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''Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack'', is one of the earliest plays written by W.S. Gilbert, his first solo stage success. The work is a musical burlesque of Donizetti's ''L'Elisir d'Amore'', and the music was arranged by Mr. Van Hamme.〔Burgess, p. 307〕 It opened at the St James's Theatre on 29 December 1866, the last item in a long evening, following a farce and Dion Boucicault's new play ''Hunted Down''.〔"The London Theatres", ''The London Review'', 5 January 1867, p. 18〕 ''Dulcamara'' ran for a successful 120 nights. The popularity of the piece encouraged further commissions for opera burlesques from Gilbert, who wrote four more between 1867 and 1869. ''Dulcamara'' and its successors all comply with the burlesque traditions of the day, with dialogue in rhyming couplets, convoluted puns throughout, and an array of attractive actresses in tights or short skirts, playing male roles, a practice Gilbert renounced as soon as he was sufficiently influential in the theatre.〔Stedman, Jane. ("From Dame to Woman: W. S. Gilbert and Theatrical Transvestism", ) ''Victorian Studies'', Vol. 14, No. 1, September 1970 〕 ==Background and production== In 1865–66, Gilbert collaborated with Charles Millward on several pantomimes, including one called ''Hush-a-Bye, Baby, On the Tree Top, or, Harlequin Fortunia, King Frog of Frog Island, and the Magic Toys of Lowther Arcade'' (1866).〔Stedman (1996), pp. 34–35.〕 Gilbert's first solo success, however, came a few days after ''Hush-a-Bye Baby'' premiered. Ruth Herbert, the manager of London's St James's Theatre asked Tom Robertson to supply her with a new work for Christmas, 1866. Robertson was unable to produce the work in the two weeks allotted but suggested that Gilbert could do it.〔Crowther (2011), pp. 60–61〕 The choice of the subject and the musical numbers was Gilbert's. He had been familiar with Donizetti operas from his boyhood; his father's translation of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' had been presented in London, and there had long been parodies staged of that opera and of ''Linda di Chamounix'' and ''Lucrezia Borgia''.〔Fischler, Alan. "Gilbert and Donizetti", ''Opera Quarterly'', November 1994, pp. 29–42〕 In burlesquing ''L'elisir d'amore'', Gilbert retained the characters of the original, inventing only one new principal character, Beppo, assistant (and, as it turns out, long-lost mother) to Dulcamara. Nor did Gilbert stray far from the plot of the original, although Donizetti's elixir of love – cheap claret – is changed to "Madame Rachel's 'Beautiful for Ever'" face cream.〔 The work was written and rehearsed in ten days, and the roles were filled by the stars of the theatre, including Ellen McDonnell (Nemorino), Frank Matthews (Dulcamara), Carlotta Addison (Adina) and Gaston Murray (Tomaso), with a Mr. Van Hamme as musical director. The young Henry Irving was the stage director. It was presented as an afterpiece to Boucicault's play ''Hunted Down'' and a one-act farce by John Maddison Morton called ''Newington Butts!''〔 ''Dulcamara'' ran for approximately 120 performances.〔Moss, Simon. ("Dulcamara" ) at ''Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia'', c20th.com, accessed 16 November 2009〕 Gilbert later wrote:
The libretto is set in rhyming couplets, as are the other Gilbert burlesques. The character Tomaso explains this odd convention near the close of Scene 1: :You're in a village during harvest time, :Where all the humblest peasants talk in rhyme, :And sing about their pleasures and cares :In parodies on all the well-known airs. :They earn their bread by going in a crowd, :To sing their humble sentiments aloud, :In choruses of striking unanimity – :(''aside'') The only rhyme I know to that, is dimity. :(aloud) They never wear umbrellas – so they get :Their dresses of ''watered'' silk – or else ''well wet''. :Their dresses of ''drawing rooms'' is emblematic :Although their mode of life is ''upper-attic''! This scene is based on one in Gilbert's short story, "The Adventures of Wheeler J. Calamity", which he had written for the ''Fun Christmas Number'' in 1865, with the song following this speech, "If you intend to stay with us, before you've been a day with us", appearing in both.〔Gilbert, W.S. ("The Adventures of Wheeler J. Calamity" ). Originally printed in the ''Fun Christmas Number'', 1865; reprinted at ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 3 August 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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