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 Another science fiction author, Robert A. Heinlein, referred to the "Little List" song in his Hugo Award-winning novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land". There, when a character discovers the protagonist's ability to make objects and people disappear, mulls: "I've got a little list... they'd none of them be missed." Anne McCaffrey also seems fond of "The Pirates of Penzance"—several characters pass the time with it in "Power Play", and references to "When the foeman bares his steel" appear in "Crystal Line". Aside from film adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, several films have treated the G&S partnership. Mike Leigh's film