Outdoor operetta — Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Gondoliers' to take the stage at Deer Valley

By 1896, the year W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan completed what was to be their last operetta, they were the most famous collaborators of popular entertainment in England. Favorites of both Queen Victoria and the public, who streamed into London's Savoy Theatre to see their latest creations, Gilbert and Sullivan were idolized as the musical dream team.

In the 25 years they worked together, they wrote 14 stage works that brilliantly skewered the English aristocracy, society and mores. Most of these operettas, beginning with "Trial by Jury" in 1875 — their second joint venture — were hugely popular.

That the two actually managed to work together for so many years is remarkable, given that Gilbert and Sullivan hardly ever socialized, and their professional partnership was riddled with petty bickering and artistic disputes.

Despite their turbulent relationship, they left some of the most endearing works in the English language. Their three most popular operettas — "H.M.S. Pinafore," "The Pirates of Penzance" and "The Mikado" — have found a permanent place in professional and amateur theater since their premieres, while the others are occasionally dusted off and revived.

Utah Symphony & Opera knows that presenting a Gilbert & Sullivan farce is a surefire way of selling out the house — or outdoor amphitheater. Their works have been a fixture at the Deer Valley Music Festival since its beginning in 2004. The first three summers featured the pair's most beloved works ("Pinafore," "The Mikado" and "Penzance").

Next weekend, the outdoor festival will present "The Gondoliers," one of Gilbert & Sullivan's last works and the last that was an unqualified success when it premiered in 1889.

"It was the fifth longest-running musical when it closed," said Gerald Steichen, who will conduct the two performances next Friday and Saturday at the Deer Valley Outdoor Amphitheater. "It was also Queen Victoria's favorite."

She liked it so much that she had the Savoy production brought to her. "She put the entire cast, sets and musicians on a train for a command performance at Windsor Castle," Steichen said.

"The Gondoliers" is a typically convoluted tale, of which Gilbert was a master.