Princess Toto
Its pre-London tour opened on 24 June 1876 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, starring Kate Santley, W. S. Penley and J. H. Ryley.
Princess Toto was revived in 1881 at the Opera Comique in London for a run of 65 performances (starring Richard Temple).
Despite Clay's tuneful score and Gilbert's amusing libretto, the piece was not a major success, although it did enjoy the various tours and revivals over the years.
After the initial production at Nottingham and the subsequent provincial tour, Gilbert sold the performing rights to Clay for a period of ten years.
The publisher of the music, Cramer & Co., stated that the band parts and original printing plates for both Vocal Score and Libretto were destroyed in the World War II London blitz.
Chorus: Courtiers and court ladies, pages, brigands, and Red Indians King Portico, a highly dignified and scrupulously correct monarch, is generally worried that the newspapers might print something embarrassing about the royal family, especially the king's eccentric daughter, Princess Toto.
He tells Doro that he hasn't lost much, since Toto is not only absent-minded but excessively romantic: "her head is filled with foolish ideas about Gypsies, robbers, actors, pirates, paving commissioners, Red Indians, and outlandish people of that sort," and her fancy has now fallen on the notorious brigand Barberini.
She is surprised that he doesn't look like the "ferocious monster" who had been describe to her, but Caramel explains: "that's my nasty cunning; it disarms people and puts them off their guard."
Caramel, returning from his wedding with Toto, hints to her that it would be amusing if it turned out that he wasn't a real brigand after all but a respectable man.
King Portico arrives with Zapeter and Jamilek, dressed as American Indians, hoping that their colourful disguises will lure Toto into going home with them.
Zapeter has "diligently studied the works of Fenimore Cooper" and Jamilek speaks in the metre of Longfellow's poem "Hiawatha."
Portico is finds out that a boat is approaching and is afraid that he will be ridiculed, but Jamilek suggests that he hide in some prickly cactus.
When the pre-London tour reached Edinburgh The Scotsman's critic commented that if every comic opera had the benefit of a libretto by Gilbert the genre would be even more popular than it already was.
Clay's music was thought "light, tuneful and thoroughly congenial", though not of any great originality, and showing some indebtedness to Offenbach.
[4] When the piece opened in the West End, The Globe judged it an "unequivocal success", praised the libretto ("sparkles with wit") and found Clay's music "unambitious" but "flowing and pleasant" and at its best in the vocal solos.
[5] The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News thought the libretto exceptional: "Not only are the incidents laughter-provoking, but the dialogue is full of unexpected sallies of wit and humour which provoke irrepressible laughter".
"[6] When the piece opened in New York in 1880 The Era's correspondent wrote that although inevitable comparisons between the music of Princess Toto and that of H.M.S.
Gilbert's libretto was highly praised, and the reviewer thought him capable of "confer[ring] upon the British and American Drama a lasting and inestimable benefit".
