Utopia, Limited
An Un-Utopian Utopia
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company was founded with the intention to produce all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, including the lesser known and rarely performed Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke.
While members of the company understood that there were reputed problems with Utopia, Limited, the company still decided to produce the work in 1988.
Early in the rehearsal process, however, the company began to understand why Utopia, Limited had a reputation for being problematic and why it was so seldom performed. The operetta’s dialogue is overwritten, it includes some poor music, contains unfinished plot lines and is simply too long. Zoe Kuester, the production’s Stage Director, and Wendy Evans, the Artistic Director, did what they could to make the piece performable by cutting some lines of the excessive dialogue and trimming a third verse from two or three songs. Unfortunately, their well-intended efforts were “too little, too late.”
The company produced Utopia, Limited and it was politely received, but the company members fully understood that the piece was substantially inferior to the other Gilbert and Sullivan operettas that the company had produced and there was little desire ever to do it again.
A Lesson Learned
When the company decided to produce The Grand Duke, Gilbert and Sullivan’s other “problematic” operetta, in 1991, it had learned from its experience with Utopia, Limited. The company had come to understand that neither of these operettas could be produced successfully unless they were first edited, rewritten and revised. A committee of company members was formed to do that work on The Grand Duke. The result was a revised libretto that resulted in a successful, very well received production of the operetta. It was so successful that the company chose to produce The Grand Duke again in 2003 and did so for a third time in 2014.
Revising Utopia, Limited
Eventually, the company felt that it should make another attempt to produce Utopia, Limited. Before doing so and in light of its experience with The Grand Duke, however, the company understood that the operetta needed to be edited, rewritten and revised. During the summer of 2007, the company assembled a “rewrite committee” to take on the project. The committee included Stephen Hage, Dean Laurance, Holly Windle, and Lesley Hendrickson, who was slated to direct the upcoming production.
The revision of Utopia, Limited began with editing of the text. As noted above, the operetta’s dialogue is overwritten and the task of deleting a significant amount of the excessive text, along with making some minor textual revisions, was the obvious first step.
The committee deleted only one song, King Paramount’s, “First You’re Born” considering it a poorly written number that didn’t further the plot.
After these simpler choices were made, the committee made some more radical revisions to the operetta.
The character of Calynx was cut. Calynx served only as a source of exposition at the beginning of the operetta. His dialogue was easily rewritten and given to Salata, Melene and Phylla, the Utopian maiden characters who were already on stage in the opening scene. This scene may be viewed at the 00:07:30 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on pages 2 to 3.
More significantly, the character of Lord Dramaleigh was cut, as was his introductory music in the Act I Finale. One of the significant problems with Utopia, Limited is that there are six “Flowers of Progress” whom it takes an excessively very long time to introduce. Of the six “Flowers of Progress,” this character, whose societal role included censoring theatrical productions, was clearly the one who would be the least missed! Cutting Lord Dramaleigh shortened the excessively long Act I Finale, by cutting one of two verses of a song shared with Blushington. As a result, while a verse of the song was cut, no actual music was lost. Lord Dramaleigh also had dialogue and music in the operetta’s Act II which were reassigned to the character of Sir Bailey Barre. These scenes may be viewed at the 01:33:10 mark and the 01:46:25 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on pages 33 to 34 and pages 41 to 45.
Perhaps the most interesting change for a character was not a cut, but a “sex change!” The committee decided that Mr. Blushington, the County Counselor responsible for national health and sanitation, should become Mrs. Blushington. The result was the creation of another leading role for a woman in an operetta that is extraordinarily male dominated. This scene may be viewed at the 01:04:10 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on pages 26 to 28. Another small advantage to having another leading woman in the cast is that, while three of the “Flowers of Progress” are paired with the three Princesses at the end of the show, the creation of Mrs. Blushington provides an Act II Finale partner for Captain Corcoran.
One of the most significant unfinished plot lines of Utopia, Limited was Phantis’ year’s long infatuation with Princess Zara, which results in a “to the death” rivalry with Scaphio, before the idea is dropped entirely without explanation. Lesley Hendrickson, one of the committee members, rewrote the scene to make Phantis’ interest in marrying Princess Zara nothing more than a plot to gain her loyalty as a compliant, dutiful wife. This scene may be viewed at the 00:15:10 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on pages 5 to 6. In a subsequent scene, Phantis, Scaphio, Captain Fitzbattleaxe and Princess Zara all sing, “It’s Understood, I Think, All Round,” after which the scene was blocked so that it’s obvious Phantis and Scaphio realize that their plot has been foiled by Captain Fitzbattleaxe and Princess Zara’s obvious affection for each other. This scene may be viewed at the 00:50:30 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on pages 20 to 22.
One of the most challenging scenes in Utopia, Limited is the long “drawing room scene” which concludes with “Eagle High,” in the middle of Act II. While the scene might have been mildly interesting to the operetta’s original Victorian British audience, in its attempt to accurately recreate the pageantry of a British royal drawing room, the scene is little more than a long costume parade that does nothing to further the plot. It is, in effect, an expensive waste of time. The simplest response would be to delete the scene entirely. Unfortunately, that would mean the loss of “Eagle High,” a lovely hymn which is frequently compared to The Pirates of Penzance’ “Hail Poetry.” The rewrite committee’s solution was to cut the scene, but also to retain the song, moving it to the opening of Act II. With that placement, the song becomes an anthem celebrating Utopia’s ongoing progress towards becoming “Anglicized completely.” The full company exits after the song and the operetta continues with Captain Fitzbattleaxe’s original Act II opening recitative, “Oh, Zara, My Beloved One,” as written. This scene may be viewed at the 01:20:10 mark in the video below and is included in the 2008 GSVLOC Revised Libretto on page 31.
Finally, the committee decided to reset the piece to the 1920s, a period in which Britain was actively engaged in trade and scientific research in the South Pacific.
Utopian Success!
After several months of work, the committee produced a revised libretto which was used in a very successful production of Utopia, Limited in the spring 2008.
A New Awareness
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company came to realize, however, that there is an additional problem that we did not address in the previous revision. As originally written, most of the cast must portray themselves as South Pacific Islanders. As this would be inappropriate in a modern production, it was necessary to revise Utopia, Limited even further to address this issue.
With valued contributions from Malka Key, Joe Andrews, and Maureen Kane Berg, Stephen Hage initiated and led the revision of the operetta, arriving at a solution that addressed the concern.
In this newly revised version of Utopia Limited, the operetta takes place on the idyllic Island of Utopia, located somewhere in the tropics. Utopia is now a society of people whose great-great-grandparents arrived from England to settle on the uninhabited island over a century ago. During the years before the story takes place, Utopia has developed into a free and independent nation, which has recently renewed its relations with Britain.
The characters’ British descent was established by changing or assigning them British first names. For example, the Wise Men, Scaphio and Phantis become Colin Scaphio and Henry Phantis, while the Princesses Nekaya and Kalyba become the Princesses Natasha and Katherine.
There were additional changes to the script, including a shift in the emphasis as to why the British experts, or “Flowers of Progress,” were invited to bring reforms to Utopia. This revision minimized the reason that was primary in Gilbert’s original version, that Utopia was striving to “better itself” by adopting British institutions, with its imperialistic implications, and maximized Gilbert’s secondary reason, Zara’s plan to free her father, the King, from the Wise Men who have power over him.
Finally, Stephen Hage reset the piece in the mid-20th century, sometime after World War II, from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, a period during which Britain was divesting itself of its colonies while maintaining relations with the new nations of the Commonwealth, as well as being the beginning of a time of significant sociological change around the world. Director Maureen Kane Berg chose, more specifically, to set the 2024 production in the early 1960s.
Another Utopian Success!
The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company staged this revised version of Utopia, Limited very successfully in 2024. Audiences praised the show and many cast members said that it was one of the most delightful productions in which they’d ever been involved.
It is our company’s hope that this newly revised version of Utopia, Limited, which we share freely, will help to make it possible for Utopia, Limited to become an operetta that is performed far more regularly by Gilbert and Sullivan companies around the world.
Sharing Our Revision of Utopia, Limited
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is very proud of its revisions of Utopia, Limited. As a part of its mission to encourage the sharing of the wonderful works of Gilbert and Sullivan with new audiences, wherever they may be, the company invites other companies to consider using its rewritten version of Utopia, Limited, particularly its latest 2024 revision, if they are interested in producing the operetta.
Utopia, Limited as revised by The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. 2008
Utopia, Limited as revised by The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, 2024
The company’s only requests are to be notified that one of its revised scripts is going to be used in a production and that there be an acknowledgement of The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company in the show program and website.
Utopia, Limited … The Rewrite, Celebrated in Song
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company’s rewrite of Utopia, Limited was celebrated in an Alternate Lyric song, written by Holly Windle. Sung to the tune of “Society Has Quite Forsaken All Its Wicked Courses,” it was performed at the 2008 production’s final cast party by Waldyn Benbenek as King Paramount, accompanied by a chorus which included Jim Ahrens, Jim Brooks, Dave Ekenrode, Stephen Hage, Timothy James, Richard Rames, Victoria Valencour and Isaiah Waid.
It should be noted that the song makes passing reference to Lesley Hendrickson, the Stage Director and Marina Liadova, the Music Director for the 2008 production, as well as a reference to the company’s pending 2009 production of Ruddigore.
King Paramount:
Society has not forgotten Pirates or Mikado,
And grade schools tackle Pinafore with laudable bravado.
Chorus:
But very few have taken on Utopia.
King Paramount:
We did it twenty years ago; it wasn’t quite successful.
Some tunes we loved, but on the whole, long-winded and too stressful.
Chorus:
It’s a problem with unwieldy old Utopia.
King Paramount:
The Company continued to produce the shows selected,
But one in the rotation was avoided and neglected,
Until we faced the problem and addressed the script concretely.
Chorus:
In short, the rewrite process has transformed the show completely
Completely, completely.
It really is surprising
What revising and excising
Can accomplish: our Utopia’s quite another show.
In her fascinating sections,
You can see the fine corrections
We have beautifully crafted for the world to know.
King Paramount:
We set about it logic’ly, not slashing willy-nilly.
A song of Paramount’s was cut – unpleasant, poor and silly.
Chorus:
No silliness allowed in our Utopia.
King Paramount:
The long first act finale we have suitably bombarded,
For Blushington’s a woman now and Dramaleigh discarded.
Chorus:
That’s progress for our “Flowers” in Utopia.
King Paramount:
The work of clever editing was handled by committee,
Who cut a lot but also added lines succinct and witty.
So doing the original means singing obsoletely.
Chorus:
In short, the rewrite process has transformed the show completely
Completely, completely.
It really is surprising
What revising and excising
Can accomplish: our Utopia’s quite another show.
In her fascinating sections,
You can see the fine corrections
We have beautifully crafted for the world to know.
King Paramount:
We rearranged the second act, which used to rather bore us,
And started off with something that’s delightful for the chorus.
Chorus:
And Lesley helped a bit with the direction.
King Paramount:
The score revised, we labored then to print it and prepared it.
The orchestra and cast performed with noticeable merit.
Chorus:
And Marina strived to bring it to perfection.
King Paramount:
And Lesley kept us all in line. She says, “You little dickens!”
Whenever we display our not-so-intellectual chickens.
If one appears in Ruddigore, it better be discreetly.
Chorus:
In short, the rewrite process has transformed the show completely
Completely, completely.
It really is surprising
What revising and excising
Can accomplish: our Utopia’s quite another show.
In her fascinating sections,
You can see the fine corrections
We have beautifully crafted for the world to know.