Fallen Fairies

Fallen Fairies; or, The Wicked World, is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Edward German.

He also wrote (under a pseudonym) an 1873 play that parodies The Wicked World called The Happy Land, and contained much political satire aimed at politicians of the day; this made a sensation at the Court Theatre after the Lord Chamberlain banned parts of it.

[1] Like a number of Gilbert's blank-verse plays, Fallen Fairies treats the ensuing consequences when an all-female world is disrupted by men and the romantic complications they bring.

Arthur Sullivan, André Messager, Jules Massenet, Liza Lehmann and Alexander Mackenzie, to whom he offered it in turn, all objected to the absence of a male chorus.

The piece opened on 15 December 1909, and the cast also starred Leo Sheffield as Phyllon, Percy Anderson designed the costumes.

[7][8] With German's agreement, Gilbert cast his protégée Nancy McIntosh as the Fairy Queen, Selene.

McIntosh's vocal powers were not what they had been a decade earlier, and critics found her performance weak, saying that she was "too much a tragedy queen" for the romantic role.

[8] On 3 January 1910, Workman's syndicate replaced McIntosh with Amy Evans[9] and demanded the restoration of a song that Gilbert had cut during rehearsals.

Gilbert was outraged and sued Workman and the syndicate, but German declined to join him, dismayed by the dispute.

[10] The Musical Times wrote: The replacement of the leading lady was not enough to save Fallen Fairies from an early closing, although Evans earned praise in the role.

[10][12] The Observer wrote, "It is a strange compound of trifling and tragedy, of gossamer and gnashings of teeth ... the effect is a little like that of an act of Othello pieced into The Merry Wives of Windsor.

"[13] Rutland Barrington, in his 1911 memoir, wrote: "I am inclined to attribute much of the failure of the opera to catch on to the fact that, owing to the entire absence of men's voices to balance the mass of soprani and alti, one's ears suffered from an unavoidable weariness, and a longing for the robust report of the male choristers; the humour of the play also seemed to me to have evaporated, to a great extent, with its conversion" to a comic opera.

[10] The scene is laid in Fairyland, outside the Fairy Queen's bower, which for the purposes of the opera, is supposed to be located on the upper side of a cloud which floats over the Earth.

Selene, their Queen, tells them that Lutin, the only fairy who has ever set foot on solid ground, will soon be returning home after a long absence.

Lutin tells them that their King has a gift for the fairies, and he has commanded Ethais and Phyllon to journey to mid-earth to receive it.

They suggest that once the mortals have observed the fairies' immaculate lives, they would return to Earth and reform mankind's sinful ways.

The fairies have never heard of this procedure, but they are pleased to be kissed on the lips, as they know it carries great weight with the knights.

Sir Ethais is weak from loss of blood, and asks to summon his henchman, Lutin, who is skilled at healing.

Lutin is appalled to find mortals in Fairyland, warning the fairies that Love is the source of all earthly sin.

The fairies stand vigil outside of Selene's bower, where she has been tending Sir Ethais, who is delirious from the effects of his wound.

Selene enters and tells them she has saved Sir Ethais's life, but the jealous fairies are not interested in listening to her.

Darine suggests that the only hope is to summon the fairy Lutin's mortal counterpart, who will be able to cure Sir Ethais.

After a lengthy misunderstanding, Darine finally gets through to Lutin, and he gives her a phial with the magical cure for Sir Ethais's wound.

Sir Ethais agrees, and observing that one beautiful woman is as good as another, gives Selene's ring to Darine.

The mortal Lutin is much relieved, for while he finds Zayda enchanting, he cannot enjoy himself while Darine, who bears so close a resemblance to his wife, is looking on.

Selene frantically tries to detain Sir Ethais, saying that she wants to accompany him to earth, to be his "humble, silent, and submissive slave."