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Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas (in both senses) were seminal influences on the creation of the modern Musical theatre.
Gilbert, Sullivan, Carte and other Victorian era British composers, librettists and producers,Such as German Reeds, Frederic Clay, Edward Solomon and F. C. Burnand as well as the contemporary British press and literature, called works of this kind "comic operas" to distinguish their content and style from that of the often risqué continental European that they wished to displace. Most of the published literature on Gilbert and Sullivan since that time refers to these works as "Savoy Operas", "comic operas", or both.See, e. g., Crowther, Stedman, Bailey, Bradley, Ainger and Jacobs. Gilbert & Sullivan described 13 of their 14 collaborations as "operas" or "operatic":
They called the 14th, Trial by Jury, a "Dramatic Cantata".
Gilbert and Sullivan's early operas played at other London theatres, and Patience (1881) was the first opera to appear at the Savoy Theatre, and thus, in a strict sense, the first true "Savoy Opera", although the term "Savoy Opera" has, for over a century, referred to all thirteen operas that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote for Richard D'Oyly Carte.
Aside from curtain raisers (which are listed in the second table below), the G&S operas were the only works produced at the Savoy Theatre from the date it opened (10 October 1881) until The Gondoliers closed on 20 June 1891. Over the next decade, there were only two new G&S pieces ( Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke), both of which had comparatively brief runs. To fill the gap, Carte mounted G&S revivals, Sullivan operas with different librettists, and works by other composer–librettist teams. Richard D'Oyly Carte died on 3 April 1901. If the nexus of Carte and the Savoy Theatre is used to define "Savoy Opera," then the last new Savoy Opera was The Rose of Persia (music by Sullivan, libretto by Basil Hood), which ran from 28 November 1899 to 28 June 1900.
After Carte's death, his wife Helen Carte assumed management of the theatre. In 1901, she produced Sullivan's last opera, The Emerald Isle (finished after Sullivan's death by Edward German), and during the run of that opera, she hired William Greet as manager of the theatre. Later that year, she leased the theatre to Greet, who then produced Ib and Little Christina, The Willow Pattern, a revival of Iolanthe, Merrie England (1902) and A Princess of Kensington (1903), each with a cast made up largely of Carte's Savoy company. Cyril Rollins and R. John Witts adopt A Princess of Kensington as the last of the Savoy Operas. After A Princess of Kensington closed in May 1903, Mrs. Carte leased the theatre to unrelated parties until late 1906, when she produced the first of her two seasons of G&S revivals in repertory at the Savoy, with Gilbert returning to direct.
In March 1909, Charles H. Workman leased the theatre, producing three new pieces, including one by Gilbert, Fallen Fairies (music by Edward German). The last of these Workman-produced works came in early 1910, Two Merry Monarchs, by Arthur Anderson, George Levy, and Hartley Carrick, with music by Orlando Morgan. The contemporary press referred to these works as "Savoy Operas",See, e.g., The Manchester Guardian, 17 September 1910, p. 1, advertising The Mountaineers. and S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald regarded Workman's pieces as the last Savoy Operas.See also Farrell, passim
Fitz-Gerald wrote his book, The Story of the Savoy Opera, in 1924, when these other pieces were still within living memory. But over the ensuing decades, the works produced at the Savoy by composers and librettists other than Gilbert and Sullivan were forgotten or infrequently revived. The term "Savoy Opera" came to be synonymous with the thirteen extant works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The first collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan – the 1871 opera Thespis – was not a Savoy Opera under any of the definitions mentioned to this point, as Richard D'Oyly Carte did not produce it, nor was it ever performed at the Savoy Theatre. Nevertheless, Rollins & Witts include it in their compendium of the Savoy Operas, as does Geoffrey Smith. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the phrase as: "Designating any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas originally presented at the Savoy Theatre in London by the D'Oyly Carte company. Also used more generally to designate any of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including those first presented before the Savoy Theatre opened in 1881, or to designate any comic opera of a similar style which appeared at the theatre". "Savoy", ''Oxford English Dictionary", Oxford University Press, June 2017, retrieved 9 December 2017
| Gaiety | 64 |
| Royalty | 131 |
| Opera Comique | 178 |
| Opera Comique | 571 |
| Arthur Sullivan | 1 |
| 100 | |
| 363 | |
| Opera Comique | 170 |
| Savoy | 408 |
| Savoy | 398 |
| Savoy | 246 |
| Savoy | 672 |
| Savoy | 288 |
| Savoy | 423 |
| Savoy | 554 |
| Savoy | 200 |
| Savoy | 143 |
| Savoy | 204 |
| Savoy | 50 |
| Savoy | 245 |
| Savoy | 41 |
| 61 | |
| Savoy | 97 |
| Savoy | 123 |
| Savoy | 61 |
| Savoy | 104 |
| Savoy | 50 |
| Savoy | 143 |
| Savoy | 213 |
| Savoy | 205 |
| Savoy | 16 The Willow Pattern continued to run after Ib and Little Christina closed, as a companion piece to Iolanthe, for an original run of 110 performances. |
| Cecil Cook | |
| Savoy | 120 |
| 56 | |
| Savoy | 115 |
| Savoy | 61 |
| Savoy | 51 |
| Savoy | 43 |
This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ... They served to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important.MacQueen-Pope, Walter James. Carriages at Eleven (1947), London: Robert Hale and Co., p. 23
The following table lists the known companion pieces that appeared at the Opera Comique or the Savoy Theatre during the original runs and principal revivals of the Savoy Operas through 1909. There may have been more such pieces that have not yet been identified. In a number of cases, the exact opening and closing dates are not known. Date ranges overlap, since it was common to rotate two or more companion pieces at performances during the same period to be played with the main piece.
Many of these pieces also played elsewhere (and often on tour by D'Oyly Carte touring companies). Only the runs at the Opera Comique and the Savoy are shown here.
*Indicates an approximate date.
Dora's Dream Arthur Cecil Alfred Cellier Opera Comique 17 November 1877 7 February 1878* The Sorcerer The Spectre Knight James Albery Alfred Cellier Opera Comique 9 February 1878 23 March 1878 The Sorcerer 28 May 1878 10 August 1878 Pinafore Trial by Jury W. S. Gilbert Arthur Sullivan Opera Comique & Savoy 23 March 1878 24 May 1878 The Sorcerer 11 October 1884 12 March 1885 22 September 1898 31 December 1898 6 June 1899 25 November 1899 Pinafore Beauties on the Beach George Grossmith George Grossmith Opera Comique 25 May 1878 5 August 1878 Pinafore 14 October 1878 5 December 1878* A Silver Wedding George Grossmith George Grossmith Opera Comique part of 1878 Pinafore Five Hamlets George Grossmith George Grossmith Opera Comique ? 1878 12 October 1878 Pinafore Cups and Saucers George Grossmith George Grossmith Opera Comique 5 August 1878* 20 February 1880 Pinafore After All! Frank Desprez Alfred Cellier Opera Comique 16 December 1878* 20 February 1880 Cups and Saucers ? Feb. 1880 20 March 1880 Children's Pinafore Savoy 23 November 1895 4 March 1896 The Mikado & Grand Duke 4 April 1896 8 August 1896 7 May 1897 16 June 1897 Yeomen In the Sulks Frank Desprez Alfred Cellier Opera Comique 21 February 1880 ? Pirates 21 February 1880 20 March 1880 Children's Pinafore 3 April 1880 2 April 1881 Pirates 23 April 1881* 2 May 1881 Patience Savoy 11 October 1881 14 October 1881 Uncle Samuel Arthur Law George Grossmith Opera Comique 3 May 1881 8 October 1881 Patience Mock Turtles Frank Desprez Eaton Faning Savoy 11 October 1881 22 November 1882 Patience 25 November 1882 30 March 1883 Iolanthe A Private Wire Frank Desprez Percy Reeve Savoy 31Mar. 1883 1 January 1884 Iolanthe The Carp Frank Desprez & Arnold Felix Alfred Cellier Savoy 13 February 1886 19 January 1887 The Mikado 21 February 1887 5 November 1887 Ruddigore Mrs. Jarramie's Genie Frank Desprez Alfred Cellier & François Cellier Savoy 14 February 1888 ? Nov. 1889 Pinafore, Pirates, The Mikado, Yeomen Captain Billy Harry Greenbank François Cellier Savoy 24 September 1891 16 January 1892 Nautch Girl 1 February 1892 18 June 1892 Vicar of Bray Mr. Jericho Harry Greenbank Ernest Ford Savoy 18 March 1893 15 April 1893 Haddon Hall 3 June 1893 1 July 1893 Jane Annie Quite an Adventure Frank Desprez Edward Solomon Savoy 15 December 1894 29 December 1894 The Chieftain Cox & Box F. C. Burnand Arthur Sullivan Savoy 31 December 1894 16 March 1895 The Chieftain Weather or No Adrian Ross & William Beach Bertram Luard-Selby Savoy 10 August 1896 17 February 1897 The Mikado 2 March 1897 24 April 1897 His Majesty Old Sarah Harry Greenbank François Cellier Savoy 17 June 1897 31 July 1897 Yeomen 16 August 1897 20 November 1897 10 December 1897 12 March 1898 The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein 22 March 1898* 21 May 1898 The Gondoliers Pretty Polly Basil Hood François Cellier Savoy 19 May 1900 28 June 1900 The Rose of Persia 8 December 1900 20 April 1901 Patience The Outpost Albert O'Donnell Bartholeyns Hamilton Clarke Savoy 2 July 1900 3 November 1900 Pirates 8 November 1900* 7 December 1900 Patience The Willow Pattern Basil Hood Cecil Cook Savoy 14 November 1901 29 November 1901 Ib and Little Christina (revised version) 9 December 1901 29 March 1902 Iolanthe A Welsh Sunset Frederick Fenn Philip Michael Faraday Savoy 15 July 1908 17 October 1908 Pinafore & Pirates 2 December 1908 24 February 1909
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