Box and Cox, GSSA's May Musicale

The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin will have a staged reading of Box and Cox, an one-act play written by John Maddison Morton. This will happen Monday May 11th, at 7:30pm at the Genesis Presbytarian Church. This play was first produced in London in 1847 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre and interestingly enough, 'box and cox' has become to mean to take turns. The reason being is that this play, very simply, is about two lodgers who shared their rooms at alternate times. One would be there by day, and the other would be there by night.

Interesting also is the fact that 'Box and Cox' was the inspiration behind 'Cox and Box', written by F.C. Burnand and music written by Arthur Sullivan;

"Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two lodgers, one who works at night and one who works during the day. When one of them has the day off, they meet each other in the room and tempers flare.

The piece premiered in 1866 and was seen a few times in 1867. Once given a professional production in 1869, it became popular, running for 264 performances and enjoying many revivals and charity performances. During the 20th century it was frequently played by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in a shorter format, as a curtain-raiser for the shorter Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It has been played by numerous professional and amateur companies throughout the world and continues to be frequently produced."

Cox and Box

Apparently, mr. Burnand was jealous of Gilbert's collaboration with Sullivan and since he was editor of Punch at the time, he refused to write reviews of their work. Artists, I tell ya.



"Buttercup" from Cox and Box - Not by GSSA but a recognizable 'flavour' of Arthur Sullivan.


When every blessed thing you hold
Is made of silver, or of gold,
You long for simple pewter (The Gondoliers)