Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack, is one of the earliest plays written by W.S. Gilbert, his first solo stage success. The work is a musical burlesque of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and the music was arranged by Mr. Van Hamme.Burgess, p. 307 It opened at the St James's Theatre on 29 December 1866, the last item in a long evening, following a farce and Dion Boucicault's new play Hunted Down."The London Theatres", The London Review, 5 January 1867, p. 18 Dulcamara ran for a successful 120 nights.
The popularity of the piece encouraged further commissions for opera burlesques from Gilbert, who wrote four more between 1867 and 1869. Dulcamara and its successors all comply with the burlesque traditions of the day, with dialogue in rhyming couplets, convoluted puns throughout, and an array of attractive actresses in tights or short skirts, playing male roles, a practice Gilbert renounced as soon as he was sufficiently influential in the theatre.Stedman, Jane. "From Dame to Woman: W. S. Gilbert and Theatrical Transvestism", Victorian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, September 1970
Background and production
In 1865–66, Gilbert collaborated with Charles Millward on several pantomimes, including one called Hush-a-Bye, Baby, On the Tree Top, or, Harlequin Fortunia, King Frog of Frog Island, and the Magic Toys of Lowther Arcade (1866).Stedman (1996), pp. 34–35. Gilbert's first solo success, however, came a few days after Hush-a-Bye Baby premiered. Ruth Herbert, the manager of London's St James's Theatre asked Tom Robertson to supply her with a new work for Christmas, 1866. Robertson was unable to produce the work in the two weeks allotted but suggested that Gilbert could do it.Crowther (2011), pp. 60–61
The choice of the subject and the musical numbers was Gilbert's. He had been familiar with Donizetti operas from his boyhood; his father's translation of Lucia di Lammermoor had been presented in London, and there had long been parodies staged of that opera and of Linda di Chamounix and Lucrezia Borgia.Fischler, Alan. "Gilbert and Donizetti", Opera Quarterly, November 1994, pp. 29–42 In burlesquing L'elisir d'amore, Gilbert retained the characters of the original, inventing only one new principal character, Beppo, assistant (and, as it turns out, long-lost mother) to Dulcamara. Nor did Gilbert stray far from the plot of the original, although Donizetti's elixir of love – cheap claret – is changed to "Madame Rachel's 'Beautiful for Ever'" face cream.
The work was written and rehearsed in ten days, and the roles were filled by the stars of the theatre, including Ellen McDonnell (Nemorino), Frank Matthews (Dulcamara), Carlotta Addison (Adina) and Gaston Murray (Tomaso), with a Mr. Van Hamme as musical director. The young Henry Irving was the stage director. It was presented as an afterpiece to Boucicault's play Hunted Down and a one-act farce by John Maddison Morton called Newington Butts! Dulcamara ran for approximately 120 performances.Moss, Simon. "Dulcamara" at Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia, c20th.com, accessed 16 November 2009 Gilbert later wrote: The piece ... met with more success than it deserved, owing, mainly, to the late Mr. Frank Matthews' excellent impersonation of the title role. In the hurry of production there had been no time to discuss terms, but after it had been successfully launched, Mr. Emden (Miss Herbert's acting manager) asked me how much I wanted for the piece. I modestly hoped that, as the piece was a success, thirty pounds would not be considered an excessive price for the London right. Mr. Emden looked rather surprised, and, as I thought, disappointed. However, he wrote a cheque, asked for a receipt, and when he had got it, said, "Now, take a bit of advice from an old stager who knows what he is talking about: never sell so good a piece as this for thirty pounds again." And I never have.Gilbert, W. S., "William Schwenck Gilbert: An Autobiography", Theatre, April 1883 p.219
The libretto is set in rhyming couplets, as are the other Gilbert burlesques. The character Tomaso explains this odd convention near the close of Scene 1: You're in a village during harvest time, Where all the humblest peasants talk in rhyme, And sing about their pleasures and cares In parodies on all the well-known airs. They earn their bread by going in a crowd, To sing their humble sentiments aloud, In choruses of striking unanimity – (aside) The only rhyme I know to that, is dimity. (aloud) They never wear umbrellas – so they get Their dresses of watered silk – or else well wet. Their dresses of drawing rooms is emblematic Although their mode of life is upper-attic!
This scene is based on one in Gilbert's short story, "The Adventures of Wheeler J. Calamity", which he had written for the Fun Christmas Number in 1865, with the song following this speech, "If you intend to stay with us, before you've been a day with us", appearing in both.Gilbert, W.S. "The Adventures of Wheeler J. Calamity" . Originally printed in the Fun Christmas Number, 1865; reprinted at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 3 August 2011
Reception and impact
Dulcamara was not widely reviewed, but Fun magazine – to which Gilbert was a regular contributor – gave it a long and favourable notice, declaring that "Mr W. S. Gilbert at once takes rank for both neatness of construction and brilliancy of dialogue beside Mr. Byron. The position is an enviable one, and many have striven for years to achieve what Mr. Gilbert has done with his first burlesque.""From our stall", Fun, 12 January 1867, p. 185. The London Review also praised Gilbert's work, noted that one number received a double encore, and commented on Gilbert's musical discrimination (something he was wont to disclaim in his later years): "The music is selected with a keen ear for lively and taking melodies." The Daily News wrote: "It is rare to find the first work of an author new to dramatic literature well constructed, free from redundancy, short, sharp, and to the point, clearly telling what little story it has to tell, and giving fair opportunities for the display of varied comic acting. Mr. Gilbert's burlesque ... possesses all these merits, and is remarkable for the wit and brilliance of its dialogue."
Dulcamaras success showed that Gilbert could write entertainingly in the burlesque form and quickly led to commissions to write four additional opera burlesques (the most successful of which was Robert the Devil in 1868) and a half dozen pantomimes and farces. These early burlesques, full of "ingenious but excruciating" puns (traditional in burlesques of the period), show signs of the satire that would later be a defining part of Gilbert's work.See The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume XIII, Chapter VIII, Section 15 (1907–21) and Crowther, Andrew, The Life of W. S. Gilbert . His parodic pokes at grand opera continued to be seen in the Savoy operas.Crowther (2000), p. 20 Gilbert's early burlesques were considered unusually tasteful, compared with the others on the London stage, and he would depart even further from the burlesque style after 1869, with plays containing original plots and fewer puns.Crowther, Andrew. The Life of W. S. Gilbert These included his "fairy comedies", such as The Palace of Truth (1870) and Pygmalion and Galatea (1871), and his German Reed Entertainments, which led to the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas.Crowther, Andrew. WSG Life . Gilbert further developed the Dulcamara tale in The Sorcerer (1877) and The Mountebanks (1892), which draws heavily on the idea of a magic substance that transforms people.
The songs were probably available only in sheet music form, and because they pastiched popular or well-known songs, no vocal score reflecting the show was ever published. Dulcamara was revived twice in the nineteenth century but was absent from the stage for the entire twentieth century. It was adapted in 2005, with additional lyrics by John Spartan and new music by Scott Farrell, and their version is the only available performing edition. The chorus "If you intend to stay with us" was performed in 2005, and the "Fantasia on Themes from Dulcamara" (an orchestral piece) was performed in 2006, both at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. Musical selections from this version of the score were performed on 17 and 18 October 2008 in concert performances by the Rockford Operetta Party.Crowther, Andrew. "Forthcoming Gilbert Events" , The W. S. Gilbert Society, July 2008
Roles and original cast Nemorino, a Neapolitan peasant, of whom you will hear more peasantly – Miss E. McDonnell Belcore, a sergeant of the Infantry, who is "cut out" for a good soldier by nature – and by Nemorino – F. Charles Dr. Dulcamara, a travelling Quack Lecturer, who drives his own trap, and therefore is less of Mary Walker than a Chariotte-Ann Rider – Frank Matthews Beppo, his "Jack-pudding" – a mystery, whose real nature is concealed by a mysterious "Pike-crust" – J. D. Stoyle Tomaso, a Notary, keeping company with Gianetta: "Tomaso, and Tomaso, and Tomaso, creeps with his pretty pay-sanne" – Shakespeare – Gaston Murray Adina, the little Duck, who, it is hoped, will nevertheless be found to be very long in the bill – Carlotta Addison Gianetta, the pretty paysanne, to whom Tomaso "pays an" overwhelming amount of attention – Eleanor Bufton Catarina, an exquisite villager – Miss Marion Maria, another – Miss Gunness Soldiers, Male and Female Peasants, Fisher Girls, etc.