Cultural impact of Gilbert and Sullivan
For instance, a 29 February 1940 article in The New York Times noted that Frederic, from The Pirates of Penzance, was finally out of his indentures (having reached his 21st birthday, as described in that opera).
[8] Gilbert's complex rhyme schemes and satirical lyrics served as a model for Edwardian musical comedy writers such as Adrian Ross and Owen Hall, and for such 20th century Broadway lyricists as P. G. Wodehouse,[9] Cole Porter,[10] Ira Gershwin,[11] Yip Harburg,[12][13] Lorenz Hart,[14] Oscar Hammerstein II[6] and Sheldon Harnick.
... Gilbert's satirical quality entranced us [Harburg and Ira Gershwin] – his use of rhyme and meter, his light touch, the marvelous way his words blended with Sullivan's music.
"[12] In the number "Right Hand Man" from the 2015 musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, George Washington refers to himself with irony as "The model of a modern major general", which he rhymes with "men are all" and "pedestal".
"[18] Sullivan was also admired and copied by early composers such as Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, Victor Herbert, George Gershwin,[19] Jerome Kern, Ivor Novello, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Professor Carolyn Williams notes: "The influence of Gilbert and Sullivan – their wit and sense of irony, the send ups of politics and contemporary culture – goes beyond musical theater to comedy in general.
The influence of Gilbert is discernible in a vein of British comedy that runs through John Betjeman's verse via Monty Python and Private Eye to... television series like Yes Minister... where the emphasis is on wit, irony, and poking fun at the establishment from within it in a way which manages to be both disrespectful of authority and yet cosily comfortable and urbane.Cellier and Bridgeman wrote, in 1914, that prior to the creation of the Savoy operas, amateur actors were treated with contempt by professionals.
"[31] Cellier and Bridgeman attributed the rise in quality and reputation of the amateur groups largely to "the popularity of, and infectious craze for performing, the Gilbert and Sullivan operas".
Likewise, "Let the punishment fit the crime", from the title character's Act II song, is particularly mentioned in the course of British political debates.
[35] In October 2010, Ron Butler released a YouTube video pastiche of the "Major-General's Song" in character as, and mildly lampooning, President Obama.
'"[43] On the other hand, in the case Pierson v. Ray, which established the doctrine of qualified immunity for police officers, the United States Supreme Court held that "[a] policeman's lot is not so unhappy that he must choose between being charged with dereliction of duty if he does not arrest when he had probable cause, and being punished with damages if he does.
[46] One U.S. Supreme Court case even discussed a contempt citation imposed on a pro se defendant who, among other conduct, compared the judge to something out of Gilbert and Sullivan.
[47] Aside from politics, the phrase "A short, sharp shock" has appeared in titles of books and songs (most notably in samples of Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon").
For instance, in episode 80 of the television series Magnum, P.I., entitled "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime", Higgins prepares to direct a selection of pieces from The Mikado to be staged at the Estate.
[70] Oscar Brand and Joni Mitchell recorded "Prithee Pretty Maiden" for the Canadian folk music TV program Let's Sing Out, broadcast by CBC Television in 1966.
For example, the song, "My eyes are fully open" (often referred to as the "Matter Patter Trio") from Ruddigore is used (with some changed lyrics) in Papp's Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance, and the tune of the song is used as "The Speed Test" in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie and is heard in a season 5 episode of Spitting Image where Labour leader Neil Kinnock is portrayed singing a self-parody to the tune.
"For he is an Englishman" is referred to both in the title's name and throughout The West Wing episode "And It's Surely to Their Credit" (sic), where several staffers sing along to a recording of the song to brighten up the White House counsel's day.
The Smothers Brothers, beginning in 1975 on their show, occasionally performed a parody version of Poor Wand'ring One, which they repeated in the 1980s with the Boston Pops (John Williams conducting).
[124] Recent examples include Cynthia Morey's novel about an amateur Gilbert and Sullivan company, A World That's All Our Own (2006);[125] Bernard Lockett's Here's a State of Things (2007), a historical novel that intertwines the lives of two sets of London characters, a hundred years apart, but both connected with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas;[126] and The Last Moriarty (2015) by Charles Veley, about an actress from D'Oyly Carte who seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes.
[129] Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free is a novel by Kathleen Karr based on a historical event in 1914, when the inmates of Sherborn Women's Prison in Massachusetts, U.S., put on a performance of The Pirates of Penzance.
[147] Other murder mysteries include The Ghosts' High Noon by John Dickson Carr (1969), named for the song of the same name in Ruddigore;[148] The West End Horror, by Nicholas Meyer, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche involving a production of The Grand Duke (1976);[149] The Plain Old Man by Charlotte MacLeod (1985; The Sorcerer);[150] Perish in July by Mollie Hardwick (1989; Yeomen)[151] Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood (a Phryne Fisher book, 1995; Ruddigore);[152] Murder and Sullivan by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (1997; Ruddigore);[153] Death of a Pooh-Bah by Karen Sturges (2000; Mikado);[154] and Vengeance Dire by Roberta Morrell (2001; Pirates);[155] Other mystery books and stories involve Gilbert and/or Sullivan to a lesser degree.
[159] Science fiction author Isaac Asimov, a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, found inspiration for his famous Foundation Trilogy while reading Iolanthe.
Anne McCaffrey also seems fond of The Pirates of Penzance—several characters pass the time with it in Power Play, and references to "When the foeman bares his steel" appear in Crystal Line.
It stars John Reed (Ko-Ko), Kenneth Sandford (Pooh-Bah), Valerie Masterson (Yum-Yum), Donald Adams (the Mikado), Peggy Ann Jones (Pitti-Sing), and Philip Potter (Nanki-Poo).
[93][77] The soundtrack of Chariots also features "Three Little Maids from School Are We" (The Mikado), "With Catlike Tread" (Pirates), "The Soldiers of Our Queen" (Patience), and "There Lived a King" (The Gondoliers).
The score features "With cat-like tread", "The Major-General's Song", "Climbing over rocky mountain", "Poor wandering one", and part of the overture from Princess Ida.
For instance, in Pretty Woman, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) covered a social gaffe by prostitute Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), who said that the opera La traviata was so good that she almost "peed in [her] pants" by pretending that she had said that she liked it almost as much as "The Pirates of Penzance."
[184][185] In a 2022 episode of Midsomer Murders, titled "For Death Prepare", an amateur operatic society rehearses a charity concert of Pirates, when a dead body is found in their theatre.
Creator Aaron Sorkin has stated that the characters' love for Gilbert and Sullivan is part of his attempt to avoid referring to current political and entertainment personalities and to set it in a "parallel universe.
"[99] in a 2011 Geico commercial, a couple that wants to save money, but still listen to musicals, finds a roommate, dressed as the Major General, who awkwardly begins the song while dancing on a coffee table.
