Gilbert and Sullivan: A Dual Biography

by Michael Ainger

"Gilbert, Grumitt & Cock,

Mark Lemon, the editor, rejected it as being too cannibalistic for his readers,

"should be played with the most perfect earnestness and gravity throughout.... [t]he characters, one and all, should appear to believe, throughout, in the perfect sincerity of their words and actions. Directly the actors show that they are conscious of the absurdity of their utterances the piece begins to drag.1115

I said to Mr. Gilbert, `For the part of a Magician I should have thought you require a fine man with a fine voice' I can still see Mr. Gilbert's humorous expression as he replied. `No, that is just what we don't want.' ' 1129

khedive, Tewfik Pasha.

He was working with an orchestra of twenty-nine at the Savoy: six first violins, four second violins, two violas, two cellos, two basses, two trombones, two flutes, two clarinets, two cornets, one oboe, one bassoon, two horns, and drums.40