Precious Nonsense

• Complete Newsletters
• Selected Articles

Many of the following complete newsletters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The on-line versions of these newsletters were produced from the original word processing files used to create the printed newsletters. In the older versions, most of the graphics were pasted-in and they are not included in these electronic copies. Also, due to differences in font sizes, the page numbers may not be the same as the printed versions.

Issue	Date	PDF	Other
69	February 2009
68	July 2008
65	August 2002
64	June 2002
63	June 2001
62	May 2001
61	September 2000
60	April 2000
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52	April 1997
48	March 1996
47	December 1995
46	November 1995
45	May 1995
40	September 1993
39	July 1993
38	June 1993
37	April 1993
36	January 1993
35	Octrober 1992
34	May 1992
33	March 1992
32	December 1991
31	September 1991
30	May 1991
28	December 1990
27	September 1990
26	May 1990

Copyright Law Festivals The Gondoliers Iolanthe The Mikado Miscellaneous H.M.S. Pinafore

Pineapple Poll The Pirates of Penzance Plot Summaries Reviews Ruddigore Song Lyrics The Sorcerer

COPYRIGHT LAW

• An article on those G&S productions currently protected by copyrights.

FESTIVALS

• A description of the W.S. Gilbert Sesquicentennial Celebration held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, November 2021, 1986.
• A report of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society Festival held in Brighton, England, from June 29 thorough July 1, 1990. By Michael Miano. Includes the full text of an early version of a paper "The Great Leeds Conspiracy.

THE GONDOLIERS

• An explanation of the words "Premi" and "Stalli," which appear in The Gondoliers, given as a correction to the explanations which appeared in "The G&S Lexicon" by Harry Benford.

IOLANTHE

• A lengthy discussion, from three issues of the newsletter, of fairy marriages and the plot twists at the conclusion of Iolanthe.

THE MIKADO

• It seems that not everyone is a G&S fan. Here are descriptions of two objections to Mikado and to G&S in general.

MISCELLANEOUS

• A brief description of the Chatfield Brass Band Free Music Lending Library, Chatfield, MN.
• Abstracts from an article entitled "The Savoy Chorus," which appeared in Theatre Notebook 44 (no. 1, 1990). This is a very interest ing discussion of what is known about "choristers" in Victorian England.
• A memorial to Warren Colson and James Perkins, who died on Feb. 19, 1991, and Dec. 25, 1990, respectively. Warren Colson was a well known G&S performer who also founded the New England Gilbert & Sullivan Society.
• A description of Danny Kaye's contributions to G&S -- primarily a record with modified lyrics, and an original poem used on one of his shows.
• The 1993 G&S Shoppers Catalog.
• A description of John Philip Sousa's connections to Gilbert and Sullivan, including a description of his "The Mikado March."
• The G&S Version of Star Wars. A Star Wars parody, H.M.S. DeathStar, by Bev Grant. Includes songs from both Pirates and Pinafore. Songs include such old favorites as "It Is an R2 Droid," "My Friends Call Me Skywalker,&qu

H.M.S. PINAFORE

• An extensive review and description of the animated feature length film "Dick Deadeye." Review by Winfield Smith, description by Sarah Cole.
• A review of Dick Deadeye, The Movie, from September 1985 Precious Nonsense.
• A review of the W. S. Gilbert children's book "The Pinafore Picture Book; The Story of H.M.S. Pinafore told by Sir W. S. Gilbert" (New York: Macmillan, 1908). Describes Gilbert's views of this work in 1908, 30 years after he wrote H.M.S. Pinafore.

PINEAPPLE POLL

• The plot of Pineapple Poll.
• A list of the songs in Pineapple Poll, in order of appearance.

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

• An unsigned rhyme from the July 7, 1880, edition of "Judy, or the London SerioComic Journal," criticizing Gilbert's use of "satagee" to rhyme with strategy.

PLOT SUMMARIES

• Engaged
• Foggerty's Fairy
• Palace of Truth
• Rose of Persia
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
• A Sensation Novel

REVIEWS

• A review of both editions of the "Gilbert & Sullivan Lexicon" by Harry Benford.
• A review of the performance of "The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan" which appeared at the Woodstock Opera House, Woodstock, Illinois, on March 27, 1990. Includes several of the stories that Geoffrey Shovelton told the audience during the production.
• A review of David Eden's book "Gilbert and Sullivan: The Creative Conflict."
• A review of the book "An Introduction to the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas" by Frederic Woodbridge Wilson.
• A review of the book "How Quaint the Ways of Paradox!: An Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan Bibliography" by Philip H. Dillard. Review by Norman Vogt.
• A review of the book "A Savoyard's Patience, A Parody of the Gilbert and Sullivan Cult" by Michael Shawn Stone. Review by Annabeth Packard. Mrs. Packard concludes that this version of Patience would be fun for a G&S group to perform.
• A review of the book "The Savoy Operas: A New Guide to Gilbert and Sullivan" by Geoffrey Smith
• An article by Sarah Cole on mistakes in the January, 1991, "Victoria" article by Sally Eckhoff entitled "A Lyrical Friendship."
• A review by Mrs. Carol Lee Cole of the 1937 motion picture "A Girl Said No," which makes considerable use of G&S songs.

RUDDIGORE

• A poem about the controversy over the name Ruddygore, from "Parodies of the Works of English and American Authors," dating from 1887-89. This parody of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" appeared in the "Pall Mall Gazette," presumably not long after the opera opened, since it describes the state of the work before the offensive "y" was dropped from "Ruddigore."

SONG LYRICS

• Lyrics for songs sung to tunes from Iolanthe and Yeomen. From the 1920 edition of "The Boy Scout Song Book."

• A discussion of the libretto of The Zoo, with reference to the "lost" words of the song that Latitia sings upon her entrance and proposed lyrics.
• The "lost" words to the "Madrigal" of Anna Russell's skit "How to Write Your Own Gilbert & Sullivan Opera." The Madrigal was the only song not included with the skit when it was printed in "The Anna Russell Song Book."

THE SORCERER

• A rather unique description of the plot of The Sorcerer from the book "The Plain Old Man" by Charlotte MacLeod.

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• To Gilbert and Sullivan Archive Home Page

Updated 24 August 2002