Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan

For nearly 150 years, Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world. 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".
The Savoy operas heavily influenced the course of the development of modern musical 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 of Britishness (or even Victorian Britishness), and because they are in the public domain, 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 in "The New York Times" noted that Frederic, from "The Pirates of Penzance", was finally out of his indentures (having reached his 21st birthday, as described in that opera).
Musical theatre and comedy.
The American and British musical owes a tremendous debt to Gilbert and Sullivan, who introduced innovations in content and form that directly influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. According to theatre writer John 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".
Gilbert's complex rhyme schemes and satirical lyrics served as a model for Edwardian musical comedy writers such as Adrian Ross and Owen Hall, and for such 20th century Broadway lyricists as P. G. Wodehouse, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II and Sheldon Harnick. Even some of the plot elements from G&S operas entered subsequent musicals; for example, 1937's "Me and My Girl" features a portrait gallery of ancestors that, like the portraits in "Ruddigore", come alive to remind their descendant of his duty. Johnny Mercer said, "We all come from Gilbert." 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" for "Pacific Overtures" (1976), a song that has been called "an homage" to Gilbert. 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!" In the number "Right Hand Man" from the 2015 musical "Hamilton" by Lin-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."
Sullivan was also admired and copied by early composers such as Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, Victor Herbert, George Gershwin, [[Jerome Kern]], [[Ivor Novello]], and [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]. [[Noël Coward]] wrote:
According to theatre historian [[John Kenrick (theatre writer)|John Kenrick]], "[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]", in particular, "became an international sensation, reshaping the commercial theater in both England and the United States." Adaptations of "[[The Mikado]]", "Pinafore" and "[[The Gondoliers]]" have played on Broadway or the West End, including "[[The Hot Mikado (1939 production)|The Hot Mikado]]" (1939; "[[Hot Mikado]]" played in the West End in 1995), [[George S. Kaufman]]'s 1945 "[[Hollywood Pinafore]]", the 1975 animated film "[[Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done]]" and, more recently,"Gondoliers" (2001; a Mafia-themed adaptation) and "Pinafore Swing" (2004), each of which was first produced at the [[Watermill Theatre]], in which the actors also served as the orchestra, playing the musical instruments. Shows that use G&S songs to tell the story of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership include a 1938 Broadway show, "Knights of Song", and a 1975 West End show called "Tarantara! Tarantara!" Many other musicals parody or pastiche the operas.
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". According to Gilbert and Sullivan expert and enthusiast [[Ian Bradley]]:
Effect on amateur theatre.
Cellier and Bridgeman wrote, in 1914, that prior to the creation of the [[Savoy opera]]s, 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." 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". The [[National 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. There continue to be hundreds of amateur groups or societies performing the Gilbert and Sullivan works worldwide.
Politics, government, and law.
[[File:PolitMikado.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Political parody celebrating the bicentennial of [[Albany, New York]]]]It is not surprising, given the focus of Gilbert on politics, that politicians, cartoonists and political pundits have often found inspiration in these works. The phrase "A [[short, sharp shock]]," from the Act I song "I am so proud" in "[[The 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. Political humour based on Gilbert and Sullivan's style and characters continues to be written. For example, in 1996, Virginia Bottomley, heritage secretary under [[John Major]], sent up [[Tony Blair]] in a parody of "When I Was a Lad" from "Pinafore". In October 2010, [[Ron Butler]] released a YouTube video pastiche of the [[Major-General's Song]] in character as, and mildly lampooning, [[Barack Obama|President Obama]].
US Supreme Court Justice [[William 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 the [[Lord Chancellor]] in a production of "[[Iolanthe]]". The Lord Chancellor [[Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton|Lord Falconer]], on the other side of the Atlantic, objected so strongly to "Iolanthe's" comic portrayal of Lord Chancellors (like himself) that he supported moves to disband the office. British politicians, beyond quoting some of the more famous lines, have also delivered speeches in the form of Gilbert and Sullivan parodies. These include Conservative [[Peter Lilley]]'s [[pastiche]] of "I've got a little list" from "[[The Mikado]]", listing those he was against, including "sponging socialists" and "young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing queue".
In 2010 a parody version of the Major-General's song was posted as an op-ed piece in the "[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]" mocking actions of the [[Attorney General of Virginia]], [[Ken Cuccinelli]]. 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 the [[Penzance|municipal borough of Penzance]] in 1934 contain a pirate dressed in Gilbert's original costuming.
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. 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's "[[The Pirates of Penzance]]", their 'lot is not a happy one.'" A few refer to the law as shown in Gilbert and Sullivan as being archaic. The pronouncements of the Lord Chancellor in "Iolanthe" appear to be a particular favourite in legal quotations. One [[U.S. Supreme Court]] case even discussed a contempt citation imposed on a "[[pro se]]" defendant who, among other conduct, compared the judge to something out of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Phrases from the operas.
Aside from politics, the phrase "A short, sharp shock" has appeared in titles of books and songs (most notably in samples of [[Pink Floyd]]'s "[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]"). Likewise "Let the punishment fit the crime" is an often-used phrase in popular media. For instance, in episode 80 of the television series "[[Magnum, P.I.]]", entitled "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime," Higgins prepares to direct a selection of pieces from "The Mikado" to be staged at the Estate. The phrase and the Mikado's song also are featured in the "[[Dad's Army]]" episode, "A Soldier's Farewell." In the movie "[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]" (1961) the camp director quotes the same phrase before sentencing the twins to the isolation cabin together.
The character of Pooh Bah in "The 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. The term "[[Grand Poobah]]" has been used on the television shows, including "[[The Flintstones]]" and "[[Happy Days]]" as the title of a high-ranking official in a men's club, spoofing clubs like the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], the [[Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine|Shriners]], and the [[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks|Elks Club]].
Songs and parodies.
The works of Gilbert and Sullivan, filled as they are with parodies of their contemporary culture, are themselves frequently parodied or pastiched. A notable example of this is [[Tom Lehrer]]'s "[[The Elements (song)|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]]" from "Pirates". Lehrer also includes a verse parodying a G&S finale in his patchwork of stylistic creations "Clementine" ("full of words and music and signifying nothing", as Lehrer put it, thus parodying G&S and [[Shakespeare]] in the same sentence).
Comedian [[Allan Sherman]] sang several parodies and pastiches of Gilbert and Sullivan songs in the 1960s, including:
[[Anna Russell]] performed a [[parody]] called "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera." [[The Two Ronnies]]' Gilbert and Sullivan parodies include their 1973 Christmas special. In addition, numerous G&S song parodies and other references to G&S are made in the animated TV series, "[[Animaniacs]]", 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", 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"). "Animaniacs" also presented a version of "Three Little Maids" used as an audition piece in the episode "Hello Nice Warners". [[Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] "[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers]]" (2004) features four songs from "The Pirates of Penzance" and part of the overture to "[[Princess Ida]]". Other comedians have used Gilbert and Sullivan songs as a key part of their routines, including [[Hinge and Bracket]]. 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.
News outlets continue to refer to the operas in news commentaries and to parody songs from the operas. Theatre parodies include a 1925 [[London Hippodrome]] [[revue]] called "Better Days" included an extended one-act parody entitled, "A "G. & S." Cocktail; or, A Mixed Savoy Grill", written by Lauri Wylie, with music by [[Herman Finck]]. It was also broadcast by the BBC. It concerned a nightmare experienced by a [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|D'Oyly Carte]] tenor. Gilbert and Sullivan songs are sometimes used in popular music. The popular song, "[[Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here]]," is set to the tune of "With cat-like tread" from "The Pirates of Penzance" (in particular, the segment that starts, "Come, friends who plough the sea"). The musical group [[Peter, Paul and Mary]] included the song, "I have a song to sing, O!" from "[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]" on one of their children's albums, "[[Peter, Paul and Mommy]]" (1969). [[Oscar Brand]] and [[Joni Mitchell]] recorded "Prithee Pretty Maiden" for the Canadian folk music TV program "[[Let's Sing Out]]", broadcast by [[CBC Television]] in 1966. [[Todd Rundgren]], [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]] and Michele Gray Rundgren performed "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore" on "Night Music" ("[[Sunday Night (American TV program)|Sunday Night]]") in 1989. 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") from "Ruddigore" is used (with some changed lyrics) in Papp's [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of "[[The Pirates of Penzance]]", and the tune of the song is used as "The Speed Test" in the musical "[[Thoroughly Modern Millie (play)|Thoroughly Modern Millie]]" and is heard in a season 5 episode of "[[Spitting Image]]" where Labour leader [[Neil Kinnock]] is portrayed singing a self-parody to the tune.
Other references to songs in "The Mikado".
[[File:LittleShop.jpg|200px|right]]
In "[[The Producers (1968 film)|The Producers]]", a terrible auditioner for the musical "[[Springtime 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 of "[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]", parts of "A Wand'ring Minstrel I" are played. "There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast" is performed by [[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]] and [[Judith Owen]] on the album "[[1000 Years of Popular Music]]". The movie poster for "[[The 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".
References to "Three Little Maids":
References to "Tit-Willow" ("On a tree by a river"): Allan Sherman's parody is described above. In one of his appearances on "The [[Dick Cavett]] Show", [[Groucho Marx]] and Cavett sang the song. Groucho interrupted at the line "...and if you remain callous and obdurate, I shall perish as he did..." to quiz the audience on the meaning of the word "obdurate". The song is featured in the 2003 TV movie "[[And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself]]". An episode of [[Perry Como]]'s TV show did a parody titled "Golf Widow". A [[Muppet Show]] season 1 episode (aired on 22 November 1976) featured [[Rowlf the Dog]] and [[Sam Eagle]] singing the song, with Sam clearly embarrassed at having to sing the word '[[Breast|tit]]' (also asking the meaning of "obdurate"). The song is played during the film "Music for Ladies in Retirement" (1941) In the 1971 film "[[Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?]]", [[Shelley Winters]] as the title character sings "Tit-Willow" just before she is murdered. In [[John Wayne]]'s last movie "[[The Shootist]]", made in 1976, Wayne and [[Lauren Bacall]] sing several lines from "Tit-Willow", before he departs with the intention of dying in a gunfight instead of from cancer.
References to the "Little List" song: Sherman also did a variant on the song, described above. In a "[[Eureeka'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 called "They'd None of 'em Be Missed," with 20 years of little list parodies by Suart, the [[English National Opera]]'s usual Ko-Ko. In the "[[Family Guy]]" episode "[[Lois Kills Stewie]]", [[Stewie Griffin|Stewie]], after taking over the world, sings the "little list" song about those he hates, including [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]]'s dermatologist (only on the DVD edition).
References to "The sun whose rays": In addition to the poignant inclusion of the song near the end of "[[Topsy-Turvy]]" (1999; see below), the song has been heard in numerous film and TV soundtracks, including in the 2006 films "[[The Zodiac (film)|The Zodiac]]" and "[[Brick (film)|Brick]]" and the UK TV series "[[Lilies (BBC TV series)|Lilies]]", in the 2007 episode "The Tallyman."
Other uses of songs in "H.M.S. Pinafore".
Songs from "Pinafore" are featured in a number of films. "When I Was A Lad" is sung by characters in the [[2003 in film|2003]] fantasy movie "[[Peter Pan (2003 film)|Peter Pan]]"; "A British Tar" is sung in "[[Star Trek: Insurrection]]" (1998) and briefly sung in "[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]" (1981); "For he is an Englishman" is sung in "[[Chariots of Fire]]" (1981), "[[An Englishman Abroad]]" (1983), and in the 2009 episode "[[Broken (House)|Broken]]" of "[[House (TV series)|House]]". [[Matt Damon]], as a young Edward Wilson, plays Little Buttercup in a Yale production and sings "I'm Called Little Buttercup" falsetto in "[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]" (2006).
Songs from "Pinafore" are also pastiched or referred to in television episodes, including episode #3 of "[[Animaniacs]]", "HMS Yakko"; "[[Cape Feare]]" episode of "[[The Simpsons]]"; "[[Family Guy]]"'s episode 3.1 "[[The Thin White Line]]," among others; and the 1959 "[[Leave it to Beaver]]" episode #55, "The Boat Builders." "For he is an Englishman" is referred to both in the title's name and throughout "[[The West Wing (TV series)|The 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. In the 1987 "[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]" episode "Cool Hand Dave, Part 2", a prison chain gang sings its advice to Sam to the tune of "When I was a Lad". In the 2014 episode "[[Daisy (How I Met Your Mother)|Daisy]]" of "[[How 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.
Other references to songs in "The Pirates of Penzance".
The "[[Major-General's Song]]" is frequently parodied, [[pastiche]]d and used in advertising. Its challenging [[patter song|patter]] has proved interesting to comics, as noted above, and has been used in numerous film and television pastiches and in political commentary. 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 film "[[Never Cry Wolf (film)|Never Cry Wolf]]", the hero sings the song. Similarly, in "[[Kate & Leopold]]", Leopold sings the song while accompanying himself on the piano; however, the scene is anachronistic in that "[[The Pirates of Penzance]]" premiered in 1879, "after" Leopold had already left his own time of 1876. In the "[[Two and a half men|Two 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 of "[[Slings and Arrows|Slings & Arrows]]", Richard Smith-Jones uses the song as an audition piece for a musical. In the "[[Mad About You]]" episode "Moody Blues", Paul directs a charity production of "Penzance" 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.
The song is parodied or pastiched in other media: In the video games "[[Mass Effect 2]]" and "[[Mass Effect 3]]", the character [[Mordin Solus]] sings a short pastiche, "I am the very model of a scientist Salarian". Another pastiche of the song (among many on YouTube), also inspired by "The Elements", is the "Boy Scout Merit Badge Song", listing all the [[merit badges]] that can be earned from the [[Boy Scouts of America]]. In 2012, the webcomic "[[xkcd]]" published a pastiche of the song that lists the faults associated with undergraduate majors, called "Every Major's Terrible". This comic then became the subject of various musical adaptations. A nonsense pastiche of the song in 2017 film "[[Despicable Me 3]]", sung by [[Minions (Despicable Me)|Minions]], was uploaded to YouTube by [[Illumination Entertainment]] as a singalong challenge; the video has been viewed more than 15 million times.
Other examples of television renditions of the song, in addition to the [[Animaniacs]] example mentioned above, include "[[The Muppet Show]]" (season 3, episode 61), which staged a scene in which comedian [[Gilda Radner]] and a 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 talking "parrot", but he misread her handwriting: she wanted to present "The Parrots of Penzance". 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. Others include the "[[Babylon 5]]" episode "[[Atonement (Babylon 5)|Atonement]]"; the "[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]" episode [[Disaster (TNG episode)|Disaster]]; the episode of "[[Frasier]]" titled "[[Fathers and Sons (Frasier episode)|Fathers and Sons]]"; the episode of "[[The Simpsons]]" entitled "[[Deep Space Homer]]"; two "[[VeggieTales]]" episodes: "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment" and "[[A Snoodle's Tale]]"; the "[[Married... with Children]]" episode "Peggy and the Pirates" (Season 7, Episode 18); and the 2012 "[[Family Guy]]" episode "[[Killer Queen (Family Guy)|Killer Queen]]". In the first episode of the 2020 British miniseries "[[Quiz (TV series)|Quiz]]", about the [[Charles Ingram]] cheating scandal, Ingram and another Army officer sing the Major-General's Song.
Parodies or pastiches of the song in television programs have included the computer-animated series "[[ReBoot]]", which [[List of ReBoot episodes|ended its third season]] with a recap of the entire season, set to the song's tune. In the "[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]" episode "The Cold Open" (2006), the cast of "Studio 60" opens with a parody: "We'll be the very model of a modern network TV show". In the "[[Doctor Who]]" [[Big Finish Productions]] audio, "[[Doctor Who and the Pirates]]", the [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|Doctor]] sings, "I am the very model of a [[Gallifrey]]an buccaneer" (and other songs, from "Pirates", "Pinafore" and "[[Ruddigore]]", are parodied). When he hosted "[[Saturday Night Live]]", [[David Hyde Pierce]]'s monologue was a parody of the song. In the 2007 "[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]" episode "[[My Musical]]", [[Dr. Cox]] sings a patter song in the style of the Major-General's song about why he hates [[John Dorian|J.D.]]
Other songs from "Pirates" that have been referred to frequently include the chorus of "With cat-like tread", which begins "Come, friends, who plough the sea," which was used in the popular American song, "[[Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here]]," popularized by [[Fred Astaire]]. For instance, the song is featured in "Chariots of Fire" (1981; discussed in more detail below). As noted above, the song was also pastiched in the "HMS Yakko" episode of "[[Animaniacs]]", in a song about surfing a whale. In the movie "[[An 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. The [[Smothers Brothers]], beginning in 1975 on their show, occasionally performed a parody version of "Poor Wand'ring One", which they repeated in the 1980s with the [[Boston Pops]] ([[John Williams]] conducting). The theme song of the cartoon character "[[Popeye]]" bears some similarity to "For I am a Pirate King". The pirate king's song is heard on the soundtrack of the 2000 film "[[The Last of the Blonde Bombshells]]". "Ah, leave me not to pine alone" is featured on the soundtrack of the sentimental 1998 British film "Girls' Night" as well as the 1997 film "[[Wilde (film)|Wilde]]". In the pilot episode of the 2008 [[CBS]] series, "[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]", a police officer and his partner sing the policeman's song. In the 2009 "[[Criminal Minds]]" episode "The Slave of Duty", [[Aaron Hotchner|Hotch]] quotes "Oh dry the glist'ning tear".
Literature.
In addition to reminiscences, picture books and music books by performers, conductors and others connected with, or simply about, the [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company]], the [[Light Opera of Manhattan]], the [[J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company]] and other Gilbert and Sullivan repertory companies, numerous fictional works have been written using the G&S operas as background or imagining the lives of historical or fictional G&S performers. Recent examples include Cynthia Morey's novel about an amateur Gilbert and Sullivan company, "A World That's All Our Own" (2006); Bernard Lockett's "Here'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; and "The Last Moriarty" (2015) by Charles Veley, about an actress from D'Oyly Carte who seeks the help of [[Sherlock Holmes]]. "Secret Words" by Jonathan Strong uses a local production of "[[Utopia, Limited]]" as a background. In "The Getaway Blues" by [[William Murray (writer)|William Murray]], the main character names all his racehorses after Gilbert and Sullivan characters and constantly quotes G&S. "Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free" is a novel by [[Kathleen Karr]] based on a historical event in 1914, when the inmates of [[Sherborn, Massachusetts|Sherborn]] Women's Prison in Massachusetts, U.S., put on a performance of "[[The Pirates of Penzance]]". 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. "[[The Mikado (comics)|The Mikado]]" is a villainous vigilante in the comic book superhero series "[[Question (comics)|The Question]]", by [[Denny O'Neil]] and [[Denys Cowan]]. He dons a Japanese mask and kills malefactors in appropriate ways – letting "the punishment fit the crime". A humorous illustrated booklet, "A Parody on Iolanthe", was written and published by D. Dalziel in 1883 and concerns the [[Alton Railroad|Chicago & Alton Railway]].
[[File:Psmith.jpg|thumb|left|Psmith in Blandings ("Leave it to Psmith") ed. 1936]]
There are many children's books retelling the stories of the operas, or stories about the history of the famous partnership, including two by Gilbert himself. There are also children's biographies or fictionalisations about the lives of the two men or the relationship between the two, such as the 2009 book, "The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert & Sullivan". [[P. G. Wodehouse]] makes dozens of references to Gilbert and Sullivan in his works. Wodehouse sometimes referred to Gilbert at length, and he based his [[Psmith]] character on [[Rupert D'Oyly Carte]] or his brother. Wodehouse also parodied G&S songs. In [[Jerome K Jerome]]'s "[[Three Men in a Boat]]" (1889), a description is given of Harris's attempts to sing a comic song: "the Judge's song out of "Pinafore" – no, I don't mean "Pinafore" – I mean – you know what I mean – the other thing, you know.", which turns out to be a mixture of "When I, good friends" from "[[Trial by Jury]]" and "When I was a lad" from "Pinafore".
Several novels have used the Savoy operas as backdrop for a detective story. "Death at the Opera" by [[Gladys Mitchell]] (1934) involves a murder during a production of "The Mikado". In "Pirate King" by [[Laurie R. King]] (2011), one of the [[Mary Russell (fictional)|Mary Russell]]/[[Sherlock Holmes]] series, a production company is making a silent film of "The Pirates of Penzance". Other murder mysteries include "The Ghosts' High Noon" by [[John Dickson Carr]] (1969), named for the song of the same name in "Ruddigore"; "[[The West End Horror]]", by [[Nicholas Meyer]], a Sherlock Holmes pastiche involving a production of "[[The Grand Duke]]" (1976); "The Plain Old Man" by [[Charlotte MacLeod]] (1985; "The Sorcerer"); "Perish in July" by [[Mollie Hardwick]] (1989; "Yeomen") "Ruddy Gore" by [[Kerry Greenwood]] (a [[Phryne Fisher]] book, 1995; "Ruddigore"); "Murder and Sullivan" by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (1997; "Ruddigore"); "Death of a Pooh-Bah" by Karen Sturges (2000; "Mikado"). and "Vengeance Dire" by Roberta Morrell (2001; "Pirates");
Other mystery books and stories involve Gilbert and/or Sullivan to a lesser degree. The Dalziel and Pascoe books of [[Reginald Hill]] contain many references to G&S. One of the recurring characters, Sergeant Wield is a G & S fan. In the [[Ruth Rendell]] mysteries, Chief Inspector Wexford likes to sing G&S in the shower. A series of seven novels by [[Tom Holt]], written from 2003 to 2011, concern young sorcerers who join the firm of "J. W. Wells & Co", including "[[In Your Dreams (novel)|In Your Dreams]]" (2004). "Death's Bright Angel", by [[Janet Neel Cohen, Baroness Cohen of Pimlico|Janet Neel]], is named for a line in Sullivan's "[[The Lost Chord]]", which figures in the story. [[Mark Twain]]'s "[[The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg]]" prominently features a pastiche from "The criminal cried" in the climactic scene. In scenes 2 and 7 of "[[The Glass Menagerie]]" Laura discusses that Jim had a starring role in a high school production of "Pirates".
[[File:1887SorcererRuddigoreWallpaper.jpg|right|thumb|Wallpaper showing characters from the Savoy operas]]
Science fiction author [[Isaac Asimov]], a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, found inspiration for his famous [[Foundation Trilogy]] while reading "Iolanthe". 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 to "Thespis". Another, called "The Year of the Action" (1980), concerns whether the action of "Pirates" 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 (story)|Runaround]]", a story in "[[I, Robot]]", a robot, while in a state similar to drunkenness, sings snippets of "There Grew a Little Flower" (from "Ruddigore"), "I'm Called Little Buttercup" (from "Pinafore"), "When I First Put This Uniform On" (from "[[Patience (opera)|Patience]]"), and "The Nightmare Song" (from "Iolanthe"). He also wrote a short story called "[[The Up-To-Date Sorcerer]]" that is a parody of and homage to "[[The Sorcerer]]". In addition, Asimov wrote "[[The Author's Ordeal]]" (1957), a pastiche of a Gilbert and Sullivan [[patter song]] similar to the Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song from "[[Iolanthe]]", 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 stories "[[Earth Is Room Enough]]". The [[Rats, 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 his [[Hugo 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 of "[[The Pirates of Penzance]]"—several characters pass the time with it in "Power Play", and references to "When the foeman bares his steel" appear in "Crystal Line".
Film.
Aside from [[Gilbert and Sullivan#Alternative versions|film adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan operas]], several films have treated the G&S partnership. [[Mike Leigh]]'s film "[[Topsy-Turvy]]" (1999) is an award-winning film depiction of the team and the creation of their most popular opera, "The Mikado". Another G&S film is the 1953 "[[The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan]]" (or "The Great Gilbert and Sullivan" in the U.S.), starring [[Robert Morley]] as Gilbert and [[Maurice Evans (actor)|Maurice Evans]] as Sullivan, with [[Martyn Green]] as [[George Grossmith]]. In a short 1950 film called "The Return of Gilbert and Sullivan", Gilbert and Sullivan return to Earth to protest the jazz treatment of their work. In the 1951 film "[[The Magic Box]]" Sir Arthur Sullivan, played by the film conductor, [[Muir Mathieson]], conducts a choral concert of the Bath Choral Society.
Film adaptations of the operas have included a 1926 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company short promotional film of "The Mikado" that featured some of the most famous Savoyards, including [[Darrell Fancourt]], [[Henry Lytton]], [[Leo Sheffield]], [[Elsie Griffin]], and [[Bertha Lewis]]. In 1939, Universal Pictures released a ninety-minute [[The Mikado (1939 film)|technicolor film adaptation]] of "The Mikado". The film stars [[Martyn Green]] as Ko-Ko and [[Sydney Granville]] as Pooh-Bah. The music was conducted by [[Geoffrey Toye]], who was credited with the adaptation. William V. Skall received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for Best Cinematography. Similarly, in 1966, the D'Oyly Carte produced [[The Mikado (1967 film)|a film version]] of "The Mikado", which showed much of their traditional staging at the time, although there are some minor cuts. It stars [[John Reed (actor)|John Reed]] (Ko-Ko), [[Kenneth Sandford]] (Pooh-Bah), [[Valerie Masterson]] (Yum-Yum), [[Donald Adams]] (the Mikado), [[Peggy Ann Jones]] (Pitti-Sing), and [[Philip Potter]] (Nanki-Poo).
Several film scores draw heavily on the G&S repertoire, including "[[The Matchmaker (1958 film)|The Matchmaker]]" (1958; featuring "Pinafore" and "Mikado" music), "[[I Could Go On Singing]]" (1963; featuring "Pinafore" music), "[[The Bad News Bears Go to Japan]]" (1978; the score features many excerpts from "The Mikado"), "[[The Adventures of Milo and Otis]]" (1989; using several G&S themes), "[[The Browning Version (1994 film)|The Browning Version]]" (1994; features music from "The Mikado"), "[[The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (film)|The Hand that Rocks the Cradle]]" (1992; featuring songs from "Pinafore" and "Pirates") and "[[The Pirate Movie]]" (1982; featuring spoofs of songs from "Pirates"; in fact, the whole movie itself is a spoof of "Pirates"!). In "Chariots of Fire", the protagonist, [[Harold Abrahams]], marries a woman who plays Yum-Yum in "The Mikado" with the [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company]]. Abrahams and his friends from [[Cambridge]] sing "He is an Englishman" ("H.M.S. Pinafore"). The soundtrack of "Chariots" 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]]"). In "[[The Girl Said No (1937 film)|The Girl Said No]]" (1937), which uses songs from the operas, a dance hall girl is forced to join a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe. In "The Naughty Victorians", an X-rated film subtitled "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. In "[[The White Countess]]" (2005), the overture to "H.M.S. Pinafore" is used in the soundtrack.
In other films, characters sing songs from the operas. In "[[Star Trek: Insurrection]]" (1998), [[Jean-Luc Picard|Captain Picard]] and [[Worf|Lt. Commander Worf]] sing lines from "A British Tar" from "Pinafore" to distract a malfunctioning [[Data (Star Trek)|Lt. Commander Data]]. In "[[Kate & Leopold]]" (2001), among other "Pirates" references, Leopold sings the "Major-General's Song", accompanying himself on the piano. In "[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]" (2006), [[Matt Damon]]'s character sings Little Buttercup's song falsetto in an all-male version of "Pinafore" at [[Yale University]]. In another Matt Damon film, "[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]" (1999), the song "We're Called Gondolieri" is featured in the soundtrack. In "[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]" (1981), the character Sallah sings "Pinafore" tunes, including "A British Tar". In the [[2003 in film|2003]] fantasy movie "[[Peter Pan (2003 film)|Peter Pan]]", the Darling family sings "When I Was A Lad". The 1969 film "[[Age of Consent (film)|Age of Consent]]" featured the song "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes" from "The Gondoliers". In the 1971 film "[[Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?]]", [[Shelley Winters]] as the title character sings the song just before she is murdered. In the 1988 drama "[[Permanent Record (film)|Permanent Record]]", a high school class performs "Pinafore". [[Judy Garland]] sings "I am the monarch of the sea" in the film, "[[I Could Go On Singing]]".
In a number of films, a significant part of the action is set during a G&S opera. "[[The Girl Said No (1937 film)|With Words and Music]]" (1937) involves a bookie who revives a washed-up troupe of Savoyards by mounting a production of "The Mikado". "[[Foul Play (1978 film)|Foul Play]]" (1978) features an assassination attempt that culminates during a showing of "The Mikado". The thwarted assassin falls into the rigging used as a backdrop for "H.M.S. Pinafore". Similarly, in Disney's cartoon "[[Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers]]" (2004), the finale occurs at the [[Palais Garnier|Paris 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 from "Princess Ida". The plot concerns a performance of "The Pirates of Penzance" that becomes the setting for the climactic battle between the Musketeers and [[Pete (Disney)|Captain Pete]].
In other films, there have simply been prominent references to one or more of the operas. For instance, in "[[Pretty Woman]]", Edward Lewis ([[Richard Gere]]) covered a social gaffe by prostitute Vivian Ward ([[Julia Roberts]]), who said that the opera "[[La Traviata]]" was so good that she almost "peed in [her] pants" by saying that she had said that she liked it almost as much as "The Pirates of Penzance." In "[[Making Love]]" (1982), [[Michael Ontkean]] and [[Kate Jackson]] are a happy G&S-loving couple until he leaves her for another man ([[Harry Hamlin]]).
Television.
Gilbert and Sullivan, and songs from the operas, have been included in numerous TV series, including "[[The Simpsons]]" in several episodes, including "[[Cape Feare]]", "[[Deep Space Homer]]", and "[[Bart's Inner Child]]"; numerous "[[Frasier]]" episodes; "[[Kavanagh QC]]", in the episode "Briefs Trooping Gaily", "[[Angel (1999 TV series)|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 in [[Animaniacs]]; the episode "The Cold Open" (1x02) of "[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]"; the episode "[[Atonement (Babylon 5)|Atonement]]" of "[[Babylon 5]]"; in the [[Australian]] [[soap opera]] "[[Neighbours]]", [[Harold Bishop]] often makes G&S references; references in the "[[VeggieTales]]" episodes "[[Lyle the Kindly Viking]]," "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment", "[[The Star of Christmas]]" (a Christmas special entirely devoted to spoofing G&S and their operas), and "[[Sumo of the Opera]]"; "[[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 (Family Guy)|Patriot Games]]", which includes the song from "[[The Sorcerer]]", "If you'll marry me"); and Batman sings a verse of "I'm called little Buttercup" in a 1966 episode. In the UK series "[[Lilies (BBC TV series)|Lilies]]", in the 2007 episode "The Tallyman" both "When I Was a Lad" and "The Sun Whose Rays" are heard. An episode of "[[Car 54, Where Are You?]]" has parodies of several G&S songs. In 1988, episodes of Australian soap opera "[[Home and Away]]" featured a school production of "The Mikado". A second-season (1998) episode of the TV show "[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]" titled "The Mikado" is based on the Zodiac case.
Gilbert and Sullivan references often appear in "[[The West Wing]]". Some incidents include an episode-long argument over whether "He is an Englishman" is from "H.M.S. Pinafore" or "The Pirates of Penzance", after one character's invocation of "duty," in the episode "[[And It's Surely to Their Credit]]"; President Bartlet's gift of a CD of "The Yeomen of the Guard" to his aide Charlie in "[[Stirred]]"; references to "The Pirates of Penzance" in "[[Mandatory Minimums]]" and "[[Inauguration, Part I]]"; and an excerpt from "A Wand'ring Minstrel I" in "A Change Is Gonna Come". Character [[Sam Seaborn]], the Deputy Communications Director, is the former recording secretary of the Princeton Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Creator [[Aaron 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."
The following are examples of references to some of the best-known G&S operas:
Other media.
[[File:Mikado ad.jpg|right|300px|Advertisement featuring "Mikado" characters]]
The operas and songs from the operas have often been used or parodied in advertising. According to Jones, ""Pinafore" launched the first media blitz in the United States" beginning in 1879. 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." in a 2011 [[Geico]] 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. Similarly, [[Martyn Green]] sang a pastiche of the song listing all of the varieties of [[Campbell's Soup]]. Another prominent example is the elaborate illustrated book, called "My Goodness! My Gilbert and Sullivan!" of parodies of Gilbert's lyrics advertising [[Guinness]] stout. The likenesses (often in costume) of, or endorsements by, numerous Gilbert and Sullivan performers were used in advertising throughout the decades. Trading cards were also created, using images from some of the operas to advertise various products. There was also a series of [[Currier and Ives]] prints. Several series of [[cigarette cards]] were issued by [[John Player & Sons|Player's cigarette company]] depicting characters from the Savoy operas wearing the costumes used by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Numerous postcards were published with photos or illustrations of D'Oyly Carte and other performers and scenes from the operas and other Gilbert plays. More recently, television ads for [[Terry's Chocolate Orange]] from the 2000s featured a pastiche of "When I Was a Lad" from "Pinafore".
Both [[Nelson Eddy]] and [[Danny Kaye]] recorded albums of selections from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. [[Al Goodman]] and [[Groucho Marx]] also released Gilbert and Sullivan recordings. The operas are referred to in other popular media, including [[video game]]s. For example, in "[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]", a casino is called "Pirates in Men's Pants", a crude play on "Pirates of Penzance". The 1970s [[popular music]] singer [[Gilbert O'Sullivan]] adopted his stage name as a pun on "Gilbert and Sullivan" when his manager suggested that it would be good marketing. In the 1950s, the British radio show "[[Take It From Here]]" featured parodies of Gilbert and Sullivan songs with lyrics about the buses in London.
External links.
[[Category:Creative works in popular culture]]
[[Category:Gilbert and Sullivan]]
[[Category:Music in popular culture]]
[[Category:Cultural impact]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of British men]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of classical musicians]]