''A Private Wire'' is a one-act musical "vaudeville" operetta with a libretto by

Frank Desprez Frank Desprez (9 February 1853 – 25 November 1916) was an English playwright, essayist, and poet. He wrote more than twenty pieces for the theatre, as well as numerous shorter works, including his famous poem, ''Lasca''. Life and career D ...

and Arnold Felix and music by

Percy Reeve Percy Reeve (born 21 December 1855; date of death not known) was an English composer and music critic. Reeve wrote several successful operettas, often as companion pieces to longer works, as well as music for other theatrical pieces and serious ...

. It was first produced at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pal ...

on 31 March 1883 to 1 January 1884 as a companion piece to

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

's ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

''. The piece also toured from March to July 1884. No copy of a printed libretto or vocal score is in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

. A copy of the libretto is in the Lord Chamberlain's collection.

Background

The fashion in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

was to present long evenings in the theatre, and so producer

Richard D'Oyly Carte Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also estab ...

preceded his

Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which ...

s with curtain raisers such as ''A Private Wire''. W. J. MacQueen-Pope commented, concerning such curtain raisers: :This was a one-act play, seen only by the early comers. It would play to empty boxes, half-empty upper circle, to a gradually filling stalls and dress circle, but to an attentive, grateful and appreciative pit and gallery. Often these plays were little gems. They deserved much better treatment than they got, but those who saw them delighted in them. ... heyserved to give young actors and actresses a chance to win their spurs ... the stalls and the boxes lost much by missing the curtain-raiser, but to them dinner was more important.MacQueen-Pope, Walter James. ''Carriages at Eleven'' (1947), London: Robert Hale and Co., p. 23

Synopsis

Philip FitzStubbs loves Rose Frumpington who lives in the house on the opposite side of the street. Philip's father has forbidden the match and made his son promise not to see or write to Rose, but Philip has had a telephone installed so that they can talk. FitzStubbs senior hopes to marry Rose's mother. Mrs. Frumpington, a spiritualist, is worried that her late husband may disapprove of her marrying FitzStubbs. Visiting her daughter's house, she is alone in a room and hears a voice evidently talking to her. It is Philip, trying to talk to Rose by telephone, but Mrs. Frumpington assumes it to be the voice of her dead husband. She replies to the voice. Philip, assuming that he is speaking to Rose, becomes increasingly agitated at the strange answers he is getting down the wire, and eventually rushes across the street. All is explained, and finding that there is no spiritual objection, Mrs. Frumpington accepts Fitzstubbs's proposal, and the parents consent to the marriage of their children."The London Theatres", '' The Era'', 7 April 1883, p. 7

Roles and original cast

*Mrs. Frumpington – Rosina Brandram / Miss Twyman *Miss Rose Frumpington – Minna Louis / Rose Hervey *Napoleon FitzStubbs – Eric Lewis *Philip FitzStubbs – Charles Rowan *Mary, the maid – Sybil Grey

Notes

References

''A Private Wire'' at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive

External links

Brief review of the piece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Private Wire, A English-language operas English comic operas Libretti by Frank Desprez Operas 1883 operas