"leapling will have fewer ""birthday anniversaries"" than their age in years. This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age, by counting their leap-year birthday anniversaries only: for example, in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera ""The Pirates of Penzance"", Frederic the pirate apprentice discovers that he is bound to serve the pirates until his 21st ""birthday"" (that is, when he turns 88 years old, since 1900 was not a leap year) rather than until his 21st ""year"". For legal purposes, legal birthdays depend on how local laws count time intervals. The"
"after Lely had left it. Lely outlived nearly all of the singers with whom he had performed at the Savoy Theatre, and newspapers referred to him as the last surviving Savoyard, but younger performers in the original runs of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas lived much longer (for example Decima Moore and Nancy McIntosh). Lely died in Glasgow on 29 February 1944, at the age of 91. The date of his death is ironic for a Gilbert and Sullivan tenor, in that 29 February, leap day, is the birthday of the tenor character, Frederic, in ""The Pirates of Penzance"", which"
"year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his ""twenty-first birthday"", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. ""Pirates"" was the fifth"
"and his wife Pamela. His siblings included Thomas (born 1854), David Samuel (born 1859) and Robert (born 1860). He trained at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Cadwaladr made his debut in Wagner's ""Rienzi"" with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1879, aged 22. That June, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, playing the leading tenor role of Ralph Rackstraw in Gilbert and Sullivan's ""H.M.S. Pinafore"" on tour. During that tour, he became part of an important historical footnote when he originated the role of Frederic in the hastily assembled single British copyright performance of ""The Pirates of Penzance"""
"professional career path, with apprentices and tools of the trade such as the crowbar and life preserver. While ""Pinafore"" was running strongly at the Opera Comique in London, Gilbert was eager to get started on his and Sullivan's next opera, and he began working on the libretto in December 1878. He re-used several elements of his 1870 one-act piece, ""Our Island Home"", which had introduced a pirate ""chief"", Captain Bang. Bang was mistakenly apprenticed to a pirate band as a child by his deaf nursemaid. Also, Bang, like Frederic in ""The Pirates of Penzance"", had never seen a woman before"
"University of Iowa, there is no ""... statute or general rule that has anything to do with leap day."" Reitz speculates that ""March 1 would likely be considered the legal birthday in non-leap years of someone born on leap day,"" using the same reasoning as described for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out to be based on counting only their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera ""The"
"minor technicalities of the law that typically gave rise to quibbles to be highly characteristic of the legalistic Victorian British society satirized in his works. For instance, in ""The Pirates of Penzance"", Frederick's terms of indenture bind him to the pirates until his twenty-first birthday; the pirates point out that he was born on February 29 (a leap year) and will not have his twenty-first birthday until he is eighty-four, and so compel him to rejoin them. When the hero of the Child ballad ""The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward"" is forced to trade places with an impostor"
"Pirates of Penzance"": as a child, Frederic was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday. Having passed his 21st year, he leaves the pirate band and falls in love. However, since he was born on February 29, his 21st ""birthday"" will not arrive until he is eighty-eight (since 1900 was not a leap year), so he must leave his fiancée and return to the pirates. There is a popular tradition known as Bachelor's Day in some countries allowing a woman to propose marriage to a man on February 29. If the man refuses, he then is obliged"
"Ruth find Frederic alone. They have reviewed the fine print on his apprenticeship indenture and have discovered that he is still a pirate because he was born in leap year on February 29, and he will not be out of his indentures to the pirates until his 21st birthday. Mabel agrees to wait for Frederic until then. The Police return and, hearing the pirates approach, they hide. The pirates arrive and seize the still guilt-ridden Major-General. The police are coaxed to battle the pirates, but they are defeated. However, the Sergeant of Police calls on the pirates to ""yield in"
"Agatha Christie play ""Verdict"" (1958). Between 1934 and 1957, he also appeared in several films. In 1940, on 29 February, the character Frederic came of age, as described in ""The Pirates of Penzance"", Act II. This was a significant date for any G&S tenor. In New York, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society journal, ""The Palace Peeper"", marked the event by publishing an original ode to Frederic, in which Oldham was honoured as the archetype of the romantic Frederic. A member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in London from 1924, Oldham was elected Vice-President of the Society in 1947. During"
"foes. The police are unnerved by this but finally leave. Left alone, Frederic, who is to lead the police, reflects on his opportunity to atone for a life of piracy (""Now for the pirate's lair""), at which point he encounters Ruth and the Pirate King. They have realised that Frederic's apprenticeship was worded so as to bind him to them until his twenty-first ""birthday"" – and, because that birthday happens to be on the 29th of February (in a leap year), it means that technically only five birthdays have passed (""When you had left our pirate fold""), and he will"
"he is dismayed to see that the contract specifies his twenty-first ""birthday"", rather than his twenty-first ""year"". As his birthday occurs every four years, Frederic has celebrated only five birthdays and is still bound by contract to remain with the pirates. That night, the pirates raid the Stanley estate, and the Pirate King orders their execution. Mabel demands a ""happy ending"" – admitting for the first time that she believes this all to be a dream. Everyone — even the pirates — cheers their approval, leaving the Pirate King disappointed and shocked. Mabel then confronts her father, but the Major-General"
"Hugh Talbot Hugh Talbot (15 October 1844 – 31 October 1899), born Hugo Talbot Brennan, was an Irish tenor best known for creating, to universally bad reviews, the role of Frederic in the Gilbert and Sullivan hit ""The Pirates of Penzance"" in the original New York production. After beginning his career in Italy in 1872, Talbot performed Italian opera in England in 1877–1878 with Mapleson's Italian Opera company. He was then engaged by Richard D'Oyly Carte in 1879 to originate the role of Frederic. After his critical disaster in the role, Talbot toured unsuccessfully with several American opera companies, settling"
"Llewellyn Cadwaladr Llewellyn ""Lyn"" Cadwaladr (1857 – 7 February 1909) was a Welsh operatic tenor who originated roles in, or starred in early tours of, comic operas and operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, Solomon and Stephens, Robert Planquette and others in the Victorian era, often in America for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He was touring as Ralph in ""H.M.S. Pinafore"" when he was asked to create the role of Frederic in the ""ad hoc"" 1879 British copyright performance of ""The Pirates of Penzance"". Cadwaladr was born in 1857 in Ruabon, Denbighshire, the son of Robert Cadwaladr, a mining engineer,"
"becomes a key plot point. In Act II of the opera, Frederic promises to claim his bride on his 21st birthday, which will not take place until 1940. Lely thus died one ""birthday"" after that. In 2007, Simon Moss revealed a newly discovered pamphlet called ""Mr Durward Lely, The Eminent Tenor"". The 20-page booklet describes Lely's career. It was first published in three installments in March and April 1894 in ""The Blairgowrie Advertiser"" and then issued in booklet form. Although the pamphlet does not credit an author, it is patent that it is self-written. Lely praises Gilbert as a director."
"was knighted during the first repertory season. After Sullivan's death, Gilbert wrote only one more comic opera, ""Fallen Fairies"" (1909; music by Edward German), which was not a success. Gilbert died in 1911, and Richard's son, Rupert D'Oyly Carte, took over the opera company upon his step-mother's death in 1913. His daughter, Bridget, inherited the company upon his death in 1948. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company toured nearly year-round, except for its many London seasons and foreign tours, performing exclusively the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, until it closed in 1982. During the 20th century, the company gave well over 35,000"
"the age of 34. With no new Gilbert and Sullivan shows written after 1896, the Savoy Theatre put on a number of other shows for comparatively short runs, including several of Sullivan's less successful operas. Young Rupert assisted Helen and W. S. Gilbert with the first revival of ""The Yeomen of the Guard"" at the Savoy in May 1897. In 1899, the theatre finally had a new success in Sullivan and Basil Hood's ""The Rose of Persia"". Richard died in 1901 leaving the theatre, opera company and hotel to Helen, who assumed full control of the family businesses. She leased"
"The Pirates of Penzance The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances, having already been playing successfully for more than three months in New York. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st"
"at Shepperton Studios in London. Frederic was sent in the care of his nursemaid, Ruth, to be apprenticed to a pilot. But she misunderstood her instructions, being hard of hearing, and apprenticed him instead to the Pirate King. Now turning 21 years old, his service is finished, so he decides to leave the Pirates of Penzance. Ruth wants him to take her with him, but he soon meets some young maidens, the daughters of Major-General Stanley, and realizes that Ruth is ""plain and old"". Frederic quickly falls in love with one of them, Mabel. He has a strong ""sense of"
"from another source. What is known is that he discarded them in favor of tricks using pure sleight of hand. When Alexander's skills increased, he became a more integral part of Carl's show. By the time they arrived in the United States in 1860, Alexander was seventeen. Audiences noticed his adroitness; his dexterity soon rivaled that of his famous brother. Jealousy brewed on that tour, but never surfaced. They appeared at the Academy of Music in Brooklyn during its inaugural season. The Academy of Music was known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performances. They generally presented operas, but"
"Durward Lely Durward Lely (2 September 1852 – 29 February 1944) was a Scottish opera singer and actor primarily known as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, including Nanki-Poo in ""The Mikado"". After studying singing in Italy, Lely began his opera career in 1878, at Her Majesty's Theatre, as Don José in ""Carmen"". After two years of touring in opera, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1880, soon becoming their leading tenor. He began there in the role of Frederic in ""The Pirates of Penzance"" and went on to create five roles"
"Durward Lely Durward Lely (2 September 1852 – 29 February 1944) was a Scottish opera singer and actor primarily known as the creator of five tenor roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, including Nanki-Poo in ""The Mikado"". After studying singing in Italy, Lely began his opera career in 1878, at Her Majesty's Theatre, as Don José in ""Carmen"". After two years of touring in opera, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1880, soon becoming their leading tenor. He began there in the role of Frederic in ""The Pirates of Penzance"" and went on to create five roles"
"celebrates the completion of his twenty-first year and the end of his apprenticeship to a gentlemanly band of pirates (""Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry""). The pirates' maid of all work, Ruth, appears and reveals that, as Frederic's nursemaid long ago, she made a mistake ""through being hard of hearing"": Mishearing Frederic's father's instructions, she apprenticed him to a pirate, instead of to a ship's ""pilot"" (""When Frederic was a little lad""). Frederic has never seen any woman other than Ruth, and he believes her to be beautiful. The pirates know better and suggest that Frederic take Ruth with him"
"Frederic (Understudy) & Ensemble<BR> 1/7/2005 City Center New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players The Pirates of Penzance Frederic (Understudy) & Ensemble<BR> 12/31/2004 Symphony Space New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players New Year's Eve Gala Concert Hilarion & Ensemble<BR> 11/14/2004 Valentine Theatre Toledo Opera & New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players The Pirates of Penzance Frederic (Understudy) & Ensemble<BR> 11/13/2004 Valentine Theatre Toledo Opera & New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players The Pirates of Penzance Frederic (Understudy) & Ensemble<BR> 11/12/2004 Valentine Theatre Toledo Opera & New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players The Pirates of Penzance Frederic (Understudy) & Ensemble<BR> 1/18/2004 City"
"""La Dame blanche"", but the season was a failure. Nevertheless, Talbot lived for the rest of his life in California, singing in concerts and becoming a successful singing teacher. Talbot died in Stockton, California, in 1899. Hugh Talbot Hugh Talbot (15 October 1844 – 31 October 1899), born Hugo Talbot Brennan, was an Irish tenor best known for creating, to universally bad reviews, the role of Frederic in the Gilbert and Sullivan hit ""The Pirates of Penzance"" in the original New York production. After beginning his career in Italy in 1872, Talbot performed Italian opera in England in 1877–1878 with"
"contains some original work. During this period, also, Gilbert occasionally wrote plays to be performed elsewhere–both serious dramas (for example ""The Ne'er-Do-Weel"", 1878; and Gretchen, 1879) and humorous works (for example ""Foggerty's Fairy"", 1881). However, he no longer needed to turn out multiple plays each year, as he had done before. Indeed, during the more than nine years that separated ""The Pirates of Penzance"" and ""The Gondoliers"", he wrote just three plays outside of the partnership with Sullivan. Only one of these works, ""Comedy and Tragedy"", proved successful. Although ""Comedy and Tragedy"" had a short run due to the lead"
"are well-known, and convey a distinct sense of Britishness (or even Victorian Britishness), and because they are in the public domain, songs from the operas appear ""in the background"" in many movies and television shows. The operas have so pervaded Western culture that events from the ""lives"" of their characters from the operas are memorialized by major news outlets. For instance, a ""New York Times"" article on 29 February 1940, noted that Frederic, from ""The Pirates of Penzance"", was finally out of his indentures (having reached his 21st birthday, as described in that opera). The American and British musical owes"
"the company began to offer runs in repertory on Sundays, the only day the theater was available, since the New York School of Opera used the space on other days. After several Sunday performances of ""H.M.S Pinafore"" and ""Trial by Jury"", NYGASP expanded its repertoire by premiering a new production of ""The Pirates of Penzance"" on Sunday afternoon, February 29, 1976 – the 30th birthday of the character Frederic from that opera. Bergeret appeared on stage ahead of the performance, made up as the 120-year-old hero, and a large cake was cut and shared with the audience. WQXR Radio's manager,"
"Gilbert, now 71, to stage direct the productions in repertory, and once again she had to exercise the greatest tact, as Gilbert sometimes had difficulty accepting that he was no longer an equal partner and was taking no financial risk. Gilbert was angry that he had not been consulted regarding casting of the productions. The season, and the following one, were tremendous successes, revitalising the company. Contemporary accounts describe her taking three curtain calls with Gilbert on the opening night of the 1906 revival of ""The Yeomen of the Guard"". After the repertory seasons in 1906–08 the company did not"
"Frederick Federici Frederick Federici (22 April 1850 – 3 March 1888) was an Italian-born British opera singer known for his work in the bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. He is also remembered as a reputed theatre ghost in Australia Early in his career, Federici worked as a talent agent before becoming a concert singer. From 1879 to 1887 he toured extensively in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. His roles included the Pirate King from ""The Pirates of Penzance"" appearing in the opera's first performance in 1879. He also"
"Criterion Theatre in London on 15 December 1881. Charles Wyndham, the manager of the Criterion, starred as the lead character, Frederick Foggerty. Despite Wyndham's star power, interest in the play's bold and original premise and reviews that were at least partly positive, the play was not a success. It closed on 6 January 1882 after about 25 performances. Disappointed, Gilbert turned back to writing comic operas with Arthur Sullivan. By the time ""Foggerty's Fairy"" premiered, Gilbert and Sullivan had already written half a dozen comic opera hits. Since 1877, however, Gilbert had not written a successful play apart from Sullivan."
"grows up, she visits him on Earth, but she is mistaken for his lover, since fairies perpetually appear young and beautiful. Sullivan found the premise funny, and Gilbert set to work on fleshing out the story. By December, he had written some lyrics for Sullivan to look at, but he struggled with the plot for several months, whereas he had dashed off earlier operas in a matter of weeks. During these months, Sullivan took an extended trip to Egypt, Italy and elsewhere. Upon his return to London in April 1882, he moved into a new home; in May, his beloved"
"should not stoop below oratorio or grand opera. Having just signed the five-year agreement, Sullivan suddenly felt trapped. The next opera, ""Princess Ida"" (1884, the duo's only three-act, blank verse work), had a shorter run than its four predecessors; Sullivan's score was praised. With box office receipts lagging in March 1884, Carte gave the six months' notice, under the partnership contract, requiring a new opera. Sullivan's close friend, the composer Frederic Clay, had recently suffered a career-ending stroke at the age of 45. Sullivan, reflecting on this, on his own long-standing kidney problems, and on his desire to devote himself"