with his solicitude for his +crew and his carefully moderate language, was clearly of +the stock of <i>Captain Reece</i>, of "The Mantelpiece," +who</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Did all that lay within him to<br /> +Promote the comfort of his crew;<br /> +A feather bed had every man<br /> +Warm slippers and hot-water can,<br /> +Brown Windsor from the captain's store,<br /> +A valet, too, to every four."<br /> +</div> + +<p>—an example of unselfishness to be compared in the +other branch of the Service only with the altruism of +"Lieutenant-Colonel Flare." The main theme of the +opera—the babies changed in their cradles—was a great +favourite with Gilbert. In the ballads it appears in +"General John" and "The Baby's Vengeance," which +latter poem may have suggested, moreover, certain +details in "Ruddigore." The origin of <i>Robin Oakapple's</i> +bashfulness may possibly be traced back to "The +Married Couple," in which the pair were betrothed in +infancy, as also happens in "Princess Ida."</p> + +<p>"Iolanthe" has an obvious resemblance to "The +Fairy Curate." In both a fairy marries a mortal, with +the result in one case of the curate, <i>Georgie</i>, and in the +other the Arcadian shepherd, <i>Strephon</i>. Then we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +bound to notice how the feud of the two poets in +"Patience" is modelled on the emulation of the <i>Rev. +Clayton Hooper</i> and the <i>Rev. Hopley Porter</i> in "The +Rival Curates." Indeed, the parallel between the ballad +and the opera was originally so complete that in the +opera the dragoons were curates, and <i>Bunthorne</i> and +<i>Grosvenor</i> clergymen! Sir William, however, began +to doubt whether it was good taste to hold up the clergy +to a certain amount of ridicule, and so he changed +the principals into æsthetes, and the curates into +dragoons.</p> + +<p>Coming to "The Yeomen of the Guard" we find that +<i>Wilfred Shadbolt</i>, with his anecdotes of the prison cells +and the torture chamber, had a prototype in the jailor +in "Annie Protheroe." In both a condemned man is +reprieved and enabled to outwit his rival for the love of +a lady. "Were I thy Bride" is also a song with an +obvious affinity to the ballad, "To Phœbe." So we +might continue to trace in the ballads ideas which the +playwright turned to the happiest account in the operas. +Strangely enough, "The Mikado" is the opera which +best keeps its secrets, and one searches the poems in +vain for anything in the nature of a "pedigree."</p> + +<p>Lucky is the actor or actress who secures an engagement +in these operas at the outset of his or her career +on the stage. The Savoy tradition which Gilbert and +Sullivan founded was, of course, entirely different to +anything which had preceded it, and the great feature +of this new school was the insistence that was and still +is placed on clear enunciation, distinct vocal phrasing, +and refinement of manner and gesture. The beginner +who is trained on these lines is thus taught the essentials<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +of genuine artistry, and it is also a great advantage to +a new-comer that, early in his professional life, he has +played in pieces which have such an infectious spirit +about them and before audiences that are always so +ready with encouragement. By the management itself +good work is invariably recognised, and it is always +possible, as has happened in my own case, for one to rise +from the chorus itself to the principal parts.</p> + +<p>Gilbert and Sullivan's works are now given by +hundreds of amateur societies all the year round, and +often we hear that parties of those who are going to play +in them have travelled some distance to see us, and so +to gather notes for their own performances. Scattered +about these pages are many practical hints for these +amateur players. From an "old hand" they may be +of some service, not merely because they are drawn +from my own long experience, but because many of these +points were given me by Gilbert himself and by great +actors like Irving. It will be useful, I think, if I now +summarise and amplify these suggestions, which are +applicable chiefly to those who are to play in these +operas, but which in a general way may be helpful to +all amateur and young professional performers. Here +they are:—</p> + +<p>1. Study your part very thoroughly beforehand, +and when on the stage forget all about yourself, and +live that part entirely. Concentrate all your thoughts +upon it, and if it is a whimsical part, see that you get +the right atmosphere before you begin.</p> + +<p>2. Speak clearly and deliberately. Never forget +the man at the back of the gallery, and so long as your +enunciation is distinct, your words will reach him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +without any need for shouting. Special care should be +taken to phrase clearly when singing.</p> + +<p>3. Be perfectly natural in your actions and gestures. +The secret of this is, whether you are actually speaking +or not, to wrap yourself up in your part and in the play, +and so save yourself from being troubled with self-consciousness.</p> + +<p>4. Give your audience credit for humorous perception. +Gilbert's wit, in other words, is such that the +actor must not force his lines through fear, as it were, +that the people in front will otherwise not be intelligent +enough to "see the joke." Indeed, the more serious +and intense he is in many cases, the more oblivious he +pretends to be to the absurdity of what he is saying, +the quainter and more delightful is the effect on the +other side of the footlights.</p> + +<p>5. Exceptional instances apart, the actor who is +speaking or being spoken to, or who is singing a song, +should stand well to the front of the stage. Not only +does this let you make the best use of your voice, but +it helps you, what is more important, to rivet the attention +of the audience.</p> + +<p>6. Keep up a keen personal interest in the play. If +you are in the chorus, your job is not solely to help in +the singing and to show off a picturesque costume, but +to assist in focussing the interest on the central incident. +If, on the other hand, you are listless and stare about the +theatre, it is bound to rob the whole performance of +freshness and spontaneity.</p> + +<p>7. The Gilbert and Sullivan atmosphere, as I have +said several times elsewhere, is "repose." This is +impossible if every member of the company—and even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +the leading principal himself—indulges in little +mannerisms liable to take the audience's eye from the +central point.</p> + +<p>8. Never forget that a company, so far from being +divided into principals and chorus, is really one big +family, and success depends on one and all "pulling +together." Still less should the principals forget what they +owe to the chorus for loyally backing them up, and a +little kindly appreciation, a word of encouragement +from themselves, as the more experienced players, to +those who are anxious to learn, goes a mighty long way.</p> + +<p>Now that the old stock companies have become +almost things of the past, our amateur operatic societies +should be recognised as one of the best recruiting fields +for theatrical talent, and it is a fact that from their +ranks many great artistes have sprung. I myself +have seen numbers of these amateur shows, and in +most of them there have been two or three performers +who, with work and experience, could take a creditable +place on the professional stage. For this reason I am +anxious to give them all the advice it is in my power to +give. First and foremost, therefore, I should insist that +before any words are memorised the part itself must +be thoroughly studied, so that one knows exactly what +the author intends and just what sort of figure one has +to depict. Especially have I made it my aim, on my +first entrance in any part, to let the audience see just +what the character is, whether a comedian, a tragedian, +a lover, a fool, or a "fop." <i>Feel</i> that you are actually +one of these, and especially when you make your first +entry, and the battle is half won already. You will +then have something of what people variously call<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +"magnetism" or "personality" or "atmosphere." +This <i>feeling</i> of your part at the first entrance is of vital +importance, and as far as you can, you must try to +keep it up right through the play.</p> + +<p>Take the case of <i>Jack Point</i>. From the moment he +enters the audience should know the manner of man +that he is and he must win their sympathy immediately. +He is a poor strolling player who has been dragged from +pillar to post. Footsore and weary though he is, <i>Jack +Point</i> is anxious to please the crowd who have roughly +chased him and <i>Elsie Maynard</i> in, for if he fails them +have they not threatened to duck him in the nearest +pond? <i>Jack</i> and <i>Elsie</i> are no ordinary players. In +Elizabethan times the street dancer was a familiar +character. The Merry-man and his maid, however, +tell us that they can sing <i>and</i> dance too, a wonderful +accomplishment. All this and more is made clear on +their first entry. It should be the same in the interpretation +of all the other parts.</p> + +<p>When the <i>Duke of Plaza-Toro</i> arrives, he must at +once impress the audience that, although impecunious, +he still expects the deference due to birth and breeding. +<i>Ko-Ko</i>, on the other hand, is a cheap tailor suddenly +exalted to the rank of Lord High Executioner, and +from <i>his</i> first entrance it is obvious that he was never +brought up in the dignified ways of a Court. He tells +the gentlemen of Japan that he is "much touched by +this reception." Somehow one feels that that speech +was written out for him when he received his appointment, +that he has since recited it forty times a day, and +that now the upstart is trying to make believe it is +entirely extempore! Then there is <i>Sir Joseph Porter</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +Whenever I play this rôle I do my best to cultivate a +sense of immense self-importance. I do this, of course, +whilst waiting my cue, but the effect of it should be seen +on the stage. <i>Bunthorne</i>'s first appearance should be +done in such a way as to stamp him definitely for what +he is—an affected "poseur." The exaggeration may be +relaxed a little afterwards—but it <i>must</i> be there at the +beginning.</p> + +<p>So long as one has studied one's part beforehand, +particularly in regard to the nature of the first entry, +the memorisation of the words becomes more or less +easy. And amateurs ought to realise what a tremendous +help to them it would be to practice their own +facial "make-up." Generally they leave that to an +expert, but if they practised it themselves, they would +find it a very fascinating, and certainly an important, +branch of the actor's profession. Many and many a +time have I taken my pencils and colours, retired to +some quiet room at home, and spent an afternoon +experimenting in make-up. Notwithstanding that I +have never played any Shakespearian characters, I +have made up privately for dozens of them, and the +practice has helped me in innumerable ways.</p> + +<p>For instance, I used to be fond of making up as the +hunchback <i>Richard the Third</i>, and I turned these experiments +to account when I had to play the rôle of <i>King +Gama</i>. Shakespeare's <i>Touchstone</i> also appealed to me, +and having made up as this clown so often, I had +many useful ideas when I came to do <i>Jack Point</i>. The +deathly pallor of the poor jester at the end was contrived +from many similar experiments. Setting photographs +before me, I would make myself resemble the late Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +Roberts and the late Sir Evelyn Wood, and these were +used as a model when I had to be <i>Major-General Stanley</i>. +Several visits to the Law Courts gave me valuable hints +for the <i>Lord Chancellor</i>. The <i>Duke of Plaza-Toro</i> was +studied from an old print of a grandee. <i>Ko-Ko's</i> +make up, which was bound to be a difficult one, was +the outcome of a good deal of sketching on paper, +particularly in regard to the treatment of the lines +round the eyes. When Mrs. D'Oyly Carte first saw me as +<i>Bunthorne</i>, she exclaimed "How you do remind me of +Whistler!" That was a compliment. It was from +Whistler, of course, that this rôle was understood to be +drawn, and so I was not loath to copy the poet's +photograph, even to the white lock in his ample jet-black +hair!</p> + +<p>Yes, make-up well rewards one for all the time one +spends in practising it, and many brother professionals +agree with me that the great past-masters of the art +were the late Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and the late +Wilson Barrett. With them, of course, make-up concerned +not merely the face but the figure, and it was +wonderful how Tree, to instance only two of his great +parts, could adapt himself either to the portly and +blustering <i>Falstaff</i> or to the lean and haggard <i>Svengali</i>. +And Barrett, though ordinarily stocky of build, could +appear at times as a towering, dominating personality. +Seeing that these men were big theatrical figures, they +were not compelled to sink their identities in the parts +they were playing, and yet they were such great artistes +that they always did so completely.</p> + +<p>I close this book with a simple story of the different +operas. This will, I am sure, be read with interest both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +by those who know them already and by those, the +younger generation, who are growing up to know and +love them too for what they are—a heritage of pure +humour and song of which the nation may well be +proud, and to which it will remain faithful as long as the +spirit of laughter abides in its heart.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +Dear are their melodies to England's heart,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pure English is the fount from which they flow,</span><br /> +As frank and tender as was English art<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the rich times of Purcell, Arne and Blow;</span><br /> +As English the libretto every whit,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jests how well polished, whimsies how well said;</span><br /> +True English humour, and true English wit,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sword-sharp yet kindly, hearty yet well-bred.</span><br /> +Thus have they lasted, and out-last the years.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Being in their fantasy to life so true,</span><br /> +So intermix't with laughter and with tears.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">So gay, so wise, so old, and yet so new.</span><br /> +Long may they, living for our children's joy,<br /> +Renew the triumphs of the old Savoy!<br /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE STORIES OF THE OPERAS.</h2> + +<h3>"TRIAL BY JURY."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced March 25th, 1875.</i></div> + +<p>Gilbert and Sullivan's fame was really based on a +little comic opera called "Thespis." It was produced +by John Hollingshead at the Gaiety, and its success +was so great that Mr. Richard D'Oyly Carte was induced +to invite them to collaborate again in the first of what we +now know as the D'Oyly Carte operas, the dramatic +cantata, "Trial by Jury." Short and slender as it is, +this opera has always been immensely popular, and it +still appears regularly in the company's programmes. +Gilbert, who had himself followed the law before he +transferred his talents to the stage, took as his subject +an imaginary breach of promise case between Edwin +and Angelina. That it is a faithful picture of a court of +law and of those who minister there one would never +dare to suggest! But as a very free and clever burlesque +even those who follow the vocation of the wig and +gown will admit its claims immediately.</p> + +<p>When the curtain rises we see the interior of a court +of justice, and the barristers, solicitors and jury are +already in their places. The Usher, a functionary of the +old school, at once proceeds to give some homely and +informal advice to the jurymen, telling them to listen +to the case with minds free from vulgar prejudice. With +that he goes on to try to soften their masculine hearts +over the plight of poor Angelina. When the defendant +enters the twelve good men and true shake their fists<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +in his face, hail him as a "monster," and bid him "dread +our damages." Edwin ventures to suggest that, as +they are in the dark as to the merits of his case, these +proceedings are strange. He tells how he once rapturously +adored the lady, how she then began to bore him intensely, +and how at last he became "another's love-sick +boy." The jury reflect that they, too, were rather inconstant +in their own youthful days, but now that they +are older and "shine with a virtue resplendent" they +"haven't a scrap of sympathy with the defendant."</p> + +<p>The Judge now takes his seat on the bench. The +genial soul, as a prelude to the duties of the day, confides +how he rose to judicial eminence. For years he +searched in vain for briefs, and then he found an easy +escape from poverty by marrying a rich attorney's +elderly, ugly daughter. He would, his father-in-law +said, soon get used to her looks, and in the meanwhile +he promised to deluge him with briefs for the "Sessions +and Ancient Bailey." By these means he prospered, +and then he "threw over that rich attorney's elderly, +ugly daughter." And now he is ready to try this present +breach of promise of marriage.</p> + +<p>Counsel for the plaintiff having taken his place, the +jury are sworn well and truly to try the case, which they +do by kneeling low down in the box and, with the +exception of their upraised hands, quite out of sight. +The plaintiff's arrival is heralded by that of a beautiful +bevy of bridesmaids. The Judge, having taken a +fancy to one of them, pens her a little note, which she +kisses rapturously. Yet when he sees the plaintiff, a +still brighter vision of loveliness, he orders that the note +shall be taken from the bridesmaid and given to her. +Judge and jury alike are entranced. Counsel proceeds +to open the case, and with bitter reproaches he assails +the traitor whose heartless wile victimised his "interesting +client," to whom "Camberwell (had) become a +bower, Peckham an Arcadian vale." The plaintiff +weeps. When she is lead to the witness-box she falls in +a faint on to the foreman's shoulders, but upon the Judge +inquiring whether she would not rather recline on him, +the fair lady jumps on to the bench and sits down fondly +by the side of the Judge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>Edwin, regarded by all as an object of villainy, now +proceeds to state his case, and can only offer to marry +the lady to-day and then marry his new love to-morrow. +The Judge suggests that this may be a fair proposition, +but counsel holds that, on the other hand, "to marry +two at once is burglaree." Angelina, with a view +to increasing the damages, now embraces her inconstant +lover and calls upon the jury to witness what a loss she +has to deplore. Edwin, in the hope in turn of reducing +them, declares that at heart he is a ruffian and a bully, +and that she could never endure him a day. The Judge +suggests that, as the man declares that when tipsy he +would thrash her and kick her, the best plan would be for +them to make him tipsy and see! Objection is raised to +this on every side, and then the man of law, losing his +temper and scattering the books hither and thither, +declares that as nothing will please them he will marry +the lady himself. This solution seems to carry general +agreement. The Judge, having claimed her hand, +sings:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Though homeward as you trudge<br /> +You declare my law is fudge,<br /> +Yet of beauty I'm a judge."<br /> +</div> + +<p>To which all in court reply, "And a good judge too!"</p> + + +<h3>"THE SORCERER."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced November 17th, 1887.</i></div> + +<p>"The Sorcerer" is a merry story of sentimental +topsy-turvydom. Cupid could never have performed +such mischievous pranks as he did, aided by a magician's +love potion, in the pleasant village of Ploverleigh. Sir +Marmaduke Pointdextre, a baronet of ancient lineage, +has invited the tenantry to his Elizabethan mansion to +celebrate the betrothal of his son Alexis, a Grenadier +Guardsman, to the lovely Aline. So happy and romantic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +a union between two old families deserved to be worthily +honoured, and a large and lavishly stocked marquee, we +notice, has been erected at one side of the garden. Aline +herself is rich, the only daughter of the Lady Sangazure, +and the seven thousand and thirty-seventh in direct +descent, it seems, from Helen of Troy. Nor are there +heart-stirrings only in the homes of the great. Early +in the opera it transpires that Constance Partlet, the +daughter of a humble pew-opener at the Parish Church, +has a doting love for the vicar, Dr. Daly. It is a hopeless +passion. Not that the vicar, now a bachelor of venerable +years, had never felt the throb of romance in his soul, +and never recalled the "aching memory of the old, old +days." Fondly does he muse over the time when—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Maidens of the noblest station,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forsaking even military men,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Would gaze upon me, rapt in admiration—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ah, me! I was a pale young curate then."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>This, indeed, was the time when love and he were well +acquainted, as he tells us in a delightful ballad, and when +none was better loved that he in all the land! Yet +even these dreams of yesteryear fail to awaken in him +the desires for a joyous to-morrow. Constance's mother +finds him quite unresponsive to her ingenious suggestions, +for though he sees the advantage of having a lady installed +in the vicarage, he is too old now for his estate to +be changed.</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke and Alexis enter. The honest heart +of the father glows at the thought of the marriage, +though he confesses that he has little liking for the new +kind of love-making, in which couples rush into each +other's arms rapturously singing:—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">"Oh, my adored one!" </td><td align="left">"Beloved boy!"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Ecstatic rapture!"</td><td align="left">"Unmingled joy!"</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>So different, he reflects, to the older and more courtly +"Madame, I trust you are in the enjoyment of good +health"; "Sir, you are vastly polite, I protest I am +mighty well." Even thus did he once pay his addresses +to the Lady Sangazure. For once they, too, were lovers! +But these reveries are ended by the arrival of Aline, and +soon afterwards, to the tuneful salutation of the villagers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +the marriage contract is signed and sealed in the presence +of Counsel.</p> + +<p>Left alone at last with his betrothed, Alexis tells her +of his maxim that true love, the source of every earthly +joy, should break down all such artificial barriers as +rank, wealth, beauty and age. Upon this subject he +has lectured in the workhouses, beershops and asylums, +and been received with enthusiasm everywhere, though +he cannot deny the aloofness as yet of the aristocracy. +He is going to take a desperate step to put those noble +principles to proof. From London he has summoned +the great John Wellington Wells. He belongs to an +old-established firm of family sorcerers, who practise all +sorts of magics and spells, with their wonderful penny +curse as their quick-selling speciality. From the moment +he enters it is obvious that this glib-tongued charlatan +is a hustling dynamo. Alexis, much to Aline's alarm, +commissions him to supply liberal quantities of his +patent love philtre in order that, from purely philanthropical +motives, as he explains, he may distribute it +secretly amongst the villagers. Wells, like the pushful +tradesman he is, has the very thing in his pocket. He +guarantees that whoever drinks it will fall in love, as a +matter of course, with the first lady he meets who has +also tasted it, and his affection will be returned immediately. +Then follows a melodramatic incantation as +the sorcerer deposits the philtre into a gigantic teapot. +"Spirits of earth and air, fiends of flame and fire" are +summoned "in shoals" to "this dreadful deed inspire." +This done Mr. Wells beckons the villagers, and all the +party, except the two lovers, join merrily in drinking +a toast drawn from the teapot. Quickly it becomes +evident from their strange conduct that the charm is +working. All rub their eyes, and the curtain falls on +the picture of many amorous couples, rich and poor alike, +under the spell of the romantic illusion.</p> + +<p>The same scene greets us when the second act opens. The +couples are strangely assorted—an old man with a girl, +an elderly woman with a youth—but all sing and dance +to a love that is "the source of all joy to humanity." +Constance confesses her rapture for a deaf old Notary. +Sir Marmaduke himself walks arm-in-arm with Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +Partlet. Dr. Daly is sadly perplexed. The villagers, +who had not been addicted to marrying and giving in +marriage, have now been coming to him in a body and +imploring him to join them in matrimony with little +delay. The sentimental old bachelor reflects, moreover, +how comely all the maidens are, and sighs that alas! all +now are engaged! Meanwhile, Alexis has tried to +persuade Aline that they should drink the philtre too, +for only thus can they ensure their own undying devotion. +She refuses and there is a tiff, but later, to prove that +her love for him is true, she does drink the potion, only +to be seized by a passionate affection for—Dr. Daly. +Nor can the good vicar resist the yearning to reciprocate. +Coming to the scene, Alexis is outraged with his lover's +perfidy, and at last has very serious doubts about the +excellence of his theories and the wisdom of the sorcerer's +spell. Dr. Daly, determined to be no man's rival, is +ready to quit the country at once and bury his +sorrow "in the congenial gloom of a colonial +bishopric."</p> + +<p>But one of the drollest effects of the enchantment has +still to be told. The first man on whom the Lady +Sangazure casts her eye after she has succumbed is none +other than the notorious John Wellington Wells. In +vain does he lie to her that he is already engaged. In +vain does he describe a beauteous maiden with bright +brown hair who waits for him in the Southern Pacific. +She threatens at last to end her sorrows in the family +vault, and only then does the sorcerer, as a small +reparation for all the emotional disturbance he has +created, decide that the acceptance of her hand might +not be at all a bad bargain.</p> + +<p>In the end the magic scheme becomes so involved +that it must be at all costs disentangled. It can be done +in only one way. Someone must yield his life to +Ahrimanes. Wells agrees to commit this act of self-immolation, +and amidst a wreath of fire and brimstone +he disappears, melodramatic to the last, through a +trap-door in the stage. With his departure the couples +re-assort themselves, selecting mates in keeping with +their various social stations and ages, and the betrothal +festivities resume their merry sway.</p> + + +<h3>"H.M.S. PINAFORE."</h3> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> +<div class="center"><i>Produced May 25th, 1878.</i></div> + +<p>Certainly "H.M.S. Pinafore" was not a model +ship as regards the sense of discipline that exists in the +real British Navy. But in every other respect it <i>was</i> +a model ship. Captain Corcoran was the commander of +its jovial crew, and a very fine commander he was, +always indulgent to his men and always ready to address +them politely. Swearing on board was a thing almost +unknown. Corcoran did say "bother it" now and +again, but he tells us that he never used "a big, big +d——" at least, "hardly ever." Lustily do the crew +"give three cheers and one cheer more for the well-bred +captain of the Pinafore."</p> + +<p>The opera has the quarter-deck for its setting, and it +is related that Gilbert took as his model for this scene +the old Victory, which he went to see at Portsmouth. +Our first introduction is to the crew, who busily polish +the brasswork and splice the rope while they sing in +tuneful nautical strains that their "saucy ship's a +beauty" and manned by "sober men and true, attentive +to their duty." Only one gruff old salt is there amongst +them, and we discover him in the ugly, distorted form of +Dick Deadeye. He is thoroughly unpopular. Soon the +sailors welcome on board Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth +bumboat woman who has come to sell her wares, and +who is hailed as "the rosiest, the roundest and the +reddest beauty in all Spithead." She has certainly +some delightful ditties to sing.</p> + +<p>One member of the crew is handsome Ralph Rackstraw, +who confesses to a passion for Corcoran's pretty daughter, +Josephine. The poor fellow is downcast that his ambitions +should have soared to such impossible heights. +Yet Josephine herself is also sad because of a heart that +"hopes but vainly." Corcoran chides her, and tells +her how happy she should be when her hand is to be +claimed, that very day, by the great Sir Joseph Porter, +K.C.B., the First Lord of the Admiralty. She confesses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +that, although she is a proud captain's daughter, she +loves a humble sailor on board her father's own ship.</p> + +<p>Sir Joseph's stately barge is approaching. He comes +attended by a host of his sisters and his cousins and +his aunts, a very large and charming family group whom +the sailors, instead of standing rigidly at attention, +salute with effusive politeness. Sir Joseph, attired in +the Court dress of his office, proceeds at once to describe +his meteoric rise from an office boy in an attorney's +firm to become the "ruler of the Queen's Navee." The +story is that of an industrious clerk who, having "served +the writs with a smile so bland and copied all the letters +in a big round hand" is taken at last into partnership, +and eventually becomes an obedient party man in +Parliament and a member of the Ministry. For landsmen +the moral of it all is summed up in this golden rule:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Stick close to your desk and never go to sea<br /> +And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee."<br /> +</div> + +<p>The First Lord has ideas of his own that the sense of +independence in the lower deck must be fully encouraged. +The British sailor he holds to be any man's +equal, and he insists that Captain Corcoran shall +accompany every order of his crew, over whom he has +been placed merely by accident of birth, with a courteous +"if you please." Then he takes Corcoran into the +cabin to teach him another accomplishment—dancing +the hornpipe. Josephine meanwhile steals out on to +the deck. She meets Ralph Rackstraw, who boldly +gambles his all on an immediate protestation of love, +only to be refused for his presumption and impetuosity. +The poor fellow, before the whole ship's company and +without their lifting a hand to restrain him, prepares to +blow out his brains, when the girl rushes into his arms. +Notwithstanding the evil Dick Deadeye's warning, they +arrange to steal ashore at night to be married, and the +curtain falls on the crew giving three cheers for the +sailor's bride.</p> + +<p>When the second act opens the deck is bathed in +moonlight. Captain Corcoran is strumming his mandoline +and singing a plaintive song—he laments that +everything is at sixes and sevens—while gazing at him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +sentimentally is Little Buttercup. Following a duet +between them, Sir Joseph Porter enters to complain +that he is disappointed in Josephine, and Corcoran can +attribute her reticence only to the exalted rank of so +distinguished a suitor as the First Lord of the Admiralty. +Corcoran afterwards takes his daughter aside and +explains to her that love is a platform on which all +ranks meet, little mindful how eloquently he is thus +pleading the cause of humble Ralph. When the girl has +left Dick Deadeye comes to warn the father of the plan +for a midnight elopement. Enveloping himself in a cloak, +with a cat-o'-nine-tails in his hand, he awaits developments. +Soon the crew steal in on tiptoe, and afterwards +the two lovers, ready to escape ashore in the dingy. +Captain Corcoran surprises them, but, to his amazement, +Ralph Rickshaw openly and defiantly avows his love, +while the crew chant his praises as an Englishman:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"For he might have been a Roosian,<br /> +A French, or Turk, or Proosian,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Or perhaps Itali-an.</span><br /> +But in spite of all temptations<br /> +To belong to other nations<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He remains an Englishman!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Even for the well-bred skipper this is too much. He +explodes with a "big, big d——." Sir Joseph hears the +bad language and is horrified. He will hear of no explanations. +Captain Corcoran is banished to his cabin in +disgrace.</p> + +<p>The First Lord is destined to receive still another +shock. He hears of the attachment between Josephine +and Ralph. The "presumptuous mariner" is ordered to +be handcuffed and marched off to the dungeon. But +it is after this that we hear the biggest surprise of all—and +from the lips of Little Buttercup. She recalls that in +the years long ago she practised baby farming, and to +her care were committed two infants, "one of low condition, +the other a patrician." Unhappily, in a luckless +moment she mixed those children up, and the poor baby +really was Corcoran and the rich one Ralph Rackstraw. +Ralph thereupon enters in a captain's uniform. Corcoran +follows him in the dress of a mere able-seaman. Sir +Joseph decides that, although love levels rank in many +cases, his own marriage with a common sailor's daughter +is out of the question, and he resigns himself then and +there to his venerable cousin, Hebe. Ralph claims his +Josephine, while the fallen Corcoran links his future with +that of the bumboat woman, Little Buttercup.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i144.jpg"><img src="images/i144-lo.jpg" width="400" height="607" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "SIR JOSEPH PORTER" IN "H.M.S. PINAFORE."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br />AS<br /> +"SIR JOSEPH PORTER" IN "H.M.S. PINAFORE."</span> +</div> + + +<h3>"THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE."</h3> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced April 30th, 1880.</i></div> + +<p>Sheltered in the Cornish coast was the hiding place +of a band of tender-hearted pirates. Never was the +trade of the skull-and-cross-bones followed by men of +such sensitive and compassionate feelings. They made +it a point of honour never to attack a weaker party, +and whenever they attempted to fight a stronger one +they invariably got thrashed. Orphans themselves, they +shrank from ever laying a molesting hand on an orphan, +and many of the ships they captured had to be released +because they were found to be manned entirely by +orphans. Little wonder was it that these Pirates of +Penzance could not make the grim trade of piracy pay.</p> + +<p>The curtain rises on a scene of revelry. Frederic has +just completed his pirate apprenticeship and is being +hailed as a fully-fledged member of the gang. That he +had been indentured with them at all was a mistake. +When he was a lad his nurse was told to take and +apprentice him to a pilot, and when she discovered her +stupid blunder she let him stay with the pirates, and +remained with them herself as a maid-of-all-work +rather than return to brave the parental fury. Frederic, +at all times the slave of duty, has loyally served out his +time, but now he announces that not only will he not +continue at a trade he detests, but he is going to devote +himself heart and soul to his old comrades' extermination. +The declaration turns the camp from joy into mourning, +but these very scrupulous pirates have to admit that +a man must act as his conscience dictates, and they can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +only crave that the manner of their deaths may be +painless and speedy.</p> + +<p>Frederic has never seen a woman's face—no other +woman's face, at least, but Ruth's, his old nurse, who +adores him—and thus there come as a vision of loveliness +to him the figures of the many daughters of Major-General +Stanley. They have penetrated into the rocky +cove during a picnic. Frederic, sensitive about his +detested dress, hides from them for a while, but soon +he reveals himself and entreats them all to stoop in +pity so low is to accept the hand and heart of a pirate. +Only one of them, Mabel, is ready to take him for what +he is, and the love-making between the two is swift +and passionate. It is interrupted by the return of the +gang, each member of which seizes a girl and claims her +as his bride, and during this lively interlude there +arrives old General Stanley. He has lagged behind the +rest of the party.</p> + +<p>The General, a resplendent figure in his uniform, +knows a good deal about the most abstruse and complicated +sciences, though he proclaims that he knows +no more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery. In this +he holds himself to be "the very model of a modern +major-general." Completing the candid recital of his +attainments and want of them, he inquires what strange +deeds are afoot, and he has no liking either for pirates +as sons-in-law or for the prospect of being robbed wholesale +of his daughters. But where is the way of escape? +Luckily the General has heard of these Penzance pirates +before, and he wrings their sympathy with the sad news +that he, too, is "an orphan boy." For such tender-hearted +robbers that is enough. They surrender the +girls, and with them all thoughts of matrimonial felicity, +and restore the entire party to liberty.</p> + +<p>The second act is laid in a ruined chapel at night. +General Stanley, surrounded by his daughters, has +come to do penance for his lie before the tombs of his +ancestors, who are his solely by purchase, for he has +owned the estate only a year. Frederic is now to lead an +expedition against the pirates. For this perilous mission +he has gathered together a squad of police, who march +in under their sergeant, all of them very nervous and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +under misgivings that possibly they may be going +to "die in combat gory." Soon after they have left +there is a whimsical development. Frederic, alone in the +chapel, is visited by the Pirate King and Ruth. Covering +him first of all with their pistols, they tell him that they +have remembered that he was born on the 29th of +February, and that as he thus has a birthday only every +four years he is still but five years of age!</p> + +<p>Frederic, as we have observed before, has a keen +sense of duty. In blank despair he agrees to return to +the gang to finish his apprenticeship. Once more a +member of the band, he is bound also to disclose the +horrible fact that the old soldier has practised on the +pirates' credulous simplicity, and that in truth he is no +orphan boy. The Pirate King decrees that there shall +be a swift and terrible revenge that very night.</p> + +<p>When all have left but Mabel, who declares that she +will remain faithful to her lover until he has lived his +twenty-one leap-years, there re-enter the police. The +sergeant laments that the policeman's lot is not a +happy one. It is distressing to them to have to be the +agents whereby their erring fellow-creatures are deprived +of the liberty that everyone prizes.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime,</span><br /> +He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And listen to the merry village chime.</span><br /> +When the coster's finished jumping on his mother,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He loves to lie a-basking in the sun.</span><br /> +Ah! Take one consideration with another<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The policeman's lot is not a happy one."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Sounds are heard that indicate the pirates' approach. +The police conceal themselves, and soon the intruders +enter, armed with all kinds of burglarious tools, and +with a cat-like tread (they say so, at least, though they +are singing their loudest). They are interrupted, not by +the police, but by the appearance of General Stanley. +He has had a sleepless night, the effect of a tortured +conscience, and he comes in in a dressing-gown and +carrying a light. Soon his daughters also appear in their +night-caps. The General is seized and ordered to prepare +for death. Frederic, even on Mabel's entreaties, cannot +save him, for is he not himself a pirate again?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>Eventually the police, having passively watched the +situation so long, summon up courage and tackle the +pirates, but they are soon overcome. The sergeant, who +with the rest of his men is held prostrate under drawn +swords, then calls upon the ruffians to surrender in the +name of the Queen. The command acts like magic. +Loyally the pirates kneel to their captives, for it transpires +from Ruth's lips that they are really "no members +of the common throng; they are all noblemen who have +gone wrong." All ends happily. The Pirates of Penzance +promise to return forthwith to their legislative duties in +the House of Lords and, in doing so, they are to share +their coronets with the beautiful daughters of old +General Stanley.</p> + + +<h3>"PATIENCE."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced April 23rd, 1881.</i></div> + +<p>There is satire in the very name of this opera. The +craze for æstheticism against which it was directed +must have placed a strain on the patience of so brilliant +an exponent of British commonsense as Sir William +Gilbert.</p> + +<p>Shortly before the play opens, twenty of the maidens +of the village adjoining Castle Bunthorne had fallen in +love with the officers of the 35th Heavy Dragoons. But +when Reginald Bunthorne, a fleshly poet and a devotee +of the æsthetic cult, arrived at the castle, they had +fallen out of love with their Dragoons and united with +Lady Jane (of uncertain age) in worshipping him. When +the curtain rises the "twenty love-sick maidens" are +lamenting that Bunthorne is "ice-insensible." Lady +Jane tells them that he loves Patience, the village +milkmaid, who is seen regarding them with pity. Lady +Angela tells Patience that if she has never loved she +can never have known true happiness. Patience replies +that "the truly happy always seem to have so much +on their minds," and "never seem quite well." Lady +Jane explains that it is "<i>Not</i> indigestion, but æsthetic +transfiguration." Patience informs the ladies that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +35th Dragoon Guards have arrived. Lady Ella declares, +"We care nothing for Dragoon Guards." "But," +exclaims Patience, "You were all engaged to them." +"Our minds have been etherealised, our perceptions +exalted," answers Lady Angela, who calls on the +others to lift up their voices in morning carol to "Our +Reginald."</p> + +<p>The 35th Dragoons arrive and the Colonel gives us +in song:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"A receipt for that popular mystery<br /> +Known to the world as a Heavy Dragoon."<br /> +</div> + +<p>One of them who arrives later looks miserable, but declares +"I'm as cheerful as a poor devil can be, who has the +misfortune to be a Duke with a thousand a day." His +wretchedness is not relieved by the entrance of Bunthorne, +followed by the maidens, who ignore the Dragoons. +The Poet pretends to be absorbed in the +composition of a poem, but he slyly observes, "I hear +plainly all they say, twenty love-sick maidens they." +Lady Jane explains to the soldiers that Bunthorne +has idealised them. Bunthorne meanwhile is to be seen +writhing in the throes of composition. "Finished!" +he exclaims and faints in the arms of the Colonel. When +he recovers, the love-sick maidens entreat him to read +the poem. "Shall I?" he asks. Fiercely the Dragoons +shout "No!" but bidding the ladies to "Cling passionately +to one another," he recites "Oh, Hollow! Hollow! +Hollow!" When the Colonel reminds the ladies that +they are engaged to the Dragoons, Lady Saphir says, +"It can never be. You are not Empyrean," while Lady +Jane sneers at the crudity of their red and yellow +uniforms. The Dragoons resent this "insult" to a uniform +which has been "as successful in the courts of +Venus as in the field of Mars," and lament that "the +peripatetics of long-haired æsthetics" should have +captured the ladies' fancy. Angrily they return to their +camp.</p> + +<p>Bunthorne, left "alone and unobserved," confesses to +being an "æsthetic sham." "In short," he says, "my +mediævalism's affectation, born of a morbid love of +admiration." Then Patience enters, and he makes love +to her. She repulses him, and tragically he bids her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +farewell. Lady Angela implores her to "Try, try, try +to love." She dilates upon the "Ennobling and unselfish +passion" until Patience declares, "I won't go +to bed until I'm head over ears in love with somebody." +Patience soliloquises, "I had no idea love was a duty. +No wonder they all look so unhappy. I'll go at once +and fall in love with—" but stops, startled by a figure +almost as grotesque as Bunthorne, and exclaims, "A +stranger!" The stranger is Archibald Grosvenor, +an idyllic poet, who plunges boldly into a declaration of +love with his "Prithee pretty maiden, will you marry +me." Patience replies, "I do not know you and therefore +must decline." He reveals that he was her +sweetheart in childhood's days. Grosvenor begs +Patience imagine "The horror of his situation, gifted +with unrivalled beauty, and madly loved at first sight +by every woman he meets." When Patience enquires +why he does not disfigure himself to escape such +persecution, he replies, "These gifts were given to +me for the enjoyment and delectation of my fellow +creatures. I am a trustee for beauty." Grosvenor and +Patience plight their troth, but as she remembers that +love must be unselfish, and that Grosvenor is so beautiful +that there can be no unselfishness in loving him, they +bid each other "Farewell." Just as they are parting +it occurs to Patience that it cannot be selfish for +Grosvenor to love her, and he promises, "I'll go on +adoring."</p> + +<p>Bunthorne, crowned and garlanded with roses, +returns accompanied by his solicitor and the ladies. +The Dragoons arrive also, and ask Bunthorne why he +should be so arrayed. He explains that, heart-broken by +Patience's rejection, and on the advice of his solicitor, +he has put himself up to be raffled for by his admirers. +The Dragoons make a fruitless appeal to the ladies in a +song by the Duke. The drawing is about to take place +when Patience enters, craves Bunthorne's pardon, and +offers to be his bride. When Bunthorne rejoices that +this is due to the fact that she loves him fondly, Patience +tells him that it is because "A maiden who devotes +herself to loving you, is prompted by no selfish view."</p> + +<p>This scene leads to a temporary reconciliation between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +the Dragoons and the ladies, who embrace each other +and declare that "Never, oh never, this heart will +range from that old, old love again." Then Grosvenor +enters. He walks slowly, engrossed in reading. The +ladies are strangely fascinated by him and gradually +withdraw from the arms of their martial admirers. Lady +Angela asks:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"But who is this, whose god-like grace<br /> +Proclaims he comes of noble race."<br /> +</div> + +<p>Grosvenor replies: "I'm a broken-hearted troubadour.... +I am æsthetic and poetic." With one voice +the ladies cry "Then we love you," and leaving their +Dragoons they kneel round Grosvenor, arousing the fury +of Bunthorne and the horror not only of the Dragoons, +but of Grosvenor himself, who declares that "Again my +cursed comeliness spreads hopeless anguish and distress."</p> + +<p>The curtain falls on this scene, and when it rises again +Lady Jane is discovered soliloquising upon the fickle crew +who have deserted Bunthorne and sworn allegiance to +Grosvenor. She alone is faithful to Bunthorne. +Grosvenor enters, followed by the twenty love-sick +maidens, pleading for "A gentle smile." He reads +them two decalets, and wearying of their worship, he +tells them that his heart is fixed elsewhere, and bids +them remember the fable of the magnet and the churn.</p> + +<p>Bunthorne and Lady Jane return. The poet is +indignant that Grosvenor has cut him out. Lady +Jane assures him that she is still faithful, but promises +to help him to vanquish his rival, and to achieve this +purpose they concert a plan.</p> + +<p>Then the Duke, the Colonel and the Major appear. +They have discarded their uniforms and adopted an +æsthetic dress and make-up, and they practise the attitudes +which they imagine will appeal to the ladies. When +two of these appear, it is evident that the plan is succeeding, +for Lady Angela exclaims, "See! The immortal +fire has descended upon them." The officers explain +they are doing this at some personal inconvenience to +show their devotion, and hope that it is not without +effect. They are assured that their conversion to the +æsthetic art in its highest development has touched the +ladies deeply.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>In due course the officers and ladies disappear and give +place to Grosvenor. Looking at his reflection in a hand +mirror, he declares, "Ah! I am a veritable Narcissus." +Bunthorne now wanders on, talking to himself, and +declaring that he cannot live without admiration. He +accuses Grosvenor of monopolising the attentions of the +young ladies. Grosvenor assures him that they are the +plague of his life, and asks how he can escape from his +predicament. Bunthorne orders him completely to change +his appearance, so as to appear absolutely commonplace. +At first Grosvenor declines, but when Bunthorne +threatens to curse him, he yields cheerfully, and Bunthorne +rejoices in the prospect that:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"When I go out of door<br /> +Of damozels a score,<br /> +All sighing and burning,<br /> +And clinging and yearning<br /> +Will follow me as before."<br /> +</div> + +<p>Patience enters to find him dancing, and he tells her +that, in future, he will be a changed man, having +modelled himself upon Grosvenor. She expresses joy, +but then recoils from him as she remembers that, as he +is now to be utterly free from defect of any kind, her +love for him cannot be absolutely unselfish.</p> + +<p>Just as Bunthorne is offering to relapse, Grosvenor +enters, followed by the ladies and the Dragoons. +Grosvenor has assumed an absolutely commonplace +appearance. They all dance cheerfully round the stage, +and when Bunthorne asks the ladies "What it all +means," they tell him that as Grosvenor or "Archibald +the All-right cannot be all wrong," and as he has discarded +æstheticism, "It proves that æstheticism ought +to be discarded." Patience now discovers that she is +free to love Grosvenor. Bunthorne is disappointed, but +Lady Jane, who is still æsthetic tells him to cheer up, +as she will never forsake him. They have scarcely time +to embrace before the Colonel announces that the Duke +has determined to choose a bride. He selects Lady Jane, +greatly to the disgust of Bunthorne, who, finding himself +the odd man out, declares, "I shall have to be contented +with a tulip or lily."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i152.jpg"><img src="images/i152-lo.jpg" width="400" height="518" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "BUNTHORNE" IN "PATIENCE."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br /> +AS<br />"BUNTHORNE" IN "PATIENCE."</span> +</div> + + +<h3>"IOLANTHE."</h3> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> +<div class="center"><i>Produced November 25th, 1882.</i></div> + +<p>Iolanthe was a Fairy—the life and soul of Fairyland. +She wrote all the fairy songs and arranged the fairy +dances. For twenty-five years Iolanthe has been in +banishment. She had transgressed the fairy law by +marrying a mortal, and it was only the Queen's love +which saved her from death.</p> + +<p>When the curtain rises we witness a gathering of +fairies, hear them sing one of Iolanthe's songs, and see +them trip her measures. They lament her absence and +plead for her pardon. Compassion allied to curiosity +impels the Queen to recall Iolanthe. For Iolanthe had +chosen to dwell at the bottom of a stream, on whose +banks we see the fairies disporting themselves. Rising +from the pool, clad in water-weeds, Iolanthe receives +the Royal pardon. Compassion having been exercised, +curiosity demands satisfaction. The Queen enquires +why Iolanthe should have chosen to live at the bottom +of a stream. Iolanthe then reveals her secret. She has +a son who was born shortly after her banishment, and +she wished to be near him. The Queen and the other +fairies are deeply interested, and just as the Queen is +expressing her desire to see the "half-fairy, half-mortal" +Arcadian shepherd, Strephon, he dances up +to Iolanthe, and with song and pipe urges her to rejoice +because "I'm to be married to-day." Iolanthe tells +Strephon that she has been pardoned, and presents +Strephon to the Queen and to her fairy sisters. "My +aunts!" exclaimed Strephon with obvious delight.</p> + +<p>Strephon explains the peculiar difficulties consequent +on being only half a fairy, and the Queen promises +that henceforward the fairies will always be ready to +come to his aid should be he in "doubt or danger, peril +or perplexitee." Strephon is now joined by Phyllis—a +beautiful ward of Chancery and his bride-elect. In +the prelude to one of the most delightful love-songs +ever written, Phyllis reveals her fear of the consequences +which may fall upon Strephon for marrying her without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +the consent of the Lord Chancellor, and Strephon +demonstrates that his fairy ancestry has not freed him +from the pangs of jealousy.</p> + +<p>We now witness the entrance and march of the peers +in their gorgeous robes, to the strains of magnificent +music, ending with a chorus which is assumed to embody +the traditional attitude of the peers to the people:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Bow, bow ye lower middle classes,<br /> +Bow, bow ye tradesmen, bow ye masses."<br /> +</div> + +<p>The Lord Chancellor enters at the conclusion of this +chorus, and after a song upon his responsibilities as +"The constitutional guardian I, of pretty young wards +in Chancery," he announces that the business before the +House concerns the disposal of the hand of Phyllis, a +Ward of Court. All the peers have fallen in love with her +and wish the Lord Chancellor to bestow her upon the +one whom she may select. The Lord Chancellor confesses +to being "singularly attracted by this young person" +and laments that his judicial position prevents him from +awarding her to himself. Phyllis arrives, and after being +proposed to by Lord Tolloller and Lord Mount-Ararat, +the whole of the peers invite her acceptance of their +coronets and hearts. Phyllis tells them that already +"her heart is given." The Lord Chancellor indignantly +demands the name of her lover. Before Phyllis can +reply, Strephon opportunely enters the "House" +and claims "his darling's hand." The peers depart, +dignified and stately, with haughty and disdainful +glances upon the lovers.</p> + +<p>The glee with which Strephon and Phyllis have regarded +their departure is suddenly ended by the wrathful +"Now, sir!" of the Lord Chancellor, who separates +the lovers and bids Phyllis depart. His severe and +sarcastic admonitions leave Strephon lamenting. Iolanthe +returns to find her son in tears. As she tenderly consoles +him, Phyllis stealthily re-enters escorted by the peers. +Knowing nothing of her lover's fairy origin, and seeing +him embracing one who appears equally young and +beautiful as herself, she breaks from the hands of the +peers just as Iolanthe and Strephon are parting, and +accuses the latter of shameless deceit. Strephon's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +explanation that "this lady's my mother" is disbelieved +by Phyllis and greeted with derision by the +peers, who decline to admit that "a maid of seventeen" +can be the mother of "a man of four or five-and-twenty."</p> + +<p>Believing herself to have been deceived by Strephon, +Phyllis now ruefully offers to accept either Tolloller or +Mount-Ararat, but doesn't care which. Just as she has +placed the noble lords in this quandary, Strephon reappears, +and invokes the aid of the Fairy Queen. +Instantaneously the fairy band are seen "tripping +hither, tripping thither" among the amazed peers, while +the slender Lord Chancellor encounters a rude shock +when he collides with the massive form of the Queen. +Strephon tells his tale of woe, and there follows an +amazing and amusing exchange of reproach and ridicule. +The infuriated Queen determines to punish the peers. +Strephon shall go into Parliament to wreak vengeance +on them. The recital of the measures which he is to +carry through Parliament alarms the peers, and the +first Act ends, after a pretence at defiance, in their +vainly suing for mercy.</p> + +<p>The second Act of "Iolanthe" is staged in the Palace +Yard at Westminster. A solitary sentry is discovered +moralising upon the proceedings in "that +House." He has observed that if the members have—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"A brain and cerebellum, too,<br /> +They've got to leave that brain outside<br /> +And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to."<br /> +</div> + +<p>Presently the fairies reappear and rejoice over Strephon's +success as a member of Parliament. Then the peers +enter and reveal their annoyance with Strephon, whom +they describe as "a Parliamentary Pickford—he +carries everything." A heated argument ensues between +the fairies and the peers. It is ended by a song from +Mount-Ararat in praise of the House of Peers, which +sparkles with satire on the members of that ancient +institution, who make "no pretence to intellectual +eminence or scholarship sublime."</p> + +<p>Having pleaded in vain that the fairies should prevent +Strephon from doing further mischief, they depart in +anger, and the Queen enters to find her band gazing +wistfully after them. Scenting danger, the Queen calls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +upon them to subdue this "weakness," Celia retorts +that "the weakness is so strong." The Queen replies +by protesting that, although she herself is not "insensible +to the effect of manly beauty" in the person of the +stalwart Guardsman still on sentry-go, she is able to subdue +her feelings, though in the famous "Captain +Shaw" song which follows she asks:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Could thy Brigade<br /> +With cold cascade<br /> +Quench my great love, I wonder?"<br /> +</div> + +<p>Phyllis now re-appears, seeming very unhappy, and +is presently joined by Tolloller and Mount-Ararat, who +wrangle as to which shall yield her to the other. Phyllis +implores them not to fight for her. "It is not worth +while," she declares, and after a moment's reflection +they agree that "the sacred ties of friendship are paramount." +Following the departure of the trio there enters +the Lord Chancellor looking dejected and very miserable. +He, too, it will be remembered, had fallen in love with +Phyllis, and he now mourns aloud that "love unrequited +robs him of his rest." Mount-Ararat and +Tolloller join him and express their concern at his woebegone +appearance. He explains, and they persuade him +to make another application to himself for permission to +marry Phyllis. Then Phyllis and Strephon encounter +each other in the Palace Square. Taunted by a reference +to his "young" mother, Strephon discloses that she is +a fairy. This leads to a reconciliation. Iolanthe joins +them, and when they ask her to appeal to the Lord +Chancellor for his consent to their marriage, she reveals +the secret of her life. The Lord Chancellor is her +husband! He thinks her dead, and she is bound under +penalty of death not to undeceive him. The Lord +Chancellor enters exclaiming "Victory! victory!" +In the highest spirits he relates how he had wrested +from himself permission to marry Phyllis. Then +Iolanthe, still hiding her identity, pleads Strephon's +cause. When he refuses her plea, she determines to +gain happiness for her son even at the cost of her own +life. Despite the warning song of her fairy sisters, +Iolanthe shocks the Chancellor with the words, "It +may not be—<i>I am thy wife</i>."</p> + +<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> Fairy Queen breaks in upon this tragic episode +with the threat of Iolanthe's doom, but ere it can be +pronounced the Fairy Leila tells the Queen that if +Iolanthe must die so must they all, for all have married +peers. Bewildered by this dilemma the Fairy Queen is +greatly relieved when the Lord Chancellor suggests that +instead of the fairy law reading "Every fairy must die +who marries a mortal" it should be "Every fairy must +die who don't marry a mortal." Accepting the suggestion +the Queen finds her own life in peril. She proposes +to the stalwart Grenadier still on duty, who +gallantly accepts. The peers also agree to exchange the +"House of Peers for House of Peris." Wings spring +from their shoulders and away they all fly, "Up in the +sky, ever so high," where "pleasures come in endless +series."</p> + + +<h3>"PRINCESS IDA."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced January 5th, 1884.</i></div> + +<p>Princess Ida was the daughter of King Gama, and +when but twelve-months' old, she had been betrothed +to Prince Hilarion, the two-year-old son of King +Hildebrand. The opening scene presents King Hildebrand +and his courtiers awaiting the arrival of King +Gama and Princess Ida for the celebration of the +nuptials in accordance with the marriage contract. Some +doubt exists as to whether this will be honoured, for +Prince Hilarion has heard that his bride has "forsworn +the world." It is presently announced that Gama and +his train are approaching. His appearance is preceded +by that of three bearded warriors clad in armour, who +declare that they are "Sons of Gama Rex," and +naïvely add, "Like most sons are we, masculine in sex." +They are followed by Gama, who fits in appearance +Hildebrand's description of him as "a twisted monster<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>—all +awry." In a three-verse song Gama describes his +own character in detail, each verse ending:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Yet everybody thinks I'm such a disagreeable man<br /> +And I can't think why."<br /> +</div> + +<p>Gama proceeds to justify the universal opinion by his +venomous remarks to Hildebrand's courtiers, and when +Hildebrand demands the reason for Ida's absence, he +becomes insulting. Later, he relates that Ida has +established and rules a Woman's University in Castle +Adamant, from which all males are excluded. Gama +tells Hilarion that if he addresses the lady most politely +she may deign to look on him. Hildebrand bids Hilarion +to go to Castle Adamant and claim Ida as his wife, but +adds that if she refuses, his soldiers will "storm the +lady." King Gama is detained as hostage, with the +warning that "should Hilarion disappear, we will +hang you, never fear, most politely, most politely." +Gama and his three sons are then marched off to their +prison cell.</p> + +<p>In the second act, we are transported to Castle +Adamant, and behold, in the gardens, Lady Psyche +surrounded by girl graduates. Lady Blanche arrives, +and reads to them the Princess Ida's list of punishments. +One student is expelled for bringing in a set of chessmen, +while another is punished for having sketched a perambulator. +Then Princess Ida herself enters, and is +hailed by the students as a "mighty maiden with a +mission." Her address to the students is intended to +demonstrate woman's superiority over man. Then +Lady Blanche, in announcing a lecture by herself on +abstract philosophy, reveals that the exclusion of the +male sex from the university has not banished jealousy. +Ida and the students enter the castle. Hardly have +they gone, when Hilarion, accompanied by Cyril and +Florian, are seen climbing the garden wall. They don +some collegiate robes which they discover, and are +appropriately jocular regarding their transformation +into "three lovely undergraduates." Surprised by the +entry of Princess Ida, they determine to present themselves +as would-be students, and she promises them that +"if all you say is true, you'll spend with us a happy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +happy time." The Princess leaves them alone, but as she +goes Lady Psyche enters unobserved. She overhears +their conversation, and is amazed by it, but not more +so than Florian when he finds that Lady Psyche is +his sister. The men entrust her with their secret. She +warns them that discovery may mean death, and sings +them a song which sums up the Princess Ida's teaching +to the effect that man "at best is only a monkey shaved." +Melissa now enters. She learns that the visitors are men +and loyally promises secrecy. Whilst they are heartily +enjoying themselves Lady Blanche, who is the mother +of Melissa, has observed them, and as all five are leaving +the gardens, she calls Melissa and taxes her with the +facts. Melissa explains the situation, and persuades +her mother to assist Hilarion's plan.</p> + +<p>In the next scene the Princess Ida and the students +are seen at an alfresco luncheon. Cyril becomes tipsy, +discloses the secret of the intruders, and scandalises the +Princess by singing an "old kissing song":—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Would you know the kind of maid<br /> +Sets my heart aflame—a?"<br /> +</div> + +<p>In her excitement at this revelation the Princess falls +into the stream which flows through the gardens. +Hilarion rescues her, but this gallant feat does not +shake the lady's resolution, and she orders their arrest. +As they are marched away Melissa brings news of an +armed band without the castle. Speedily Hildebrand, +at the head of his soldiers, confronts Ida. The three +sons of Gama, still clad in armour, warn her that refusal +to yield means death. Hildebrand gives Ida until +the next day to "decide to pocket your pride and let +Hilarion claim his bride." The curtain falls upon the +Princess hurling defiance at Hildebrand.</p> + +<p>When the curtain rises for the third time, we discover +that the outer walls and courtyard of Castle Adamant +are held by Princess Ida's students, who are armed +with battle-axes, and who sing of "Death to the invader." +The Princess comes attended by Blanche and +Psyche, and warns them that "we have to meet stern +bearded warriors in fight to-day." She bids them +remember that they have to show that they "can meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +Man face to face on his own ground, and beat him +there." But as she reviews her forces, she meets with +disappointment. The lady surgeon declares that, +although she has often cut off legs and arms in theory, +she won't cut off "real live legs and arms." The +armourer explains that the rifles have been left in the +armoury "for fear ... they might go off." The +band-mistress excuses the absence of the band who +"can't come out to-day." Contemptuously, Ida bids +them depart. Lamenting the failure of her plan, she +is surprised by the arrival of her father, who announces +that he is to give a message from Hildebrand, and then +return to "black captivity." The message is that, +being loth to war with women, Hildebrand wishes Ida +to consent to the disposal of her hand being settled by +combat between her three brothers and three of Hildebrand's +knights. Ida demands of her father what +possesses him that he should convey such an offer. +Gama replies: "He tortures me with torments worse +than death," and in pity she yields to the proposal.</p> + +<p>While the girls mount the battlements, Hildebrand +and his soldiers enter, and there is a fight between +Gama's sons and Hilarion, Cyril and Florian. The +latter are victorious. Seeing her brothers lying +wounded, Ida cries "Hold—we yield ourselves to you," +and resigns the headship of the University to Lady +Blanche. Sadly Ida admits the failure of her scheme. +She had hoped to band all women together to adjure +tyrannic man. To Hildebrand she says that if her +scheme had been successful "at my exalted name +posterity would bow." Hildebrand retorts, "If you +enlist all women in your cause—how is this posterity to +be provided?" Ida turns to Hilarion, admitting her +error to him, and the opera ends with the company +declaring:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"It were profanity for poor humanity<br /> +To treat as vanity the sway of love.<br /> +In no locality or principality<br /> +Is our mortality its sway above."<br /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i160.jpg"><img src="images/i160-lo.jpg" width="400" height="586" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "KING GAMA" IN "PRINCESS IDA."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br /> AS<br /> +"KING GAMA" IN "PRINCESS IDA."</span> +</div> + + +<h3>"THE MIKADO."</h3> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced March 14th, 1885.</i></div> + +<p>Although this opera is entitled "The Mikado" very +little is seen of that great potentate, which is quite +in accordance with Japanese custom, so vastly different +to ours in matters of Royalty. The opera concerns much +more closely the adventures of Nanki-Poo, the Mikado's +son and heir, who has fled in disguise from the Court +to escape from Katisha, an elderly lady whom the +Mikado had ordered him to marry within a week or +perish.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the opening chorus by the gentlemen +of Japan the disguised Crown Prince enters. He +is labouring under great excitement, and begs for information +as to the dwelling of "a gentle maiden, Yum-Yum." +One of the Japanese nobles asks, "Who are +you?" and he replies in a delightful song—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"A wandering minstrel I,<br /> +A thing of shreds and patches,<br /> +Of ballads, songs and snatches,<br /> +And dreamy lullaby."<br /> +</div> + +<p>In reply to a further question as to his business with +the maiden, Nanki-Poo takes the gentlemen of Japan +partly into his confidence. He explains that a year +before he had fallen in love with Yum-Yum, who +returned his affection. As, however, she was betrothed +to her guardian Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor, he had left +Titipu in despair. Learning that Ko-Ko has been condemned +to death for flirting, he now hoped to find Yum-Yum +free. Alas! for Nanki-Poo's hopes, they inform +him that not only has Ko-Ko been reprieved, but that +he has been elevated to the highest rank a citizen can +attain, and is now Lord High Executioner. Pish Tush +explains that, in order to circumvent the Mikado's +decree making flirtation a capital offence, they have +appointed Ko-Ko as Lord High Executioner, because, +being under sentence of death himself, he cannot cut off +anybody else's head until he has cut off his own.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>Expressing his sense of the condescension shown to +him by Pooh-Bah, that portly personage explains that +although "a particularly haughty and exclusive person" +who can trace his ancestry back to "a protoplasmic, +primordial, atomic globule," he mortifies his family +pride. In proof of this he points out that, when all the +other high officers of State had resigned because they +were too proud to serve under an ex-tailor, he had +accepted all their posts (and the salaries attached) at +once, so that he is now First Lord of the Treasury, +Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High +Admiral, Master of the Buckhounds, Groom of the Back +Stairs, Archbishop, and Lord Mayor.</p> + +<p>Pooh-Bah informs Nanki-Poo that Yum-Yum is +arriving from school that very day to be married to +Ko-Ko. Ko-Ko enters, preceded by a chorus of nobles, +and Pooh-Bah refers Nanki-Poo to him for any further +information concerning Yum-Yum. This is Ko-Ko's +first public appearance as Lord High Executioner, and +after thanking the nobles for their welcome, he promises +strict attention to his duties. Happily, he remarks, +"there will be no difficulty in finding plenty of people +whose loss will be a distinct gain to society at large." +He proceeds to mention in a song that he's got "a little +list" of possible victims and "they'll none of 'em be +missed."</p> + +<p>So far the opera has been an exclusively masculine +affair, but Yum-Yum now arrives escorted by a bevy +of dainty schoolfellows, who sing of their "Wondering +what the world can be." This little chorus contains +two exquisite verses—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Is it but a world of trouble<br /> +Sadness set to song?<br /> +Is its beauty but a bubble,<br /> +Bound to break ere long?"<br /> +<br /> +"Are its palaces and pleasures<br /> +Fantasies that fade?<br /> +And the glory of its treasures<br /> +Shadows of a shade?"<br /> +</div> + +<p>Yum-Yum and her bridesmaids, Peep-bo and Pitti +Sing, introduce themselves by the delicious trio, "Three +Little Maids." Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah enter, and +Yum-Yum reluctantly permits Ko-Ko to kiss her. At +this moment, Nanki-Poo arrives and the "three little +maids" rush over to him and welcome him with great +effusion. Ko-Ko's jealousy is aroused, and he asks to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +presented. Right boyishly Nanki-Poo blurts out to +Ko-Ko that he loves Yum-Yum. He expects Ko-Ko +to be angry, but instead Ko-Ko thanks him for agreeing +with him as to the lady's charms. Presently Nanki-Poo +and Yum-Yum manage to get the Courtyard to themselves. +During their <i>tête-a-tête</i> Nanki-Poo reveals his +secret to Yum-Yum. They are interrupted by the +appearance of Ko-Ko and escape in different directions. +As Ko-Ko soliloquises upon his beloved, he is interrupted +by Pooh-Bah with a letter from the Mikado. +This is an intimation that, as no executions have taken +place in Titipu for a year, the office of Lord High Executioner +will be abolished and the city reduced to the +rank of a village unless somebody is beheaded within one +month. As this would involve the city in ruin, Ko-Ko +declares that he will have to execute someone. Pooh-Bah, +pointing out that Ko-Ko himself is under sentence +of death, suggests that he should execute himself. This +leads to an acrimonious discussion, which is ended by +Ko-Ko appointing Pooh-Bah, who is already holding +all the other high offices of State, to be Lord High +Substitute (for himself as a victim of the headsman). +But Pooh-Bah declares "I must set bounds to my insatiable +ambition." He draws the line at his own death.</p> + +<p>Whilst Ko-Ko is lamenting the position as "simply +appalling" he is disturbed by the entrance of Nanki-Poo +with a rope in his hands. He has made up his mind +to commit suicide because Ko-Ko is going to marry +Yum-Yum. Finding "threats, entreaties, prayers all +useless" Ko-Ko is struck with a brilliant idea. He +suggests that Nanki-Poo should at the end of a month's +time "be beheaded handsomely at the hands of the +Public Executioner." To this Nanki-Poo agrees on +condition that Ko-Ko permits him to marry Yum-Yum. +Reluctantly Ko-Ko accepts the condition, and +when Pooh-Bah returns to enquire what Ko-Ko has +decided to do in regard to an execution, he replies, +"Congratulate me! I've found a volunteer." Whilst +the townsfolk of Titipu are bantering Nanki-Poo on the +prospect of marriage and death, their revelry is interrupted +by the arrival of the lady who was the cause +of Nanki-Poo's wandering. Katisha discovers Nanki-Poo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +and calls upon him to "give me my place." When +he refuses she would have revealed his identity, but +every time she tries to say "He is the son of your +Mikado" her voice is drowned by the singing of Nanki-Poo, +Yum-Yum and the chorus. Eventually Katisha +rushes away threatening furious vengeance.</p> + +<p>When the curtain rises again the scene is the garden of +Ko-Ko's palace. We see Yum-Yum decked by her +bridesmaids for the wedding, while they sing of her +loveliness, and Pitti-Sing bids her "Sit with downcast +eye; let it brim with dew." Pitti-Sing tells her also that +"modesty at marriage tide well becomes a pretty +bride," but this admonition seems lost upon a bride who, +when her adornment is complete, frankly revels in her +beauty. In "The Sun whose rays," a song of entrancing +melody, she declares, "I mean to rule the earth as he +the sky."</p> + +<p>But her rapture is marred by the reminder from +Peep-Bo that her bridegroom has only a month to live. +Nanki-Poo finds her in tears, and has much difficulty in +comforting her, their feelings being aptly expressed in that +wonderful madrigal, which although it begins so joyfully +with "Brightly dawns our wedding day," yet ends in +tears. Ko-Ko now joins the wedding party, and although +the sight of Yum-Yum in Nanki-Poo's arms is "simple +torture," he insists on remaining so that he may get used +to it. When Yum-Yum says it is only for a month, he +tells of his discovery that when a married man is beheaded +his wife must be buried alive. Naturally, Yum-Yum +demurs to a wedding with such a hideous ending to +the honeymoon, and Nanki-Poo declares that, as he +cannot live without Yum-Yum, he intends to perform the +"happy dispatch." Ko-Ko's protest is followed by the +entry of Pooh-Bah to announce the approach of the +Mikado and his suite. They will arrive in ten minutes. +Ko-Ko, believing that the Mikado is coming to see +whether his orders regarding an execution have been +obeyed, is in great alarm. Nanki-Poo invites Ko-Ko +to behead him at once, and Pooh-Bah agitatedly urges +Ko-Ko to "chop it off," but he declares that he can't do +it. He has "never even killed a blue-bottle." Ko-Ko +decides that the making of an affidavit that Nanki-Poo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +has been executed, witnessed by Pooh-Bah in each of his +capacities as Lord Chief Justice, etc., etc., will satisfy +the Mikado. Pooh-Bah agrees on condition that he shall +be "grossly insulted" with "cash down."</p> + +<p>Then as Commissionaire Pooh-Bah is ordered to find +Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko orders her to go along with the +Archbishop (Pooh-Bah), who will marry her to +Nanki-Poo at once. Waving aside all questions, Ko-Ko +urges them off just as the procession heralding the +Mikado and Katisha enters the garden to the strains of +"Miya sama, miya sama." The Mikado extols himself +as "a true philanthropist" and declares "my object +all sublime, I shall achieve in time; to let the punishment +fit the crime." His list of social crimes and the +penalties prescribed for each class of offender are equally +amusing. Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah and Pitti-Sing now kneel +in the presence, and Ko-Ko informs the Mikado that +"the execution has taken place" and hands in the +coroner's certificate signed by Pooh-Bah. Then the +three proceed to describe an event which had happened +only in their imaginations.</p> + +<p>The Mikado seems bored, and explains that though +all this is very interesting, he has come about a totally +different matter. He asks for his son, who is masquerading +in Titipu under the name of Nanki-Poo. Ko-Ko +and his associates are visibly disturbed, but he stammers +out that Nanki-Poo has gone abroad. The Mikado +demands his address. "Knightsbridge" is the reply. +(At the time this opera was originally produced there +was a Japanese colony in Knightsbridge.) Just then +Katisha, reading the coroner's certificate, discovers +that it contains the name of Nanki-Poo and shrieks her +dismay. Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko, and Pitti-Sing grovel at the +Mikado's feet, and apologise abjectly. The Mikado +urges them not to distress themselves, and just as they +are feeling that it doesn't really matter, the Mikado turns +to Katisha with "I forget the punishment for compassing +the death of the heir-apparent." The three +culprits learn with horror that it is "something humorous, +but lingering, with either boiling oil or molten lead +in it." The Mikado appoints "after luncheon" for the +punishment which "fits their crime."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the Mikado has departed Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah +decide that Nanki-Poo must "come to life at once." +At this moment he and his bride cross the garden—leaving +for their honeymoon. Ko-Ko explains that the +Mikado wants Nanki-Poo, and Pooh-Bah ironically +adds, "So does Katisha." But Nanki Poo fears that, in +her anger at his marriage, Katisha will persuade the +Mikado to order his execution, thus involving Yum-Yum +in a worse fate. He therefore refuses to re-appear until +Ko-Ko has persuaded Katisha to marry him. Then +"existence will be as welcome as the flowers in spring." +As this seems to be the only way of escape, Ko-Ko seeks +Katisha. At first she repulses him, but after he has told +her in song the story of the little tom-tit that committed +suicide because of blighted affection, she relents.</p> + +<p>Now the Mikado returns from luncheon, and asks if +"the painful preparations have been made." Being +assured that they have, he orders the three culprits to +be produced. As they again grovel at his feet, Katisha +intercedes for mercy. She tells the Mikado that she +has just married "this miserable object," indicating +Ko-Ko. The Mikado is remarking "But as you have +slain the heir-apparent" when Nanki-Poo enters +saying "the heir-apparent is not slain." He is +heartily welcomed by the Mikado, while Katisha denounces +Ko-Ko as a traitor. Ko-Ko then explains +everything to the Mikado's satisfaction, and the opera +ends with the joyous strains of Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum +uniting in "the threatened cloud has passed away +and fairly shines the dawning day," whilst the entire +company help them—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"With joyous shout and ringing cheer,<br /> +Inaugurate our new career."<br /> +</div> + + +<h3>"RUDDIGORE."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced January 22nd, 1887.</i></div> + +<p>In the days of long, long ago there live the wicked +Sir Rupert Murgatroyd, baronet of Ruddigore. He spent +all his leisure and his wealth in the persecution of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +witches, and the more fiendish his cruelties, the more +he enjoyed the ruthless sport. But there came a day +when he was roasting alive an old witch on the village +green. The hag uttered a terrible curse both on the +baronet and on all his descendants. Every lord of +Ruddigore was doomed to commit one crime a day, +and if he attempted to avoid it or became satiated with +guilt, that very day he should die in awful agony. The +prophecy came true. Each heir to the title inherited +the curse and came in the end to a fearful death.</p> + +<p>Upon this plot Gilbert wrote his clever burlesque on +the transpontine drama—the drama of the virtuous +peasant girl in the clutches of the bold and bad baronet—and +amongst his characters is a tragic figure not unlike +Shakespeare's Ophelia. The first scene is laid in the +pretty Cornish fishing village of Rederring. This village, +by the way, has a quaint institution in the form of a +troop of professional bridesmaids, who are bound to be +on duty from ten to four o'clock every day, but whose +services have of late been in little request. The girls can +only hope that they may soon be able to celebrate the +betrothal of Rose Maybud, the belle of Rederring, a +precise little maid whose every action is regulated by a +book of etiquette, written by no less an authority than +the wife of a Lord Mayor. Should an utter stranger +be allowed to pay her pretty compliments? "Always +speak the truth," answers the book. It tells her that +"in accepting an offer of marriage, do so with apparent +hesitation," and this same guide and monitor declares +that, in similar circumstances, "a little show of emotion +will not be misplaced." Rose, indeed, has had very +many suitors, but as yet her heart is free.</p> + +<p>Early in the opera Dame Hannah, who was herself +once wooed by the last baronet in disguise, relates the +story of the terrible curse on the house of Murgatroyd. +She is Rose's aunt, and she talks to the girl about Robin +Oakapple, a young man who "combines the manners +of a Marquis with the morals of a Methodist." Now, this +same Robin Oakapple, we afterwards learn, is himself +the real owner of Ruddigore, but ten years ago he so +dreaded the thought of becoming the victim of the +witch's malediction that he fled from his ancestral home,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +assumed the style and name of a simple farmer, and +lived unsuspected in Rederring. In the belief that he +was dead his younger brother succeeded to the baronetcy +and all its obligations to a life of infamy. Only two +know the secret—Robin's faithful servant, Old Adam, +and his sailor foster-brother, Richard Dauntless.</p> + +<p>Robin is such a shy fellow that he cannot summon up +the pluck to propose to Rose Maybud. She, it seems, +would not be unwilling to return his affections if he +declared them, and she gives more than a broad hint +to her bashful lover in a delightful duet, "Poor Little +Man." But Robin has to do his love-making by proxy. +Luckily or otherwise, Richard has just returned from +the sea, and this hearty British tar sings a rollicking song +in the Dibdin manner about how his man-o'-war, the +"Tom-Tit," met a little French frigate, and how they +had "pity on a poor Parley-voo." When "Ruddigore" +was produced, this number gave grave offence to the +French people, and there were critics at home who held +that it reflected also on the British Navy. The storm, +however, never led then and never would lead now to +international complications, and what questions of taste +there may be in the lyric are soon forgotten in the +engaging hornpipe which follows the song.</p> + +<p>Richard, who talks in nautical phrases and declares +that he always acts strictly as his heart dictates, +promises to help Robin in securing the hand of Rose +Maybud. He at least is not afflicted with too much +diffidence, and Robin himself sings the lines, which have +now passed into a proverb, that if in the world you wish +to advance "you must stir it and stump it and blow your +own trumpet." But Richard, when he sees the girl, acts +as his heart dictates and falls in love with her himself, +the courtship scene being delightfully quaint. Robin +returns to claim his bride, but when he finds that his +foster-brother has played him false, he is not loath to +praise his good qualities. Yet, in a trio, the fickle +Rose, having the choice between a man who owns many +acres and a humble sailor, gives herself to Robin Oakapple.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i168.jpg"><img src="images/i168-lo.jpg" width="400" height="701" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "ROBIN OAKAPPLE" IN "RUDDIGORE."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br />AS<br /> +"ROBIN OAKAPPLE" IN "RUDDIGORE."</span> +</div> + +<p>This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> incident is followed by the appearance of Mad +Margaret, a crazy figure in white who lost her reason +when she was jilted by the reigning baronet, Sir Despard +Murgatroyd. The poor, distracted girl is still seeking for +her faithless lover, and as she toys with her flowers she +sings a plaintive and haunting ballad "To a garden +full of posies." Following this strange scene, there +arrive the Bucks and Blades—all wearing the regimental +uniforms of Wellington's time, the period to +which the opera is supposed to belong—and after them +the gloomy Sir Despard. The crowd shrink from him +in horror, while he, poor man, tells how he has really the +heart of a child, but how a whole picture gallery of +ancestors threaten him with death if he hesitates to +commit his daily crime. Then Richard re-enters. +Either because of his anger that Robin has claimed +Rose's hand or because, at whatever cost, he must do +as his heart dictates, he makes known to the baronet +that his missing brother is none other than Robin +Oakapple. When, a little later, the nuptial ceremony of +the happy couple is about to begin, the festivities are +interrupted by Sir Despard dramatically declaring +Robin's real identity, and poor Robin has to forfeit +Rose, who once more turns to Richard, and face a +fateful existence as Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd.</p> + +<p>For the second act the scene moves to the haunted +Picture Gallery of Ruddigore Castle. Sir Ruthven, +otherwise Robin, now wears the haggard aspect of a +guilty roué, while the once-benevolent Old Adam acts +the part of the wicked "confidential adviser of the +greatest villain unhung." They discuss a likely crime +for the day. It concerns Richard and Rose, who have +arrived to ask for the baronet's consent to their marriage, +and he retorts by threatening to commit them to a +dungeon. This the sailor thwarts by waving a Union +Jack. Then Rose prevails upon the wicked relative to +relent. Left alone, the unhappy man addresses the +portraits of his ancestors, bidding them to remember +the time when they themselves welcomed death at last +as a means of freedom from a guilty existence, and urging +them to let the thought of that repentance "tune your +souls to mercy on your poor posterity." The stage darkens +for a moment, and then it is seen that the pictures have +become animated and that the figures, representing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +long line of the accursed race, and garbed magnificently +according to the times in which each of the ancestors +lived, have stepped from their frames. Sir Roderic, +the last of the baronets to die, sings a spectral song +about the ghostly revelries by night.</p> + +<p>Now the ancestors remind their degenerate successor +that it is their duty to see that he commits his daily +crimes in conscientious and workmanlike style. They +are not impressed with his record of the crimes he has +so far committed. "Everybody does that," they tell +him, when he declares that he has falsified his income-tax +return, and they are also unmoved when he says +that, on other days, he forged his own will and disinherited +his unborn son. They demand that he must at +least carry off a lady, and when he refuses they torture +him until, in agony, he has to accept their command. +When the ghosts have returned to their frames Old +Adam is accordingly ordered to bring a maiden—any +maiden will do—from the village.</p> + +<p>Once more we meet Sir Despard and Mad Margaret. +They are prim of manner, they wear black of formal cut, +and in every way their appearances have changed. They +are married and conduct a National School. The ex-baronet +has become expert at penny readings. Margaret, +now a district visitor, has recovered her sanity, though +she has occasional lapses. The quaint duet between +them is followed by a meeting with Robin, who hears +that his record of infamy includes not only the crimes he +has committed during the week, but all those perpetrated +by Despard during the ten years he reigned at Ruddigore. +He decides, even at the cost of his life, to bid his ancestors +defiance. But now Old Adam returns, not with a +beautiful maiden, but with old Dame Hannah. +She is a tiger cat indeed, and despite the baronet's +declaration that he is reforming and that his intentions +towards her are honourable, she seizes a formidable +dagger from one of the armed figures and declares for a +fight to the finish. The episode is interrupted by the +re-appearance of the ghostly Sir Roderic. What is +more, he and Dame Hannah recognise themselves as old +lovers, and a whimsical love-scene leads up to a tender +little ballad about the "flower and the oak tree."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>The end comes swiftly. Robin, accompanied by all +the other characters, rushes in to declare his happy discovery. +He argues that a baronet can die only by +refusing to commit his daily crime, and thus it follows +that a refusal to commit a crime is tantamount to +suicide, which is in itself a crime. The curse will thus +not stand logical analysis! Sir Roderic concurs, and +as the natural deduction is that he himself ought never +to have died at all, he and Dame Hannah are able at last +to bring joy and laughter within the grim walls of Ruddigore. +Robin, having found a week as holder of a title +ample enough, determines to earn a modest livelihood in +agricultural employment, and this time he both claims +and keeps the hand of Rose Maybud. Richard, robbed +of his intended bride, soon replaces her from amongst +the troup of professional bridesmaids, while Despard +and Margaret leave to pass a secluded existence in the +town of Basingstoke.</p> + + +<h3>"THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced October 3rd, 1888.</i></div> + +<p>Jack Point was a poor strolling player in the days +of old Merrie England. With pretty Elsie Maynard +he tramped through the towns and villages, and everywhere +the two entertained the good folk with their +songs and their dances, their quips and their cranks. +Jack Point could have been no ordinary jester. Some +years before he had been in the service of the Archbishop +of Canterbury, and he mortally offended his Grace +by his conundrum that the only difference between the +two of them was that "whereas his Grace was paid +£10,000 a year for being good, poor Jack Point was +good—for nothing." "Twas but a harmless jest," +the Merry-man sadly reflected, but the Archbishop had +him whipped and put in the stocks as a rogue, and +Jack Point was in no humour to "take a post again +with the dignified clergy."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then began the vagabondage of the strolling player. +Jack and Elsie made but a poor living, though they +looked forward to the time when the smiles of fortune, +the rewards of honest mirth, would allow them to marry. +Certainly Jack Point had a pretty wit, and beneath the +motley there beat a true heart of gold, too soon to be +broken by tragedy. It was the old, old story of the +jester who to the world's eye was a merry and boisterous +fellow, though in his inner being he was suffering all the +while the tortures of anguish. But list ye now to the +story's unfolding!</p> + +<p>The curtain rises on a faithful picture of the Tower +of London, that picturesque and historic old fortress +indissolubly connected with some of the brightest, +and the darkest, annals of England. Soon we see the +Yeomen of the Guard, clad in their traditional garb +and carrying their halberds, and amongst them is old +Sergeant Meryll. He has a daughter named Phœbe, +whose heart and hand is being sought in vain by the +grim and repulsive-looking Wilfred Shadbolt, who +links the office of head jailor with the "assistant +tormentorship." It is part of this uncouth fellow's +duty to twist the thumbscrew and turn the rack to +wring confessions from the prisoners. So far from +Phœbe being attracted to Shadbolt, her thoughts are +turned towards a young and handsome officer, Colonel +Fairfax, who lies under sentence of death in the Tower +by the evil designs of his kinsman, Sir Charles Poltwhistle, +a Secretary of State. Fairfax has been condemned +on a charge of sorcery, though his cousin's craft +is really to secure the succession to his rich estate, which +falls to him if he dies unmarried.</p> + +<p>Some hopes linger that the soldier may yet be reprieved. +Leonard Meryll, the old sergeant's son, is +coming from Windsor that day after the Court has +honoured him for his valour in many martial adventures, +and it is possible that he may bring with him the +order that will save Colonel Fairfax. He does not bring +the reprieve. Sergeant Meryll, whose life the condemned +man has twice saved, and who would now readily give +his own life for him, thereupon schemes a deception. +Leonard's future career is to be with the Yeomen of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +Guard, but as his arrival is unknown, it is arranged that +he shall hide himself for a while and his place be filled +by the imprisoned Fairfax. Just after this the Colonel +himself comes into view, under an escort commanded +by the Lieutenant, and on his way to the Cold Harbour +Tower "to await his end in solitude." He treats death +lightly—has he not a dozen times faced it in battle?—but +he has one strange last request. Could he, as a means +of thwarting his relative, be allowed to marry? The +lady would be a bride but for an hour, and her legacy +would be his dishonoured name and a hundred crowns, +and "never was a marriage contracted with so little of +evil to the contracting parties." The Lieutenant, who +admires the brave fellow, believes that the task of +finding him a wife should be easy.</p> + +<p>Now we meet Jack Point and Elsie Maynard. Not a +little terrified, they are chased in by the crowd, who bid +them "banish your timidity and with all rapidity give +us quip and quiddity." The choice of the wandering +minstrels is their duet, "I have a song to sing, O!" +Never was there a more enchanting ditty, and very significantly +it tells of a merry-man's love of a maid, and of +the humble maid—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Who loved a lord, and who laughed aloud,<br /> +At the moan of the merry-man, moping mum<br /> +Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,<br /> +Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,<br /> +As he sighed for the love of a ladye!"<br /> +</div> + +<p>Scarcely have the crowd finished applauding this +offering than the Lieutenant enters, clears the rabble +from the green, and inquires the history of Jack and +Elsie. Jack tells him of their humble means of livelihood. +Elsie is still unmarried, "for though I'm a fool," +quoths the jester, "there is a limit to my folly." The +Lieutenant then outlines his plan to make her a bride for +an hour, and as the bargain seems a sound one and money +is scarce, the two agree to the subterfuge, and Elsie is +led into the Tower cell, blindfolded, to be wedded to +Fairfax. Jack Point meanwhile tries on the officer some +of his best conundrums and his incorrigible talent for +repartee.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this Phœbe wheedles the keys of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +prison from Shadbolt, her "sour-faced admirer," and +Fairfax is thus restored to liberty in the guise of a Yeoman +of the Guard. Fairfax, of course, is taken for +Leonard and complimented on his successful campaigns. +And then there tolls the bell of St. Peter's. The crowd +enter, the executioner's block is brought on, and the +masked headsman takes his place. But when the Yeomen +go to fetch the prisoner they find that the cell is +empty, and that he has escaped. Shadbolt the jailer is +arrested, and the people rush off in confusion, leaving +Elsie insensible in the arms of her unknown husband, +Fairfax. With this the curtain falls.</p> + +<p>When it ascends once more on the same scene, the +old housekeeper of the Tower, Dame Carruthers, +chides the Yeomen on their failure both to keep and to +re-capture Fairfax. Then Point and Shadbolt appear +in very low spirits. For the Merry-man's dolefulness +there is ample cause, and he himself laments how +ridiculous it is that "a poor heart-broken man must +needs be merry or he will be whipped." Shadbolt, +envious of his companion's gifts, confesses to a secret +yearning of his own to follow the jester's vocation, and +the lugubrious fellow tells how deft and successful are +his own delicate shafts of wit in the torture chamber and +cells! Jack Point agrees, for a consideration, to teach +Shadbolt "the rules that all family fools must observe +if they love their profession." The consideration is that +the jailor must declare that he shot Fairfax with an +arquebus at night as he was attempting to swim over +the Thames. The bargain is struck, and in a short +time a shot is heard, and the jailor re-enters to declare +that the escaped prisoner has been shot and drowned in +the river. Fairfax himself has been lamenting that, +although free from his fetters grim, he is still bound for +good and ill to an unknown bride, a situation that leads +up to the first of those delightful quartettes, "Strange +Adventure." He meets Elsie, is attracted at once by +her beauty, and learns the secret of her perplexity, +though how can he proclaim his real self while he is still +Leonard Meryll?</p> + +<p>It is told us in a tuneful trio that "a man who would +woo a fair maid should 'prentice himself to the trade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +and study all day in methodical way how to flatter, +cajole and persuade." Certainly Fairfax knows these +arts much better than Point. Before the jester's eyes he +begins to fascinate the girl with sweet words and +tender caresses, and the utter disillusionment of poor +Jack Point, a victim of the fickleness of womankind +and outwitted in love, is reflected in that haunting +number, "When a wooer goes a wooing." Events now +race towards their end—an end that to two at least has +all the joyous warmth of romance, but to the one +pathetic figure in his motley the blackness of despair. +Leonard hastens in with the belated reprieve, and Elsie +soon learns with happiness that the gallant Yeoman who +has captured her heart is, in truth, her own strangely-wed +husband, Fairfax. For her the hardship of the stroller's +life has passed. So also has it for the broken Merry-man. +Sadly he kneels by the girl who has forsaken his arms for +another's, gently fondles and kisses the hem of her dress, +bestows on her the sign of his blessing, and in the last +tremor of grief falls at her feet—dead!</p> + + +<h3>"THE GONDOLIERS."</h3> + +<div class="center"><i>Produced December 7th, 1889.</i></div> + +<p>"The Gondoliers" tells of the strange and romantic +fortunes of two sturdy Republicans who are called upon +jointly to assume the responsibilities of Monarchy. They +are Marco and Guiseppe Palmieri, who ordinarily +follow the calling of Venetian gondoliers, and who +hold staunchly to the doctrine that "all men are +equal." Kingship does, indeed, seem rather less +abhorrent to their ideas when they are summoned to +fill that exalted office themselves, but at the same time +they do concede that neither their courtiers nor their +menials are their inferiors in any degree. Indeed, when +they rise in the scale of social importance they see that +their subjects rise too, and perhaps it is not surprising +that in this quaint court of Barataria are functionaries +basking in the splendour of such titles as the Lord High +Coachman and the Lord High Cook. Even in the heart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +of the most democratic of mankind does the weakness +for titles eternally linger!</p> + +<p>It is in Venice, with a picturesque canal in the background, +that the opera begins. The girls, their arms +laden with roses white and roses red, are waiting for the +most handsome and popular of all the gondolieri, who +are coming to choose their brides from amongst this +comely throng. So that, amidst such a bevy of loveliness, +fate itself may select whom their partners shall be, the +brothers decide to be blindfolded and to undertake to +marry whichever two girls they catch. In this way +Gianetta is claimed by Marco and Tessa by Guiseppe. +And both were the very girls they wanted! Singing +and dancing like the lightsome, joyous people they are, +the couples hasten to the altar without more ado.</p> + +<p>A Spanish grandee, the Duke of Plaza-Toro, now +arrives by gondola with his Duchess and his daughter, +Casilda. With them are their suite—the drummer-lad +Luiz. The Duke is a celebrated, cultivated, underrated +nobleman of impecunious estate, shabby in attire but +unquestionably gentle in breeding. He laments that his +entry into the town has not been as imposing as his +station requires, but the halberdiers and the band +are mercenary people, and their services were not +available without pre-payment in cash. Luiz is sent to +announce the arrival of the ducal party to the Grand +Inquisitor. While he is absent the Duke and Duchess +tell their daughter the reason of their visit to Venice. +She was married when only six months old to the infant +heir to the Baratarian Throne. For State reasons the secret +could not be told her before, and it seems that when her +husband's father, then the reigning King, became a +Wesleyan Methodist and was killed in an insurrection, +the baby bridegroom was stolen by the Inquisition.</p> + +<p>Casilda takes no pleasure in this sudden accession to +Queenship. She has nothing to wear, and besides that, +the family is penniless. That fact does not disturb the +Duke. He has anticipated the problem already. Seeing +that his social prestige is enormous, he is having himself +floated as a company, the Duke of Plaza-Toro, Limited. +He does not regard the proceeding as undignified. This +Duke never did follow the fashions. He has made it his +business to lead them, and he recalls how "in enterprise +of martial kind" when there was any fighting, he "led" +his regiment from behind, because "he found it less +exciting," Such was this unaffected, undetected, well-connected +warrior, the Duke of Plaza-Toro.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<a href="images/i176.jpg"><img src="images/i176-lo.jpg" width="400" height="593" alt="HENRY A. LYTTON +AS "THE DUKE OF PLAZA-TORO" IN "THE GONDOLIERS."" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><br />A. LYTTON<br />AS<br /> +"THE DUKE OF PLAZA-TORO" IN "THE GONDOLIERS."</span> +</div> + +<p>Left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> alone, Luiz and Casilda show themselves to be +secretly in love with each other, and they bemoan the +miserable discovery that has ruined the sweet dreams of +the future. The Duke and Duchess in the meanwhile +have gone to pay their respects to the Grand Inquisitor. +They return with this lugubrious personage, garbed all +in black, and present to him the little lady who, as he +says, is so unexpectedly called upon to assume the +functions of Royalty. Unfortunately he cannot introduce +her to her husband immediately. The King's +identity is a little uncertain, though there is no probable, +possible shadow of doubt that he is one of two men +actually in the town and plying the modest but picturesque +calling of the gondolier. It seems that, after +the little prince was stolen, he was placed in the charge +of a highly-respectable gondolier who had, nevertheless, +an incurable weakness for drink, and who could never +say which of the two children in his home was his own +son and which was the prince. That matter can be solved +by their nurse, Luiz's mother, who is being brought from +the mountains and whose memory will be stimulated, +if need be, by the persuasive methods of the Inquisition.</p> + +<p>The gondoliers now return with their brides. Tessa +tells in a beautiful number how, when a merry maiden +marries, "every sound becomes a song, all is right and +nothing's wrong." It was too sanguine a thought! +The Grand Inquisitor, a gloomy figure amidst these +festivities, finds the fact that Marco and Guiseppe +have been married an extremely awkward one, and no +less awkward their declaration that they are heart and +soul Republicans. He does not tell them that one is +married already—married to Casilda in infancy—but he +does startle them by the news that one of them is a +King. Sturdy Republicans as they are, they are loath +to accept the idea of immediate abdication, and it is +agreed that they shall leave for their country straightaway +and, until the rightful heir is established, jointly hold the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +reins of government. The Grand Inquisitor for good +reasons will not let their wives accompany them, but the +separation may not be a long one, and the four speculate +on the thrills of being a "right-down regular Royal +Queen." With a fond farewell the gondoliers then set +sail for their distant dominion.</p> + +<p>When in the second act we see the Pavilion of the +Court of Barataria—there in one corner is the double-seated +throne—we see also the happy workings of a +"monarchy that's tempered with Republican equality." +Courtiers and private soldiers, officers of high rank and +menials of every degree are enjoying themselves without +any regard to social distinctions, and all are splendidly +garbed. The Kings neither expect nor receive the +deference due to their office, but they try to make themselves +useful about the palace, whether by polishing +their own crowns, running little errands for their Ministers, +cleaning up in the kitchens, or deputising for +sentries who go "in search of beer and beauty." It +gives them, as Guiseppe sings, the gratifying feeling that +their duty has been done, and in some measure it compensates +for their two solitary grievances. One of these +is that their subjects, while maintaining the legal fiction +that they are one person, will not recognise that they +have independent appetites. The other is—the absence +of their wives. Marco is moved to describe the great +specific for man's human happiness:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Take a pair of sparkling eyes,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hidden ever and anon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">In a merciful eclipse.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Do not heed their mild surprise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Having passed the Rubicon.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Take a pair of rosy lips,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Take a figure trimly planned—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Such as admiration whets</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">(Be particular in this);</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Take a tender little hand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fringed with dainty fingerettes.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Press it—in parenthesis—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Take all these, you lucky man—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Take and keep them if you can!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>No sooner has he finished than the contadine enter, +having braved the seas at the risks of their lives, for +existence without their menfolk was dull and their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +womanly sense of curiosity strong. The re-union is celebrated +by a boisterous dance (the cachucha). It is +interrupted by the arrival of another unexpected +visitor—the Grand Inquisitor.</p> + +<p>The Grand Inquisitor, left alone with his <i>protégés</i>, +first of all expresses his doubts whether the abolition +of social distinctions is a workable theory. It had been +tried before, and particularly by a jovial old King who, +in moments of tipsy benevolence, promoted so many +favourites to the top of the tree that "Lord Chancellors +were cheap as sprats, and Bishops in their shovel hats +were plentiful as tabby cats—in point of fact, too +many." The plain conclusion was that "when everyone +is somebodee, then no one's anybody." Then +he tells them of the marriage of one of them in +infancy. It is certainly an awkward predicament. Two +men are the husbands of three wives! Marco, Guiseppe, +Tessa and Gianetta try to solve the complicated +plot.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards the ducal party arrive attired in the +utmost magnificence. The Plaza-Toro issue has been most +successful, and the Duke proceeds to describe how his +money-making devices include those of securing small +titles and orders for Mayors and Recorders, and the +Duchess's those of chaperoning dubious ladies into high-class +society. The Duke ceremoniously receives the two +gondoliers, but he has to take exception to the fact that +his arrival has been marked by no royal salutes, no guard +of honour, and no triumphal arches. They explain that +their off-handed people would not tolerate the expense. +His Grace thereupon advises them to impress their +court with their importance, and to the strains of a +delightful gavotte he gives the awkward fellows a lesson +in the arts of deportment.</p> + +<p>Luckily, the tangled plot is swiftly and very happily +solved on the appearance of the old foster mother, who +declares that the missing Prince is none other than Luiz. +He promptly ascends the throne and claims the hand of +Casilda, while Marco and Guiseppe, their days of regal +splendour completed, are glad enough to return with +their wives to beautiful Venice, there to become "once +more gondolieri, both skilful and wary."</p> + + +<h3>"UTOPIA, LIMITED."</h3> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> +<div class="center"><i>Produced October 7th, 1893.</i></div> + +<p>"Utopia Limited" is the story—and a very diverting +story it is—of a remote country that is desperately +anxious to bring itself "up-to-date." Utopia is somewhere +in the Southern Pacific, and its inhabitants used +to idle in easy, tropical langour amidst their picturesque +palm groves. Idlers they were, that is to say, until +they first heard of the wonders of England, for then +it was that they determined that their land must be +swiftly and completely Anglicised. The reformation +was undertaken with the utmost zest. King Paramount's +eldest daughter, the beautiful Princess Zara, has spent +five years in England and taken a high degree as a +"Girton Girl." She is due home once more at the time +that the story of the opera begins, but already her +people have heard of the wise and powerful country +overseas, and already they have done much to re-model +upon it their own manners, customs and forms +of government.</p> + +<p>Existence could never have been altogether dull +in Utopia. It is ruled by a monarch, a despot only in +theory, for the constitution is really that of a dynasty +tempered by dynamite. This may seem a hard saying. +The explanation of it is that the King, so far from being +an autocrat, is watched over day and night by two Wise +Men, and on his first lapse from political or social propriety +he is to be denounced to the Public Exploder. +It would then be this Court official's duty to blow him +up—he always has about him a few squibs and crackers—and +doubtless he would discharge this function with +greater alacrity because he is himself Heir-apparent. +Clearly the King's lot is not a happy one, and no less +so because the Wise Men insist that all sorts of Royal +scandals and indiscretions shall be written by himself, +anonymously, for the spicy columns of the "Palace +Peeper." Generally his Majesty's agents contrive to +buy each edition up, but isolated copies do occasionally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +get into unfriendly hands, and one of these contained +his stinging little paragraph about his "goings-on" +with the Royal Second Housemaid.</p> + +<p>The King has two younger daughters, the Princesses +Nekaya and Kalyba, who are being "finished" by a +grave English governess, the Lady Sophy. Exceedingly +modest and demure, with their hands folded and their +eyes cast down, they are to be exhibited in the market +place as patterns of what "from the English standpoint +is looked upon as maidenly perfection." In particular +they are to reveal the arts of courtship, showing how +it is proper for the young lady to be coy and interestedly +agitated in turn, and how she must always rehearse her +emotions at home before the looking-glass. In the +meanwhile the King, very deferential in manner, has +an interview with his two Wise Men, Scaphio and +Phantis. Notwithstanding that he seems a little hurt +about the outrageous attacks on his morality which he +has to write and publish at their command, he at least +sees the irresistible humour of the strange situation, and +he proceeds to sing a capital song about what a farce life +is, alike when one's born, when one becomes married, +and when one reaches the disillusioned years.</p> + +<p>Zara now arrives from her long journey. She is escorted +by Captain Fitzbattleaxe, together with four +troopers of the 1st Life Guards, whose resplendent +bearing immediately impress the maids of Utopia. +She brings with her, moreover, six representatives of +the principal causes which, she says, have tended to +make England the powerful, happy and blameless +country it is, and their gifts of reorganisation are to +work a miracle in her father's realm. The King and +his subjects are then and there introduced to these +six "Flowers of Progress." One of them, Captain Fitzbattleaxe +himself, is to re-model the Utopian Army. +Sir Bailey Barre, Q.C., M.P., is a logician who, according +to his brief, can demonstrate that black is white or that +two and two make five, just as do the clever people of +England. Then there is Lord Dramaleigh, a Lord High +Chamberlain, who the Princess says is to "cleanse our +court from moral stain and purify our stage." A +County Councillor, Mr. Blushington, has come with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +mind packed with civic improvement schemes, and the +wicked music-halls he also intends to purify. Mr. Goldbury +is a company promoter. He floats anything from +stupendous loans to foreign thrones to schemes for +making peppermint-drops. Last of all comes Captain +Sir Edward Corcoran, R.N., to show King Paramount +how to run an invincible Navy.</p> + +<p>Joyously do the inhabitants hail these "types of +England's power, ye heaven-enlightened band." The +King is impressed most of all with the idea of a "company +limited." Goldbury explains just what this means, +and how one can start the biggest and rashest venture on +a capital, say, of eighteen-pence, and yet be safe from +liability. "If you succeed," he declares, "your profits +are stupendous," whereas "if you fail pop goes your +eighteen-pence." It strikes the King as rather dishonest, +but if it is good enough for England, the first +commercial country in the world, it is good enough +for Utopia. What is more, he decides to go down to +posterity as the first Sovereign in Christendom who +registered his Crown and State under the Joint Stock +Company's Act, 1862. It is with this brilliant scheme +that the first act comes to a close.</p> + +<p>The second act is set in the Throne Room of the Palace. +Fitzbattleaxe is with the Princess Zara, and he is +lamenting how a tenor in love, as he is with her, cannot +in his singing do himself justice. The two then discuss +the remarkable changes that have come about since the +country determined to be Anglicised. The King, when +he enters soon afterwards, wears the dress of a British +Field Marshal. He is to preside, according to the articles +of association, over the first statutory Cabinet Council +of Utopia (Limited). For this gathering the "Flowers +of Progress" also arrive, and after they have ranged +their chairs round in Christy Minstrel fashion, the proceedings +open with a rollicking song by the King. This +is the chorus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"It really is surprising</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">What a thorough Anglicising,</span><br /> +We have brought about—Utopia's quite another land<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">In her enterprising movements</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">She is England—with improvements</span><br /> +Which we dutifully offer to our motherland!"<br /> +</div> + +<p>Following<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> the meeting comes the courtly ceremonial of +the Drawing Room. All the ladies are presented in due +form to his Majesty. Then, after a beautiful unaccompanied +chorus, the stage empties.</p> + +<p>Scaphio and Phantis, dressed as judges in red and +ermine robes, now enter to storm and rage over the new +order of things. All their influence has gone. The sundry +schemes they had for making provision for their old age +are broken and bankrupt. Even the "Palace Peeper" +is in a bad way, and as to the clothes they have imported +to satisfy the cravings for the English fashions, their +customers plead liability limited to a declared capital +of eighteen-pence. The King, whom they used to bully +to their hearts' content, is no longer a human being, but +a corporation. Once he doffed his Crown respectfully +before speaking to them, but now he dances about in +lighthearted capers, telling them that all they can do is +to put their grievances in writing before the Board of +Utopia (Limited). The two call into their counsels the +Public Exploder. Between them they work out a plot. +By a revolution the Act of 1862 must be at all costs +repealed.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the trio have departed to scheme out +the details, there is a delightful scene between Lord +Dramaleigh and Mr. Goldbury, and the two coy Princesses, +Nekaya and Kalyba. The "shrinking sensitiveness" +of these young ladies is held by themselves to be +most thoroughly English. So far from that, the men have +to tell them, the girls in the country they come from are +blithe, frank and healthy creatures who love the freshness +of the open air and the strenuous exertions of sport, +and who are "in every pure enjoyment wealthy." +(Gilbert, by the way, wrote this opera in the early +'nineties.) Loyally does Goldbury chant their eulogy:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Go search the world and search the sea.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then come you home and sing with me,</span><br /> +There's no such gold and no such pearl<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As a bright and beautiful English girl."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Nekaya and Kalyba are quickly converted to the idea +that to be her natural self is woman's most winsome +quality. Then follows an interlude between the Lady +Sophy, whose primness is merely a cloak for ambition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +and the King. Compromising paragraphs in the society +paper having been explained away, the two declare their +mutual love, and soon they are caught by other couples +in the act of dancing and kissing. No excuses are attempted +and all engage in a wild festive dance.</p> + +<p>Enter, now, the revolutionary band under the command +of Scaphio, Phantis and the Public Exploder. +They relate how the prosperity of Utopia has been +brought to naught by the "Flowers of Progress." +Suddenly the Princess Zara remembers that, in her +great scheme of reform, the most essential element of all +has been forgotten, and that was—party government! +Introduce that bulwark and foundation of Britain's +greatness and all will be well! Legislation will thus +be brought to a standstill, and then there will be "sickness +in plenty, endless lawsuits, crowded jails, interminable +confusion in the Army and Navy, and, in short, +general and unexampled prosperity." The King decrees +that party government and all its blessings shall be +adopted, and the opera ends with a song of homage +to a brave distant isle which Utopia is henceforward to +imitate in her virtues, her charities and "her Parliamentary +peculiarities."</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Great Britain is that monarchy sublime<br /> +To which some add (but others do not) Ireland."<br /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> +<h2>A SAVOYARD BIBLIOGRAPHY.</h2> + + +<p>The literature about Savoy Opera forms a regular +library. A great deal of it has been contributed to +newspapers and magazines. For the latter the reader +should consult Poole's "Index to Periodical Literature" +and its successor, "The Reader's Guide to Periodical +Literature." The following list contains the chief +books about the Savoyards.</p> + + +<h3>GILBERT.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">W. S. Gilbert</span>: By Edith A. Browne. Stars of +the Stage Series. London: John Lane. 1907.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +8vo: pp. xii+96+15 plates, one of them showing +Gilbert in a kilt as a (3rd) Gordon Highlander +(1868-78): gives a list of Gilbert's plays. The +operas are dealt with by themselves (pp. 55-84). +There is a photograph of H. A. Lytton in +"Patience" (facing p. 58). +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir William S. Gilbert</span>: A study in modern +satire: a handbook on Gilbert and the Gilbert and +Sullivan operas. By Isaac Goldberg, M.A., Ph.D. +(Harvard.) Boston: Stratford Publishing Co., 1913.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +8vo. pp. 156. The operas are discussed pp. 83-146. +"The character of Pooh-Bah is perhaps the greatest +single creation of Gilbert's." +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Recollections of Gilbert.</span> By G. W. Smalley. +<i>McClure's Magazine</i> (January 1903), xx, 302-304.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Real Conversation with Gilbert.</span> By William +Archer. <i>Critic</i>, New York (September 1901), xxxix, +240-240.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +Mr. Archer's article on Gilbert as a dramatist in +the <i>St. James's Magazine</i>, London, in 1881 (xlix, +287), was one of the first critical appreciations of +Gilbert on a big scale. +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +<span class="smcap">Gilbert's Humour.</span> By Max Beerbohm. <i>Saturday +Review</i>, xcvii, 619; xcix, 696.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Genius of Gilbert.</span> <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> +(July 1911), cxcix, 121-128.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The English Aristophanes.</span> By Walter +Sichel. <i>Fortnightly Review</i> (October 1911), xciv, +681-704.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Librettos of W. S. Gilbert.</span> By G. H. +Powell. <i>Temple Bar</i>, cxxv, 36.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Gilbert as a Librettist.</span> By J. M. Bulloch. +<i>Evening Gazette</i>, Aberdeen (June 16, 17, 1890).</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This was originally an address delivered to the +Aberdeen University Literary Society, November +16, 1888. J. M. Bulloch also dealt with "The +Pretty Wit of Mr. Gilbert" in the <i>Sketch</i>, June 12, +1898; "Mr. Gilbert's Majority as a Savoyard," in +the <i>Sketch</i>, Sept. 9, 1898; and "The work of W. S. +Gilbert," illustrated in the <i>Bookbuyer</i>, New York, +January, 1899.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Gilbert's Profits from Libretto.</span> By G. +Middleton. <i>Bookman</i>, New York (October, 1908), +xxviii, 116-123.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir W. S. Gilbert.</span> Leading article and biography +in <i>The Times</i>, May 30, 1911, pp. 11-12.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Portraits.</span> Ten reproductions are inventoried in +the <i>A.L.A. Portrait Index</i> (Washington, 1908: p. 378) +including those by Rudolf Lehman and "Spy" in +<i>Vanity Fair</i> (1881: xiii, plate 13.).</p> + + +<h3>SULLIVAN.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir Arthur Sullivan, His Life and Music.</span> By +B. W. Findon, London: James Nisbet and Company, +1904.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. viii+214+[2]: portrait of Sullivan. +Dedicated to Mr. Findon's aunt, Mary Clementina +Sullivan, 1811-82, mother of Sir Arthur. List of +Sullivan's works (pp. 204-214): section specially +devoted to the Savoy Opera (pp. 94-126). This +book was reprinted by Sisley's, Ltd. [1908] as +"Sir Arthur Sullivan and his Operas."</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sullivan.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> By Sir George Grove. <i>Dictionary of +Music</i> (1908), iv, 743-747.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir Arthur Sullivan</span>: Life story, letters, and +reminiscences. By Arthur Lawrence; with critique +by B. W. Findon; and bibliography by W. Bendall +London: James Bowden, 1899.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. xvi.+360+11 plates+[8]. There are 19 +illustrations, showing Sullivan at the ages of 12, +15, 25, 44, 52 and 57, with eight facsimiles of letters +or scores. M. Findon's critique occupies pp. 288-326 +and the bibliography, pp. 327-360.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Souvenir of Sir Arthur Sullivan</span>, Mus. Doc, +M.V.O.; a brief sketch of his life. By Walter J. Wells. +London: George Newnes, Ltd., 1901.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. viii. + 106 with 49 illustrations. Contains +"Sullivan and Gilbert" (pp. 15-31): "D'Oyly +Carte" (pp. 32-46): "American Success" (pp. +47-54.) List of his works (pp. 98-104).</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Arthur Sullivan.</span> By H. Saxe Wyndham. +London: George Bell and Sons, 1903.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. x+80, with eight illustrations. Dedicated +"to my wife through whose skill as a musician +the never ending delights of Sullivan's music were +first unfolded to me." One of Bell's Miniature +Series of Musicians.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Portraits.</span> Twenty-one reproductions are inventoried +in the <i>A.L.A. Portrait Index</i> (Washington, +1908: p. 1405) including those by Millais and by "Ape" +in <i>Vanity Fair</i> (1874: vi, plate 81).</p> + + +<h3>CARTE.</h3> + +<p>The starting of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas: a +letter written by R. D'Oyly Carte in 1877 to "My +Lord" (unnamed), apropos of a proposal to form a small +company to produce the operas. Printed in the <i>Pall +Mall Gazette</i>, May 1, 1907.</p> + +<p>The petition by the Savoy Theatre and Operas, Ltd., +and Reduced, for the approval of the Court to the reduction +of the capital from £75,000 to £41,250 was heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +before Mr. Justice Walton, August 26, 1903 (<i>Times</i>, +August 27). This led to a very interesting letter +from Gilbert in the <i>Times</i> (Aug. 28) and one in the +<i>Telegraph</i> by Mrs. Carte (Aug. 29).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Portraits.</span> Four reproductions are inventoried +in the <i>A.L.A. Portrait Index</i> (Washington, 1908: p. +259), including that by "Spy" in <i>Vanity Fair</i> (1891: +xxiii, plate 498).</p> + + +<h3>THE SAVOY OPERAS.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Gilbert, Sullivan, and D'Oyly Carte</span>: Reminiscences +of the Savoy and the Savoyards. By Francois +Cellier and Cunningham Bridgeman. London: Isaac +Pitman and Sons, 1914.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. xxiv+443: with 63 portraits and +other illustrations and six facsimile letters; and a +complete set of casts at the Savoy (pp. 425-435). +The collaboration between Mr. Cellier and Mr. +Bridgeman (pp. 3-163) was ended by the former's +death, January 5, 1914. The rest of the book +(pp. 164-422) was done by Mr. Bridgeman.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Savoy Opera and the Savoyards.</span> By Percy +Fitzgerald, M.A., F.S.A.; with six illustrations. +London: Chatto and Windus, 1894.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. xvi, 248. Most of the illustrations are +pen and ink drawings.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Gilbert and Sullivan Opera</span>: a history and a +comment. By H. M. Walbrook: with a foreword by +Sir Henry Wood. London: F. V. White and Co., +Ltd., 1920.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. 155+[3]+4 plates, including two drawings +by H. M. Bateman and a reproduction of the +Sullivan Memorial in the Victoria Embankment +Gardens; with 42 pen and ink sketches in the text: +Short bibliography (p. 155).</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Gilbert and Sullivan Jottings.</span> By Shelford +Walsh [Harrogate?] coach to the principal operatic +societies in the United Kingdom [1903].<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>16 mo.: pp. 24+cover. Contains little stories +about the operas. Price 4d.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyards on Tour</span>: a description of the various +companies on the road. <i>Sketch</i>, June 13, 1894.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Savoyard Dinner</span>, given by the O.P. Club in +the Hotel Cecil, December 30, 1906.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Gilbert's historical speech on this occasion was +printed verbatim in the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>, December +31, 1906.</p></div> + + +<h3>BARRINGTON.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rutland Barrington</span>: a record of thirty-five +years' experience on the English stage. By Himself; +with a preface by Sir William S. Gilbert, London: +Grant Richards, 1908.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. 270+31 illustrations and coloured portrait +on the cover. Printed at Plymouth. Dedicated +to "My good friend, Mrs. D'Oyly Carte." +The Savoy is dealt with pp. 25-86.</p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">More Rutland Barrington.</span> By Himself. +London: Grant Richards, 1911.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. 233+[1]+15 illustrations, including one +of H. A. Lytton as the Pirate King. Printed in +Edinburgh.</p></div> + + +<h3>GROSSMITH.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Society Clown</span>: reminiscences. By George +Grossmith. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1888.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>8vo. pp. iv+182. Forming vol. 31 of Arrowsmith's +Bristol Library. Chapter on Gilbert and +Sullivan pp. 91-125. In "Piano and I" (1910), +he describes (pp. 11-18) why he left the Savoy. +See also "The Diary of Nobody" (1892).</p></div> + + +<h3>LYTTON.</h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">Memories of a Merryman.</span> By H. A. Lytton. +<i>Graphic</i>, Nov. 19, 26; Dec. 3, 10, 17, 1921.</p> + +<p>This consists of some extracts from the present +volume.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>LONDON PRODUCTIONS OF THE SAVOY OPERAS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center">Opera.</td><td align="center">Theatre.</td><td align="center">Produced.</td><td align="center">Withdrawn.</td><td align="center">Per.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Trial by Jury</td><td align="left">Royalty</td><td align="left">Mar. 25, 1875</td><td align="left">Dec. 18, 1875</td><td align="right">—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Sorcerer</td><td align="left">Opera Comique </td><td align="left">Nov. 17, 1877</td><td align="left">May 22, 1878</td><td align="right">175</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Oct. 11, 1884</td><td align="left">Mar. 12, 1885</td><td align="right">150</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Sep. 22, 1898</td><td align="left">Dec. 31, 1898</td><td align="right">102</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">H.M.S. Pinafore</td><td align="left">Opera Comique</td><td align="left">May 25, 1878</td><td align="left">Feb. 20, 1880}</td><td align="right">700</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Dec. 16, 1879</td><td align="left">Mar. 20, 1880}</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Nov. 12, 1887</td><td align="left">Mar. 10, 1888</td><td align="right">120</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">June 6, 1889</td><td align="left">Nov. 25, 1889</td><td align="right">174</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">July 14, 1908</td><td align="left">Repertory Season </td><td align="right">61</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Pirates of Penzance</td><td align="left">Opera Comique</td><td align="left">Apl. 3, 1880</td><td align="left">Apl. 2, 1881</td><td align="right">363</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Mar. 17, 1888</td><td align="left">June 6, 1888</td><td align="right">80</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">June 30, 1900</td><td align="left">Nov. 3, 1900</td><td align="right">127</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Dec. 1, 1909</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">43</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Patience</td><td align="left">Opera Comique</td><td align="left">Apl. 23, 1881</td><td align="left">Oct. 8, 1881</td><td align="right">170</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Oct. 10, 1881</td><td align="left">Nov. 22, 1882</td><td align="right">448</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Nov. 7, 1900</td><td align="left">Apl. 20, 1901</td><td align="right">150</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Apl. 4, 1907</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">51</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Iolanthe</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Nov. 25, 1882</td><td align="left">Jan. 1, 1884</td><td align="right">398</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Dec. 7, 1901</td><td align="left">Mar. 29, 1902</td><td align="right">113</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">June 11, 1907</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">42</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Oct. 19, 1908</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">38</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Princess Ida</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Jan. 5, 1884</td><td align="left">Oct. 9, 1884</td><td align="right">246</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Mikado</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Mar. 14, 1885</td><td align="left">Jan. 19. 1887</td><td align="right">672</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Jan. 7, 1888</td><td align="left">Sept. 29, 1888</td><td align="right">116</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Nov. 6, 1895</td><td align="left">Mar. 4, 1896</td><td align="right">127</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">July 11, 1896</td><td align="left">Feb. 17, 1897</td><td align="right">226</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Apl. 28, 1908</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">142</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ruddigore</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Jan. 22, 1887</td><td align="left">Nov. 5, 1887</td><td align="right">288</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Yeoman of the Guard </td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Oct. 3, 1888</td><td align="left">Nov. 30, 1889</td><td align="right">423</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">May 5, 1897</td><td align="left">Nov. 20, 1897</td><td align="right">186</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Dec. 8, 1906</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">90</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Mar. 1, 1909</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">28</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Gondoliers</td><td align="left">Savoy</td><td align="left">Dec. 7, 1889</td><td align="left">June 20, 1891</td><td align="right">554</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Mar. 22, 1898</td><td align="left">May 21, 1898</td><td align="right">62</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">July 18, 1898</td><td align="left">Sep. 17, 1898</td><td align="right">63</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Jan. 22, 1907</td><td align="left">Repertory Season</td><td align="right">76</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left">Jan. 18, 1909</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">22</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> +<div class="center"> +PRINTED AT<br /> +RIVERSIDE PRINTING WORKS<br /> +32-36, FLEET LANE,<br /> +LONDON, E.C.4<br /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='tnote'> +<h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> + +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p> + +<p>Click on the images to see high-resolution images.</p> + +<p>Hyphen removed: "bull[-]dog(s)" (p. 35), "high-water[-]mark" (p. 111), +"school[-]boy" (p. 63), "yester[-]year" (p. 139).</p> + +<p>Hyphen added: "Mount[-]Ararat" (p. 156).</p> + +<p>The following words appear both with and without hyphens +and have not been changed: "light[-]hearted", "Merry[-]man", +"Mount-Ararat" / "Mountararat", "re[-]appear(s)".</p> + +<p>P. 15: "waistcoast" changed to "waistcoat" (my striped waistcoat and green apron).</p> + +<p>P. 45: "caste" changed to "cast" (When George Grossmith returned to the +cast).</p> + +<p>P. 53: "minature" changed to "miniature" (experiments on a miniature stage).</p> + +<p>P. 73: "once" changed to "one" (and in one case actually before).</p> + +<p>P. 73, 108: "occured" changed to "occurred" (there occurred an incident, +thought had occurred to me).</p> + +<p>P. 82: "Guiseppi" changed to "Guiseppe".</p> + +<p>P. 97 "arn't" changed to "aren't" (I'm an ugly blighter, aren't I?).</p> + +<p>P. 110: "CHAPTER" removed from title for consistency.</p> + +<p>P. 123: "disfigurnig" changed to "disfiguring" (hit the mark without disfiguring it).</p> + +<p>P. 125: "playright" changed to "playwright" (master +mind as a playwright).</p> + +<p>P. 142: "confesess" changed to "confesses" (She confesses that).</p> + +<p>P. 149: "affection" changed to "affectation" (my mediævalism's +affectation).</p> + +<p>P. 151: "Janes" changed to "Jane" (Lady Jane assures him).</p> + +<p>P. 170: "hers" changed to "her" (his intentions towards her are +honourable).</p> + +<p>P. 174: "to to" changed to "to" (go to fetch the prisoner).</p> + +<p>P. 179: "Plazo-Toro" changed to "Plaza-Toro".</p> + +<p>P. 180: "propropriety" changed to "propriety" (political or social propriety).</p> + +<p>P. 189: "Sullvian" changed to "Sullivan".</p> + +<p>P. 190: "Nov. 17, 1877" restored from the context.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Secrets of a Savoyard, by Henry A. Lytton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRETS OF A SAVOYARD *** + +***** This file should be named 39392-h.htm or 39392-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/9/39392/ + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari, Charlene Taylor and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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