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''Utopia'' is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert & Sullivan operas. It is expensive to produce, requiring a large cast of excellent singers and dancers; the subject-matter and plot are obscure for modern audiences; and although it contains some fine music, it perhaps has less than Sullivan's usual quota of unforgettable tunes. ROLES
''Imported Flowers of Progress''
SYNOPSIS Act I The action takes place on the imaginary South Pacific island of Utopia, whose monarch, King Paramount, has sent his daughter, Princess Zara, on a voyage to Britain to learn how to civilise his people. Two "Wise Men" enter, heralded by the chorus ("O make way for the Wise Men"). The two, Scaphio and Phantis, reveal that they have the power to murder the King if he displeases them ("In every mental lore"). The King himself soon enters ("A King of autocratic power we") and, expressing no ill will towards his perpetual blackmailers, he joins the two in a trio commenting on life's farce ("First you're born"). In fact, the King is quite upset – he is unable to marry the Lady Sophy because of self-mocking articles Scaphio and Phantis have forced him to write under a pseudonym. In the middle of the first act, Zara returns to Utopia with six British gentleman (the "Flowers of Progress") in tow ("Five years have flown"). She sings a duet with her love interest, Captain Fitzbattleaxe ("Ah! gallant soldier, brave and true") while Scaphio and Phantis agree to duel one another for her love ("It's understood, I think"). In the act's finale, the Utopians assemble and Zara presents the Flowers of Progress one by one – Fitzbattleaxe (of the army), Sir Bailey Barre ( Q.C. and M.P. ), Lord Dramaleigh (a Lord Chamberlain ), Mr. Blushington (of the County Council ), Mr. Goldbury (a company promoter) and Captain Corcoran (of the navy – and a popular Gilbert and Sullivan character reused from '' HMS Pinafore ''). The people are duly impressed, but they are particularly intrigued by Mr. Goldbury, who convinces the people to transform their entire country into a limited liability corporation – even before Britain herself does! Everyone but Scaphio and Phantis is enthusiastic, and the act ends with the rapturous acceptance of the infusions of British society. Act II Utopia has transformed itself into a near-perfect replica of Britain – it has built an army, a navy, and courts, purified its literature, and wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Goldbury's proposal. The Flowers of Progress exult in their success ("Society has quite forsaken"), and the people sing of the country's newfound glory ("Eagle high in cloudland soaring"). Yet Scaphio and Phantis are furious, fearing that the change poses a threat to their power ("With fury deep we burn"); they demand that Paramount revoke the change, and when he refuses, they remind him of their power over his life ("If you think that when banded in unity"). The King, his dignity rediscovered, approaches Lady Sophy and tells her the truth about the articles written about him, and they agree to marry ("Oh, rapture unrestrained"). But Scaphio and Phantis succeed in convincing the people of Utopia that the changes are for the worse – they have put an end to war, making the army and navy useless; sanitation is so good that doctors are unemployed; so perfect are the laws that crime has all but ended, emptying the courts – and all demand that they be reversed. Desperate, Paramount asks his daughter for help, and she immediately realizes that she has forgotten "the most essential element of all": Government By Party ! With this adopted, each party will so confound the efforts of the other that no progress will be made at all, leading to the prosperity that everyone seeks. The crowd is overjoyed, Scaphio and Phantis are thrown in prison, and the curtain falls as the people sing their praises of "a little group of isles beyond the wave." MUSICAL NUMBERS
Act I
Act II
1 On the 1976 recording, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company preceded the Introduction with Sullivan's ''Imperial March'', which he composed around the same time. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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