Robert the Devil

Robert the Devil, or The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun is an operatic parody by W. S. Gilbert of Giacomo Meyerbeer's grand opera Robert le diable, which was named after, but bears little resemblance to, the medieval French legend of the same name. Gilbert set new lyrics to tunes by Meyerbeer, Bellini, Offenbach and others. The piece premiered at the opening of the newly rebuilt Gaiety Theatre in London on 21 December 1868. An extravaganza played on a very large scale, it ran for over 120 performances and played continuously in the British provinces for three years thereafter. It also enjoyed several revivals. The original production starred Nellie Farren in the title role – she became the company's leading "principal boy". Several of the other male roles were played by women, as was common in burlesques of the day. History Robert the Devil was part of a series of five operatic burlesques written early in Gilbert's career. The first was Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack an 1866 musical spoof of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. The second was La Vivandière; or, True to the Corps!, a parody of Donizetti's La fille du régiment (1867). The others were The Merry Zingara; or, the Tipsy Gipsy and the Pipsy Wipsy (Royalty Theatre, 1868), a burlesque of Balfe's The Bohemian Girl and The Pretty Druidess; or, the Mother, the Maid, and the Mistletoe Bough (Charing Cross Theatre, 1869), a burlesque of Bellini's Norma. The libretto of Robert the Devil is set in rhyming couplets, as are the other Gilbert burlesques. The opening night performance was under-rehearsed, partly because the new Gaiety Theatre was not finished until the last moment, leaving no time for rehearsal on its stage. Therefore, the evening's entertainments received mixed reviews, except for the uniformly enthusiastic reviews of Nellie Farren. However, The Times noted that "Like the other extravaganzas from the same pen, Robert the Devil shows an endeavour to avoid the ordinary vulgarities of grotesque drama, and bring its most elegant contingencies into the foreground.... The burlesque has been received with a storm of approbation."