The Heritage of Gilbert and Sullivan – Bernard Lockett

We welcomed Bernard back on July 3, ’24 for the second of his talks (the first was in 2022) on Gilbert and Sullivan.

Gilbert and Sullivan worked together for 25 years (1871-1896) and produced 14 shows introducing musical theatre to audiences in London. They were pioneers of musical theatre with Gilbert responsible for the words and Sullivan composing the music. The words came first and then the music. Their works should not be described as ‘opera’ or ‘operetta’ but as musical theatre.

     G & S were aware of problems in Victorian society and incorporated political and social issues like corruption, and the dubious behaviour of politicians, bankers and business men into their work. The production of Great Expectations was a tribute to the work of Charles Dickens and was well received.

     H.M.S. Pinafore arose out of the appointment of W.S.Smith (of stationery store fame)  to Leader of the Admiralty by Disraeli. He had no naval experience and had never been to sea. Their humourous and light hearted treatment of subject matter made their works acceptable, enjoyable and popular with audiences.

     W.S. Gilbert was concerned about social inequality and used the phrase “some of us are more equal than others.” Sullivan studied music at the Conservatory in Leipzig. G & S are still very popular in Europe with two companies performing G & S full time. Most productions are sung in English as it is too difficult to fit foreign languages to the music.

    Bernard showed us two long video clips from performances of Yeoman of the Guard (wonderful costumes) and The Mikado (a Japanese themed camouflage for politics in Britain) with Ko Ko’s Little List” changing to suit the times. He showed a clip with Michael Gove and contemporary politicians on Ko Ko’s list.

    Styles of production have changed with the times but most are faithful to the words and music of G & S. Fresh approaches are tried all the time. Newer productions have very sophisticated choreography which can be accommodated on the larger stages of today. Bernard remarked that some excellent productions have come from Opera Australia and are available on DVD e.g The Gondoliers

    Universities have G & S societies, put on productions and have interesting debates on the social and political issues raised in the shows. The popularity of the shows makes for good money spinning ventures and major opera companies put on G & S today as a mainstay of their programming. G & S is second only to Shakespeare in terms of export of productions. After 150 years G & S productions are still hitting the nail on the head with their political satire still relevant today.

Q & A

There were questions on the type of audiences attracted, with newer, younger audiences being drawn to G & S. Bernard said that people from all walks of life appreciate and attend the same shows. On a question about his least favourite shows he named The Grand Duke, Utopia (16 principals so expensive to produce) and Thespis.

It seems that G & S will continue to be popular for many years to come!

Lois Coulthart