The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan time to take a triumphant curtain call before the enthusiastic crowd. Nevertheless, Sullivan is unhappy writing comic opera. When Gilbert proposes a new piece involving the device of a magic lozenge, Sullivan objects that he wants to devote himself to serious music. Sullivan's friend, critic Joseph Bennett, writes a libretto for a cantata based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Golden Legend". Meanwhile, Gilbert, inspired by the sight of a Japanese sword hanging in his study, proposes a new plot, and Sullivan begins work. When Bennett goes to see Sullivan, he finds that "The Mikado" is being rehearsed instead of his
The Happy Land Gilbert. Not only had he written a short story on the theme in 1871, but he returned to it in his 1909 comic opera, "Fallen Fairies". Indeed, the general theme of mortals disturbing the peaceful state of affairs in fairyland is featured in a number of other Gilbert works, including the Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Iolanthe" (1882). Gilbert followed "The Happy Land" with "The Realm of Joy", set in the lobby of a theatre performing a thinly-disguised "The Happy Land", which directly parodies the scandal, even describing the costumes used. In "The Happy Land", "The Realm of Joy" (1873) and