Ib and Little Christina
![Indoor scene with a woman, a man and a young girl, seated at a cottage table, heads bowed for grace](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0c/Ib-and-little-christina-1.jpg/390px-Ib-and-little-christina-1.jpg)
Ib and Little Christina refers to two theatrical adaptations by Basil Hood of the 1855 fairy tale by Hans Andersen of the same name: a play (1900) and an opera (1901).
Play[]
The first version was a play subtitled "A Picture in 3 Parts", with incidental music by Arthur Bruhns, first produced at the Prince of Wales Theatre, opening on 15 May 1900 and running for 60 performances. It starred Martin Harvey and the nine-year-old Phyllis Dare.[1] The piece transferred to the Coronet Theatre that summer.[2] There was also a Broadway run in 1900.[3] It was revived at Terry's Theatre in January 1903, playing for 16 performances, and again at Terry's in early 1904, for 31 more performances. The play was also revived at the Adelphi Theatre in September 1908, playing for seven performances.[4]
Opera[]
![Indoor scene with a young woman introducing a happy-looking young man to a sad one; an old man dozes in a chair by the fireside](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Ib-and-little-christina-2.jpg/390px-Ib-and-little-christina-2.jpg)
Hood rewrote Ib and Little Christina as an opera styled "A Picture in 3 Panels", with music by Franco Leoni. It was first produced by William Greet at the Savoy Theatre on 14 November 1901 and ran together with Hood's The Willow Pattern for 16 performances, until the end of November.[5] The libretto was published by Chappell & Co., and a copy is in the British Library at 11778.f.23(4) (1901).
The Times described the piece as "an opera of ultra-modern type" and compared it unflatteringly to the work of Arthur Sullivan, who had died earlier in that year.[6] The Manchester Guardian later said that "the music, though clever and attractive in many ways, was too realistic and too Southern to reflect the Northern symbolism of Andersen's story, and that its peculiar vein of passion was out of place."[7] The piece was revived at Daly's Theatre from 11 to 13 January 1904, then transferred to the Lyric Theatre from 19 January to 5 March 1904, running for a total of 23 matinee performances.[8] The opera is not quite a full length piece and is played in three short scenes.[9]
Opera synopsis[]
Ib and his father are poor and live alone; Old Henrik and his granddaughter Christina are their neighbours. The two children are in love, and Ib is willing to sacrifice everything for her. An old gypsy woman visits Ib and grants him three wishes.
Fifteen years later, the children have grown up, and Christina is in love with John, a prosperous inkeeper. Broken‑hearted but faithful, Ib gives her up.
Seven years later, the marriage brought no happiness to Christina, who died in poverty. The gypsy woman brings Christina's daughter (also called Christina) to Ib, and they live happily together.
Roles and original casts[]
Play, 1900 Prince of Wales |
Play, 1900 Coronet |
Opera, 1901 Savoy |
Play, 1903 Terry's |
Opera, 1904 Daly's |
Play, 1904 Terry's |
Play, 1908 Adelphi | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ib's father | Charles Lander | Charles Lander | Henry Lytton | Julian Cross | Ivor Foster | William Dunlop | Albert E. Raynor |
Little Ib | Vyvian Thomas | Vyvian Thomas | Laurence Emery | Philip Tonge | Louise Douste | Roy Lorraine | Bobbie Andrews |
Old Henrik, Christina's grandfather | Holbrook Blinn | J. H. Barnes | H. Thorndike | J. D. Beveridge | Gordon Cleather | George Mudie, Jr | Phillip Hewland |
Ib's Mother/Gipsy Woman | Mary Rorke | Mary Rorke | Isabel Jay | Mary Rorke | Susan Strong | Irene Rooke | Mary Rorke |
Little Christina | Phyllis Dare | Phyllis Dare | Ela Q. May | Doris Middleton | Ela Q. May | Winifred Winter | Rita Leggiero |
Ib | Martin Harvey | Holbrook Blinn | Robert Evett | Holbrook Blinn | Ben Davies | Sydney Blow | Martin Harvey |
John | H. Nye Chart | H. Nye Chart | Powis Pinder | Vincent Sternroyd | Charles Bennett | Edward Bonfield | George Cooke |
Christina | Eva Moore | Louie Pounds | Louie Pounds | Daisy Thimm | Edna Thornton | Dorothy Drake | Amy Coleridge |
Notes[]
- ^ Wearing, p. 29
- ^ "The Coronet Theatre", The Morning Post, 25 July 1900, p. 3
- ^ Information about the Broadway production, Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 30 November 2021
- ^ Wearing, p. 271
- ^ The Times, 28 November 1901, p. 8
- ^ "Savoy Theatre", The Times, 15 November 1901, p. 9
- ^ "Music in London", The Manchester Guardian, 13 January 1904, p. 4
- ^ Wearing, p. 205; and The Times, 6 January 1904, p. 6; 8 February 1904, p. 8; and 5 March 1904, p. 10
- ^ Walters, Michael and George Low. Ib and Little Christina homepage, Gilbert and Sullivan Archive (1996). Retrieved 30 November 2021
- ^ Wearing, pp. 29, 129, 205, 268 and 271; "Triple Bill at the Coronet", The Era, 28 July 1900, p. 8; and "The Adelphi", The Stage, 24 September 1908, p. 18
Sources[]
- Wearing, J. P. (1981). The London Stage, 1900–1909: A Calendar of Plays and Players. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press. OCLC 1245534136.
External links[]
- Libretto of the opera at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
- Translation of the Andersen fairy tale
- List of Savoy opera companion pieces
- English-language operas
- English comic operas
- Operas
- 1901 operas
- Operas by Franco Leoni