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,
Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company, based in Derby, England, produces the works of Gilbert & Sullivan. The company have won the amateur competition at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival an unprecedented six times and have been called "one of the most highly acclaimed nonprofessional theatre companies in the UK". Members of the company have earned many individual awards from that festival, and the company have won awards from the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera. Derby G&S Company have also performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington in the US, in Lanzarote,