MusicSmiles.com
The Worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan

Thespis was premiered 26 December 1871in the Gaiety Theatre, London. It  was Gilbert and Sullivan's first opera together. Written in three weeks and under-rehearsed, it was not the expected winner! But, commissioned as a specific holiday piece by theatre manager John Hollingshead, for a specialist cast (e.g. three of the male roles were played by females) and a Gaiety Theatre (Music-hall) audience, it excelled in running for 64 performances, but this was not good enough to save it! Sullivan tried to reclaim the musical score, but he never succeeded and it was lost forever, except for two pieces.

The plot covers a group of actors who exchanged roles with the worn-out Gods of ancient Greece. After an undistinguished 'term of office' they are sent packing back to Earth. No vocal score was published, and the manuscripts have long been lost. However, the music for one chorus - 'Climbing over Rocky Mountain' (later incorporated into 'the Pirates of Penzance') and one ballad - 'Little Maid of Arcadee' survives, some of the ballet music has also been retrieved.

( Click number to view statistics > > >). Scribe thanks all our  223,547 MusicSmiles visitors up to beginning of September, 2010. 

You may find our special effects work best with Microsoft Internet Explorer