New Canaan High School,
11 Farm Rd,
New Canaan, CT
April 3, 4, 10, and 11 at 8:00pm
April 5 and 11 at 2:30pm
Trial by Jury was the partners' first success, a half-hour curtain raiser premiered in 1875 at the Royal Theater and later at the Opera Comique in London, and was so popular that it had nearly 300 performances in the first 2 years. It concerns the Defendant, Edwin, a bit of a cad, who is being sued by the Plaintiff Angelina for breach of promise of marriage. Edwin's attentions have indeed moved on, but we quickly see that Angelina a quite a flirt herself. The judge listens to increasingly ridiculous arguments by the Counsel for Angelina and finally decides to resolve the issue by marrying her himself.
HMS Pinafore was the third surviving opera, opening in 1878 and was for its time a "blockbuster" hit, having over 500 performances in its first run, as well as traveling and American companies (both legal and illegal). Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Rackstraw, "a lowly sailor" has the misfortune to love Josephine, the Captain's daughter, and while she eventually returns his affection, the distance in rank between them is too great for the Captain to countenance it. Meanwhile, Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty visits with his retinue of sisters, cousins and aunts (the woman's chorus) and the Captain encourages him to consider Josephine for his wife. Sir Joseph would be happy to, but Josephine is clearly uninterested, and when he tells her that "Love levels all ranks," she takes this as permission not to love him but to love Ralph. In the end, Little Buttercup, who once practiced "baby farming" tells us that she accidentally switched Ralph and the Captain at birth and thus there is no distance at all in rank between Ralph and Josephine because he is now the Captain!