For nearly 150 years,Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influencedpopular culture in theEnglish-speaking world.[1] Lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language, such as "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", "let the punishment fit the crime", and "A policeman's lot is not a happy one".[2][3]
TheSavoy operas heavily influenced the course of the development of modernmusical theatre. They have also influenced political style and discourse, literature, film and television and advertising, and have been widely parodied by humorists. Because they are well-known and convey a distinct sense ofBritishness (or evenVictorian Britishness), and because they are in thepublic domain,[4] songs from the operas appear "in the background" in many movies and television shows.
The operas have so pervaded Western culture that events from the "lives" of their characters from the operas are memorialized by major news outlets. For instance, a 29 February 1940 article inThe New York Times noted that Frederic, fromThe Pirates of Penzance, was finally out of his indentures (having reached his 21st birthday, as described in that opera).[5]
The American and Britishmusical owes a tremendous debt to Gilbert and Sullivan, who introduced innovations in content and form that directly influenced the development ofmusical theatre through the 20th century.[6][7] According to theatre writerJohn Bush Jones, Gilbert and Sullivan were "the primary progenitors of the twentieth century American musical" in which book, music and lyrics combine to form an integrated whole, and they demonstrated "that musicals can address contemporary social and political issues without sacrificing entertainment value".[8]
Gilbert's complex rhyme schemes and satirical lyrics served as a model forEdwardian musical comedy writers such asAdrian Ross andOwen Hall, and for such 20th centuryBroadway lyricists asP. G. Wodehouse,[9]Cole Porter,[10]Ira Gershwin,[11]Yip Harburg,[12][13]Lorenz Hart,[14]Oscar Hammerstein II[6] andSheldon Harnick.[7][15] Even some of the plot elements from G&S operas entered subsequent musicals; for example, 1937'sMe and My Girl features a portrait gallery of ancestors that, like the portraits inRuddigore, come alive to remind their descendant of his duty.[16]Johnny Mercer said, "We all come from Gilbert."[17]Alan Jay Lerner wrote that Gilbert "raised lyric writing from a serviceable craft to a legitimate popular art form", and, despite professing not to be a Gilbert fan,Stephen Sondheim wrote "Please Hello" forPacific Overtures (1976), a song that has been called "an homage" to Gilbert.[14] Yip Harburg said, "Perhaps my first great literary idol was W. S. Gilbert. ... Gilbert's satirical quality entranced us [Harburg and Ira Gershwin] – his use of rhyme and meter, his light touch, the marvelous way his words blended with Sullivan's music. A revelation!"[12] In the number "Right Hand Man" from the 2015 musicalHamilton byLin-Manuel Miranda, George Washington refers to himself with irony as "The model of a modern major general", which he rhymes with "men are all" and "pedestal". Miranda commented: "I always felt like 'mineral' wasn't the best possible rhyme."[18]
Sullivan was also admired and copied by early composers such asIvan Caryll,Lionel Monckton,Victor Herbert,George Gershwin,[19]Jerome Kern,Ivor Novello, andAndrew Lloyd Webber.[1][20]Noël Coward wrote:
I was born into a generation that still took light music seriously. The lyrics and melodies of Gilbert and Sullivan were hummed and strummed into my consciousness at an early age. My father sang them, my mother played them, my nurse, Emma, breathed them through her teeth while she was washing me, dressing me and undressing me and putting me to bed. My aunts and uncles, who were legion, sang them singly and in unison at the slightest provocation....[21]
— Introduction toThe Noël Coward Song Book
According to theatre historianJohn Kenrick,H.M.S. Pinafore, in particular, "became an international sensation, reshaping the commercial theater in both England and the United States."[22] Adaptations ofThe Mikado,Pinafore andThe Gondoliers have played on Broadway or the West End, includingThe Hot Mikado (1939;Hot Mikado played in the West End in 1995),George S. Kaufman's 1945Hollywood Pinafore, the 1975 animated filmDick Deadeye, or Duty Done and, more recently,Gondoliers (2001; a Mafia-themed adaptation) andPinafore Swing (2004), the last two of which were first produced at theWatermill Theatre, in which the actors also served as the orchestra, playing the musical instruments.[23][24] Looser adaptations includeMemphis Bound (1945).[25] Shows that use G&S songs to tell the story of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership include a 1938 Broadway show,Knights of Song,[26] and a 1975 West End show calledTarantara! Tarantara!,[27]Sullivan and Gilbert (1982)[28] andThe Savoyards by Donald Madgwick (1971). The playDr Sullivan and Mr Gilbert fictionalises the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership. Many other musicals parody or pastiche the operas.[29]
However, the influence of Gilbert and Sullivan goes beyond musical theatre to comedy in general. Professor Carolyn Williams notes: "The influence of Gilbert and Sullivan – their wit and sense of irony, the send ups of politics and contemporary culture – goes beyond musical theater to comedy in general. Allusions to their work have made their way into our own popular culture".[30] According to Gilbert and Sullivan expert and enthusiastIan Bradley:
The musical is not, of course, the only cultural form to show the influence of G&S. Even more direct heirs are those witty and satirical songwriters found on both sides of the Atlantic in the twentieth century likeMichael Flanders andDonald Swann in the United Kingdom andTom Lehrer in the United States. The influence of Gilbert is discernible in a vein of British comedy that runs throughJohn Betjeman's verse viaMonty Python andPrivate Eye to... television series likeYes Minister... where the emphasis is on wit, irony, and poking fun at the establishment from within it in a way which manages to be both disrespectful of authority and yet cosily comfortable and urbane.
— Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan
Cellier and Bridgeman wrote, in 1914, that prior to the creation of theSavoy operas, amateur actors were treated with contempt by professionals. After the formation of amateur Gilbert and Sullivan troupes in the 1880s licensed to perform the operas, professionals recognised that the amateur groups "support the culture of music and the drama. They are now accepted as useful training schools for the legitimate stage, and from the volunteer ranks have sprung many present-day favourites."[31] Cellier and Bridgeman attributed the rise in quality and reputation of the amateur groups largely to "the popularity of, and infectious craze for performing, the Gilbert and Sullivan operas".[32] TheNational Operatic and Dramatic Association was founded in 1899. It reported, in 1914, that nearly 200 British amateur troupes were producing Gilbert and Sullivan operas that year.[32] There continue to be hundreds of amateur groups or societies performing the Gilbert and Sullivan works worldwide.[33][34]
The phrase "Ashort, sharp shock", from the Act I song "I am so proud" inThe Mikado, has been used in political manifestos. Likewise, "Let the punishment fit the crime", from the title character's Act II song, is particularly mentioned in the course of British political debates.[2] Political humour based on Gilbert and Sullivan's style and characters continues into the 21st century. For example, in 1996, Virginia Bottomley, heritage secretary underJohn Major, sent upTony Blair in a parody of "When I Was a Lad" fromPinafore.[35] In October 2010,Ron Butler released a YouTube video pastiche of the "Major-General's Song" in character as, and mildly lampooning,President Obama.[36]
Lawyers have noted the Gilbert and Sullivan because so much of it spoofs the law, lawyers, government and their foibles.[37] US Supreme Court JusticeWilliam Rehnquist, a lifelong fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, quoted lyrics from the operas in law cases, parodied the lyrics in his writings at the Court and added gold stripes to his judicial robes after seeing them used by theLord Chancellor in a production ofIolanthe.[38][39] The Lord ChancellorLord Falconer, on the other side of the Atlantic, objected so strongly toIolanthe's comic portrayal of Lord Chancellors (like himself) that he supported moves to disband the office.[2] British politicians, beyond quoting some of the more famous lines, have also delivered speeches in the form of Gilbert and Sullivan parodies. These include ConservativePeter Lilley'spastiche of "I've got a little list" fromThe Mikado, listing those he was against, including "sponging socialists" and "young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing queue".[2] Other government references to Gilbert and Sullivan include postage stamps issued to memorialize the operas and various other uses by government entities. For instance, the arms granted to themunicipal borough of Penzance in 1934 contain a pirate dressed in Gilbert's original costuming.[40]
21st century press mentions of Gilbert and Sullivan songs include a 2010 parody version of the "Major-General's Song" was posted as an op-ed piece in theRichmond Times-Dispatch mocking actions of theAttorney General of Virginia,Ken Cuccinelli.[41] A 2024 piece inThe New Republic quoted the "little list" song fromThe Mikado and compared Ko-Ko's little list toKash Patel's threats to use theF.B.I. and other U.S. government resources to "persecute"Donald Trump's "enemies".[42]
The law, judges and lawyers are frequently subjects in the operas (Gilbert briefly practiced as a lawyer) and the operas have been quoted and otherwise mentioned in a large number of legal rulings and opinions.[43] Some courts appear to reach approximately the same conclusions as Gilbert and Sullivan: "Where does this extraordinary situation leave the lower... Courts and State Courts in their required effort to apply the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States...? Like the policeman in Gilbert and Sullivan'sThe Pirates of Penzance, their 'lot is not a happy one.'"[44] On the other hand, in the casePierson v. Ray, which established the doctrine ofqualified immunity for police officers, theUnited States Supreme Court held that "[a] policeman's lot is not so unhappy that he must choose between being charged with dereliction of duty if he does not arrest when he had probable cause, and being punished with damages if he does."[45] A few refer to the law as shown in Gilbert and Sullivan as being archaic.[46] The pronouncements of the Lord Chancellor in "Iolanthe" appear to be a particular favourite in legal quotations.[47] OneU.S. Supreme Court case even discussed a contempt citation imposed on apro se defendant who, among other conduct, compared the judge to something out of Gilbert and Sullivan.[48]
Aside from politics, the phrase "A short, sharp shock" has appeared in titles of books and songs (most notably in samples ofPink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon"). Likewise, "Let the punishment fit the crime" is an often-used phrase in the media. For instance, in episode 80 of the television seriesMagnum, P.I., entitled "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime", Higgins prepares to direct a selection of pieces fromThe Mikado to be staged at the Estate.[49] The phrase and the Mikado's song also are featured in theDad's Army episode, "A Soldier's Farewell." In the movieThe Parent Trap (1961) the camp director quotes the same phrase before sentencing the twins to the isolation cabin together. The mobsterAlbert Anastasia was given the nickname "Lord High Executioner".[50]
The character of Pooh Bah inThe Mikado, who holds numerous exalted offices, including "First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Chief Justice, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Admiral... Archbishop of Titipu, and Lord Mayor" and Lord High Everything Else, has inspired the use of the term Pooh-Bah as a mocking title for someone self-important or high-ranking and who either exhibits an inflated self-regard or who has limited authority while taking impressive titles.[51] The term "Grand Poobah" has been used on the television shows, includingThe Flintstones andHappy Days as the title of a high-ranking official in a men's club, spoofing clubs like theFreemasons, theShriners, and theElks Club.[52]
The works of Gilbert and Sullivan, filled as they are with parodies of their contemporary culture, are themselves frequently parodied or pastiched.[53][54] A notable example of this isTom Lehrer's "The Elements", which consists of Lehrer's rhyming rendition of the names of all the chemical elements set to the music of the "Major-General's Song" fromPirates. Lehrer also includes a verse parodying a G&S finale in his patchwork of stylistic creationsClementine ("full of words and music and signifying nothing", as Lehrer put it, thus parodying G&S andShakespeare in the same sentence).[55]
ComedianAllan Sherman sang several parodies and pastiches of Gilbert and Sullivan songs in the 1960s, including:
Anna Russell performed aparody called "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera."[59]The Two Ronnies' Gilbert and Sullivan parodies include their 1973 Christmas special.[60] In addition, numerous G&S song parodies and other references to G&S are made in the animated TV seriesAnimaniacs, such as the "HMS Yakko" episode, which includes its well-known parody of the "Major-General's Song", "I Am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual",[61] as well as pastiches of "With Cat Like Tread" (Pirates) and "I am the Captain of the Pinafore" and "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore" (H.M.S. Pinafore).[62]Animaniacs also presented a version of "Three Little Maids" used as an audition piece in the episode "Hello Nice Warners".Disney'sMickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) features four songs fromThe Pirates of Penzance[63] and part of the overture toPrincess Ida.[64] Other comedians have used Gilbert and Sullivan songs as a key part of their routines, includingHinge and Bracket.[65] From 1968 to 1978 Iain Kerr and Roy Cowen toured as "Goldberg & Solomon", including their two-man show,Gilbert & Sullivan Go Kosher, which they recorded.[66]
News outlets continue to refer to the operas in news commentaries and to parody songs from the operas.[67] Theatre parodies include a 1925London Hippodromerevue calledBetter Days, which included an extended one-act parody entitled,A "G. & S." Cocktail; or, A Mixed Savoy Grill, written by Lauri Wylie, with music byHerman Finck. It was also broadcast by the BBC. It concerned a nightmare experienced by aD'Oyly Carte tenor.[68][69] A 1934 operetta-styleburlesque of Gilbert and Sullivan was titledPerseverance (or Half A Coronet). Written byVivian Ellis andA. P. Herbert, it was produced at theOpera House inManchester, and then thePalace Theatre in London, in September 1934. It was first performed as part ofCharles B. Cochran's revueStreamline.[70]
Gilbert and Sullivan songs are sometimes used in popular music. The song "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" is set to the tune of "With cat-like tread" fromThe Pirates of Penzance (in particular, the segment that starts, "Come, friends who plough the sea"). The musical groupPeter, Paul and Mary included the song, "I have a song to sing, O!" fromThe Yeomen of the Guard on one of their children's albums,Peter, Paul and Mommy (1969).[71]Oscar Brand andJoni Mitchell recorded "Prithee Pretty Maiden" for the Canadian folk music TV programLet's Sing Out, broadcast byCBC Television in 1966.[72]Todd Rundgren,Taj Mahal and Michele Gray Rundgren performed "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore" on the TV showNight Music in 1989.[73] The songs have also been used in musicals and other entertainments. For example, the song, "My eyes are fully open" (often referred to as the "Matter Patter Trio") fromRuddigore is used (with some changed lyrics) in Papp'sBroadway production ofThe Pirates of Penzance, and the tune of the song is used as "The Speed Test" in the musicalThoroughly Modern Millie and is heard in a season 5 episode ofSpitting Image where Labour leaderNeil Kinnock is portrayed singing a self-parody to the tune.[74]
InThe Producers, a terrible auditioner for the musicalSpringtime for Hitler begins his audition with Nanki-Poo's song, "A Wand'ring Minstrel I." After only nine words, the director cuts him off abruptly, saying "THANK YOU!" In at least two episodes ofBlackadder Goes Forth, parts of "A Wand'ring Minstrel I" are played. "There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast" is performed byRichard Thompson andJudith Owen on the album1000 Years of Popular Music.[76] The movie poster forThe Little Shop of Horrors, shown to the right, parodies the song title, "The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring, tra la!" changing the word "bloom" to "kill".[77]
References to "Three Little Maids":
References to "Tit-Willow" ("On a tree by a river"):
References to the "Little List" song: Sherman also did a variant on the song, described above. In aEureeka's Castle Christmas special called "Just Put it on the List", the twins, Bogg and Quagmire, describe what they'd like for Christmas to the tune of the song.Richard Suart and A.S.H. Smyth released a book in 2008 calledThey'd None of 'em Be Missed, with 20 years of little list parodies by Suart, theEnglish National Opera's usual Ko-Ko.[88] In theFamily Guy episode "Lois Kills Stewie",Stewie, after taking over the world, sings the "little list" song about those he hates, includingBill O'Reilly's dermatologist (only on the DVD edition).[89]
References to "The sun whose rays": In addition to the poignant inclusion of the song near the end ofTopsy-Turvy (1999; see below), the song has been heard in numerous film and TV soundtracks, including in the 2006 filmsThe Zodiac andBrick and the UK TV seriesLilies, in the 2007 episode "The Tallyman."
Songs fromPinafore are featured in a number of films. "When I Was a Lad" is sung by characters in the2003 fantasy moviePeter Pan; "A British Tar" is sung inStar Trek: Insurrection (1998) and briefly sung inRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981); "For he is an Englishman" is sung inChariots of Fire (1981),An Englishman Abroad (1983),[90] and in the 2009 episode "Broken" ofHouse.[91]Matt Damon, as a young Edward Wilson, plays Little Buttercup in a Yale production and sings "I'm Called Little Buttercup" falsetto inThe Good Shepherd (2006).[92]
Songs fromPinafore are also pastiched or referred to in television episodes, including episode #3 ofAnimaniacs, "HMS Yakko";[63] "Cape Feare" episode ofThe Simpsons;[80]Family Guy's episode 3.1 "The Thin White Line", among others; and the 1959Leave it to Beaver episode #55, "The Boat Builders". "For he is an Englishman" is referred to both in the title's name and throughoutThe West Wing episode "And It's Surely to Their Credit" (sic), where several staffers sing along to a recording of the song to brighten up the White House counsel's day.[93] In the 1987Moonlighting episode "Cool Hand Dave, Part 2", a prison chain gang sings its advice to Sam to the tune of "When I was a Lad".[94] In the 2014 episode "Daisy" ofHow I Met Your Mother, the Captain sings most of the recit "My Gallant Crew, Good Morning" with choral responses by his maids, and later in the episode the "what never?" joke is used.[95]
The "Major-General's Song" is frequently parodied,pastiched and used in advertising.[96][97][98] Its challengingpatter has proved interesting to comics, as noted above, and has been used in numerous film and television pastiches and in political commentary.[41] In many instances, the song, unchanged, is simply used in a film or on television as a character's audition piece, or seen in a "school play" scene. For example, in the 1983 filmNever Cry Wolf, the hero sings the song.[99] Similarly, inKate & Leopold, Leopold sings the song while accompanying himself on the piano; however, the scene is anachronistic in thatThe Pirates of Penzance premiered in 1879,after Leopold had already left his own time of 1876.[100] In theTwo and a half men episode "And the Plot Moistens" (season 3, episode 21), Alan sings a verse of the song to encourage Jake to join a school musical. Similarly, in season 2 ofSlings & Arrows, Richard Smith-Jones uses the song as an audition piece for a musical.[101] In theMad About You episode "Moody Blues", Paul directs a charity production ofPenzance starring his father, Burt, as the Major-General. Parts of rehearsal and performance of the song are shown. When the lyrics slip Burt's mind, he improvises a few lines about his son.[63]
The song is parodied or pastiched in other media: In the video gamesMass Effect 2 andMass Effect 3, the characterMordin Solus sings a short pastiche, "I am the very model of a scientist Salarian".[102] Another pastiche of the song (among many on YouTube), also inspired by "The Elements", is the "Boy Scout Merit Badge Song", listing all themerit badges that can be earned from theBoy Scouts of America.[103] In 2012, the webcomicxkcd published a pastiche of the song that lists the faults associated with undergraduate majors, called "Every Major's Terrible".[104] This comic then became the subject of various musical adaptations.[105] A nonsense pastiche of the song in the 2017 filmDespicable Me 3, sung byMinions, was termed "amusing"[106] and "the film's finest moment";[107] it was uploaded to YouTube byIllumination Entertainment as a singalong challenge, which has garnered more than 19 million views as of 2023.[108]
Other examples of television renditions of the song, in addition to theAnimaniacs example mentioned above, includeThe Muppet Show (season 3, episode 61), which staged a scene in which comedianGilda Radner and a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) talking carrot each assayed the "Major-General's Song" and also sampled "A Policeman's Lot" and "Poor Wand'ring One". Radner told Kermit that she had written to request a 7-foot-tall talkingparrot, but he misread her handwriting: she wanted to presentThe Parrots of Penzance.[93] In an episode of "Home Improvement",Al Borland, thinking he was in a sound-proof booth, belts out the first stanza but is heard by everyone.[109] Others include theBabylon 5 episode "Atonement"; theStar Trek: The Next Generation episodeDisaster; the episode ofFrasier titledFathers and Sons;[63] the episode ofThe Simpsons entitled "Deep Space Homer";[101] twoVeggieTales episodes: "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment"[110] and "A Snoodle's Tale"; theMarried... with Children episode "Peggy and the Pirates" (season 7, episode 18);[101] and the 2012Family Guy episode "Killer Queen".[111] In the first episode of the 2020 British miniseriesQuiz, about theCharles Ingram cheating scandal, Ingram and another Army officer sing the "Major-General's Song".[112]
Parodies or pastiches of the song in television programs have included the animated seriesReBoot, whichended its third season with a recap of the entire season, set to the song's tune. In theStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode "The Cold Open" (2006), the cast ofStudio 60 opens with a parody: "We'll be the very model of a modern network TV show".[113][114] In theDoctor WhoBig Finish Productions audio,Doctor Who and the Pirates, theDoctor sings, "I am the very model of aGallifreyan buccaneer" (and other songs, fromPirates,Pinafore andRuddigore, are parodied).[115] When he hostedSaturday Night Live,David Hyde Pierce's monologue was a parody of the song.[116] In the 2007Scrubs episode "My Musical",Dr. Cox sings a patter song in the style of the "Major-General's Song" about why he hatesJ.D.[117]
Other songs fromPirates that have been referred to frequently include the chorus ofWith cat-like tread, which begins "Come, friends, who plough the sea", which was used in the American song, "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here", associated withFred Astaire. For instance, "Come, friends..." is featured inChariots of Fire (1981; discussed in more detail below). As noted above, the song was also pastiched in the "HMS Yakko" episode ofAnimaniacs, in a song about surfing a whale.[62] In the movieAn American Tail, Fievel huddles over a copy of the score to "Poor Wandering One", and as he wanders the streets of New York, the song plays in the background. TheSmothers Brothers, beginning in 1975 on their show, occasionally performed a parody version ofPoor Wand'ring One, which they repeated in the 1980s with theBoston Pops (John Williams conducting).[118] The theme song of the cartoon characterPopeye bears some similarity to "For I am a Pirate King". The pirate king's song is heard on the soundtrack of the 2000 filmThe Last of the Blonde Bombshells. as well as the 1997 filmWilde.[62] In the pilot episode of the 2008CTV series,Flashpoint, a police officer and his partner sing the policeman's song. In the 2009Criminal Minds episode "The Slave of Duty",Hotch quotes "Oh dry the glist'ning tear".[119]
In addition to reminiscences, picture books and music books by performers, conductors and others connected with, or simply about, theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company, theLight Opera of Manhattan, theJ. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company and other Gilbert and Sullivan repertory companies,[120] numerous fictional works have been written using the G&S operas as background or imagining the lives of historical or fictional G&S performers.[121] Recent examples include Cynthia Morey's novel about an amateur Gilbert and Sullivan company,A World That's All Our Own (2006);[122] Bernard Lockett'sHere's a State of Things (2007), a historical novel that intertwines the lives of two sets of London characters, a hundred years apart, but both connected with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas;[123] andThe Last Moriarty (2015) by Charles Veley, about an actress from D'Oyly Carte who seeks the help ofSherlock Holmes.[124]Secret Words by Jonathan Strong uses a local production ofUtopia, Limited as a background.[125] InThe Getaway Blues byWilliam Murray, the main character names all his racehorses after Gilbert and Sullivan characters and constantly quotes G&S.[126]Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free is a novel byKathleen Karr based on a historical event in 1914, when the inmates ofSherborn Women's Prison in Massachusetts, U.S., put on a performance ofThe Pirates of Penzance.[127] In the novel, the prison's chaplain uses the transformative power of music and theater to help reform the inmates, bringing them together to work on the show as a spirited community.[128] "The Mikado" is a villainous vigilante in the comic book superhero seriesThe Question, byDenny O'Neil andDenys Cowan. He dons a Japanese mask and kills malefactors in appropriate ways – letting "the punishment fit the crime".[129] A humorous illustrated booklet,A Parody on Iolanthe, was written and published by D. Dalziel in 1883 and concerns theChicago & Alton Railway.[130]
There are many children's books[131] retelling the stories of the operas,[132] or stories about the history of the famous partnership,[133] including two by Gilbert himself.[134][135] There are also children's biographies or fictionalisations about the lives of the two men[136] or the relationship between the two, such as the 2009 book,The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert & Sullivan.[137]P. G. Wodehouse makes dozens of references to Gilbert and Sullivan in his works.[138][139] Wodehouse sometimes referred to Gilbert at length,[140] and he based hisPsmith character onRupert D'Oyly Carte or his brother. Wodehouse also parodied G&S songs.[141] InJerome K Jerome'sThree Men in a Boat (1889), a description is given of Harris's attempts to sing a comic song: "the Judge's song out ofPinafore – no, I don't meanPinafore – I mean – you know what I mean – the other thing, you know.", which turns out to be a mixture of "When I, good friends" fromTrial by Jury and "When I was a lad" fromPinafore.[142]
Several novels have used the Savoy operas as backdrop for a detective story.Death at the Opera byGladys Mitchell (1934) involves a murder during a production ofThe Mikado.[143] InPirate King byLaurie R. King (2011), one of theMary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, a production company is making a silent film ofThe Pirates of Penzance.[144] Other murder mysteries includeThe Ghosts' High Noon byJohn Dickson Carr (1969), named for the song of the same name inRuddigore;[145]The West End Horror, byNicholas Meyer, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche involving a production ofThe Grand Duke (1976);[146]The Plain Old Man byCharlotte MacLeod (1985;The Sorcerer);[147]Perish in July byMollie Hardwick (1989;Yeomen)[148]Ruddy Gore byKerry Greenwood (aPhryne Fisher book, 1995;Ruddigore);[149]Murder and Sullivan by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (1997;Ruddigore);[150]Death of a Pooh-Bah by Karen Sturges (2000;Mikado);[151] andVengeance Dire by Roberta Morrell (2001;Pirates);[152]
Other mystery books and stories involve Gilbert and/or Sullivan to a lesser degree. The Dalziel and Pascoe books ofReginald Hill contain many references to G&S. One of the recurring characters, Sergeant Wield is a G&S fan. In theRuth Rendell mysteries, Chief Inspector Wexford likes to sing G&S in the shower. A series of seven novels byTom Holt, written from 2003 to 2011, concern young sorcerers who join the firm of "J. W. Wells & Co", includingIn Your Dreams (2004).[153]Death's Bright Angel, byJanet Neel, is named for a line in Sullivan's "The Lost Chord", which figures in the story.[154]Mark Twain'sThe Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg prominently features a pastiche from "The criminal cried" in the climactic scene.[155] In scenes 2 and 7 ofThe Glass Menagerie Laura discusses that Jim had a starring role in a high school production ofPirates.[156]
Science fiction authorIsaac Asimov, a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, found inspiration for his famousFoundation Trilogy while readingIolanthe.[157] Asimov was fascinated by some of the paradoxes that occur in their works and mysteries surrounding their manuscripts. He wrote several stories exploring these, including one about a time-traveller who goes back in time to save the score toThespis.[158] Another, called "The Year of the Action" (1980), concerns whether the action ofPirates took place on 1 March 1873, or 1 March 1877. That is, did Gilbert forget, or not know, that 1900 was not a leap year? In "Runaround", a story inI, Robot, a robot, while in a state similar to drunkenness, sings snippets of "There Grew a Little Flower" (fromRuddigore), "I'm Called Little Buttercup" (fromPinafore), "When I First Put This Uniform On" (fromPatience), and "The Nightmare Song" (fromIolanthe). He also wrote a short story called "The Up-To-Date Sorcerer" that is a parody of and homage toThe Sorcerer. In addition, Asimov wrote "The Author's Ordeal" (1957), a pastiche of a Gilbert and Sullivanpatter song similar to the Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song fromIolanthe, depicting the agonies that Asimov went through in thinking up a new science fiction story. Another such pastiche is "The Foundation of S.F. Success" (1954). Both are included in his collection of short storiesEarth Is Room Enough. TheRats, Bats and Vats series also includes numerous G&S character names and phrases, since the D'Oyly Carte recordings of their work provide a portion of the language material for the genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced "rats" in the stories. Another science fiction author,Robert A. Heinlein, referred to the "Little List" song in hisHugo Award-winning 1961 novel,Stranger in a Strange Land. There, when a character discovers the protagonist's ability to make objects and people disappear, mulls: "I've got a little list... they'd none of them be missed."Anne McCaffrey also seems fond ofThe Pirates of Penzance—several characters pass the time with it inPower Play, and references to "When the foeman bares his steel" appear inCrystal Line.
Aside from filmed versions, such as forPirates,Mikado andYeomen, and other adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, several films have treated the G&S partnership:Mike Leigh's filmTopsy-Turvy (1999) is a film depiction of the team and the creation of their best known opera,The Mikado. Another G&S film is the 1953The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (orThe Great Gilbert and Sullivan in the U.S.), starringRobert Morley as Gilbert andMaurice Evans as Sullivan, withMartyn Green asGeorge Grossmith. In a short 1950 film calledThe Return of Gilbert and Sullivan, Gilbert and Sullivan return to Earth after their copyright in the music has expired to protest the jazz treatment of their work.[159] In the 1951 filmThe Magic Box Sir Arthur Sullivan, played by the film conductorMuir Mathieson, conducts a choral concert of the Bath Choral Society.[160]Barry Purves made a shortstop motion animated G&S biopic in 1998 calledGilbert & Sullivan: The Very Models.[161]
Film adaptations of the operas have included a 1926 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company short promotional film ofThe Mikado that featured some of the most famous Savoyards, includingDarrell Fancourt,Henry Lytton,Leo Sheffield,Elsie Griffin, andBertha Lewis.[162] In 1939, Universal Pictures released a ninety-minutetechnicolor film adaptation ofThe Mikado. It starsMartyn Green as Ko-Ko andSydney Granville as Pooh-Bah. The music was conducted byGeoffrey Toye, who was credited with the adaptation. William V. Skall received anAcademy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.[163][164] Similarly, in 1966, the D'Oyly Carte produceda film version ofThe Mikado, which showed much of their traditional staging at the time, although there are some minor cuts. It starsJohn Reed (Ko-Ko),Kenneth Sandford (Pooh-Bah),Valerie Masterson (Yum-Yum),Donald Adams (the Mikado),Peggy Ann Jones (Pitti-Sing), andPhilip Potter (Nanki-Poo).[165]
Several film scores draw heavily on the G&S repertoire, includingThe Matchmaker (1958; featuringPinafore andMikado music),I Could Go On Singing (1963;Pinafore music),The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978; many excerpts fromThe Mikado),The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1989; using several G&S themes),The Browning Version (1994; music fromThe Mikado),The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992; songs fromPinafore andPirates) andThe Pirate Movie (1982; spoofs of songs fromPirates; in fact, the whole movie itself is a spoof ofPirates!). InChariots of Fire, the protagonist, Harold Abrahams, marries a woman who appears with theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He and members of theCambridge Gilbert and Sullivan Club sing "He is an Englishman" (H.M.S. Pinafore).[90][78] The soundtrack ofChariots also features "Three Little Maids from School Are We" (The Mikado), "With Catlike Tread" (Pirates), "The Soldiers of Our Queen" (Patience), and "There Lived a King" (The Gondoliers). InThe Girl Said No (1937), which uses songs from the operas, a dance hall girl is forced to join a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe.[166] InThe Naughty Victorians (1975), an X-rated film based on the novelThe Way of a Man with a Maid, the entire score is G&S music, and many musical puns are made, with the G&S music underlining the dialogue appropriately for those familiar with G&S.[167] InThe White Countess (2005), the overture toH.M.S. Pinafore is used in the soundtrack.
In other films, characters sing songs from the operas. InStar Trek: Insurrection (1998),Captain Picard andLt. Commander Worf sing lines from "A British Tar" fromPinafore to distract a malfunctioningLt. Commander Data.[100] InKate & Leopold (2001), among otherPirates references, Leopold sings the "Major-General's Song", accompanying himself on the piano. The lead characters of the 2015 filmThose People sing along to the song in duelling fashion.[168] InThe Good Shepherd (2006),Matt Damon's character sings Little Buttercup's song falsetto in an all-male version ofPinafore atYale University. In another Matt Damon film,The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), the song "We're Called Gondolieri" is featured in the soundtrack. InRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981), the characterSallah singsPinafore tunes, including "A British Tar".[169] In the2003 fantasy moviePeter Pan, the Darling family sings "When I Was A Lad".[100] The 1969 filmAge of Consent featured the song "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes" fromThe Gondoliers. In the 1971 filmWhoever Slew Auntie Roo?,Shelley Winters as the title character sings the song just before she is murdered.[86] In the 1988 dramaPermanent Record, a high school class performsPinafore.[170][171]Judy Garland sings "I am the monarch of the sea" in the film,I Could Go On Singing.[172]
In a number of films, a significant part of the action is set during a G&S opera.With Words and Music (1937) involves a bookie who revives a washed-up troupe of Savoyards by mounting a production ofThe Mikado.Foul Play (1978) features an assassination attempt that culminates during a showing ofThe Mikado. The thwarted assassin falls into the rigging used as a backdrop forH.M.S. Pinafore. Similarly, in Disney's cartoonMickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), the finale occurs at theParis Opéra during a G&S performance. The score features "With cat-like tread", "The Major-General's Song", "Climbing over rocky mountain", "Poor wandering one", and part of the overture fromPrincess Ida.[64] The plot concerns a performance ofThe Pirates of Penzance that becomes the setting for the climactic battle between the Musketeers andCaptain Pete.
In other films, there have simply been prominent references to one or more of the operas. For instance, inPretty Woman, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) covered a social gaffe by prostitute Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), who said that the operaLa traviata was so good that she almost "peed in [her] pants" by pretending that she had said that she liked it almost as much as "The Pirates of Penzance." InMaking Love (1982),Michael Ontkean andKate Jackson are a happy G&S-loving couple until he leaves her for another man (Harry Hamlin).
Gilbert and Sullivan, and songs from the operas, have been included in numerous TV series, includingThe Simpsons in several episodes, including "Cape Feare",[80] "Deep Space Homer", and "Bart's Inner Child"; numerousFrasier episodes;Kavanagh QC, in the episode "Briefs Trooping Gaily",Angel in the fifth season episode "Conviction", where Charles Gunn becomes a good lawyer, and learns a lot of G&S, because it's "great for elocution"; numerous references inAnimaniacs; the episode "The Cold Open" (1x02) ofStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip;[114] the episode "Atonement" ofBabylon 5; in the Australiansoap operaNeighbours,Harold Bishop often makes G&S references; references in theVeggieTales episodes "Lyle the Kindly Viking", "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment",[110] "The Star of Christmas" (a Christmas special entirely devoted to spoofing G&S and their operas), and "Sumo of the Opera";[173]Family Guy referred to and parodied G&S a number of times, especially in season four (beside the examples named above and below, see "Patriot Games", which includes the song fromThe Sorcerer, "If you'll marry me"); and Batman sings a verse of "I'm called little Buttercup" in a 1966 episode.[174] In the UK seriesLilies, in the 2007 episode "The Tallyman" both "When I Was a Lad" and "The Sun Whose Rays" are heard. An episode ofCar 54, Where Are You? has parodies of several G&S songs.[63] In 1988, episodes of Australian soap operaHome and Away featured a school production ofThe Mikado.[175] A second-season (1998) episode of the TV showMillennium titled "The Mikado" is based on theZodiak Killer case.[176][177] In a 2022 episode ofMidsomer Murders, titled "For Death Prepare", an amateur operatic society rehearses a charity concert ofPirates, when a dead body is found in their theatre.[178]
Gilbert and Sullivan references often appeared inThe West Wing. Some incidents include an episode-long argument over whether "He is an Englishman" is fromH.M.S. Pinafore orThe Pirates of Penzance, after one character's invocation of "duty", in the episodeAnd It's Surely to Their Credit; President Bartlet's gift of a CD ofThe Yeomen of the Guard to his aide Charlie inStirred; references toThe Pirates of Penzance inMandatory Minimums andInauguration, Part I; and an excerpt from "A Wand'ring Minstrel I" inA Change Is Gonna Come. CharacterSam Seaborn, the Deputy Communications Director, is the former recording secretary of the Princeton Gilbert and Sullivan Society. CreatorAaron Sorkin has stated that the characters' love for Gilbert and Sullivan is part of his attempt to avoid referring to current political and entertainment personalities and to set it in a "parallel universe."[179]
The following are examples of references to some of the best-known G&S operas:
The operas and songs from the operas have often been used or parodied in advertising.[54][189] According to Jones, "Pinafore launched the first media blitz in the United States" beginning in 1879.[190] For example,Gimbels department store had a campaign sung to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" that began, "We are the very model of a modern big department store."[96] in a 2011Geico commercial, a couple that wants to save money, but still listen to musicals, finds a roommate, dressed as the Major General, who awkwardly begins the song while dancing on a coffee table.[191] Similarly,Martyn Green sang a pastiche of the song listing all of the varieties ofCampbell's Soup.[97] Another prominent example is the elaborate illustrated book, calledMy Goodness! My Gilbert and Sullivan! of parodies of Gilbert's lyrics advertisingGuinness stout.[192] The likenesses (often in costume) of, or endorsements by, numerous Gilbert and Sullivan performers were used in advertising throughout the decades.[193] Trading cards were also created, using images from some of the operas to advertise various products.[194] There was also a series ofCurrier and Ives prints.[citation needed] Several series ofcigarette cards were issued byPlayer's cigarette company depicting characters from the Savoy operas wearing the costumes used by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.[195] Numerous postcards were published with photos or illustrations of D'Oyly Carte and other performers and scenes from the operas and other Gilbert plays.[196] More recently, television ads forTerry's Chocolate Orange from the 2000s featured a pastiche of "When I Was a Lad" fromPinafore.[197]
BothNelson Eddy andDanny Kaye recorded albums of selections from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.Al Goodman[198] andGroucho Marx also released Gilbert and Sullivan recordings.[199] The operas are referred to in other media, includingvideo games. For example, inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a casino is called "Pirates in Men's Pants", a crude play onPirates of Penzance. The 1970s singerGilbert O'Sullivan adopted his stage name as a pun on "Gilbert and Sullivan" when his manager suggested that it would be good marketing.[200] In the 1950s, the British radio showTake It from Here featured parodies of Gilbert and Sullivan songs with lyrics about the buses in London.[201]
Theappositeanagram ofH.M.S. Pinafore → "name for ship" was used incryptic crosswords inThe Times.[202]
