Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas are some of the world’s best-loved musical works, delighting audiences with their joyous wit, topsy-turvy logic and extravagant wordplay. This glorious treasury is the definitive annotated edition of all fourteen of their operas. From the partially lost work Thespis, the first collaboration between W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, through the triumphant comic romps The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, to lesser-performed gems such as the fanciful The Sorcerer and the acerbic lampoon Patience, Gilbert’s libretti are collected here in their most accurate and faithful form. There is a fascinating commentary on each work, telling the extraordinary stories behind the inspiration for the opera and its performance history, and giving plot summaries and original cast lists.

In this, the first book to focus on the original cast members of the classic Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, world-renowned musical theater expert Kurt Gänzl provides a concise history of the writing and production of each opera, vividly colored by the often little-known life stories of these early performers. Meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated with rare photographs, Gilbert and Sullivan: The Players and the Plays delves into the professional and personal lives of the British and American actors and singers who created the celebrated "famous fourteen" Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

Discusses the plots, characters, satire, and productions of the operas composed by W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

The partnership of W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan produced a collection of the most best-loved and (still!) oft-performed comic operas in the history of theatre. Here is the story of each of G&S's greatest works--from inspiration to opening night and beyond--woven into a fascinating account of their lives, times, and the giddy rise to global celebrity. The book features many rare photos and a dazzling selection of illustrations from contemporary posters, programs, memorabilia, and merchandise The book includes a DVD with 11 complete operas, featuring a cast of award-winning stars including Peter Allen, Joel Grey, Frankie Howard, Gillian Knight, Keith Michell, Vincent Price and Clive Revill in The Gondoliers, HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe, The Mikado Patience, The Pirates of Penzance, Princess Ida, Ruddigore The Sorcerer, Trial by Jury, and The Yeoman of the Guard. The music is by the London Symphony Orchestra and The Ambrosian Opera Chorus.

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) was the most brilliant dramatist of Victorian England. A daring and cynical playwright, the forerunner of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, he was also a prolific journalist and humorous poet (his Bab Ballads are still widely read), and he achieved worldwide fame through his long collaboration with the composer Arthur Sullivan, a collaboration that created such classics as H. M. S. Pinafore, The Mikado, and all the other Savoy operas. Now the story of this remarkable writer's life - and of his stormy relationship with Sullivan - is here chronicled by a renowned authority on Gilbert and on the theatrical and literary scene in Victorian London. For this biography, Jane W. Stedman has returned to original sources, has interviewed survivors, and has scoured a whole variety of Victorian periodicals for reviews, and personal comment. Gilbert emerges as a much more complex and interesting figure than has previously been thought. The book is a worthy companion piece to Arthur Jacobs's recent biography Arthur Sullivan: A Victorian Musician.