Gilbert and Sullivan Ida" showed signs of flagging, Carte realised that, for the first time in the partnership's history, no new opera would be ready when the old one closed. On 22 March 1884, he gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required in six months' time. In the meantime, when "Ida" closed, Carte produced a revival of "The Sorcerer". The most successful of the Savoy Operas was "The Mikado" (1885), which made fun of English bureaucracy, thinly disguised by a Japanese setting. Gilbert initially proposed a story for a new opera about a magic lozenge that would
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival its organizers' efforts to re-introduce G&S into British schools. The Festival has been featured in several British television shows and in the documentary films "Oh Mad Delight" and "A Source of Innocent Merriment". Sky Arts broadcast its features about the Festival and Gilbert and Sullivan several times in 2010. Recordings on DVD of most of the amateur and professional productions that have been seen at the Festival, as well as for some of the fringe events, are produced by the Festival organizers. Some of the Festival's professional shows are also available on CD. International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival The International