Rip Van Winkle (operetta)

Rip Van Winkle is an operetta in three acts by Robert Planquette. The English language libretto by Henry Brougham Farnie was based on the short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) and "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) by Washington Irving after the play by Dion Boucicault and Joseph Jefferson.

Fred Leslie as Rip Van Winkle, 1882

Performance history

The operetta opened at the Royal Comedy Theatre in London on October 14, 1882, adapted by Dion Boucicault, and ran for a very successful 328 performances, starring Fred Leslie, W. S. Penley, Lionel Brough, Rose Moncreiff and H. B. Farnie. Others who joined the cast during the run included Fred Billington. There was also a brief New York run in 1882 starring J. H. Ryley, Richard Mansfield and Selina Dolaro. It also toured internationally.

French version

It was adapted as Rip with a French libretto by Henri Meilhac, Philippe Gille and Farnie and given at the Folies-Dramatiques in Paris, opening on November 11, 1884 and running 120 performances. It was revised and revived in Paris in 1894.[1]

Roles and original cast
Fred Leslie as the old Rip
  • Rip Van Winkle (A Village Good-For-Nothing) – Fred Leslie
  • Derrick Van Slous (The Village Lawyer and Rip's Rival) – W. S. Penley
  • Peter Van Dunk (Burgomaster of Sleepy Hollow) – Louis Kelleher
  • Diedrich Knickerbocker (Village Schoolmaster and Local Poet) – E. Wilmore
  • Captain Hugh Rowley (Of the British Army) – Fred Darrell
  • Nick Vedder (Landlord of The "George III" Inn) – Lionel Brough
  • Gretchen (Wife of Rip Van Winkle) – Violet Cameron
  • Sara And Jacintha (Two of her Gossips) – Clara Graham and Constance Lewis
  • Katrina (A Village Flirt - Daughter of Nick Vedder) – Sadie Martinot (later, Camille Dubois)[2]
  • Little Hardcase (Clerk to Derrick) – Madge Milton
  • Hans (His Nephew) – Effie Mason
  • Alice (Rip's Little Daughter) – Alice Vicat
  • Tom Tit (Bugler to Rowley's Company) – Rosie Moncrieff
  • Leedle Jan (Katrina's Brother) – Master Gollop
  • Gape (Waitress At The "George III" Inn) – Grace Hawke
  • Captain Hendrick Hudson – S. H. Perry
  • Four Lieutenants – W. S. Rising, Constance Lewis, Clara Graham and Miss Rosie Moncrieff
  • Cabin Boy – Madge Milton
  • The Goblin Steward – Mr. Storey
  • Master Gunner – M. Villa
  • Max Schneider (Rural Postman) – Clara Graham
  • Chicken (Potboy at the "George Washington Hotel") – Rosie Moncrieff
  • Mopps (Chambermaid at the Inn) – Madge Milton

The following cast changes occur as children in Act I later become adults:'

  • Alice Van Winkle (Daughter of Rip) – Violet Cameron
  • Lieut. Hans Van Slous (Now of the U.S. Frigate "Constitution") – W. S. Rising
  • Jan Vedder (Now Proprietor of the "George Washington Hotel") – Lionel Brough

Musical numbers
Lionel Brough as Nick Vedder
  • Overture

Act I

  • No. 1. Chorus, Scene and Couplets - "Far and near our cry be heard, Long life to great George the Third!"
  • No. 2. Exit of Peasants, etc. - "Yes, it is a common thing, thus to use one's Queen or King"
  • No. 3. Rip Van Winkle - "Oh! where's my girl of whom I'm fond? Wherever can my darling be?"
  • No. 4. Canoe Song - Gretchen & Rip - "Where floweth the wild Mohawk river, a-down the long rushes that quiver"
  • No. 5. Chorus of Cowards - "Can't you see we're coming? (Hang their horrid drumming)"
  • No. 6. Legend of the Kaatskils - Gretchen & Chorus - "From deep forest hoary, lift in awful glory mountains grey and old"
  • No. 7. Rip Van Winkle & Children - "Ere the marriage contract is drawn, what have you got to live upon?"
  • No. 8. Rondo - Katrina & Chorus - "'Tis the hour we girls ne'er fail, with a pitcher and a tale, at the old draw-well"
  • No. 9. Finale Act I - "When I come back 'twill be no more to roam; thenceforth to stay with thee at home"

Act II - Scene 1

  • Entr'acte & Melodrame
  • No. 10. Lantern Chorus & Ballad - Gretchen & Katrina - "By the thicket path we are trudging slow"
  • No. 10½. Exit & Reprise - "Our search in vain, let's home again! By the thicket path we are trudging slow"
  • No. 11. Patrol Chorus - "Keep all in step! Keep all in step! Keep all in step! The night is dark and low'ring"
  • No. 12. Gretchen, Rip & Derrick - "Now won't you come along with me? You do not care for me I see!"
  • No. 13. Echo Song - Rip van Winkle & Chorus - "Ho! ho! ho! ho! Friend echoes, why do ye fail?"
  • No. 13½. Melodrame - (The Demon Dwarf)

Act II - Scene 2

  • No. 14. Scene - Rip & Chorus, and Sea Song - Hudson, - "Hendrick Hudson I am call'd, from the underwaters hailing"
  • No. 15. Nine-Pins Song - 2nd. Lieutenant & Chorus - "Say, my lads, what game we'll play?"
  • No. 16. Serenade - 1st. Lieutenant & Chorus - "I've had lady-loves in my day, with lips rose-red and a lustrous eye"
  • No. 17. Pas Seul - Danse des Buveurs, and Pas de Fascination
  • No. 18. Finale Act II - "Sunk to sleep on the ground, he's spell-bound! Slumber, mortal bold"

Act III - Scene 1

  • Entr'acte and Woodcutters' Chorus - "Before our broad axes, lo! they fall, the kings of the forest, old and tall!"

Act III - Scene 2

  • No. 19. Election Chorus, Couplets & Ensemble - Katrina - "Whatsoever may be won in this afternoon's elections"
  • No. 20. Rondo - Katrina & Chorus - "Folks do say, who are wise and able, that when tongues got all mixt at Babel"
  • No. 21. Letter Song - Alice - "I dare not break the seal! What fear, what doubt I feel... I've liv'd so long with sorrow"
  • No. 22. Hammock Song - Lieutenant van Slous & Chorus - "Oh, proud and high the feeling, o'er the sailor stealing"
  • No. 22½. Melodrame - Entrance of Rip Van Winkle
  • No. 23. Rip - "The thirsty sun burns on the noon-tide brink, yet hotter, yet hotter! ..."
  • No. 24. Alice, Van Slous, & Rip - "I know you not! My father's dead! ... Old man, I fear your reason's fled!"
  • No. 25. Chorus - "Some say, now that the voting is done, the finish will be exciting"
  • No. 26. Finale Act III - "From deep forest hoary, lift in awful glory, mountains grey and old, that myst'ry and tradition hold!"

References
  1. Rip, Operette Theatre musical, accessed November 10, 2018
  2. "Comedy Theatre", The Musical World, 10 February 1883, p. 81
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