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A General Gilbert and Sullivan Quiz

This is a general quiz about the complete Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire. Some questions are easy, some are harder. I checked my facts in Diana Bell's book 'The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan' (Sandstone Books, 1998)

A multiple-choice quiz by Anna M. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
Anna M

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
120,394

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
873

Last 3 plays: Guest 195 (6/10), Guest 168 (6/10), Guest 86 (6/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. How many works did Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate on? Hint

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Question 2 of 10

2. Gilbert was the composer of the beautiful music in the operettas, while Sullivan wrote the amusing lyrics and dialogue.

True

False

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Question 3 of 10

3. Which was the last operetta that the two collaborated on? Hint

"Utopia Limited"

"The Grand Duke"

"The Gondoliers"

"The Lost Chord"

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Question 4 of 10

4. Sullivan was known as Arthur Sullivan, but Gilbert was known by his initials - W.S. Gilbert. What did the W.S. stand for? Hint

William Schwenck

Walter Shanks

William Schultz

Walter Sharp

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Question 5 of 10

5. How many of the titles of the operettas referred to a specific character by NAME? (Think carefully!)

Answer: (One Word (a number))

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which was the first of the operettas to have their complete run at the Savoy Theatre? Hint

"Princess Ida"

"Patience"

"Iolanthe"

"The Pirates of Penzance"

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Question 7 of 10

7. What was the lucky letter which appeared in many of the titles of the operettas?

Answer: (One letter)

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Question 8 of 10

8. What was the name of the man who produced many of the operettas? Hint

Richard Doily Cart

Richard D'Oyly Carte

Richard Doyle Carter

Richard Doyle McCarte

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Question 9 of 10

9. Although most of the operettas have two acts, there are a few exceptions to the rule. How many operettas have a different number of acts? Hint

None

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Question 10 of 10

10. The frequent coincidences, role reversals, and overly tidy straightening of strands of the plots of the operettas were given a collective name. What was this name? Hint

Nincompopsy

Fantastics

Balderdash

Topsy-turvydom

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 16 2024 : Guest 195: 6/10
Nov 14 2024 : Guest 168: 6/10
Oct 30 2024 : Guest 86: 6/10
Oct 22 2024 : Dagny1: 10/10
Oct 18 2024 : Figgin: 6/10
Oct 18 2024 : Upstart3: 8/10
Oct 11 2024 : PosterMeerkat: 8/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. How many works did Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate on?

Answer: 14

Although only 13 of the operettas still exist, the pair created a total of 14. One of these, "Thespis", was a resounding failure, and the music was lost. However, Gilbert and Sullivan went on to create 13 more operettas - "Trial by Jury", "The Sorcerer", "HMS Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance", "Patience", "Iolanthe", "Princess Ida", "The Mikado", "Ruddigore", "The Yeoman of the Guard", "The Gondoliers", "Utopia Limited" and "The Grand Duke".

2. Gilbert was the composer of the beautiful music in the operettas, while Sullivan wrote the amusing lyrics and dialogue.

Answer: False

In fact, it was the other way around - Gilbert wrote the librettos for the operettas, while Sullivan wrote the music. Sullivan was always disappointed that he did not receive recognition as a 'serious' composer of opera, but I'm sure others will agree with me that his work on the Savoy Operas is very impressive in itself.

3. Which was the last operetta that the two collaborated on?

Answer: "The Grand Duke"

"Utopia Limited" was the second last operetta which the two created, while "The Gondoliers" was their last real success. "The Lost Chord" is not an operetta, but rather a ballad written by Sullivan.

4. Sullivan was known as Arthur Sullivan, but Gilbert was known by his initials - W.S. Gilbert. What did the W.S. stand for?

Answer: William Schwenck

Considering the trouble I have spelling Schwenck, I'm hardly surprised he chose to be known by his initials!

5. How many of the titles of the operettas referred to a specific character by NAME? (Think carefully!)

Answer: 4

This is a bit of a tricky one - the four which I was referring to are "Patience", "Iolanthe", "Princess Ida" and "Thespis", all of which are the names of both the operettas and characters in them. It's made more difficult both by the inclusion of "Thespis", and the fact that a number of the operettas' titles - "The Sorcerer", "The Mikado", "The Yeomen of the Guard" and "The Grand Duke" - refer to characters, but not by their names.

6. Which was the first of the operettas to have their complete run at the Savoy Theatre?

Answer: "Iolanthe"

"Patience" was the first of the operettas to be performed in the Savoy Theatre, but it transferred there in October 1881 after starting its run in April at the Opera Comique. "The Pirates of Penzance" premiered in the United States, (after a single performance in England to secure the British copyright) and its British run was also at the Opera Comique. "Princess Ida" had its complete run in the Savoy Theatre, but "Iolanthe" came first.

7. What was the lucky letter which appeared in many of the titles of the operettas?

Answer: P

Beginning with "HMS Pinafore", many of the operettas contained the letter P in their titles or subtitles. Others were "The Pirates of Penzance", "Patience", "Iolanthe" (or "The Peer and the Peri") and "Princess Ida".

8. What was the name of the man who produced many of the operettas?

Answer: Richard D'Oyly Carte

Richard D'Oyly Carte was in fact christened Richard Doyle McCarthy.

9. Although most of the operettas have two acts, there are a few exceptions to the rule. How many operettas have a different number of acts?

Answer: 2

"Trial By Jury" has only one act, while "Princess Ida" has three.

10. The frequent coincidences, role reversals, and overly tidy straightening of strands of the plots of the operettas were given a collective name. What was this name?

Answer: Topsy-turvydom

Gilbert coined this term, and wrote the following poem about 'Topsy-turvydom':
I dreamt that somehow I had come
To dwell in topsy-turvydom
Where vice is virtue - virtue vice
Where nice is nasty - nasty nice:
Where right is wrong and wrong is right
Where white is black and black is white.
(From Diana Bell, The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan, Sandstone Books, 1998, page 48.)
Of course, Topsy-Turvy was also the name of the recent movie about the pair's collaboration on The Mikado.

Source: Author Anna M

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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