Gilbert and Sullivan he offered a compromise that Sullivan eventually accepted. The two would write a light opera for the Savoy, and at the same time, Sullivan a grand opera ("Ivanhoe") for a new theatre that Carte was constructing to present British grand opera. After a brief impasse over the choice of subject, Sullivan accepted an idea connected with Venice and Venetian life, as "this seemed to me to hold out great chances of bright colour and taking music." "The Gondoliers" (1889) takes place partly in Venice and partly in a kingdom ruled by a pair of gondoliers who attempt to remodel the
Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan finale in his patchwork of stylistic creations "Clementine" ("full of words and music and signifying nothing", as Lehrer put it, thus parodying G&S and Shakespeare in the same sentence). Comedian Allan Sherman sang several parodies and pastiches of Gilbert and Sullivan songs in the 1960s, including: Anna Russell performed a parody called "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera." The Two Ronnies' Gilbert and Sullivan parodies include their 1973 Christmas special. In addition, numerous G&S song parodies and other references to G&S are made in the animated TV series, "Animaniacs", such as the "HMS Yakko" episode, which includes