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
National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company one or more of its productions in an additional venue either before or after the festival. Since 2014, it has toured some of its productions to multiple British cities in repertory, giving up to 42 performances on tour. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company performed Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy Operas continuously, year-round, for over a century, closing in 1982. Until the Gilbert and Sullivan copyrights expired in 1961, no other professional theatre or opera companies were allowed to present the Savoy Operas in Britain, although professional companies performed the operas in North America, Australia and elsewhere, and numerous amateur Gilbert and