Gilbert and Sullivan well, and on 13 May 1883, at a party to celebrate the composer's 41st birthday, the guests, including the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), heard a direct relay of parts of "Iolanthe" from the Savoy. This was probably the first live "broadcast" of an opera. During the run of "Iolanthe", in 1883, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria. Although it was the operas with Gilbert that had earned him the broadest fame, the honour was conferred for his services to serious music. The musical establishment, and many critics, believed that this should put an end to his career as
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players to each of the 5th and 6th grade classes in the school district, to acquaint the students with some of the material and any special concepts they may need to understand (such as "apprenticeship" in "The Pirates of Penzance" or the British class structure in "H.M.S. Pinafore"). Sometimes the children also travel to New York City to see a full-scale NYGASP production. New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (often known as NYGASP) is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan