Pickwick (operetta)

Billed as a 'dramatic cantata' in emulation of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury (1875),[1] the production opened at the Comedy Theatre in London, then under the management of Charles Hawtrey, at a benefit matinee[2] on 7 February 1889, where it ran for several weeks with some success.

[4] The piece was written as a vehicle for Arthur Cecil, while Savoy Opera performer Rutland Barrington ended up directing and also alternating in the roles of Pickwick and Baker.

I well remember Arthur Cecil's surprise and envy when we assembled at his chambers in the Haymarket for the first music rehearsal of Pickwick, and I read all mine off as if I knew it.

He was notorious for his attention to detail in the parts he played, and we had an amusing instance of it in this piece, he suggesting some business with butcher's account-book which Pickwick was to add up, but as it would have required at least four lines of dialogue to explain, it was cut.

He and Burnand eventually got so befogged over the stage management of the piece that they finally, on the suggestion of Solomon, handed over to me the task of production, and Arthur was so overjoyed at his respite that he presented me with a very quaint old Queen Anne punch-ladle, which I much prize.

Another amusing incident in connection with Pickwick was the fact that, owing to some accident, the production was postponed at the very last moment, in spite of which a certain journal contained the next morning a violent diatribe against the piece and all concerned in it.

[6] Of Lottie Venne's performance in the original production Barrington later recalled, "This great little artist possesses, in addition to her many charms, a wonderful manner of speaking that kind of doubtful line which is sometimes alluded to by journalists as 'skating on thin ice'; and this power was occasionally abused by authors, much to her distress.

[8] The work was revived in 1893 as a forepiece to Tom, Dick & Harry at the Trafalgar Square Theatre where it ran for about 25 performances from 13 December 1893 to 6 January 1894 with Jessie Bond as Mrs Bardell.

[3] In 2016 Retrospect Opera released a recording of the work with Simon Butteriss as Pickwick, Gaynor Keeble as Mrs Bardell, and Toby Stafford-Allen as the Baker.