"The Sorcerer"

Synopsis of the Sorcerer.

Great romantic confusion ensues in the English village of Ploverleigh when all the villagers are dosed with a love potion and fall for the very first being upon whom their eyes fall upon their awakening. Unlike Oberon's love potion of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", the brew of Gilbert's Sorcerer ( John Wellinton Wells ) is concocted upon strictly moral principles and has no effect whatever upon married persons. (A premonition, perhaps, about the initial belief of public opinion concerning the Aids virus.)

Containing lots of the usual Gilbertian fun along with the fresh music of a young Sullivan, "The Sorcerer" is the first extant full-length work of that duo.

Footnote (for the discriminating Savoyard) :
An unfortunate error crept into the programme circulated to the audiences of "The Sorcerer". This is the statement the the character Dr. Daly is the only clergyman in the Savoy operas. In fact there are several others, of whom The Mikado (The Mikado), as the High Priest of Shinto is the most prominent example, closely followed in clerical power and prominence by Don Alhambra, the Grand Inquisitor (Gondoliers). Compared with these clerical eminences, Dr. Daly is small beer indeed. Another clergyman who must appear on stage is that ghostly baronet of Ruddygore who objects to the otherwise unanimous support for the carrying off by Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd of a lady. That character is certainly a clergyman, usually portrayed as a bishop. In addition to these four, two others are mentioned and may appear on stage at the discretion of the director : the Doctor of Divinity (Pirates) --- who did appear in the film version of the Broadway Pirates of the early 1980s, and Colonel Fairfax's confessor, (Yeomen) who is sometimes presented as a walk-on part. Another possibility (which I do not think has ever been staged) is to have a few of the Lord Bishops in the Peers chorus (Iolanthe), where they do indeed belong, as Phyllis is supposed to be being pursued by the entire House of Lords. We may also wish to speculate on whether the aetherializing profession of Tarara (Utopia) might place him in the clerical category.

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