Gilbert and Sullivan or "entertainments", for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, "Ages Ago", in 1870, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, the young composer Arthur Sullivan. Over the next year, before the two first collaborated, Gilbert continued to write humorous verse, stories and plays, including the comic operas "Our Island Home" (1870) and "A Sensation Novel" (1871), and the blank verse comedies "The Princess" (1870), "The Palace of Truth" (1870) and "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871). Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a military bandmaster, and by the time
Arthur Sullivan the leading lady, Nancy McIntosh, and refused to write another piece featuring her; Gilbert insisted that she must appear in his next opera. Instead, Sullivan teamed up again with his old partner, F. C. Burnand. "The Chieftain" (1894), a heavily revised version of their earlier two-act opera, "The Contrabandista", flopped. Gilbert and Sullivan reunited one more time, after McIntosh announced her retirement from the stage, for "The Grand Duke" (1896). It failed, and Sullivan never worked with Gilbert again, although their operas continued to be revived with success at the Savoy. In May 1897 Sullivan's full-length ballet, "Victoria and Merrie