During an online conversation with Lydia this morning I was chiding for her unfamiliarity with Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Three Little Maids from School Are We”. Just to get everyone on the same page, here it is:
But then I got to thinking about my familiarity with Gilbert & Sullivan, which leads me to an embarrassing admission: most of my familiarity with the music of Gilbert & Sullivan comes from two sources: the movie Chariots of Fire, and the “Cape Feare” episode of The Simpsons.
In Chariots of Fire, as I recall, one of the main characters is interested in an actress who is playing one of the three little maids in The Mikado. There’s also a scene when the olympic team is traveling on the ship and they’re singing Gilbert & Sullivan songs around the piano. (The scene always sticks in my mind because the audio is just off – the piano chord sounds a split-second before the actor’s hand hits the keys.)
In The Simpsons, the villain Sideshow Bob tracks down the Simpson family (who were living on a houseboat in a witness relocation program), ties up the parents, and is just about to kill Bart. Bart stalls Sideshow Bob by challenging him to sing the entire score of The Pirates of Penzance H.M.S. Pinafore (thanks for the correction, Jamie!). Bob can’t resist the challenge and so sings and sings and sings while the boat floats down the river, into town, and to the authorities.
I really should take some time to become more familiar with these guys.
[Edit: I found a good version of the Simpsons' scene.]
My grandfather *loved* Gilbert and Sullivan. When my HS put on Pirates of Penzance he was there every night…
One correction: Sideshow Bob sings the entire score of the HMS Pinafore. And another TV show that used Gilbert and Sullivan really well in one episode was The West Wing. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745595/
Thanks for the correction, Jamie. And I’ll have to find that episode of The West Wing.
I’m more familiar with Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Me too, Roger… though that’s primarily because their big musicals have been turned into some very popular movies… The Sound of Music, The King and I, Oklahoma!… all classics.