Haste to the Wedding

"Haste to the Wedding" is a three-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by George Grossmith, based on Gilbert's 1873 play, "The Wedding March". The opera was the most ambitious piece of composition undertaken by Grossmith.

The piece was produced under the management of Charles Wyndham at the Criterion Theatre, London, opening on 27 July 1892. It closed on August 20 1892, after a run of just 22 performances. Although a failure, the opera introduced the 18-year old George Grossmith, Jr., the composer's son, to the London stage. He would go on to a long career in the theatre.

Background

"The Wedding March"

On November 15 1873, Gilbert's play "The Wedding March" debuted at the Court Theatre. It was a free adaptation of Eugène Marin Labiche's "Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie" ("The Italian Straw Hat"). It was first to have been called "Hunting a Hat", but the title was changed to capitalise on the popularity of Wagner's "Lohengrin". The name of the hero, Woodpecker Tapping, was taken from Thomas Moore's ballad, "The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech tree."

On the play's success, Stedman notes:

:Gilbert's adaptation is a model of how a French farce could be intelligently suited to the English stage.... It depended on split-second timing, on rapid intrusions and concealments, on frantically invented expedients and mistaken identities, and on the pursuit of a crucial object: a hat of Italian straw (Stedman 1996, pp. 110–11).

"The Era" commented that there was "enough fun... to make half-a-dozen ordinary farces." The piece was "one of Gilbert's most frequenly played successes and brought him £2,500" (Stedman 1996, p. 111). He told the critic William Archer that he had written it in just a day and a half (Ainger 2002, p. 99).

The idea of turning "The Wedding March" into an opera was on Gilbert's mind for many years. The project was mooted in 1876 as a successor to "Trial by Jury". Arthur Sullivan would have composed the score, and the composer's brother Fred ("Trial"'s Learned Judge) would have played the bridegroom, Woodpecker Tapping, but the opera didn't materialise, perhaps due to the illness that ultimately led to Fred's early death.

Creation of the opera

By the 1890s, Gilbert's partnership with Sullivan had unraveled, and Gilbert had to find other partners. He wrote "The Mountebanks" with Alfred Cellier, and then turned to George Grossmith, the comic baritone of the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces from "The Sorcerer" (1877) through to "The Yeomen of the Guard" (1888). Grossmith had composed hundreds of songs and duets for his own private drawing-room entertainments, as well as a few short comic operas, but never a full-length work as ambitious as "Haste to the Wedding".

By opening night, Gilbert was approaching a reconciliation with Sullivan, who was in attendance. Notable among the cast were Frank Wyatt (the Duke of Plaza-Toro in "The Gondoliers") as Woodpecker Tapping, veteran actor Lionel Brough (Pietro in "The Mountebanks") as Maguire, and George Grossmith Jr., the composer's son, in his stage debut as Foodle. The opera was not a success, however. Stedman (1986, p. 287) suggests that the timing of the premiere – in July, traditionally a slow season – worked against it.

Gänzl (1986, p. 435) sums up the failure::...the setting of the lyrics proved rather too much for Grossmith, whose musical talent, though tuneful and amusing, was definitely on the small scale. The songs added nothing to the play and indeed, by breaking down the plot and slowing the pell-mell pace of the action, exposed the improbability of the situations. After a first night which evoked some wrathful comments from a disappointed audience, "Haste to the Wedding" survived only twenty-two performances.

Roles

* Woodpecker Tapping, "a Bridegroom"
* Mr. Maguire, "a Market Gardener"
* Uncle Bopaddy
* Cousin Foodle
* The Duke of Turniptopshire, "an Emotional Peer"
* Major-General Bunthunder
* Captain Bapp
* Cripps, "a Milliner's Bookkeeper"
* Wilkinson, "a Policeman"
* Barns, "a Family Retainer"
* Jackson, "a Valet"
* The Marchioness of Market Harborough, "an Emotional Peeress"
* Lady Popton
* Maria Maguire, "a Bride"
* Leonora
* Bella Crackenthorpe, "a Milliner"
* Patty Parker, "a Lady's Maid"

Chorus of Wedding Guests and Members of the Upper Aristocracy

:"Note:" Captain Bapp and Leonora are omitted in the "dramatis personæ" of the published libretto, although they appear in the text itself.

ynopsis

Act I

cene 1: A room in Woodpecker Tapping's house.

It is Woodpecker Tapping's wedding day. Jackson, the valet, explains to Patty that the bride, Miss Maria Maguire, lives in a remote corner of Wales, and as Woodpecker cannot get leave to travel that far, Maria and her family must come to him.

Woodpecker's Uncle Bopaddy enters with a wedding gift, which he gives to Patty for safekeeping. Woodpecker enters, and tells his uncle about a strange incident that had happened in Hyde Park. His horse had bolted, and when he caught up with the animal, it was chewing on a lady's straw hat. Woodpecker had paid the lady a shilling for her damaged hat. He shows it to Uncle Bopaddy, who remarks that it is curiously similar to his wedding gift.

Left alone, Woodpecker remarks that he is delighted with his bride-to-be, but that her father is a "human porcupine." He is also exasperated with her foppish cousin Foodle, who is allowed to kiss her, even though "he" may not.

Leonora, the lady whose hat Woodpecker's horse had chewed up, arrives with Captain Bapp, her cousin. Bapp is offended at Woodpecker's actions. Woodpecker attempts to apologize, and offers them more money, but they insist he must replace the hat, as Leonora's husband is insanely jealous, and won't forgive her if she returns without it. Woodpecker promises to find a replacement from a local milliner. In the meantime, he insists they hide, as it would be awkward if his bride and father-in-law discover another woman in the house.

Maguire, Maria, Foodle, and the rest of the wedding party arrive. Maguire says that the wedding is off, because Woodpecker has kept them waiting outside, and he declares that Maria will marry Foodle. After Woodpecker apologizes, Maguire says that he can marry Maria after all.

Woodpecker needs an excuse to stop at a milliner's shop on the way to the registrar, so he tells them that he's lost the marriage license. The easily-provoked Maguire once again calls the wedding off, and gives Maria to Foodle, but Maguire is pacified when Woodpecker says that they'll stop off at a Doctor's Commons and get a new license. Woodpecker observes that the bride's family are country people, and won't know the difference between a Doctor's Commons and a milliner's shop.

cene 2: A Milliner's Show-room

Woodpecker arrives to buy a straw hat. Bella, the milliner, recognizes him. Woodpecker had once proposed marriage, and then abandoned her, but he insists that he still intends to abide by his promise. Bella agrees to give him a fine straw hat, provided that he takes her to lunch that afternoon, and to the theatre that evening. He agrees, and she leaves to go fetch the hat.

The wedding party enters, having grown impatient. They believe they are in a Doctor's Commons. Cripps, the milliner's bookkeeper, enters. They mistake him for the Registrar, and confusion ensues as they try to dictate their names to him as if to obtain a marriage license. Foodle observes Woodpecker embracing Bella in an adjoining room. Maguire again cancels the wedding, and gives Maria to Foodle. Woodpecker returns and explains that Bella is his cousin, and the wedding is on again. Cripps leaves, and the wedding party dance off after him.

Bella tells Woodpecker that she can't match the kind of straw hat that he is looking for, and she cannot get another one like it for three weeks. The only matching hat she's seen in London is a specimen she sold to the Marchioness of Market Harborough. Woodpecker resolves that he must visit the Marchioness after the wedding ceremony, and persuade her to part with her hat. Cripps re-enters, breathless, followed by the wedding party, who still believe he is the Registrar.

Act II

cene 1: A handsomely furnished drawing-room

The Duke of Turniptopshire arrives at the Marchioness of Market Harborough's home, where a concert by the Italian falsetto singer, Nisnardi, is about to take place. The Marchioness tells the Duke that Nisnardi had requested a flower from the Marchioness's bouquet as payment for his services. They are both moved by this. After the Marchioness leaves to prepare for her other guests, he remarks that he would far prefer to be a commonplace man than a "highly-strung sensitive Duke."

Woodpecker arrives. He and Maria are now married, and the wedding party are waiting in carriages outside. He has told them that the Marchioness's home is St. James's Hall, and that he is inside making arrangements for the wedding breakfast. The Duke mistakes Woodpecker for the Italian singer, Nisnardi. Woodpecker asks to see the Marchioness, and the Duke goes off to tell her that the singer has arrived.

The Marchioness enters, and likewise assumes that Woodpecker is Nisnardi. He asks if she received his note. She replies that she did, and presents Woodpecker with a flower. He says that it is not a flower, but an article of her attire that he wants. When she quotes from Nisnardi's note, Woodpecker realizes the source of the confusion, but before he can explain, the Marchioness's guests arrive for the concert. Deciding to play along, Woodpecker tells them that his voice has deserted him, but he will be able to sing if the Marchioness indulges his whim. The Marchioness presents one of her slippers, but Woodpecker replies that he wants her straw hat. The guests retire to another room, and the Marchioness goes to retrieve the hat.

Maguire enters. He is rather tipsy. When the Marchioness returns, she takes him to be Nisnardi's accompanist. She escorts him into the other room to meet her guests. The Marchioness's maid enters with a hat-box, but when Woodpecker opens it, he finds it is a black hat. The maid explains that the Marchioness gave her white straw hat to her niece, Mrs. Major-General Bunthunder.

Woodpecker resolves to visit the Major-General's home at once, leaving Maguire behind, but the Duke stops him before he can leave. Woodpecker tries to claim that he had left his tuning fork behind, and was going home to fetch it. The Marchioness's guests insist that he start singing. Maguire tries to play the piano. The rest of the wedding party burst in, and start eating the Marchioness's food. The Marchioness faints into the Duke's arms, and Woodpecker escapes.

Act III

cene 1: Dressing-room in Major-General Bunthunder's House

The Major-General rests his feet in a hot bath. He remarks that he has never fought in battle, but that he would be capable of great heroic deeds if he were asked to do so. He observes that his wife, Leonora, has been gone all day, and he wonders if she is deceiving him. Woodpecker arrives. Bunthunder tells him that he's "not at home." Woodpecker explains the aftermath of the Marchioness's concert. Bunthunder wonders why Woodpecker is telling him this irrelevant story.

Woodpecker asks to see Bunthunder's wife. He says that she is "not at home," but Woodpecker assumes that she is, and goes looking for her, putting up a screen around Bunthunder and his foot bath. Bunthunder, now concealed behind the screen, shouts that he will go after Woodpecker as soon as he is dressed.

Maguire enters, believing the house to be Woodpecker's. His boots are hurting him, and when he sees Bunthunder's boots, he switches them with his own, then goes to let in the wedding party. Uncle Bopaddy enters, and Bunthunder assumes that his home is under assault. He hears the tumult downstairs, and rushes off to confront them, wearing Maguire's ill-fitting boots.

Maguire returns with the full wedding party. While they wait for Woodpecker, whom Maguire assumes is getting dressed behind the screen, Maguire advises him that if he wants a happy marriage, "In all things give into your wife." The wedding party all dance off again.

Woodpecker has found several hats, but none matching the original specimen. Bunthunder confronts him, assuming he is a burglar. Woodpecker explains the incident that had given rise to his search. Bunthunder is at first amused, until he realizes that it is his own wife's straw hat that Woodpecker's horse had ruined. The offended Bunthunder vows to take his case to court.

cene 2: A street near Woodpecker's house

The wedding party dances in. Maguire and Maria wonder why Woodpecker keeps giving them the slip. Having finally ascertained that they've found Woodpecker's house, they knock on the door. Jackson, the valet, tells them that they cannot come in, because "the lady without a hat" is still inside. Maguire is astonished to hear that another lady is in the house. Vowing to get Maria a divorce, and marry her to Foodle, he orders Jackson to go inside and retrieve all the wedding gifts.

Woodpecker arrives, and he admits to Maguire that Leonora is in the house. Jackson returns with the presents. Maguire tells everyone to grab a present, and head for the train station. Uncle Bopaddy urges them to be careful, because his gift is a delicate straw hat. Woodpecker frantically opens the hat-box, and sees that the hat is identical to the one his horse had eaten. He rushes into his house to find Leonora.

Police Officer Wilkinson enters, and assumes that all of the presents are stolen property. He arrests the whole wedding party, and ushers them into the station-house. Woodpecker re-enters with Leonora and Captain Bapp, but the hat is gone. Bunthunder is fast approaching, and Leonora does not want him to find her with Woodpecker. Once again thinking quickly, Woodpecker tells Officer Wilkinson that Leonora is drunk and disorderly. She and Bapp are arrested, and taken into the station-house.

Bunthunder arrives in a fury, and goes into Woodpecker's house to search for Leonora. Captain Bapp tosses the hat out of a first-floor window of the station-house, but it lands on a lamp-post, just out of reach. Bunthunder re-enters; Leonora is not in the house, and he concludes his accusation of Woodpecker was unjust. Woodpecker tries to use his umbrella to dislodge the hat without arousing Bunthunder's suspicions. Bunthunder finds his behaviour odd, but does not catch on.

Leonora and the wedding party re-enter from the station-house. Maguire has bribed the Chief Inspector, and they are cleared of wrongdoing. One of the wedding guests manages to retrieve the hat, and Leonora claims it. She tells her husband that she had been waiting for him all day at her aunt's. Everyone is reconciled. Woodpecker and Maria go off into the house together.

Musical numbers

Act I
*No.1. - DUET - Patty and Jackson (Today, at eleven)
*No.2. - SONG - Woodpecker (Maria is simple and chaste)
*No.3. - CHORUS and SONG - Maguire (Ring, ye joybells, long and loudly... You've kept us all waiting outside!)
*No.4. - BALLAD - Bella (By dreams of ample profit lured)
*No.5. - RECIT and DUET - Bella and Woodpecker (I want a hat of finest straw)
*No.6. - DUET - Cripps and Maguire (with Chorus) (Gracious, how I have been running)Act II
*No.7. - SONG - Duke (Oh butcher, oh baker, oh candlestick-maker)
*No.8. - DUET - Woodpecker and Marchioness (The slave of impulse I)
*No.9. - RECIT and SONG - Maguire (with Chorus) (Now, Woodpecker!... Why, we're all making merry)
*No.10. - FINALE ACT TWO (Chorus of Wedding Guests) (Hurrah for the bride with a right good will)Act III
*No.11. - SONG - Bunthunder (Though called upon I've never been)
*No.12. - DUET - Woodpecker and Bunthunder (Your pardon, sir... From the Marchionesses)
*No.13. - SONG - Maguire (with Chorus) (If you value a peaceable life)
*No.14. - DUET - Woodpecker and Bunthunder (I've come across hats of all colours and sorts)
*No.15. - FINALE ACT III (Chorus) (Free, free! Hurrah!)

References

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External links

* [http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/other_gilbert/haste/haste_home.html "Haste to the Wedding" at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive]
* [http://narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=5495 Photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt in a school production of "The Wedding March"]