UTOPIA, LIMITED

'''Utopia Limited''', or ''The Flowers of Progress'', is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on October 7 1893 for a run of 245 performances.
Gilbert's libretto satirizes limited liability companies, and particularly the idea that a bankrupt company could leave creditors unpaid without any liability to its owners. It also lampoons the "Stock Company Act" by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons and legal entities. In addition, it mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British empire and several of the nation's beloved institutions. In mocking the adoption of the cultural values of a more "advanced" nation, it takes a tilt at the cultural aspects of imperialism. The libretto has been criticized as too long and rambling, and several subplots are never resolved, due to Sullivan refusing to set some scenes.
''Utopia'' is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It can be expensive to produce, requiring a large principal cast and two costumes for most of the performers. 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. Still, ''Utopia'' has its fans. George Bernard Shaw, who approved of what he saw as Gilbert's "sport made with socialist propaganda",^[1] wrote in his highly favourable review in ''The World'', "I enjoyed the score of Utopia more than that of any of the previous Savoy operas."^[2]

Contents

Background

Roles

Synopsis

Act I

Act II

Musical numbers

Original cast

Notes

References

External links

Background

During the production of Gilbert and Sullivan's previous opera, ''The Gondoliers'', Gilbert became embroiled in a legal dispute with their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, over the cost of a new carpet for the Savoy Theatre – and, more generally, over the accounting for expenses over the course of their long partnership. Sullivan sided with Carte, and the partnership was forced to disband.
After ''The Gondoliers'' closed, it would be more than two years before ''Utopia'' appeared. The lawsuit had left Gilbert and Sullivan somewhat embittered, and their last two works together may have suffered from a less collegial working relationship than the two men had typically enjoyed while writing earlier operas. Many commentators have found flaws in both the writing and post-premiere editing of these last works that, in earlier days, Gilbert and Sullivan would have been able to fix. ''Utopia'' had a less successful run than the previous Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and these flaws were only one of the reasons. In addition, the taste of the London theatregoing public had shifted away from comic opera and towards musical comedies, such as ''A Gaiety Girl'' and ''Morocco Bound'' (both opening in 1893), which were to dominate the London stage for the next two decades and beyond.^[3]
In 1893, the year ''Utopia, Limited'' was produced, Princess Kaiulani of the independent monarchy of Hawaii attended a private school in England. She was the talk of the society pages, with much speculation as to the influence English "civilization" would have on the Princess and eventually her homeland. Two decades earlier, in 1870, Anna Leonowens wrote about her a six-year stint as governess to the children of the king of Siam (Thailand). The first of these books was called ''The English Governess at the Siamese Court....'' The famous stories of two ladies likely influenced the characters of Princess Zara and Lady Sophy, respectively. Another impetus for Gilbert in the genesis of the work was his disdain for England's Limited Liability Act of 1862, which he had begun to explore in the previous opera with Sullivan, ''The Gondoliers''.[1]
By using an imaginary setting, Gilbert was emboldened to level some sharp satire at British imperialism, politics and institutions that might have touched a more sensitive nerve if the opera had a British setting. In this work, Gilbert returns to the idea of an anti-Utopia, which he had explored, in various ways, in his early one-act operas, ''Happy Arcadia'', ''Our Island Home'', ''Topsyturveydom'', and some of his other early works. ''Gondoliers'' also concerns an imaginary island kingdom where the rules of court are considerably different from those in Britain. Here, the island begins as a virtual paradise, is thrown into chaos by the importation of "English" influences, and is eventually saved by an English political expedience. Apart from satirical elements, in ''Utopia'', Gilbert indulges in some small guilty pleasures throughout the libretto. For instance, he was up-to-date in his technology references (as he had been in ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' with the mention of the telephone), by mentioning George Eastman's new product, the Kodak camera, and its slogan. He throws some barbs at the Lord Chamberlain's office, as he loved to do. Also, he refers back to his early operas more often than most of the other libretti in the G&S series, for example in the re-use of the character Captain Corcoran.
''Utopia'' introduced Gilbert's last protégée, Nancy McIntosh, as Princess Zara, and the role was much expanded to accommodate her - which scholar John Wolfson believes^[4] damaged and unbalanced the script by detracting from its parody of government. Gilbert and Sullivan disagreed about this and other matters, and Sullivan refused to set one of Gilbert's scenes for McIntosh, which left the Scaphio-Phantis-Zara subplot partially unresolved. ''Utopia, Limited'' was to be McIntosh's only part with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Discussions over her playing the role of Yum-Yum in a proposed revival of ''The Mikado'' led to another row between the two that prevented the revival, and Gilbert's insistence upon her appearing in ''His Excellency'' caused Sullivan to refuse to set the piece.^[5] Three more years would pass before Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated again, on their last work, ''The Grand Duke''.

Roles

''Utopians''

★ King Paramount the First, ''King of Utopia'' (baritone)

★ Phantis, Scaphio, ''Judges of the Utopian Supreme Court'' (comic baritones)

★ Tarara, ''The Public Exploder'' (comic baritone)

★ Calynx, ''The Utopian Vice-Chamberlain'' (speaking)

★ The Princess Zara, ''eldest daughter of King Paramount'' (soprano)

★ The Princess Nekaya (soprano) and The Princess Kalyba (mezzo-soprano), ''her younger sisters''

★ The Lady Sophy, ''their English Gouvernante'' (contralto)

★ Salata (speaking), Melene (speaking), and Phylla (soprano), ''Utopian Maidens''

'Imported Flowers of Progress'

★ Lord Dramaleigh, ''a British Lord Chamberlain'' (high baritone)

★ Captain Fitzbattleaxe, ''First Life Guards'' (tenor)

★ Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, KCB, ''of the Royal Navy'' (bass)

★ Mr. Goldbury, ''a Company Promoter, afterwards Comptroller of the Utopian Household'' (baritone)

★ Sir Bailey Barre, Q.C., MP) (tenor)

★ Mr. Blushington, ''of the County Council'' (baritone)

Synopsis

Act I

On the fictional South Pacific island of Utopia, the monarch, King Paramount, has sent his daughter, Princess Zara, to Girton College in England. He hopes that her training will contribute to his plan to civilise his people. The Public Exploder, Tarara, disturbs the languor of the Utopian maidens to remind them of his duty to blow up the King if the two "Wise Men", Scaphio and Phantis, order him to do so. The Wise Men appear, heralded by the chorus ("O make way for the Wise Men"). The King himself soon arrives ("A King of autocratic power we") and joins the two Wise Men commenting that life is a farce ("First you're born"). The King reveals that he is quite upset about the Wise Men's power over him: he is unable to marry the Lady Sophy, his younger daughters' English governess, because of self-mocking articles Scaphio and Phantis have forced him to write under a pseudonym.
Princess Zara now returns to Utopia with six British gentlemen (the "Flowers of Progress") in tow ("Five years have flown"). She sings a duet with one of them, Captain Fitzbattleaxe ("Ah! gallant soldier, brave and true") with whom she has become romantically involved. Meanwhile, both Scaphio and Phantis have become smitten with love for the princess and agree to duel one another for her hand ("It's understood, I think").
Soon, the Utopians assemble and Zara introduces the Flowers of Progress one by one – Fitzbattleaxe (of the army), Sir Bailey Barre (Q.C. and MP), Lord Dramaleigh (a Lord Chamberlain), Mr. Blushington (of the county council), Mr. Goldbury (a company promoter) and Captain Corcoran (of the navy – a joking reference to the character from Gilbert and Sullivan's early popular opera, ''HMS Pinafore''). The Utopian people are duly impressed, and they listen closely to Mr. Goldbury, who explains the British Limited Liability Companies law. The King decides to transform his entire country into a limited liability corporation – an innovation that even England herself has not yet accepted. Everyone but Scaphio, Phantis and Tarara is enthusiastic.

Act II

Zara and Fitzbattleaxe share a tender scene. Utopia has transformed itself into a "more perfect" replica of Britain – it has built an army, a navy, and courts, purified its literature, and wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Goldbury's proposal, and every person now has limited liability.
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"). Scaphio and Phantis are furious because 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"). But the King points out that they cannot blow up a limited company. Scaphio and Phantis plot with Tarara on how to reverse the course of events and retire.
The King, his dignity rediscovered, approaches Lady Sophy and tells her the truth about the articles written about him, and she now happily agrees to marry him ("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 the changes be revoked.
Puzzled, Paramount asks his daughter for a solution, and, after a little prodding from Sir Bailey Barre, she 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

★ Introduction¹

;Act I

★ 1. "In lazy languor motionless" (Phylla and Chorus of Girls)

★ 2. "O make way for the Wise Men" (Chorus)

★ 2a. "In every mental lore" (Scaphio and Phantis)

★ 3. "Let all your doubts take wing" (Scaphio and Phantis)

★ 4. "Quaff the nectar" (Chorus)

★ 4a. "A King of autocratic power we" (King with Chorus)

★ 4b. "Although of native maids the cream" (Nekaya and Kalyba)

★ 4c. "Bold-faced ranger" (Lady Sophy with Chorus)

★ 5. "First you're born" (King with Scaphio and Phantis)

★ 6. "Subjected to your heavenly gaze" (King and Lady Sophy)

★ 7. "Oh, maiden rich in Girton lore" (Zara, Fitz., Troopers, and Chorus)


★ 8. "Ah! gallant soldier" (Zara, Fitz., Troopers, and Chorus)

★ 9. "It's understood, I think" (Zara, Fitz., Scaphio, and Phantis)

★ 10. "Oh, admirable art" (Zara and Fitz.)

★ (11. Cut song for Zara, "Youth is a boon avowed", sung on the first night but now lost.)

★ 12. Act I Finale: "Although your Royal summons to appear" (Ensemble) and "When Britain sounds the trump of war" (Zara, Sir Bailey Barre, and Chorus)

★ 12a. "What these may be" (Zara, Dramaleigh, Blushington, and Chorus) and "A company promoter this" (Zara, Goldbury, and Chorus)

★ 12b. "I'm Captain Corcoran, K.C.B." (Capt. Corcoran with Chorus) and "Ye wand'rers from a mighty State" (Quartet, Chorus, and Soli)

★ 12c. "Some seven men form an association" (Mr. Goldbury with Chorus), "Well, at first sight it strikes us as dishonest" (Ensemble), and "Henceforward of a verity" (King Paramount and Ensemble)

;Act II

★ 13. "Oh, Zara!" and "A tenor, all singers above" (Fitz.)

★ 14. "Words of love too loudly spoken" (Zara and Fitz.)

★ 15. "Society has quite forsaken" (King with Chorus of Six Flowers of Progress)

★ 16. Entrance of Court

★ 17. Drawing Room Music

★ 18. "This ceremonial", "Eagle high in cloudland soaring" (King and Ensemble)

★ 19. "With fury deep we burn" (Scaphio, Phantis, and King Paramount)

★ 20. "If you think that when banded in unity" (King, Scaphio and Phantis)

★ 21. "With wily brain" (Scaphio, Phantis, and Tarara)

★ 22. "A wonderful joy our eyes to bless" (Mr. Goldbury)

★ 23. "Then I may sing and play?" (Nek., Kal., Lord D., and Mr. Goldbury)

★ 24. "Oh, would some demon pow'r", "When but a maid of fifteen year" (Lady Sophy)

★ 25. "Ah, Lady Sophy, then you love me!" (King and Lady Sophy)

★ 25a. "Oh, rapture unrestrained" (King and Lady Sophy)

★ 25b. Tarantella

★ 26. "Upon our sea-girt land" (Chorus)

★ 27. Finale Act II: "There's a little group of isles beyond the wave" (Zara, King Paramount, and Ensemble)
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.

Original cast

Soon after Sir Luke Fildes had been rewarded by a grateful country for his services to Art, Gilbert met him at a social gathering and congratulated him on his new honours. In the course of conversation, Sir Luke reminded Gilbert that the Dairy Maid "Patience" had been made up to exactly resemble the subject of his first successful picture, ''Where are you going to, my pretty maid?'' "Yes, I remember borrowing the idea for my milkmaid's costume from your picture," replied Gilbert, "but I have repaid that debt long ago by being the responsible cause of your new title."

"Responsible for my new title, how do you make that out?" asked the puzzled Sir Luke.

"Oh, it's easily explained," answered Gilbert. Didn't I write in ''Utopia:''[6] "Who knows but we may count among our intellectual chickens Like you, an Earl of Thackeray, and p'r'aps a Duke of Dickens— ''Lord Fildes'' and Viscount Millais (when they come) we'll welcome sweetly— In short this happy country has been Anglicised completely!"

"Well, your prophecy is certainly a pattern of modified accuracy," exclaimed Sir Luke, "I would like to be similarly accurate in your case."

'-From Edith A. Browne's "Stars of the Stage: W. S. Gilbert" (1907), page 93.'

The opening night principal cast was as follows:

★ King Paramount the First - Rutland Barrington

★ Phantis - W. H. Denny

★ Scaphio - John Le Hay

★ Tarara - Walter Passmore

★ Calynx - Bowden Haswell

★ The Princess Zara - Nancy McIntosh

★ The Princess Nekaya - Emmie Owen

★ The Princess Kalyba - Florence Perry

★ The Lady Sophy - Rosina Brandram

★ Salata - Edith Johnston

★ Melene - May Bell

★ Phylla - Florence Easton

★ Lord Dramaleigh - Scott Russell

★ Captain Fitzbattleaxe - Charles Kenningham

★ Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, KCB - Lawrence Gridley

★ Mr. Goldbury - Scott Fishe

★ Sir Bailey Barre - Enes Blackmore

★ Mr. Blushington - Herbert Ralland

Notes

1. Hudson, D. ''The Savoy Operas''. OUP, London (1963) p. 278
2. 1893 October review of ''Utopia, Limited'' by George Bernard Shaw in ''The World''
3. See the article on musical theatre for a historical discussion. See this article for a political discussion.
4. In his book ''Final Curtain''
5. Wolfson, pages 61-62
6. No 15, "Society has quite forsaken all her wicked courses"

References

★ Final curtain: The last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, , John, Wolfson, Chappell in association with A. Deutsch, 1976, ISBN 0-903443-12-0

★ Graham, Bruce: "From Bambouli to Utopia: Offenbach’s Whittington as a possible source for Utopia, Limited" in ''The Gaiety'', Spring 2006, pp. 23-27. Editor: Roderick Murray.

★ Stars of the Stage: W. S. Gilbert, , Edith A., Browne, John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1907,

External links

★ ''Utopia Limited'' at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive

★ ''Utopia Limited'' at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography

★ Article comparing ''The Nautch Girl'' and ''Utopia Limited'' and analyzing the implications of the exotic settings as a reflection of British imperialism

★ Utopia review

★ Article on ''Utopia'' and Gilbert's satire of corporation law