I've Got a Little List Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iolanthe

Private Willis is a character who only appears in Act II of "Iolanthe". He performs the act's very first song, "When all night long a chap remains". This song became the runaway success of the opening performance of "Iolanthe", and in it, Willis muses about political leanings as he stands night sentry outside the House of Lords.

The Fairy Queen ends up falling in love with Willis, and in the conclusion of the operetta he becomes a fairy himself, sprouting little wings, so that they may marry.

Answer: Patience

Reginald Bunthorne is the unofficial main character of "Patience", which is incidentally subtitled "Bunthorne's Bride". He is an aesthetic poet, whom W.S. Gilbert modeled as a parody of Oscar Wilde. However, his aesthetic leanings are merely a ruse to attract women, including the young Patience, who at the beginning of the operetta has never yet been in love.

The irony of the operetta, however, is that Bunthorne never does get a bride: his ruse backfires, and all of the young ladies who are attracted to him at the beginning of the operetta marry dragoons, and he is left to be contented with "a tulip or lily" rather than a wife.

Answer: Iolanthe

Phyllis is billed as "an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery". She is betrothed to Strephon, the half-fairy half-mortal son of Iolanthe. Unfortunately, however, Strephon has to get permission to marry her from the Lord High Chancellor, and since all the Lords in the House of Lords, as well as the Chancellor himself, are in love with her, difficulties arise.

Phyllis is a soprano role, and sings many highlights of the operetta, including "Good morrow, good lover", "None shall part us from each other", and "If we're weak enough to tarry" with Strephon.

Answer: The Gondoliers

Known mainly simply as Don Alhambra, he is the Inquisitor of Spain who comes to tell the two gondoliers, Marco and Giuseppe, that one of them is the King of Barataria who was adopted by an elderly gondolier at birth. He is also in charge of making sure that Casilda, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, is readied to meet with the husband that she married as a baby: the then-also infantine King of Barataria, whoever he may be.

Don Alhambra is a baritone and sings many famous songs such as "I stole the prince" and "There lived a king".

Answer: Patience

Lady Jane is one of the Rapturous Maidens who cluster around Bunthorne; however, unlike the other ladies, she is supposed to be older and not as slim as she once was.

Lady Jane is a contralto role and sings one beautiful solo, "Sad is that woman's lot", while she plays a cello. She also sings a duet with Bunthorne, "So go to him", and features with other cast members in many other songs throughout the operetta.

Answer: The Gondoliers

Marco is, along with his stepbrother Giuseppe, one of the gondoliers who might be the King of Barataria; either he or Giuseppe was brought to an aging gondolier as a baby, to grow up alongside the gondolier's own son. The elderly gondolier, however, had a taste for liquor and soon mixed up the children, leaving the question of which is the King and which is merely a gondolier's son. The answer is not as simple as everyone suspects!

Marco is a tenor, and marries Gianetta. He sings several duets with Giuseppe, including "We're called gondolieri", and a poignant solo, "Take a pair of sparkling eyes", among others.

Answer: Iolanthe

Mountararat, as he is known, is one of the peers who aspires to Phyllis' hand in marriage. He is good friends with Thomas, Earl of Tolloller. When Phyllis denounces Strephon, thinking that he was unfaithful, she turns to Tolloller and Mountararat, saying that either one can marry her. A dilemma arises as they try to decide who will marry her, in the song "Though p'r'aps I may incur your blame" (Act II).

Mountararat is, along with the rest of the peers, turned into a fairy at the end of the operetta. He is a baritone, and sings such songs as "When Britain really ruled the waves".

Answer: Patience

Grosvenor is an Idyllic poet, and Bunthorne's main rival in "Patience". He had known Patience when they were both children, and when he returns she feels love for the first time. He is pursuaded to leave the poetic lifestyle at the end of the operetta, however, vowing to be an "every day young man". He and Patience marry.

Grosvenor, as a lyric baritone, sings many songs throughout the operetta, including "A magnet hung in a hardware shop" ("The Magnet and the Churn"), "Pretty pretty maiden" with Patience, and "When I go out of door" with Bunthorne.

Answer: The Gondoliers

The Duchess is the mother of Casilda, the girl who was married to the King of Barataria at birth. She joins her family on a trip from Spain to Barataria to reunite her daughter with the King--whoever he may be.

She is a comic character, and a contralto. She sings songs such as "On the day when I was wedded" and "To help unhappy commoners" (with her husband the Duke).

Answer: Patience

Calverley is an officer of the Dragoon guards, and is used to young ladies falling in love with him and his uniform. However, when he and the rest of the troop arrive to see those same ladies in love with Bunthorne and his poetic ways, they vow to follow his example, and give up their uniforms. At the end of the operetta, however, they revert back to the Dragoons.

Calverley sings songs such as "If you want a receipt" and "When I first put this uniform on".