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 The premiere sold out, prompting the Company to revive it as a season fund-raiser for several years thereafter. The show, which tells the Charles Dickens story with new lyrics set to Gilbert & Sullivan songs, went on to score a hit Off-Broadway in 2001, and has now been staged more than 50 times throughout the United States and by groups in Canada, Great Britain and Macedonia. The Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island The Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is the promotion and performance of theater,