Babes in Toyland

Babes in Toyland: With music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Glen Macdonough, this extravagant 1903 operetta wove together characters from various Mother Goose nursery rhymes, spawning a generation of fairy tale inspired musicals. This original version (a different story was staged to the same score in the 1970s) follows the adventures of orphans Alan and Jane, wards of their wicked Uncle Barnaby who conspires to steal the children's inheritance. Uncle Barnaby hires sailors Gonzorgo and Roderigo to shipwreck Alan and Jane and attempts to marry Alan's sweetheart, Contrary Mary. Contrary Mary and her brother Tom-Tom escape to Toyland, where they are reunited with Alan and Jane, who were rescued in turn by a band of gypsies and the Moth Queen. Barnaby continues to plot with the evil Toymaker and the orphans, Tom-Tom and Contrary Mary find themselves caught up in the turmoil of Toyland.