The Princess (W. S. Gilbert play) College, the first university-level women's college in Britain, had been established at the University of Cambridge in 1869. However, by the time Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on "Princess Ida" in 1883, a women's college was a well-established concept. Westfield College, London's first women's college, had opened in 1882 and is cited as a model for Castle Adamant, the women's college in "Princess Ida". The lyrics to the songs in "The Princess" were set to popular tunes from popular operetta and grand opera of the time, including works by Hervé and Jacques Offenbach. The three young men are played by women,
The Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island Company stalwarts Al Grand, Bob Tartell and Elaine Lerner, and directed by Sally Buckstone, what eventually became the Gilbert & Sullivan Yiddish Light Opera Company of Long Island developed Der Yiddisher Pinafore, Di Yam Gazlonim and Der Yiddisher Mikado, Yiddish versions of the beloved “Big Three” Savoy operas. Touring nationally and internationally, it marked out a unique corner of the Gilbert & Sullivan universe and made it its own. Two landmarks defined the 1990s for the Company: One was the development of the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Orchestra of Long Island, under the direction first of founding music director