veral promenade concerts that he conducted at Covent Garden, Pinafore became a hit. The Opera Co

mique was required to close at Christmas 1878 for repairs to drainage and sewage under the Public Hea

lth Act of 1875. Carte used the enforced closure of the theatre to invoke a contract clause reve

rting the rights of Pinafore and Sorcerer to Gilbert and Sullivan after the initial run of H.M.S. Pinafore. Carte then took a six-month personal lease on the theatre beginning on 1 February 1879. Carte persuaded Gilbert and Sullivan that when their original agreement with the Comedy Opera Company expired in July 1879, a business partnership among the three of them would be to their advantage. The three each put up £1,000 and formed a new partnership under the name "Mr Richard D'Oyly Carte's Opera Company". Under the partnership agreement, once the expenses of mounting the productions had been deducted, each of the three men was entitled to one third of the profits. On 31 July 1879, the last day of their agreement with Gilbert and Sullivan, the directors of the Comedy Opera Company attempted to repossess the set by force during a performance, causing a celebrated fracas. Carte's stagehands managed to ward off their backstage attackers and protect the scenery. The Comedy Opera Company opened a rival production of H.M.S. Pinafore in London, but it wa