Editing Opera Comique (section)

===Gilbert and Sullivan===
[[File:Sorctrial.jpg |thumb|upright|1878 programme cover]]
In November 1877 the Comedy Opera Company, managed by Carte, took on the lease and staged the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''[[The Sorcerer]]''. This was followed in 1878 by the same team's ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'', which became a hit, running for 571 performances, the second-longest theatrical run in history, to that date.<ref>Gaye, p. 1532; and Gillan, Don. [http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-longr.html "Longest Running Plays in London and New York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613222559/http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net%2Fth-longr.html |date=13 June 2020 }}, StageBeauty.net. Retrieved 10 March 2009</ref> During the performance on 31 July 1879, Carte's former business partners in the Comedy Opera Company (with whom Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan had split) tried to seize the set, creating a celebrated fracas.<ref>"The Fracas at the Opera Comique", ''The Era'', 10 August 1879, p. 5; "The Fracas at the Opera Comique", ''The Leeds Mercury'', 13 August 1879, p. 8; and Gillan, Don. [http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-opcom.html Account of the "Fracas at the Opera Comique"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723085638/http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-opcom.html |date=23 July 2011 }}</ref> Over Christmas 1878, during the run of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', the theatre was renovated and redecorated by E. W. Bradwell, reopening on 1 February 1879. ''The Era'' commented, "We can hardly overpraise the beauty and grace of the Opera Comique as it now appears to the delighted audience."<ref name=Renovation>[https://www.gsarchive.net/pinafore/reviews/era790209.html "Opera Comique"] {{dead link|date=May 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. ''The Era'', 9 February 1879, reprinted at ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive''. Retrieved 8 July 2010</ref>

Two more Gilbert and Sullivan successes followed, now produced by the [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company]]: ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' (1880) and, finally, ''[[Patience (opera)|Patience]]'' (1881), which was later transferred to Carte's new and larger theatre, the [[Savoy Theatre|Savoy]].<ref>Rollins and Witts, pp. 1 and 8</ref> During this period, Carte also presented various companion pieces with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including the 1877 revival of ''[[Dora's Dream]]'' by [[Arthur Cecil]] and [[Alfred Cellier]]; ''[[The Spectre Knight]]'' (1878); revivals of ''[[Trial by Jury]]''; several pieces by [[George Grossmith]] beginning in 1878: ''Beauties on the Beach'', ''A Silver Wedding'', ''Five Hamlets'', and ''[[Cups and Saucers]]''; revivals of Gilbert's ''[[After All!]]'';<ref name=Renovation/> a ''Children's Pinafore'' with an entirely juvenile cast (1878); ''[[In the Sulks]]'' (1880); and ''[[Uncle Samuel]]'' (1881).<ref>Rollins and Witts, Appendix, p. IX</ref>