H.M.S. Pinafore

H.M.S. Pinafore

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H.M.S. Pinafore

H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas, and the first big hit by Gilbert and Sullivan. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on May 25, 1878 for a run of 571 performances, which was the second longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time (after the operetta Les Cloches de Corneville). H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration.

Drawing on several of his earlier "Bab Ballad" poems, Gilbert imbued H.M.S. Pinafore with mirth and silliness to spare. The opera's gentle satire reprises and builds on a theme introduced in The Sorcerer – love between members of different social classes. The opera also pokes good-natured fun at the Royal Navy and, in themes to be repeated in the later operas, parliamentary politics and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The title of the work itself is humorous, as it juxtaposes the name of a little girl's garment, pinafore, with the symbol of a naval war ship.

The plot revolves around a naval captain's daughter who is in love with a lower-class foremast hand (a common sailor, well below officer rank), even though her father intends her to marry the First Lord of the Admiralty, the cabinet minister in charge of the Royal Navy. As with most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise twist changes everything dramatically near the end of the story.

[edit] Background

Cast of a (probably unlicensed) American production of H.M.S. Pinafore starring children.

Pinafore suffered a shaky start to its run (generally held to be due to a heatwave emptying theatres that summer). It received lukewarm reviews in the press, and ticket sales were poor. Richard D'Oyly Carte's four producing partners of The Comedy Opera Company lost confidence in the opera's viability and posted closing notices. Carte persuaded the author and composer that a business partnership among the three of them would be profitable. He used the enforced closure of the Opera Comique for repairs to evoke a contract clause reverting the rights of Pinafore and Sorcerer to Gilbert and Sullivan, who entrusted them to him.

Several months later, after Sullivan used some of the music during a successful Promenade Concert at Covent Garden, Pinafore became a smash hit. Carte's disgruntled former partners, who had each invested in the production with no return, staged a public fracas sending a group of thugs to seize the scenery during a performance. Stagehands successfully managed to ward off their backstage attackers and protect the scenery.[1] Carte's former partners then staged a rival simultaneous production of H.M.S.Pinafore, which was not as popular as the D'Oyly Carte production. The matter was settled in court, where a judge ruled in Carte's favour.

Pinafore became a source of popular quotations, such as the exchange:

"What, never?"

"No, never!"

"What, never?"

"Well, hardly ever!"

Also popular was the verse:

For in spite of all temptations

To belong to other nations

He remains an Englishman.

Popular songs include:

• "I'm called Little Buttercup" (a solo introducing the round, rosy, but mysterious nurse who later confesses to switching the babies)
• "A British tar" (a glee describing the ideal sailor, composed by Sir Joseph, as he put it, "to encourage independent thought and action in the lower branches of the service, and to teach the principle that a British sailor is any man's equal, excepting mine")
• "Never mind the why and wherefore" (a trio for the Captain, Josephine, and Sir Joseph)
• Sir Joseph's patter song "When I was a lad" (a brazen satire on the career of William Henry Smith, the newsagent who had risen to the position of First Lord of the Admiralty in 1877).

Pinafore was pirated so much in the United States (over a hundred unauthorised productions sprang up in America) that Gilbert and Sullivan made a special effort to claim American rights for their next work, The Pirates of Penzance, by giving the official premiere in New York at the Fifth Avenue Theatre under the management of John T. Ford. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte tried for many years to control the American performance copyrights over their operas, without success.^[1]

Pinafore remains one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular works, perhaps because of its infectious tunes and generally well-constructed libretto.

[edit] Roles

• The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, First Lord of the Admiralty (comic baritone)
• Captain Corcoran, Commander of the H.M.S. Pinafore (lyric baritone)
• Ralph (pronounced "Raif") Rackstraw, Able Seaman (tenor)
• Dick Deadeye, Able Seaman (bass-baritone)
• Bill Bobstay, Boatswain's Mate (first mate) (baritone)
• Bob Becket, Carpenter's Mate (bass)
• Josephine, The Captain's Daughter (soprano)
• Cousin Hebe, Sir Joseph's First Cousin (mezzo-soprano)
• Mrs. Cripps (Little Buttercup), A Portsmouth Bumboat Woman (contralto)
• Chorus of First Lord's Sisters, His Cousins, His Aunts, Sailors, Marines, Etc.

[edit] Synopsis

An early poster for a D'Oyly Carte production.

Act I

The British warship H.M.S. Pinafore is in port at Portsmouth. It is noontime, and the sailors are on the quarterdeck, "cleaning brasswork, splicing rope, etc."

Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth "bumboat woman" (dockside vendor) — so-named because she is the "rosiest, roundest, and reddest beauty in all Spithead" — comes on board to sell her wares. She hints that she maby be hiding a dark secret under her "gay and frivolous exterior". The Boatswain demurs that he's never thought about that, but the grim and ugly realist, Dick Deadeye, says he's "thought it, often". Ralph Rackstraw, "the smartest lad in all the fleet," enters, declaring his love for the Captain's daughter, Josephine. His fellow sailors (excepting Dick) offer their sympathies, but can give Ralph little hope that his love will ever be returned.

The Captain greets his crew and compliments them on their politeness, saying that he returns the compliment by never ("well, hardly ever") using bad language, such as "a big, big D." After the sailors have left, the Captain complains to Little Buttercup that Josephine has not taken kindly to a marriage proposal from Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Buttercup says that she knows how it feels to love in vain. As she leaves, the Captain remarks that she is "a plump and pleasing person." Josephine enters and confesses to her father that she loves a common sailor, but she is a dutiful daughter and will marry Sir Joseph as her father wishes.

Sir Joseph comes on board, accompanied by his sisters, cousins, and aunts. After telling everyone how he came to be "ruler of the Queen's Navee," he delivers a lesson in etiquette. He tells the Captain that he must always say "if you please" after an order; for, as he says, "A British sailor is any man's equal" – excepting his. Sir Joseph has composed a song to illustrate that point, and he gives a copy of it to Ralph.

Elated by Sir Joseph's views on equality, Ralph decides that he will confess his love to Josephine to the delight of his shipmates, except Dick, who explains that equality is incompatable with the giving and obeying of orders. In horror at his words, the sailors force Dick to listen to Sir Joseph's song before all exit, leaving Ralph alone. Josephine now enters, and Ralph confesses his love. Although she finds Sir Joseph's attentions nauseating, she knows she is obligated to marry him. Keeping her feelings to herself, she haughtily rejects Ralph's advances.

Ralph summons his shipmates, and tells them he is bent on suicide. He puts a pistol to his head, but as he is about to pull the trigger, Josephine enters, proclaiming she loves him after all. Ralph and Josephine plan to sneak ashore to get married that night. Dick Deadeye warns them that their actions will lead to trouble, but he is ignored by the joyous ensemble.

Act II

Later that night, under a full moon, Captain Corcoran confesses his concerns: all his friends are deserting him, and Sir Joseph has threatened a court-martial. Little Buttercup offers sympathy. He tells her that, if it were not for the difference in their social standing, he would have returned her affections. She prophecies that things are not all as they seem, and that a change is in store, but he does not understand her.

Sir Joseph enters, and complains that Josephine has not yet agreed to marry him. The Captain speculates that she is probably dazzled by his superior rank, and that if he can persuade her that "love levels all ranks," she will accept his proposal. When Sir Joseph makes this argument, a delighted Josephine says that she is convinced. The Captain and Sir Joseph rejoice, but Josephine, in an aside, admits that she is now more determined than ever to marry Ralph.

Dick Deadeye intercepts the Captain, and tells him of the lovers' plans to elope. The Captain confronts Ralph and Josephine as they try to leave the ship. The pair declare their love, adding that "I am (He is) an Englishman!" The furious Captain is unmoved, and says, "Why, damme, it's too bad!" Sir Joseph and his relatives, who have overheard, are shocked to hear swearing on board a ship, and Sir Joseph orders the Captain to his cabin.

When Sir Joseph asks what had provoked this outburst, Ralph replies that it was his declaration of love for Josephine. Furious in his turn at this revelation, Sir Joseph has Ralph put in chains and taken to the ship's dungeon. Little Buttercup now reveals her secret. Years before, when she was a nursemaid, she had cared for two babies, one "of low condition," the other "a regular patrician." She confesses that she "mixed those children up and not a creature knew it.... The wellborn babe was Ralph; your Captain was the other."

Sir Joseph now realizes that Ralph should have been the Captain, and the Captain should have been Ralph. He summons both, and they emerge wearing one another's uniforms: Ralph is now middle-class, and in command of the Pinafore, while the former Captain is now a common sailor. Sir Joseph's marriage with Josephine is now impossible. As he explains it, "love levels all ranks...to a considerable extent, but it does not level them as much as that." He gives her to now-Captain Rackstraw. The former Captain, with his rank reduced, is free to marry Buttercup. Sir Joseph settles for his cousin Hebe, and all ends in general rejoicing.

[edit] Musical numbers

• Overture

[edit] Act I

Gilbert's Illustration to "A British tar" in "Songs of a Savoyard (1906 omnibus with the Bab Ballads)

• 1. "We sail the ocean blue" (Sailors)
• 2. "Hail! men-o'-war's men" ... "I'm called Little Buttercup" (Buttercup)
• 2a. "But tell me who's the youth" (Buttercup and Boatswain)
• 3. "The nightingale" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors)
• 3a. "A maiden fair to see" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors)
• 4. "My gallant crew, good morning" (Captain Corcoran and Chorus of Sailors)
• 4a. "Sir, you are sad" (Buttercup and Captain Corcoran)
• 5. "Sorry her lot who loves too well" (Josephine)
• 5a. Cut song: "Reflect, my child" (Captain Corcoran and Josephine)
• 6. "Over the bright blue sea" (Chorus of Female Relatives)
• 7. "Sir Joseph's barge is seen" (Chorus of Sailors and Female Relatives)
• 8. "Now give three cheers" (Captain Corcoran, Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)
• 9. "When I was a lad" (Sir Joseph and Chorus)
• 9a. "For I hold that on the sea" (Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)
• 10. "A British tar" (Ralph, Boatswain, Carpenter's Mate, and Chorus of Sailors)
• 11. "Refrain, audacious tar" (Josephine and Ralph)
• 12. Finale, Act I: "Can I survive this overbearing?"

[edit] Act II

(Entr'acte)

• 13. "Fair moon, to thee I sing" (Captain Corcoran)
• 14. "Things are seldom what they seem" (Buttercup and Captain Corcoran)
• 15. "The hours creep on apace" (Josephine)
• 16. "Never mind the why and wherefore" (Josephine, Captain, and Sir Joseph)
• 17. "Kind Captain, I've important information" (Captain and Dick Deadeye)
• 18. "Carefully on tiptoe stealing" (Soli and Chorus)
• 18a."Pretty daughter of mine" (Captain and Ensemble) and "He is an Englishman" (Boatswain and Ensemble)
• 19. "Farewell, my own" (Ralph, Josephine, Sir Joseph Porter, Buttercup, and Chorus)
• 20. "A many years ago" (Buttercup and Chorus)
• 20a. "Here, take her, sir" (Sir Joseph, Josephine, Ralph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)¹
• ^{21. Finale: "Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen" (Ensemble) 2}

^{1See discussion, below.}

^{2Includes reprises of several songs, concluding with "For he is an Englishman".}

^{[edit] Versions}

^{[edit] Ballad for Captain Corcoran, "Reflect, my child"}

^{During rehearsals for the original production, Gilbert added a ballad for Captain Corcoran in which he urged his daughter to forget the common sailor she is in love with, who "at every step...would commit solecisms that society would never pardon." The ballad was meant to be sung between No. 5 and No. 6 of the current score, but was cut before opening night. The words survive in the libretto that was deposited with the Lord Chamberlain for licensing. Before 1999, all that was known to survive of Sullivan's setting was a copy of the leader violin part.}

^{In April 1999, Sullivan scholars Bruce I. Miller and Helga J. Perry announced that they had discovered a nearly complete orchestration – lacking only the second violin part – in a private collection of early band parts. These materials, with a conjectural reconstruction of the lost vocal lines and second violin part, were later published and professionally recorded. [2] This piece has now been performed a number of times by amateur and professional companies, although it has not become a standard addition to the traditional scores.}

^{[edit] Dialogue for Cousin Hebe}

^{In the licensing copy of the libretto, Sir Joseph's cousin Hebe had lines of dialogue in several scenes in Act II. In the scene that follows No. 14 ("Things are seldom what they seem"), she accompanied Sir Joseph onstage and echoed the First Lord's dissatisfaction with Josephine. After several interruptions, Sir Joseph urged her to be quiet, eliciting the response "Crushed again!" Gilbert would later re-use this passage for Lady Jane in Patience. Hebe was also assigned several lines of dialogue after No. 18 ("Carefully on tiptoe stealing"), and again after No. 19 ("Farewell, my own.")}

^{Late in rehearsals for the original production, Jessie Bond assumed the role of Hebe, replacing Mrs. Howard Paul (the original Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer). Miss Bond, who at this point in her career was known primarily as a concert singer and had no experience as an actress, did not feel capable of performing dialogue, and these passages were revised to exclude her. Hebe's dialogue is occasionally restored in modern performances, particularly her lines in the scene following No. 14.}

^{[edit] Recitative preceding the Act II finale}

^{The dialogue preceding the Act II finale, starting with "Here, take her sir, and mind you treat her kindly," was originally recitative. The music for this passage was printed in the first edition of the vocal score as No. 20a. Shortly after opening night, the recitative was dropped, and the lines thereafter were performed as spoken dialogue. The recitative is rarely performed.}

^{[edit] Productions}

^{From the beginning, H.M.S. Pinafore has been one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular comic operas. After its initial success in London became clear, Richard D'Oyly Carte dispatched touring companies into the British provinces. There was a company playing Pinafore under his aegis close to continuously between 1878–88. The opera was then given a rest, returning to the touring repertory again between 1894–1900, and then most of the time between 1903–1940.}

^{In the winter of 1940–41, the scenery and costumes for Pinafore and three other operas were destroyed in enemy action. The opera spent seven years out of the repertory before a London revival in the summer of 1947. It was then included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory in every season from then on, until the company's closure in 1982.}

^{In America, Pinafore was an instant success. The first American production was given at the Boston Museum on November 25, 1878. According to Reginald Allen (1979, p. 2), some 150 companies played the opera (all without royalties to the authors) before Gilbert, Sullivan, and D'Oyly Carte arrived to present the "authorised" version, which opened in New York on December 1, 1879.}

^{The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:}

^{[edit] Historical casting}

^{The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:}

^{[edit] Adaptations}

• ^{George S. Kaufman wrote a Broadway musical in 1945 called Hollywood Pinafore based on Pinafore using Sullivan's music.}
• ^{Pinafore Swing, first performed at the Watermill Theatre in England, musically arranged by Sarah Travis and directed by John Doyle (the team responsible for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd). The adaptation assigns all the musical parts to a reduced-size acting cast, who also serve as the orchestra, playing the musical instruments, and the music is infused with swing rhythms.}

^{[edit] Cultural impact}

• ^{There is a reference to H.M.S. Pinafore in the "Major-General's Song" (from The Pirates of Penzance), in which the Major-General asserts that he can "whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore."}
• ^{Captain Corcoran also makes an appearence in one of the last collaborations between Gilbert and Sullivan, Utopia, Limited, making Corcoran the only recurring character in the entire G&S canon.}
• ^{Allan Sherman did a parody of the song "When I was a lad" from the point of view of a young man going to an Ivy League school and then rising to prominence in an advertising agency. At the end he thanks old Yale, he thanks the Lord, and he also thanks his father "who is chairman of the board".}

^{Film references}

• ^{In the film Star Trek: Insurrection, Captain Picard and Lt. Commander Worf sing lines from "A British Tar" to distract a malfunctioning Lt. Commander Data.}
• ^{The character Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark sings Pinafore tunes such as "A British tar" when he is excited or overjoyed.}
• ^{As part of his famous court room speech in the movie Malice, Alec Baldwin's character says he "never ever gets sick at sea", which is a reference to the Captain's first song in Pinafore. This film was also wrtten by Sorkin.}
• ^{In the 1978 Chevy Chase film comedy Foul Play, whose climax takes place during a production of The Mikado, one of the villains is shot and falls into the rigging of a backdrop for Pinafore.}
• ^{In the film Chariots of Fire, the main protagonist, Harold Abrahams, and others from Cambridge are seen singing "For he is an Englishman" in a montage of Abrahams' athletic achievements. This scene is shown right after Abrahams expresses his resolve to defeat the anti-Semites who mistreat him.}
• ^{In the 2003 fantasy movie Peter Pan there is a scene in which the Darling family can be seen singing "When I Was A Lad".}
• ^{In The Good Shepherd, characters from the film are seen performing an all-male version of Pinafore at Yale University. The Matt Damon character plays Little Buttercup.}

^{Television references}

• ^{In the "Cape Feare" episode of The Simpsons, Bart successfully stalls his would-be killer Sideshow Bob with a "final request" that Bob sing him the entire libretto of Pinafore. In another episode "Stark Raving Dad," Waylon Smithers observes that his bellbottom pants from 1979 were for a production of H.M.S. Pinafore.}
• ^{The first story of episode #3 of Animaniacs ("HMS Yakko") parodies Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance in its story and songs. Also, a Pinky and the Brain song called Meticulous Analysis of History is set to the same tune as "When I was a lad".}
• ^{The "Lord Bravery" theme song in Freakazoid uses the tune from the chorus of "A British Tar".}
• ^{Family Guy's Stewie, in a cutaway during the episode "The Thin White Line", sings a parody of "My gallant crew", playing to frequent references that he's gay; and he sings the beginning lines to "Now give three cheers" in the movie Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.}
• ^{The song "For he is an Englishman" is referenced both in the title's name and throughout The West Wing episode "And It's Surely To Their Credit", written by Aaron Sorkin.}
• ^{In the Leave it to Beaver episode "The Boat Builders," "We Sail the Ocean Blue" is used when introducing scenes involving the boat construction and launch.}

^{[edit] References}

• ^{Allen, Reginald (1979). {{{title}}}. New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library.} 
• ^{Gänzl, Kurt (1986). The British Musical Theatre—Volume I, 1865–1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press.} 
• ^{Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph.  Also, five supplements, privately printed.}

^{[edit] External links}

• ^{H.M.S. Pinafore at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive}
• ^{H.M.S. Pinafore at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography}
• ^{Lost Pinafore Song Found}
• ^{Lyrics of the Animaniacs episode parodying H.M.S. Pinafore}
• ^{Site containing biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart}
• ^{Page linking to numerous Pinafore song parodies}
• ^{Account of the "Fracas at the Opera Comique" in 1879}
• ^{List of longest running London shows}