This is a rare Saturday afternoon, March 8th, 1879 program (playbill) from the American Premiere engagement of the W. S. GILBERT and ARTHUR SULLIVAN comic opera "H. M. S. PINAFORE" (or "The Lass That Loved a Sailor") at the Boston Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. (The Original West End production opened May 25th, 1878 at London's Opera Comique and ran for 571 performances. This Boston engagement was the first of dozens of unauthorized American companies who rushed to capitalize on the London success. The Boston Museum production opened November 22nd, 1878, six months after the show premiered in London. The Original Broadway production opened January 15th, 1879 at New York's Standard Theatre and played 175 performances.) ..... The musical, presented for the 68th time in Boston, starred Miss MARIE WAINWRIGHT as "Josephine" and the cast included GEORGE W. WILSON, Mr. J. H. JONES, Miss ROSE TEMPLE, Mr. B. R. GRAHAM, Mr. J. S. HAWORTH, Mr. W. H. MORRIS, LITTLE GERTRUDE, Mr. W. MELBOURNE, Miss LIZZIE HAROLD, Miss JEAN CROZIER and the Ladies of the Chorus and Ballet ..... The comic opera was preceded by the charming comedietta "A CUP OF TEA" starring HENRY CRISP, WILLIAM WARREN, JAMES NOLAN and Miss ANNIE CLARKE ..... Historical note: The first U.S. production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore was presented on November 22nd, 1878 at the Boston Museum. Soon dozens of additional productions, not authorized by the composer and lyricist, popped up throughout the country. This happened because Gilbert and Sullivan had not filed for a separate U.S. Copyright for their work, so when the score made its way to the States in late 1878, publishers reprinted it with wild abandon. Any acting company from the most highly regarded to the most amateur could stage the show without permission and without royalties to the creators. By June of 1879, over 150 individual Pinafore companies had blanketed the United States. Despite its popularity in the States, Gilbert and Sullivan did not rush to claim copyright until they premiered the official D’Oyly Carte production in New York City on December 1st, 1879. By this point, H.M.S. Pinafore had so saturated the U.S. market that it forced the sumptuous D’Oyly Carte production to close at the end of December, even though Gilbert performed in the chorus and Sullivan conducted the show himself. Gilbert and Sullivan did not want to lose out on their opportunity to capitalize on their productions in the United States again, so they staged The Pirates of Penzance on December 31st, 1879 in both America and Britain before they left for home. As Gilbert later announced, “never again would he let a libretto of his be produced anywhere if the Americans were to be allowed to steal it. ‘It’s not that I need the money so much,’ he explained, ‘but it upsets my digestion’.” (Reprinted from the Folger.edu website.) ..... DETAILS: The oversized four page program measures 9" X 12" inches and includes the program for the matinee performance, cast list, synopsis of scenes, promotional text for the Saturday evening performance and wonderful vintage advertising, but no cast photos or bios ..... CONDITION: With the exception of a fold across the middle, light soiling to the top right corner of the cover and a tiny tear on the outside edge, this rare program is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.