Information AboutAges Ago |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AGES AGO | |
| works by w. s. gilbert | |
| english-language operas | |
| 1869 operas | |
| operas | |
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BACKGROUND By the 1850s, the London stage had fallen into disrepute. back to the theatre, Thomas German Reed and his wife Priscilla opened their Gallery of Illustration in 1855 and brought in Gilbert in 1869 as one of their playwrights. The Gallery of Illustration was a 500-seat theatre with a small stage that only allowed for four or five characters with accompaniment by a piano, harmonium and sometimes a harp. After Gilbert's first offering for the Gallery of Illustration – '' No Cards '', with music by Reed himself, Gilbert paired with Clay on ''Ages Ago'', the first of a successful series of collaborations between the author and composer that would continue for the next seven years. In the eight months separating ''No Cards'' and ''Ages Ago'', Gilbert's style had developed significantly. ''No Cards'' had been Gilbert's first libretto with prose dialogue, a conventional light farce, with some songs loosely tacked on. ''Ages Ago'', with its double plot, is considerably more sophisticated. The lyrics are more integral to the plot, and while the conventional penniless-suitor theme recurs, it is relegated to the framing story. It is the central section, in which the portraits step down from their frames and set up a series of complex relationships with each other, that is at the core of the piece, and it is in this section that the future Gilbert begins to show through – particularly his love of taking an absurd premise to its logical conclusion. {Link without Title} ''Ages Ago'' earned glowing praise from the critics and outran its companion piece, the popular '', Alfred Reed, Stanley Betjeman , Corney Grain, and the piece itself all received warm praise from the ''Era'''s critic. {Link without Title} Gilbert produced four more pieces for Reed, including '' A Sensation Novel '' in 1871 and '' Eyes And No Eyes '' in 1875. He also wrote several Comic Opera s with Clay, the last of which was '' Princess Toto '' in 1876. Thomas German Reed played Ebenezer Tare, while his wife played Mrs. MacMotherly. The piece also introduced Fanny Holland , who would play in many pieces for the German Reeds for years to come. At a rehearsal for ''Ages Ago'', Clay formally introduced the composer Arthur Sullivan to Gilbert. The two would later collaborate on a series of fourteen Comic Opera s that became the most enduring pieces of musical theatre from the Victorian Era . Gilbert would later reuse many ideas and plot elements from these earlier works in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. SYNOPSIS In the haunted Scottish Castle of Glen Cockaleekie, where the title deed to the castle, much like '' Brigadoon '', is only ever found once every hundred years, Ebenezer Tare has decided that, as "possession is nine-tenths of the law," he might as well be in possession of it until such time as the deed shows up again. Being the type of a Victorian money-grubbing elderly relative, he refuses to let his niece Rosa marry her poor suitor, Columbus Hebblethwaite, who is staying for the night. The Scottish housekeeper, Mrs. MacMotherly, has Second Sight . She tells a tale of the original wicked Sir Roger Bohun (similarly to Dame Hannah's tale in Gilbert And Sullivan 's later '' Ruddigore ''). That night, the paintings of the castle's former owners come to life and step out of their frames (as would happen again in ''Ruddigore''). However, a problem ensues: They were all painted at different ages, so Lord Carnaby, painted at age 65, lusts after his grandmother (Lady Maud), painted at age 17. Eventually, though, and after some wrangling, Dame Cherry and Lord Carnaby settle into middle-aged affection, while the "old" young people pair off romantically and get a painting of a solicitor to marry them. At daybreak, they then return to their frames, leaving the deed behind, which gives the property to Hebblethwaite, the poor suitor. He strikes a deal whereby Tare is allowed to stay on if he permits him to marry Rosa, and all ends happily. ROLES
MUSICAL NUMBERS The numbering of the songs follows that in the vocal score. The printed libretto does not include the songs through number 4, and numbers the song labeled as song 5 below as song 1. Thus, to determine the number given to a song in the printed libretto, subtract 4 from the number assigned to that song below.
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