William S. Gilbert and Arthur S. Sullivan first collaborated in 1871 on Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old. While this show, a holiday entertainment, was relatively successful (it played for 63 performances), the score has since been lost. Because the show did not result in a long run, the two went their separate ways for the next several years. However, when fate brought the two together again with Trial by Jury in 1875, a new era of British lyric theatre began. This is the story of how that show came to be, beginning the dominance of the Savoy Operas of the British stage for the final quarter of the 19th century.
THE BEGINNING: A STORY WITHOUT A SETTING
Gilbert first conceived Trial by Jury as one of his “Bab Ballads”, and it was published in 1868 in Fun magazine. The original ballad can be found here: http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/bab_ballads/html/trial.html. The Bab Ballad calls the work an operetta, but the score in its final state is self-classified as a ‘dramatic cantata’. Either way, the work was originally not meant for collaboration with Sullivan for D’Oyly Carte, but rather for another impresario. Carl Rosa engaged Gilbert to expand the one-page Bab Ballad, with the intent of the show being a vehicle to feature his wife. However, with her death before the collaboration began, Gilbert found himself in need of a new composer. Richard D’Oyly Carte made the suggestion that Gilbert approach Sullivan with the piece. When Sullivan agreed to set it, history was in the making.[i]
THE LEGAL FOUNDATION
Trial by Jury tells the story of Angelina (the Plaintiff) and her lawsuit against Edwin (the Defendant), her former fiancée. The suit is over a charge of ‘breach of promise of marriage’, a charge that could be filed by a woman against a man but not vice versa. The charge alleges that the man promised marriage to the woman, and then rescinded that promise. This law was created because it was believed that women were more likely to give themselves conjugally before marriage if they were engaged. To break off the marriage after such a thing occurred would cause the woman to become ‘damaged goods’, greatly reducing her appeal to other future husbands. In turn, this could cause financial hardship upon the woman, thus making a suit for monetary settlement a reasonable legal recourse.
THE CHARACTERS
Besides Edwin and Angelina, the principal characters of Trial by Jury are The Learned Judge, the Usher, the Counsel for the Plaintiff, and the Foreman of the Jury. The Learned Judge is the patter character, and a true template for the patter roles to come. (An interesting side note, the man who sang this role in the original production was Fred Sullivan, brother of the composer. Fred also had a principal role in Thespis, and all indication point towards him being the lead patter man in the future collaborations. However, tragedy struck and Fred Sullivan passed away before the role of John Wellington Wells was written in The Sorcerer. That role was created by George Grossmith, who would go on to create most of the patter roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.)
The characters are presented almost as stereotyped mockeries. Edwin, the tenor, is a womanizing jerk who leaves his fiancée high and dry, and sings about falling in love with another woman. In some productions, he is even staged as arriving with another woman (this concept of ‘the other woman’ has seen many various incarnations, including an impromptu ‘pick-up’ performance at the 2010 International Festival’s Festival Club featuring 3 ‘other women’ on the arms of Edwin at his trial; I am happy to say I was the Edwin in that evening’s entertainment, and got quite a few laughs from the absurdity of it). Angelina is portrayed as a woman only interested in the materialistic side of her jilting; she is perfectly happy to accept the ‘damages Edwin must pay’ in lieu of getting her man back, and happily goes for the wealthy judge instead at the conclusion of the opera. The judge sings an entire song about the less-than-ethical path to his current exalted position, while the Counsel proves to be rather inept when he declares the marrying of two women to be the illegal offense of burglary (rather than bigamy). Perhaps the inspiration for this portrayal came from Gilbert’s own background. He was a lawyer, and notoriously unhappy with the legal state of the UK.
RECEPTION
Trial by Jury premiered as an after piece to Offenbach’s La Périchole, part of a 3-show evening’s entertainment.[ii] The piece was an immediate success with critics and the public alike, performing for a total of 131 times during its opening run. The critic for The Times commented specifically on the performances of Nellie Bromley (the Plaintiff) and Fred Sullivan (the Judge), as well as the authentic costuming of the characters.[iii]
The critic from The Era felt all the principals did well, mentioning a word of praise for each. Again, the visual presentation, and the authenticity thereof, is mentioned. Also, this particular article makes reference to another way in which Trial by Jury was a landmark work. According to this article, many versions of a trial on stage existed before Trial by Jury, but this critic makes it appear that the concept of actually setting such a show to music is new.[iv]
CONTINUED LIFE
Trial by Jury continues to be a staple of the G&S repertoire for any society, and many non-G&S specific performing groups as well. This summer, the Ohio Light Opera will present Trial by Jury as part of a triple bill. The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NYGASP) in New York City have Trial as the opening show in a G&S gala evening. The Savoy Company of Philadelphia (America’s oldest G&S society) will be partnering with The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Chester County from West Chester, PA in a production of Trial by Jury at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Gettysburg, PA (I will be singing the role of the Defendant in this production). In this way, the earliest extant collaboration between W.S. Gilbert and A.S. Sullivan continues to thrive on the stages of the 21st Century.
[i] This brief history of the early collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan comes from a discussion with Sam Silvers, a New York City native who has compiled information about all the shows and volunteers much of his time to editing the Wikipedia articles on the Savoy Operas and related topics.
[ii] The opening piece was an obscure work entitled Cryptoconchoidsyphonostomata and has also been a recent Savoynet thread (for more on Savoynet, please see my other blog posting).
[iii] First Night Review from The Times, Monday, March 29, 1875 (found at: http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/trial/html/times75.html )
[iv] First Night Review from The Era, Sunday, March 28, 1875 (found at: http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/trial/html/era75.html )
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