User:Marc Shepherd/Sandbox

Productions

Iolanthe, the first opera to premiere at the new Savoy Theatre, had a successful initial run in London of 398 performances, spanning the holiday seasons of both 1882 and 1883. In an unprecedented first, the New York premiere was given on the same date — November 25 1882, with the composer's assistant, Alfred Cellier, conducting. Iolanthe was not revived in London until 1901, making it the first of the operas to be revived after the composer's death the year before. It was also included in two Savoy repertory seasons, in 1906–07 and 1908–09.

In the British provinces, Iolanthe played — either by itself, or in repertory — continuously from February 1882 through 1885, then not again until late 1891. From then on, it was always present in the D'Oyly Carte touring repertory, being included in some part of every season until the company's closure in 1982.

Iolanthe had the distinction of being the first Gilbert and Sullivan opera performed professionally in London by a non-D'Oyly Carte company. It was produced at the Sadler's Wells Theatre on January 24 1962 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, less than one month after the Gilbert copyrights expired.

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:

Theatre	Opening Date	Closing Date	Perfs.	Details
Savoy Theatre	January 5 1884	August 15 1884	246	First run
	September 15 1884	October 9 1884
Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York	February 11 1884	March 22 1884	48	Authorised American productions
Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York	November 22 1887		3 wks

Historical casting

The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:

Role	Savoy Theatre 1884	Fifth Avenue 1884	Fifth Avenue 1887	D'Oyly Carte 1898 Tour	D'Oyly Carte 1909 Tour
King Hildebrand	Rutland Barrington	Sgr Broccolini	Sgr Broccolini	Fred Billington	Fred Billington
Hilarion	Henry Bracy	Wallace Macreery	Courtice Pounds	R. A. Swinhoe	Henry Herbert
Cyril	Durward Lely	W. S. Rising	Phil Branson	Robert Evett	Strafford Moss
Florian	Charles Ryley	Charles F. Lang	Stuart Harold	Albert Kavanagh	Leicester Tunks
King Gama	George Grossmith	J. H. Ryley	J. W. Herbert	George Thorne	Henry Lytton
Arac	Richard Temple	W. Ainsley Scott	Joseph Fay	Powis Pinder	Sydney Granville
Guron	Warwick Gray	James Early	N. S. Burnham	W. H. Leon	Fred Hewett
Scynthius	William Lugg	E. J. Cloney	L. W. Raymond	Herbert Marchmont	George Sinclair
Princess Ida	Leonora Braham	Cora S. Tanner	Geraldine Ulmar	Lina Carr	Elsie Spain
Lady Blanche	Rosina Brandram	Genevieve Reynolds	Alice Carle	Kate Forster	Bertha Lewis
Lady Psyche	Kate Chard	Florence Bemister	Helen Lamont	Flora Macdonald	Mabel Graham
Melissa	Jessie Bond	Hattie Delaro	Agnes Stone	Dorothy Vane	Beatrice Boarer
Sacharissa	Sybil Grey	Eva Barrington	Edith Jenesse	Lucie Caine	Myfanwy Newell
Chloe	Miss Heathcote	Eily Coghlan	Miss Branson
Ada	Miss Twyman	Clara Primrose	Miss McCann		Ethel Gledhill