Utopia, Limited, or The Flowers of Progress is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. It was the second-to-last collaboration between composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist/satirist W.S. Gilbert. The operetta premiered on October 7, 1893, at the Savoy Theatre, and it enjoyed a run of 245 performances. In this operetta, Gilbert satirizes a recent innovation of his time, the limited liability company. In addition, it playfully mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British empire and several of the nation's beloved institutions. Playwright/lyricist William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur S. Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta or comic operas in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works known as the Savoy Operas. ... Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842–November 22, 1900) was a British composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist William S. Gilbert. ... Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 - May 29, 1911) was a British dramatist and librettist best known for his operatic collaborations with the composer Arthur Sullivan. ... Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Savoy Theatre London, December 2003 The Savoy Theatre, which opened on 10 October 1881, was built by Richard DOyly Carte (1844 - 1901) on the site of the old Savoy Palace in London as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy Operas... Limited liability (LL) is liability that is limited to a partner or investors investment. ...

Plot

The operetta opens upon the imagined South Pacific island of Utopia, whose monarch, King Paramount, has decided to send his daughter, Zara, on a voyage to Britian to learn how to civilize his people. Two "Wise Men" enter, heralded by the chorus ("O make way for the Wise Men"). The two, Scaphio and Phantis, describe that they have the power to murder the king if he displeases them ("In every mental lore"). The king himself soon enters ("A King of autocratic power we") and, expressing no ill will towards his perpetual blackmailers, he joins the two in a trio commenting on life's farce ("First you're born"). In fact, the king is quite upset, becuase he is unable to marry the Lady Sophy because of self-mocking articles Scaphio and Phantis have forced him to write under a pseudonym. In the middle of the first Act, Zara returns to Utopia with six British gentleman (or "Flowers of Progress") in tow ("Five years have flown"). She sings a duet with her love interest, Captain Fitzbattleaxe ("Ah! gallant soldier, brave and true") while Scaphio and Phantis agree to duel one another for her love ("It's understood, I think, all round"). In the Act's finale, the Utopians assemble and Zara presents the Flowers of Progress one by one - Fitzbattleaxe (of the army), Sir Bailey Barre (Q.C. and M.P.), Lord Dramaleigh (a Lord Chamberlain), Mr. Blushington (of the county council), Mr. Goldbury (a company promoter) and Captain Corcoran (of the navy - and a popular Gilbert and Sullivan character reused from H.M.S. Pinafore). The people are duly impressed, but they are particularly intrigued by Mr. Goldbury, who convinces the people to transform their entire country into a limited liability corporation - even before Britain herself does! Everyone but Scaphio and Phantis is enthusiastic, and the act ends with the rapturous acceptance of the infusions of British society. Queens Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male Sovereign known as Kings Counsel (KC), are barristers or, in Scotland, advocates appointed by patent to be one of Her Majestys Counsel learned in the law. They do not constitute a separate order or degree of lawyers. ... MP may stand for: Member of Parliament military police magic points (in roleplaying games) Northern Mariana Islands (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code and USPS state code) milepost multiprocessing in computers Minimalist Program (linguistics) Modus ponens Megapixel M.P is also a drummer of an alternative rock band School... The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the great offices of state. ... In the British Isles, a county council is a council that governs a county. ... H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts, with music by composer Arthur S. Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ...

By Act II, Utopia has transformed itself into a near-perfect replica of Britain - it has built an army, a navy, courts, purified its literature and wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Goldbury's proposal. We see the Flowers exulting in their success ("Society has quite forsaken") and the people singing songs of the nation's newfound glory ("Eagle high in cloudland soaring"). Yet Scaphio and Phantis are furious, fearing that the change poses a threat to their power ("With fury deep we burn"); they demand that Paramount revoke the change, and when he refuses, they remind him of their power over his life ("If you think that when banded in unity"). The king, his dignity rediscovered, approaches Lady Sophy and tells her the truth about the articles written about him, and they agree to marry ("Oh, the rapture unrestrained"). But Scaphio and Phanits succeed in convincing the people of Utopia that the changes are for the worse - they have put an end to war, making the army and navy useless; sanitation is so good that doctors are unemployed; so perfect are the laws that crime has all but ended, emptying the courts - and all demand that they be reversed. Desperate, Paramount asks his daughter for help, and she immediately realizes that she has forgotten "the most essential element of all": Government by Party! With this adopted, each party will so confound the efforts of the other that no progress will be made at all, leading to the prosperity that everyone seeks. The crowd is overjoyed, Scaphio and Phantis are thrown in prison, and the curtain falls as the people sing their praises of "a little group of isles beyond the wave."

Utopia Ltd is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. It is expensive to produce, requiring a large cast of excellent singers and dancers; the subject-matter and plot are obscure for modern audiences; and although it contains some fine music, it perhaps has less than than Sullivan's usual quota of unforgettable tunes. Playwright/lyricist William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur S. Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works. ...

External Links

• The whole operetta online