Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance" and "The Mikado" are among the best known. Gilbert, who wrote the libretti for these operas, created fanciful "topsy-turvy" worlds where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offence, gondoliers ascend to the monarchy, and pirates emerge as
Sullivan and Gilbert Jerome and Donna English. Subsequent productions followed. This is not the only show about the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership. A 1938 Broadway show, "Knights of Song", tells the story of the partnership, as do the musicals "The Savoyards", by Donald Madgwick (1971) and "Tarantara Tarantara", by Ian Taylor (1975), and the films "The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan" (1951) and "Topsy-Turvy" (1999). In December 1890, near the end of their collaboration, and still estranged by their famous carpet quarrel, W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan have neither seen nor spoken with each other in months. Now they must supervise