Editing H.M.S. Pinafore (section)

===Taking ''Pinafore'' to the United States===
[[File:HMSPinafore2.png|thumb|left|Advertisement for a (probably unlicensed) American production of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'']]
Approximately 150&nbsp;unauthorised productions of ''Pinafore'' sprang up in the United States in 1878 and 1879, and none of these paid royalties to the authors. Gilbert and Sullivan called them "pirated", although the creators did not have any international copyright protection.<ref name=Prestige>Prestige, Colin. "D'Oyly Carte and the Pirates: The Original New York Productions of Gilbert and Sullivan", pp. 113–148 at p. 118, ''Gilbert and Sullivan [http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/handle/1808/5875 Papers Presented at the International Conference] held at the [[University of Kansas]] in May 1970'', Edited by James Helyar. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries, 1971</ref><ref name=Jones7/><ref>Allen (1979), p. 2</ref> The first of these productions, opening at the [[Boston Museum (theatre)|Boston Museum]] on 25 November 1878, made such a splash that the piece was quickly produced in major cities and on tour by dozens of companies throughout the country. Boston alone saw at least a dozen productions, including a juvenile version described by [[Louisa May Alcott]] in her 1879 story, "Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore".<ref name=Boston>Kanthor, Harold. "H.M.S. Pinafore and the Theater Season in Boston 1878–1879", ''[[Journal of Popular Culture]]'', Spring 1991, vol. 24, no. 4, Platinum Periodicals, p. 119</ref> In New York, different productions of the piece played simultaneously in eight theatres within five blocks of each other and in six theatres in Philadelphia.<ref>Goodman, Andrew.  ''Gilbert and Sullivan at Law'', pp. 204–205, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (1982), {{ISBN|0-8386-3179-7}}</ref> A production by Gorman's Philadelphia Church Choir Company, orchestrated by [[John Philip Sousa]] and starring [[Louis De Lange]] as Sir Joseph, played on Broadway and toured in the U.S. throughout 1879; Sousa's orchestration was also used in Australasia.<ref>Kuykendall, James Brooks and Elyse Ridder. [http://jamesbrookskuykendall.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pirating-Pinafore_-Sousas-1879-Orchestration.pdf "Pirating ''Pinafore'': Sousa's 1879 Orchestration"], ''Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association'', June 2022, pp. 501–517 doi: 10.1353/not.2022.0040</ref>

These unauthorised performances took many forms, including [[Victorian burlesque|burlesques]], productions with men playing women's roles and vice versa, spoofs, variety acts, [[Minstrel show]] versions,<ref name=Boston/> all-black and Catholic productions, German, [[Yiddish]] and other foreign-language versions,<ref name=Jones7>Jones, p. 7</ref> performances on boats or by church choirs,<ref name=Stedman169>Stedman, p. 169</ref> and productions starring casts of children.<ref name=Bradley116/><ref name=Boston/> Few purported to play the opera as written.{{refn|James C. Duff claimed falsely that his "faithful" January 1879 production in New York used performing materials that he had personally secured from the author and composer.<ref>[http://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/gilbert-and-sullivan/details?Print=31&image=00-6082b Theatre programme for ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' and ''My Uncle's Will''], Standard Theatre, 25 January 1879, reprinted at Rochester.edu, accessed 16 July 2014</ref>|group= n}} Sheet music arrangements were popular, there were ''Pinafore''-themed dolls and household items, and references to the opera were common in advertising, news and other media.<ref name=Jones7/> Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte brought lawsuits in the U.S. and tried for many years to control the American performance copyrights over their operas, or at least to claim some royalties, without success. They made a special effort to claim American rights for their next work after ''Pinafore'', ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', by giving the official premiere in New York.<ref>Rosen, Zvi S. [https://ssrn.com/abstract=963540 "The Twilight of the Opera Pirates: A Prehistory of the Right of Public Performance for Musical Compositions"], ''Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal'', Vol. 24, 2007, pp. 1157–1218, 5 March 2007, accessed 6 May 2009</ref>

Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte met by 24 April 1879 to make plans for a production of ''Pinafore'' in America.<ref>Ainger, p. 168</ref> Carte travelled to New York in the summer of 1879 and made arrangements with theatre manager [[John T. Ford]]{{refn|Ford had been one of the few managers who had paid Gilbert and Sullivan any kind of fee for performing ''Pinafore'' in America, and his reward for a small gesture was great.<ref>Stedman, p. 169.</ref>|group= n}} to present, at the [[Fifth Avenue Theatre]], the first authorised American production of ''Pinafore''.<ref name=Ainger169/> In November, Carte returned to America with Gilbert, Sullivan and a company of strong singers, including [[J. H. Ryley]] as Sir Joseph, [[Blanche Roosevelt]] as Josephine, [[Alice Barnett]] as Little Buttercup, [[Furneaux Cook]] as Dick Deadeye, [[Hugh Talbot]] as Ralph Rackstraw and [[Jessie Bond]] as Cousin Hebe.<ref name=Jacobs129>Jacobs, p. 129</ref> To these, he added some American singers, including [[Signor Brocolini]] as Captain Corcoran.<ref name=Ainger182>Ainger, pp. 182–183</ref> [[Alfred Cellier]] came to assist Sullivan, while his brother [[François Cellier|François]] remained in London to conduct ''Pinafore'' there.<ref>Jacobs, p. 127</ref>

''Pinafore'' opened in New York on 1 December 1879 (with Gilbert onstage in the chorus) and ran for the rest of December.<ref name=Jacobs129/> After a reasonably strong first week, audiences quickly fell off, since most New Yorkers had already seen local productions of ''Pinafore''.<ref>Stedman, p. 174</ref><ref name=Jacobs129/> In the meantime, Gilbert and Sullivan raced to complete and rehearse their new opera, ''The Pirates of Penzance'', which premiered with much success on 31 December.<ref>Jacobs, p. 132</ref> Shortly thereafter, Carte sent three touring companies around the United States East Coast and Midwest, playing ''Pinafore'' alongside ''Pirates''.<ref name=Ainger182/><ref name=Stedman175>Stedman, p. 175</ref>