Word: hilarion
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...proclaimed "nature's sole mistake," and all things male are so despised that the maidens wake to the crowing of an "accomplished hen." Complications arise in this distaff paradise, however, when it is revealed that the Princess had been betrothed at the age of one to a Prince Hilarion (Paul Moreax...
...fact that Ida has the ability to charm a 20th-century audience is impressive, considering that its basic theme is, well, sexist. Princess Ida, married to Prince Hilarion at the tender age of one (he was twice her age, he tells us), has withdrawn from society to become the dean of a woman's University"--an institution Gilbert seems to find inherently ridiculous. Anything male is strictly forbidden--the female dons are awakened not by a rooster, but by "an accomplished hen," and one of them is expelled for bringing in a set of chessmen...
Undaunted, Prince Hilarion decides to make good his claim on Princess Ida's affections and, accompanied by his two friends Cyril and Florian, scales the walls of Castle Adamant--which serves as the university's campus. The three are, of course, openly scornful of the whole idea. Florian seems to speak for Gilbert when he says. "A woman's college! Maddest folly going! What can girls learn within its walls worth knowing?...I'll teach them twice as much in half an hour outside...
...Fuller as Prince Hilarion and Paul Seltzer and Paul Hewitt as Cyrill make an irresistably impish trio. Fuller proves once again his skill in portraying the standard G. and S. straight man--sweetly and stupidly earnest--and Seltzer and Hewitt sharpen one another in their roles as comic foils...
...question arises about the way Fuller should sing the line "hearts of stone, heart of fire" which Hilarion, the hero, sings to his beloved, Princess Ida. Everyone pauses for a moment. Krag, Fuller and Gratto discuss various interpretations and finally compromise with Krag saying, "Emphasize the note on heart and the diction on stone and fire." Throughout the evening the singthrough is punctuated by conferences, laughter and corny jokes. Afterwards, walking back to North House. Krag talks about choosing the cast. The auditions were low-key and relaxed; Krag and Gratto sat cross-legged on a couch and listened...