THE THREE SAVOYARDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE THREE SAVOYARDS.

AND THE FOURTH TAETY.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, April 13,

The triumphs of the three famous Savoyards—Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte —have been rehearsed sufficiently fully lately, but few obituarists of the latter have had anything- to say of the Fourth P-.iriy, who lent such invaluable aid to the trio. J. need scarcely add I refer to The second Mrs DOyly Carte,- whom Gilbert t.be grim has pronounced the

cleverest woman he has ever met. Like -Mrs Beerbohm-Treo, Miss CowperBlack (a.s she was then) began lite as a brilliant blue-stocking and carried of" honours in mathematics, mechanics, logic, and moral philosophy at the London University. Assuming1 the name of Lenoir, she became first translator and then secretary to Mr Ca,rte at the Opera Comique, and completely "assimilated" the details of theatrical touring. Previous to her marriage she crossed the Atlantic some fifteen times, and at one period directed four travelling companies. Combined with these duties she was agent for the lecture tours of the late Archibald Forbes, Matthew Arnold. Oscar Wilde, and Sergeant Ballantine. "Throughout all the various transactions connected with the Savoy and other ventures (says the "Telegraph") Mrs Carte proved a helpmeet such as no other theatrical manager ever had, and it was in great measure due to her excellent judgment and wide range of idea that the dece-asedjuana-ger's name became familiar, as that of a benevolent fairy, throughout the English-speaking world. 'The Sorcerer,' aa originally produced —in later years it wTas overshadowed by other efforts of the illustrious triumvirate — was supported by Mr Richard Temple, Mr Bentham, Mr Rutland Barrington, Mr George Grossmith, Mrs Howard Paul, the Australian, Miss Alice May, Miss Everard, and Miss Giulia Warwick, and its importance lies in the fact that it laid the foundation of that wonderful series of works which established a new school of musical and dramatic composition."

It is not generally known ( that "Pinafore" came near shipwreck in the comparatively early days of its career. Business suddenly dropped at the Opera Comique, and but for Miss Lenoir producing it in New York, and the Americans going mad about it, an abrupt end might have come to the "new school of English comic opera." As things were, the Yankee furore reacted on London, and the "House Full" boards were out for the best part of two years. When "The Pirates of Penzance" was produced in April, 1880, we were educated up to Gilbert and Sullivan methods, and though the piece had not the elements of popularity of "Pinafore" it ran for nearly 300 nights. Then came "Patience" on April 23rd, 1881. This is, in my opinion, Sir Arthur Sullivan's comic masterpiece. It ran till November 25th, 1882, and could have gone on then, only Mr Carte didn't want to play itclean out, so to speak. Curiously enough, Mr Gilbert, the pessimist, always opposed its revival on the ground of the staleness of the central joke. At last Mrs DOyly Carte decided the time had come to try the experiment, and she is alleged to have assured Mr Gilbert that Mr Sillivan's music would carry off any number of "chestnuts." How right she was the long run now drawing to a close shows. The present cast cannot, save perhaps in one or two particulars, compare with the famous first. This included Grossmith (the ideal Bunthorne), Kutland Bar-ring-ton, Durward Lely, Frank Thornton (an irresistibly comic Murg'atroyd), Alice Barnett (a sumptuous Lady Jane), and Miss Fortescue (divinely fair and young, but never foolish), as Lady Ella. During the run of "Patience" young Lord Garmoyle (corrupted to "Gumboil"), son of Lord Chancellor Cairns, an anaemic youth with little stability of character, proposed to Miss Fortescue. Presumably she loved him, for she accepted him, and when his family affected to give a mitigated blessing the actress went to stop at their dreary castle in the North. The idea of Lady Cairns (an astute old dame) was to afford Garmoyle a chance of contrasting the girls of his world with his fiancee. Miss Forte's!cue (a most distingue young woman), I fear, played mischievously into the old lady's hand. She decided presently that even love's young dream with the Cairns in a Scotch castle wouldn't do, 4hd was just thinking how she could considerately, break "Gumboil's" heart when he brutally jilted her. Mr W. S. Gilbert was furious at a protege of his and an actress at the ever-to-be-impeccable Savoy being treated thus. The famous breach of promise action was.brought, and damages, heavy damages, soldered Miss F.s cardiac injuries. It also set her on the way to be (with Gilbert's assistance) a successful but at first rather "sticky" leading lady. That was twenty years ago. She is now an accomplished actress.

But I didn't mean to resurrect these stories, though they may be fresh to your rising generation. Sullivan, Carte and the dangerous old Opera Comique have all passed away, but the Savoy (thanks to electric lighting) remains almost as fresh as on the day it was opened. It was, to quote Mr Carte's own words, "built on a spot possessing many associations of historic interest, being close to the Savoy Chapel and in the precincts of the Savoy where formerly stood the palace once inhabited by John of Gaunt and the Dukes of Lancaster, and made memorable in the Wars of the Roses." The theatre is noteworthy, for it was the first to be lighted by electricity in every part of the house. Curiously enough, does it read—it was only in 1881 that the theatre opened—"This is being done as an experiment, and may succeed or fail." Mr Carte thus became the pioneer of a great reform, and will also be gratefully remembered as a steady adherent of the "no fees" system, which he followed religiously, even after older preachers of the principle had sadly fallen from grace. The queue was another of Mr Carte's sensible innovations, since adopted by all the theatres of Western London. The last Savoy opera, "The Grand Duke," a very fair specimen of Gilbert-cum-Sullivan, did not catch on. The days of topsy-turveydom had passed, and the librettist, who must have accumulated a large fortune, wisely decided eto write no more. DOyly Carte was a : weU-known raconteur, thotigh I can't

say much for the following samples of his humour, reproduced in the 4iDaily News":—

One of Mr DOyly Carte's stories concerned a well-known tenor, sought after by a couple of managers then in partnership for a tour in Australia. Terms were practically agreed upon, when it struck one of them that perhaps a better bargain could be arrived at if they invited the tenor to dinner. Before the meal commenced it was suggested that he should have £40 # week to sing every night. After the first bottle of Burgundy the vocalist's views expanded, and he .suggested £C 0 a week to sing thrice weekly. They then tried him with champagne, when the terms went up to £80 for sLngiug twice a week; while Mr DOyly Carte declared that by the time they had arrived at the liqueurs, the tenor had come to the conclusion that the only terms he could accept, would be £100 a week not to sing at all.

Another of his stories was about an American who drew the long bow. He was warned by Mr Carte not to exaggerate, and told tliat if he went too far Mr Carte would gently kick him under the table, in order to give him a hint. Something was said about a large dining-room which had been built in an English country house, whereupon the American started off by declaring that at his place in Texas they served the meals on horseback, for his dining-room was "two miles long"' (here Mr Carte gave a vigorous kick) "and three feet broad."

Some years ago, when Sir Arthur Sullivan was extremely ill at Nice, and yearned to return to "his native land, Mr Carte's system of management considerably astonished the local authorities, who had placed all sorts of difficulties in the way. Sullivan could not bear the noise and jostling at the railway station. But the railway ran close by the foot of the ground of hia villa, and DOyly Carte erected a sort of temporary little railway station of his own. A bribe of the previously unheard-of sum of 250 francs—about a quarter of a year's wages—squared the engine-driver and guard of the train, into which Sullivan was lifted ill safety.