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
Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan "Hollywood Pinafore", the 1975 animated film "Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done" and, more recently,"Gondoliers" (2001; a Mafia-themed adaptation) and "Pinafore Swing" (2004), each of which was first produced at the Watermill Theatre, in which the actors also served as the orchestra, playing the musical instruments. Shows that use G&S songs to tell the story of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership include a 1938 Broadway show, "Knights of Song", and a 1975 West End show called "Tarantara! Tarantara!" Many other musicals parody or pastiche the operas. However, the influence of Gilbert and Sullivan on goes beyond musical theatre to comedy in