Introduction
30 July 1995 - John Reed and His Friends
31 July 1995 - Patience
1 August 1995 - H.M.S. Pinafore
2 August 1995 - The Chieftain
3 August 1995 - Pirates of Penzance
4 August 1995 - Yeomen of the Guard
5 August 1995 - The Sorcerer
6 August 1995 - Ruddigore
7 August 1995 - The Mikado
8 August 1995 - Pirates of Penzance
9 August 1995 - Princess Ida
10 August 1995 - Iolanthe
11 August 1995 - The Gondoliers
12 August 1995 - Festival Awards Banquet
13 August 1995 - Closing
I was originally "commissioned" to write up the
performances of the Festival for "The Trumpet Bray," the
newsletter of the New England Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
Somehow that exercise has grown into a more complete set of
observations, thoughts and judgments of the entire activities of
the two weeks. Since the publication in The Bray is going to be
a much edited version, as will a version in "The Palace Peeper"
of the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Society which put out an
urgent call for a report on Buxton '95, my full report is
presented here in hopes that it will encourage those who have
not yet participated in the delights of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Festival to make their plans for next year.
I did not take detailed notes during the two weeks of the
festival but did keep a 'diary' of events. What I report is a
distillation of those notes with the recollections of highlights
and 'lowlights' of the Festival tempered by passing of the
intervening two months.
I was only able to attend the final three days of the First
Annual Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in 1994. After those three
days, and hearing about what I had missed, I made sure that I
was not going to miss a second of the Second Annual Festival. In
general, I didn't. Performances every evening, morning coffee
and conversation with former D'Oyly Carte Stars, master classes,
excursions, and the evening Festival Club made for an extremely
busy yet the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation which I have
ever had.
Since I have never performed on stage in G&S ( although I
have been in the pit for several productions), my observations
are those of an audience member not actor. Since my background
is in music, not theater, I tend to be less critical of
'average' acting performances than I am of weaker musicality. I
went to Buxton to enjoy myself, not to be a critic, and I
enjoyed every performance (to a greater or lesser extent.)
Many conversations with fellow Savoyards during
intermissions, in the Festival Club after performances and at
various meals, bus rides and other meetings provided additional
perspective as did the comments of the Adjudicator, Mr. David
Turner, which were presented to the audience after each of the
competing productions. The results of those conversations are
incorporated in my observations. In viewing the same
performances that I did, others will have seen things which I
did not, responded differently to what they did see or reacted
in a totally different fashion to the turns and twists of 13
performances of 11 different works - everything from Sorcerer
through Gondoliers plus The Chieftain (two Sorcerers
and two Pirates).
The Buxton Opera House, the site of the performances, is an
1900's building which seats about 800 in four levels. The
wonderful acoustics, without any amplification, provided for
easy listening and comprehension. My seats were in the second or
third row in the center of the Dress Circle providing for an
excellent view of all of the action. The theater is not air
conditioned and the hottest (average temperature) and driest
summer in England for the 350 years of record-keeping provided
for a decidedly informal atmosphere. Except for those whose
association with the Festival compelled more formal attire, tee-
shirts and shorts or slacks were the preferred dress. The
British buildings are constructed wonderfully for the normal
climate - buildings keep heat in, definitely not appropriate for
the unusual weather for the two weeks of the festival.
There were two major changes from the First Festival, both
in response to attendees' comments (complaints?). This year
there were a very large number of daytime activities including
Coffees and Conversations and Master Classes with the former DOC
stars as well as a choice of four excursions to scenic and/or
historic regions within a short (two hour) drive of Buxton.
The only souvenirs of the first festival (besides the
programs) were tee-shirts, which ran out fairly early and were
not reprinted. This year there were: two different tee-shirts, a
sweatshirt, special authorized reproductions of the Players G&S
Cigarette cards, a Festival Plate, a bust of Gilbert and
Sullivan, two sets of mugs (high quality bone china - not your
usual clay mugs normally prevalent upon such occasions), and two
Wedgwood (Coalport) figurines of John Reed as Sir Joseph Porter
and Alistair Donkin as John Wellington Wells - orders taken for
Christmas delivery. There was a souvenir program encompassing
the entire festival as well as programs for each evening. For a
collector it was too much happiness. All of the Souvenir items,
as well as videotapes of all of the amateur performances, are
still available from the Festival Organization.
The opening activity on Sunday afternoon was a costume
parade through the park next to the pavilion and the center of
town ending up in the Octagon. The parade was somewhat chaotic
and relatively small. Most participants came as individuals
except for the Houston G&S Society which paraded en masse in
their matching society uniforms with ten-gallon hats since their
costumes had not arrived. Prizes of Festival Plates were awarded
to: First - the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro; second -Sir
Despard and Mad Margaret; and third - King Paramount.
The Opening Ceremonies - welcome by the Festival Organizer
Ian Smith, the Festival President John Reed and obligatory
comments by some of the other officials - and the Big Sing (the
audience sang choruses in public) interspersed by solo numbers
by the stars of THE D'Oyly Carte Company (not the New D'Oyly
Carte) provided the proper relaxed mood which was to set the
tone for the next two weeks. John Reed received a very warm
welcome, particularly in view of a serious illness which had
made his attendance somewhat doubtful. Indeed, he was still able
to participate only in the opening day, the first Saturday and
the final banquet (his Morning Coffee and Master Class had to be
cancelled).
The evening performance was entitled "John Reed and His
Friends" and provided the appropriate nostalgic opening to the
Festival. David Steadman, Assistant Conductor and Chorus-Master
of the New D'Oyly Carte acted as MC and pianist for the evening.
Julia Goss, Kenneth Sandford, Gillian Knight, Donald Adams,
Thomas Round and John Reed sang solos, duets and trios and
engaged in reminiscences and banter, making for a most
delightful evening. The biggest surprise (at least to me) to
emerge from their conversation was that none of them had ever
been involved with G&S before joining the D'Oyly Carte and, with
one exception, had never even been to a performance of G&S.
Every evening concluded with a Festival Club - an organist
to kill time and for dancing (although very few people
indulged), a Gilbert and Sullivan quiz for teams of four with
festival mugs as prizes (a SavoyNet team of Peter Zavon, Chris
Wain, Sharon Curtis and I, under the name of the Titipu Town
Band, won the first night, helped by the various discussions
which have sometimes encumbered the Internet discussion group),
a late-night supper (pie-and-peas only one night - see last
year's festival for the deep inner meaning of this item), a bar
which remained open until 1 a.m., and a cabaret, usually led by
the company which had performed that evening. Each quiz team
vied for cleverest name with a prize to be awarded at the final
banquet (None was, either because of the rush of the evening or
the difficulty of deciding on the cleverest of an large number
of very clever team titles). On occasions such as this when
there was really no performance the audience entertained itself
by performing choruses in public. The host for the day, the DOC
star who gave the morning Coffee and Conversation and afternoon
Master Class usually obliged with at least one number.
The first morning featured Coffee and Conversation with
Donald Adams. He talked about his involvement with the D'Oyly
Carte and his subsequent career, which began with extensive
tours in Gilbert and Sullivan for All. He seemed to be a rather
shy person in such a role - answering questions but unable to
elaborate and extend the response beyond what was specifically
asked. Mr. Adams has become a major star in the world of grand
opera. He was not able to participate in the final night due to
a commitment to sing in Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" in
Japan. He indicated that he would be making his Metropolitan
Opera debut in 1996 as Quince in Britten's "Mid-Summer Night's
Dream." His Master Class in the afternoon was less satisfactory.
Apparently he had never run one before, so that his did not know
how to really work with the performers in taking a song or bit
of dialogue apart and putting it back together. He concluded by
singing "The Ghosts' High Noon" himself; he is in as great a
voice as ever.
The first production of the festival was Patience,
presented by the Wakefield G&S Society, of which James Newby,
the Music Director of the Festival, is the resident Music
Director and Producer. (The Producer is what is termed in
America the Director.) The society presented a decent but
slightly sloppy performance - ragged entrances and cut-offs from
the chorus were most noticeable. Many of the tempi seemed rather
slow, but Mr. Newby has been accused of this before. Ultimately,
the society suffered from two of the ills which seem to plague
many G&S Societies these days: a shortage of men and a group
which has grown old together with very little new blood. The man
shortage was so severe that they could not even to find a non-
singer for the role of Bunthorne's Solicitor - one soldier
changed costume to fill the part for the first act finale,
subsequently reappearing in uniform later (why not a female
solicitor?). Except for a very few young-looking choristers,
most of the performers were in their forties and fifties,
comfortable with each other but without the competition for
roles which might have jolted greater enthusiasm. Not a bad
performance but not spectacular.
The morning Coffee and Conversation were hosted by Thomas
Round and a greater contrast to the previous day could not be
imagined. Here is a man celebrating this year his 50th (!) year
on stage - and close to, if not at his 80th birthday. He was
comfortable with the conversation - one reminiscence led to
another so that it was hard for Ian Smith to stop him long
enough for the audience to ask questions. He was, for many in
the audience, their D'Oyly Carte Matinee Idol and they came with
old programs, records and posters to remind him of where they
had seen him so many years ago and to draw forth more memories.
(His debut with the D'Oyly Carte was in 1946.) The afternoon
Master Class was likewise a great contrast to the previous day.
Mr. Round helped performers take their roles apart and put them
back together again, illustrating in song and dance how he
viewed a particular piece. One striking memory: a duet with Lee
Patterson in "A Tenor All Singers Above." Mr. Round sang several
Irish folksongs a capella. While the voice is not there any
more, he can still put over a song.
The evening production was H. M. S. Pinafore by the first
of the American societies: the Houston Gilbert and Sullivan
Society. The Producer of this production and star, as Sir Joseph
Porter, was Alistair Donkin, the last comic baritone of the
D'Oyly Carte (1979-1982). If one wanted a "traditional"
performance, this was it. Tradition, of course, is relative. For
those who first saw the D'Oyly Carte in the 70s or 80s, this was
traditional; for those in the audience whose memories go back
further (mine to the 60s and others even into the 30s),
tradition is relative. This was a spectacular musical and
operatic performance; Robert Linder, the Musical Director,
received the award for best musical director. The Josephine of
Kimberly Lane (award of Best Female Singer) and the Ralph of
Nathan Wight were among the best musical interpretations of
these roles that I have ever heard.
Yet as theater, something was lacking. One could have
closed ones eyes, imagined that one was at a D'Oyly Carte
performance, opened ones eyes at any point and predicted where
the cast would be on stage and what they would have been doing.
Perhaps what was missing was any sense of spontaneity, it was
all so predictable although wonderfully executed. All five of
the 'traditional' encores of the "Bell Trio" were presented,
even though the audience had basically given up by the third.
There were only two new (for me) bits of staging: Hebe being a
closet lush and hitting the sherry decanter on the tea table
during "When I Was a Lad" and an on-deck dinner for Josephine,
Captain Corcoran and Sir Joseph during the musical introduction
to Act II, with a slight jolt of passing glances between
Josephine and Ralph, who was one of the sailors waiting at
table.
A concern which led to many mutterings when the performance
received the First Runner-Up Prize (i.e. Second Place) is the
role of a professional on-stage in an amateur production. Donkin
was not adjudicated himself and his performance was ignored in
scoring. Is there an unfair advantage to a production when the
central character, around whom the entire play revolves and who
will usually make or break a production, is a professional? I
can think of several other productions in this Festival, which,
if they had been able to substitute a professional for a less-
than-adequate amateur, might well have fared much better in the
final tally. This is a question which I would hope will be
seriously addressed by the Organizer and Adjudicator before next
year's events. (Note: I take no position on this question; I
only know that several people were very upset at being put into
what they perceived at being placed in competition with a
professional, regardless of the fact that the professional
didn't count in adjudication. I understand that adjudication
itself was extremely controversial at the First Festival. This
year I only heard one complaint about it. As one not attached to
any society, I seemed to become a confidant of anyone with a
complaint. Certainly since Donkin has performed with Houston for
so many years, it would have disadvantaged them if he had been
excluded, but some thought ought to be given to the future.)
There was also some concern among the amateur producers at being
placed in direct competition with a professional (Donkin also
received a nomination for the Best Producer Award.)
The evening Cabaret was as musically spectacular as the
performance. Many of the soloists performed operatic arias. I
would like to single out for special mention: Lisa Young (Little
Buttercup) for a country-western version of "I'm Called Little
Buttercup," Ralph Katz for "If I Were a Rich Man" from "Fiddler
on the Roof" (Ralph is a Cantor in real life) and Kimberly Lane
for an incredible "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," with the
requisite (partial) strip-tease.
For me the biggest disappointment of the Festival was the
performance of Sullivan and Burnand's "The Chieftain" by the
Dagger Lane Operatic Society of Hull. This is by far the weakest
of Sullivan's non-Gilbert works and the rewrite of the libretto
by David Eden did not really make any difference. It is still
third-rate Burnand. (I know that sentence is redundant - there
is no first or second-rate Burnand. His one theatrical 'success'
Cox and Box was taken so much from John Madison Morton's play
"Box and Cox" that when Burnand and Sullivan 'went commercial'
with "Cox and Box," they had to pay Morton one-third of the
royalties. But I digress.) The real problem with the work is not
the libretto but the songs. Burnand, as an editor, quipster and
raconteur, simply had no feel for the kind of rhythmic and
melodic line which so characterizes Gilbert's work. Many of the
songs start strongly, then fall flat because a couplet or
quatrain is rhythmically incomplete. What one misses in this
work is the detailed work for chorus, including the double
choruses, which characterizes the best of Sullivan. Burnand
never gave him the opportunity.
A great company might have been able to make more of the
work but this was not the group to do so. Whatever their
individual limitations, their efforts were undercut by stage
direction which did not make as much of the strengths as could
have been done. Two examples will suffice. Simply because the
play takes place in Spain and features a group of Spanish
brigands, the use of fake Spanish accents absolutely killed most
chances for making an unfamiliar work comprehensible. Secondly,
while there were twice as many women as men - instead of
emphasizing the bit of dialog where it is explained that many
brigands have more than one wife, it was glossed over.
Some of the music was familiar, as anyone acquainted with
Sullivan's habit of borrowing from himself might have expected.
"Let All Your Doubt Take Wing" from his previous opera Utopia,
Limited reappears here as "Tis Very Hard to Choose" while
another bit from The Chieftain reappears in the subsequent
opera The Grand Duke as "Your Highness There's a Party at the
Door." When the highest praise in an opera goes to the
orchestra, there is clearly something wrong.
While it is very worthwhile to include unfamiliar works in
the festival, a more judicious screening beforehand would have
alleviated this particular problem. Ultimately, this is probably
not a group which could do any G&S very well at this level of
competition.
One solution to unfamiliar works is to do what was done
during the original performances of the Gilbert and Sullivan and
later Savoy operas: leave the lights up and sell libretti so
that the audience can follow the works as if presented for the
first time (which in a sense, they are).
Today brought David Turner, the Festival Adjudicator for
Morning Coffee and an afternoon talk entitled "Speaking
Personally." He is an amusing raconteur, full of theatrical
anecdotes. He spoke about his own background, how he became an
adjudicator and how he became (and still is) the producer of
"The Mousetrap." The questions on everyone's minds seemed to
relate to professionals in an amateur festival. He indicated the
he was very much in favor of amateur companies being able to
work, at least occasionally, with professional directors as did
four of the companies in this year's festival. Obviously, the
question of professionals performing with an amateur company
in a competitive festival went unanswered.
This evening's production was the first Pirates of
Penzance, presented by the Manx G&S Society, Douglas, Isle of
Man, of which John Reed was the Producer. The opening scene
included what now seems to be established practice: singing
"Happy Birthday" to Frederic. Unfortunately, it occurred after
the first chorus and before Samuel's solo, breaking up the
rhythm of the piece. A unique interpolation occurred when the
Major General, stuck for the rhyme for 'strategy' exclaimed "Oh,
God" - and was answered! He and God, who sounded like Mel
Brooks, then had a dialog leading to "sat-a-gee." Properly
quaint and amusing and different. The company took advantage of
the shortage of men (where have we seen that before) by
introducing into the Policemen's chorus the first two WPCs
(Women Police Constables) that I have seen. Unfortunately they
couldn't sing in tune. Overall, an enjoyable performance led by
the award-winning performance (Best Character Actor) of John
Craige as Major-General Stanley.
Today's hostess was Joyce Wright, former soubrette with the
DOC. I missed the day's activities as I went on the excursion to
the Lake District. Now I know why upper New England was settled
by so many Scots and English from the North counties - the Lake
District reminded me very much of New Hampshire and Vermont.
The evening performance was The Yeomen of the Guard, Rose
Hill Musical Society. The group presented a well-paced,
musically satisfying performance which was appropriately both
comic and tragic as appropriate. The pantomime during the
overture of the fire in the Wakefield Tower added nothing to the
comprehension of the piece and provided a distraction from
listening to the overture, which is Sullivan's best (he did
write this one himself).
Ellen Godfrey as Phoebe was an incredibly funny actress as
well as an excellent singer and really stole the show. Her
scenes with Wilfred (Jonathan Godfrey) make getting the
videotape essential. Wilfred Shadbolt was equally comical and
the inclusion of "When Jealous Torments, " which he sang
wonderfully, humanizes him to a considerable degree. Peter
Featherstone, as Sergeant Meryll, has a wonderful bass voice and
did full justice to "A Laughing Boy." Ultimately, the song
really adds little to the plot development (and Gilbert wisely
removed it after opening night.)
Colin Ashton was assured and confident as Colonel Fairfax
(at least as confident as one can be getting ready for a
beheading). He was very short and much older than one normally
expects to see in the part for him to make a credible Fairfax
(younger make-up would have helped); the shortness made is
difficult to accept him as a credible Yeoman. The star number of
the piece was "Were I Thy Bride" in which Phoebe really gave
Wilfred a going over. There is no way he would have noticed her
stealing the keys the way she sang and used her hands to excite
him. Ultimately, one action overdid it, Phoebe ran her hands
though Wilfred's hair - a very natural action considering the
circumstances. Her reaction of an obvious grimace followed by
wiping her hands on his shirt during the song, rather than
during a vocal break, drew hysterical laughter, killing the
vocal line. Otherwise a very strong performance with no weak
links either in singing or acting.
Today brought another innovation to the Festival: a G&S
ephemera and collectibles fair. Dealers from England and Canada
(Wilfrid de Freitas from Montreal) as well as the Gilbert and
Sullivan Society and the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society sold new,
used and very collectible books, sheet music, posters and just
about anything else a collector could ask for (or afford). The
G&S fair was an adjunct to an old-fashioned British crafts fair
which charged admission and led to a few mutterings among the
G&S crowd and dealers who had been promised otherwise.
The performance of The Sorcerer with former members of the
Original D'Oyly Carte Company provided for another nostalgic
evening. The chorus was provided by Ian Smith's group the West
Yorkshire Savoyards. The production was produced by Roberta
Morrell and was loosely based on the last D'Oyly Carte
production. The chorus was one of the stars of the show; they
were costumed and acted as individuals, not members of a group
with identical or matching costumes. Present on stage were maids
and other servants, the village idiot, the town band which
included Ian Smith as a drunken cymbalist.
The former Savoyards were mostly a different group from
those of the opening evening with Geoffrey Shovelton as Alexis,
Julia Goss as Aline, John Ayldon as the Notary, Patricia Leonard
as Lady Sangazure, Michael Buchan as Sir Marmaduke, Alistair
Donkin as John Wellington Wells, Peggy-Ann Jones as Mrs.
Partlet, Lorraine Daniels as Constance and ESPECIALLY Kenneth
Sandford as Dr. Daly, probably his greatest role and one which,
alas, he has never recorded. This production was not recorded,
unlike last year's Yeomen of the Guard, because one of the
soloists did not want to be remembered for a performance which
did not come up to that person's previous abilities. (No, it was
not Ken Sandford who objected. He was perfect.) Peggy-Ann Jones
was a wonderfully comic Mrs. Partlet and John Ayldon made much
more of the role of the Notary than is usual. Geoffrey Shovelton
was an appropriately snobbish and condescending Alexis (my
choice as least likeable G&S character.) Donkin played Wells as
a somewhat snobbish and condescending character, rather than the
put-upon tradesman - not to my taste.
Ian Smith is planning to bring this production to
Philadelphia next year and will try to do a 'professional'
Ruddigore as well. At some point, however, he will have to
decide whether the nostalgia outweighs the quality of the
performance - the former D'Oyly Carters aren't getting any
younger, although Ken Sandford seems ageless.
More innovations in the Festival today: a lecture by Prof.
Arthur Jacobs on Sullivan showing how he either supported
Gilbert's text with his music or in many cases went beyond it in
softening some of the sting by his use of music. Unfortunately,
either the sound system or the tape he used was totally
inadequate making his musical illustrations rather painful.
Prof. Jacobs was followed to the lectern by Stephen
Turnbull, Secretary of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, who
entertained the audience with examples of his little list of the
ten worst Gilbert and Sullivan recordings, most of which were
from the early days of recording. His list included a handbell
rendition of The Lost Chord as well as the John Charles Thomas
performance of When I Was a Lad. Also included were a
concertina version of The Lost Chord and an excerpt from a
take-off called The Coolest Mikado (not to be confused with
The Cool Mikado.)
The talks were followed by a Thanksgiving Service in memory
of Sir Arthur Sullivan, featuring some of the hymns for which he
had composed the music. Also presented were several solo numbers
from the G&S canon as well as choruses and solos from some of
Sullivan's oratorios and cantatas. The soloists were some of the
winners in last year's festival: David Lace, Stella Whitehouse
and Betsy Walker who were in as magnificent voice as ever.
The evening brought forth a lively production of Ruddigore
by the South Anglia Savoy Players led by the award-winning
performances of Sally Brown as Rose Maybud (Best Female
Performer), Mick Wilson as Dick Dauntless (Best Supporting Male
Performer) and Paul Lazell as Sir Roderick (Best Male
Performer). For Paul this was the second year in a row in which
he captured the Best Male Performer award.
The overture (the Geoffrey Toye version) was accompanied by
TWO different pantomimes - the original curse followed by the
breaking up of the wedding of a young Hannah Trusty with Sir
Roderick. The latter did not seem to make sense to many viewers
until one read the program notes. Neither added much to the
comprehension of the story and were distractions from the
overture. In fact, one wondered why the original overture was
not used since all of the numbers which Toye cut in the 1920s
D'Oyly Carte revival of Ruddigore - "The Battle's Roar is Over,"
"Away, Remorse" and "Henceforth all the Crimes" and "When a Man
Has Been a Naughty Baronet" - were restored in this production.
Unlike too many Ruddigore productions, this one moved and
at the end of the first scene between Rose and Richard the
audience knew it was in for something special. Instead of giving
Rose the usual peck on the cheek when told he could "salute the
flag," Richard gave her an "Oklahoma Hello" during which Rose,
after a modest struggle, gave up and heaved her Book of
Etiquette across the stage. While Howard Brooks started out
playing Robin as too "Diffident, Modest and Shy," he came alive
and emphasized Richard's defects in a quite pointed manner. As
Robin and Rose went off, Richard (whose theme song should have
been "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love, I Love the Girl I'm
Near") grabbed two of the bridesmaids and headed into the
tavern, which was conveniently situated on the Village Green
across from Rose's house.
Rachel Yelland as Mad Margaret was acceptably more neurotic
than mad and she and Rose interacted in a wonderfully comical
manner during their scene. The Sir Despard was much too tame
during his opening scene and rather underplayed throughout.
The restoration of the second verse of "I Once Was as Meek
as a Newborn Lamb" in the opening of the second act adds
considerably to the change in the characters of Robin and Old
Adam as do Robin's later recitative and aria "Away, Remorse"
and "Henceforth all the Crimes." The ghost scene was expertly
handled and Paul Lazell as Sir Roderick fully justified his
award. In fact, when he sang "When the Night Wind Howls" during
the earlier Master Class, Donald Adams could not add anything to
his performance. Some trouble with killing the lighting behind
some of the portraits at the end of the scene marred the effect
in the transition back to portraits.
Unfortunately, the one production miscalculation killed the
mood of "There Grew a Little Flower" and ruined the transition
to the finale. After Robin is sent off Sir Roderick summoned Old
Adam to serve tea. After chasing Sir Roderick and Dame Hannah
with the tea table through the first two verses, Old Adam
finally collapsed in a chair and drank the tea himself - during
the third verse - drawing uproarious laughter which drowned the
remainder of the song. I was reminded of Gilbert's remark when
an actor suggested some funny business: "So it would be funny if
you sat down on a pork pie." The tea table was simply out of
place. Still, a superb effort and one for which I am anxiously
awaiting the videotape to see again.
The Mikado presented by The Savoy Company was everything
which one could want in a production of this most popular of the
G&S canon. The most memorable of the many unforgettable
performances was that of Betsy Walker as Katisha who was
wonderfully menacing, pathetic and humorous as required. She has
a marvelous contralto which filled the hall and made every word
a delight. She received the award as Best Character Actress to
go along with her Best Female Performer award from 1994. The Ko-
Ko of Sam Griffith was equally comical, even if he did dry
during the first verse of "As some day it may happen," something
which seems to happen all too often when the second and third
verses have been rewritten for topicality. ("The
adjudicationist - I've got him on the list," etc.) Most
notable of the many original touches in the production: Ko-Ko's
page who carried on a golf bag filled with a variety of swords
and who acted as a caddy while Ko-Ko tried them out.
Unfortunately, the lasting memory of the production is that
of the Mikado having an extensive dry spell during the "Boiling
oil or melted lead" scene. No one picked him up and there seemed
some very long moments of the cast looking at each other.
Ultimately, most of the dialog before "See how the fates" got
dropped. Too bad; the Mikado (who was a last minute
substitution) had a wonderful bass voice, very tall and thin and
much more gentle than we are used to seeing - much more like the
original rather than the current psychopathic depiction that is
usually evident these days.
Today's Morning Coffee brought David Steadman, Assistant
Musical Director and Chorus Master of the New D'Oyly Carte
Company. Much of the conversation revolved around the current
company, their sense of tradition (or lack thereof) and
prospects for the future. I did not attend the master class.
The evening brought the second The Pirates of Penzance,
performed by The Essex Group and a greater contrast to the first
Pirates could not be imagined. The performance of the Manx
Pirates was 'nice'; this one was spectacular: no individual
awards, not even any nominations except for the Choral ("Hail
Poetry" won) and Concerted items and Musical Director. Just an
incredible, fast-paced performance (overture and first act in less than one
hour) with no mugging and no obtrusive interpolations - a
whole which was very much greater than the sum of its parts.
The curtain rose to a scene on a Pirate Ship (!) with a
quick refrain of Happy Birthday Dear Frederick, not the entire
song, with the quick entry into the proper opening chorus. The
deck was so crowded that Ruth, and subsequently the Pirate King,
tended to get swallowed by the chorus during their solos.
Following the Pirate King's solo there was a very quick
blackout, scene change (15 seconds) and Frederick and Ruth were
carrying their luggage across the usual cove, ready for their
encounter with the female chorus. Incredibly well done and
believable. If Gilbert had had the ability to do such quick
scene changes, he no doubt would have done the same thing. (I
have since learned that the Joseph Papp Pirates also opens on
the deck of a ship, but since I have never been able to watch
that movie I was unaware that this transition had been done
before.)
The Policemen's Chorus was the usual Keystone Kops affair -
made somewhat more ridiculous than usual by their 'forgetting'
their trousers and all being in tights. The effect was marred by
the fact that the pantyhose used varied in color and texture so
that one could see what was being worn, or in one case, not
worn, underneath. The Sergeant and Ruth were the weakest singers
and Mabel had some trouble competing with the orchestra but
overall an incredible performance which some thought merited
greater than their Second Runner-Up award.
Morning Coffee and Conversation with the team of Kenneth
Sandford and Roberta Morrell who told many tales both in and out
of school - a very fast two hours. Likewise their afternoon
Master Class which effectively worked over two pages of dialogue
- Ruth's scene with Frederic and Grosvenor's Act II opening
scene from Patience - showing the participants how to wring
every bit out of it.
And what can one say of the winning production of the
Lamplighters' Princess Ida? Colorful, imaginatively staged
(applause for each of the scenes with the rising of the
curtain), wonderful costumes (Special Adjudicator's Award),
brilliantly edited to make the characters more human and create
a flow which is ordinarily lacking. If the original D'Oyly Carte
had ever done a production like this, it would still be in
business. Another production which was very much more than the
sum of its parts. Baker Peeples received the award as Best Male
Singer and there were several other nominations for individual
awards, but the individual performances did not distract from
the totally of the production.
The chorus was delightfully humanized. Instead of the usual
collection of bored nobles scanning the panorama, we were given
servants as well as the nobles, a fortune-teller, an astrologer
and various others who looked as though they belonged. The
dialog was pruned to eliminate the worst of the
characterizations of King Gama ("His sting is present, though
his stung is past") as well as the "bandy" dialog. As a result,
Gama came across as not so much a malevolent being so much as a
man sorely put-upon by his various and sundry offspring.
Hilarion's mother also put in an appearance - a non-speaking and
even non-singing role, but it gave him someone sympathetic to
relate to.
Second act like the first - colorful, well staged,
beautiful costumes, and surprise of surprises - a human Princess
Ida rather than the ice princess as she is usually portrayed.
After "Whom thou hast chained" she was on the verge of yielding
to Hilarion when along came Hildebrand knocking at the gates to
recall her to herself. A believable falling in the stream scene
- Hilarion and Ida emerging with stained, disheveled and wet-
looking clothing. Lady Blanche - properly put upon and
frustrated, tearing the petals from a flower and leaving Ida
shocked when she found it. On their entrance Hilarion, Cyril and
Florian found a book listing the aims of Castle Adamant -
providing a nice justification for "They're going to send a wire
to the moon." They entered the Castle to find their robes, a
much more believable discovery than the usual robes left on
stage for them to find.
Lady Blanche did not sing "Come Mighty Must" even though it
was listed in the program. Apparently, after the same number had been sung
incredibly by Betsy Walker in the Sunday Sullivan Service, the
Producer, realizing that comparisons would be inevitable,
clearly went back and excised it; a very wise decision.
(After having posted this, I was informed by several
of the people from Lamplighters that the program
listing was in error. They had not planned to perform it.)
Two major changes were made in the third act which carried through
the mood as envisioned by the Producer. Ida's brothers WON the
battle, giving much more credence to Ida's eventual 'surrender.'
With the elimination of "I see my error now," there was a much
smoother flow without the jar to modern sensibilities and
carried the production to a flawless conclusion. Everything
worked, no mishaps, a perfect production well justifying the
winning Festival Trophy - which everyone knew the moment the
performance ended -it was inevitable. Barbara Heroux was the
winning Producer (director to Americans) and the production,
obviously won the trophy as Best Overseas Production. (And isn't
it time to eliminate that particular award? With Overseas
productions receiving two of the three awards this year as well
as the Festival trophy last year, there is no need for such a
sop, whose very existence at this point sounds somewhat
condescending - as if the overseas societies could not hold
their own.)
The highlights of the evening's Festival Club were the
parodies put on by the Lamplighters. Who can ever forget King
Herod, Salome and John the Baptist singing "His head is on a
platter (platter, platter, platter)" and many others in a like
vein. Such items were all the more welcome since after almost
two weeks the attendees seemed to have gotten tired of the usual
repetitions of "Hail, Poetry" and "Dance a Cachucha," etc.
With the return of last year's Festival winners from
Hancock County, Maine, there were very high expectations for
their production of Iolanthe. And for the first half of the
first act these expectations were exceeded and another
blockbuster was expected. During the introduction to the act,
two cute fairies peeped out from behind the curtain making sure
that the scene would be safe for fairy revels - it was. The
curtain opened on a real woodland fairy scene, light filtering
through the trees and a 'pool' in the background out of which
Iolanthe would emerge most convincingly. The Fairy Queen
delivered a most solemn invocation with only a hint of the vocal
problems to come. The Fairy Queen was dressed in the appropriate
'Wagnerian' costume which gave the usual tribute to the Maine
locale by having the helmet and spear topped by lobster claws.
Real rejoicing at Iolanthe's pardon and excellent work between
Iolanthe and Strephon, soon duplicated by the interaction
between Strephon and Phyllis, who came across then and later as
a most determined young woman. Leslie Michaud as Iolanthe was an
excellent actress, looked seventeen as she is supposed to and,
according to some discussion I had, should have merited a
nomination for something.
The chorus of Peers entered in spectacular fashion led by a
bagpipe and drum corps. The Lord Chancellor of Roland Dube was a
wonderful character, great actor, not much voice (in fact more
of a tenor), but he carried it off wonderfully. And then, with
the entrance of Tolloler and Mountararat, particularly the
latter, the production fell flat. Mountararat could neither sing
nor act; his dialog was most labored and one always wondered if
he was going to in fact deliver his lines. However much the pace
was restored in his absence, it died again and again in his
presence. (I understand that he was recovering from a serious
illness, but unfortunately had not recovered enough.) The Fairy
Queen unfortunately shouted her way through the much of her
verbal dueling with the Lord Chancellor and not withstanding
another funny tribute to Maine ("You shall sit, if he sees
reason, through the MOOSE and salmon season"), the entire finale
seemed to drag. Virginia Cummingham as the Fairy Queen displayed
an excellent voice on many occasions but seemed to have trained
at the Anna Russell School of Singing and Acting - too much
acting and singing for humor rather than letting the words speak
for themselves. One bit of directoral miscalculation, Strephon
was given robes and a coronet which were out of place since he
is going into the House of Commons, not the Lords.
Private Willis was presented "When all night long" with
more enthusiasm than one often sees with appropriate vocal winks
and nods and leaning left on 'Liberal' and right on
'Conservative.' After the pipes and drums it was not surprising
that he should have become a member of the Scots Guards. The
fairies used their wands to great effect, freezing the Peers
whenever they tried to leave during "In vain to us you plead."
"Oh, foolish fay" was much better sung, with the second verse
becoming a salute to the Festival Director - "Oh, Ian Smith, "
with Ian squirming in the front row of the Dress Circle.
The Nightmare Song was credible, with the Lord Chancellor
accompanied by his teddy bear which was also dressed in wig and
robes, but "If you go in" was simple torture. The final scene
between Iolanthe and the Lord Chancellor was wonderful with
Iolanthe using her wand to stop the Chancellor from recognizing
until the denouement. She also became very determined rather
than pathetic during the penultimate exchange with her acting
showing that if she was going down, he was going with her. A
wonderful transition to fairyland with lights sprouting in the
fairies' hair and on the scenery but the overall production left
one with a somewhat let-down feeling of disappointment.
The Festival Production of The Gondoliers, produced by
Alistair Donkin, was cast on Saturday, rehearsed and put on
within one week on Friday. It was modelled on the Anthony Besch
production and included the spaghetti scene and the ubiquitous
waiter, who, while an excellent actor, served as a distraction
to the other action. For as much as an ensemble piece as is The
Gondoliers, another day or two would not have been amiss. The
chorus was wonderful, if far too large for the stage; over 80
people tried out and the size was an attempt to accommodate as
many as possible. As too much of the stage was taken up by
risers, which were not effectively used, with 45 choristers
crowding was inevitable.
The singing was uniformly strong but the pacing seemed
occasionally slow. "On the day when I was wedded" positively
dragged, possibly to give the Duke a chance to clown around with
the waiter, but the manner in which he did so detracted from the
music and singing. Even with the program in front of me and not
having received the video yet to review, I find it difficult to
single out any of the very effective cast members to highlight.
The final Festival Club featured, among other things, an
impromptu Trial by Jury featuring two defendants, six
plaintiffs, two judges, etc. with the audience supplementing the
jury and bridesmaids; chorus. It went well as did the inevitable
chorus numbers. But, after two weeks, with many repetitions of
the same items, there seemed to be somewhat less enthusiasm or
audience participation than earlier in the Festival.
Dare I say it: perhaps there was a surfeit of Gilbert and
Sullivan. Over the two weeks of the Festival Club many of the
most popular items performed were not G&S but familiar and
unfamiliar numbers which were in the same spirit: British Music
Hall numbers were much appreciated as were show tunes,
particularly those which involved some audience participation.
Also very popular were the parodies, other numerous numbers -
"Albert and the Lion," Tom Lehrer's "The Elements," The Capitol
Steps' "That's a Lawyer" and the number which drew the loudest
and most enthusiastic audience participation of the two weeks:
Flanders and Swann's "The Hippopotamus Song."
The last day seemed quite rushed what with Morning Coffee
and Conversation with Gillian Knight (not as spontaneous as some
but full of good stories) and her afternoon Master Class (which
I missed), matinee performance of a second Sorcerer (much the
same as the first with the professionals at least showing how to
rescue a colleague who is drying on stage), packing (trying to
cram in all of the acquisitions of the two weeks), a trip to the
post office to send off the excess, and a very long Festival
Awards Banquet.
During and after the drawn-out dinner were the inevitable
toasts which were interspersed through the awards. Taking a cue
from the Motion Picture Academy Awards Ceremonies, the
individual awards were preceded by short video clips of each of
the four or five nominees. The awards were presented by various
dignitaries as well as by the 'old' (Gillian Knight and Thomas
Round), 'newer' (Geoffrey Shovelton, Julia Goss, Roberta Morrell
and Alistair Donkin) and timeless (Kenneth Sandford) D'Oyly
Carte stars. Each also performed a solo number, mostly G&S
except for Gillian Knight who sang "Oh Peaceful England" from
German's "Merrie England," an incredible tour-de-force for a
contralto and all the more welcome for being different.
While the evening did not drag, it seemed to go on too
long. The banquet officially began at 8:00 p.m., with dinner
beginning at 9:00 and final choruses petering out about 1:30
a.m. with three of the listed choruses unsung. What with people
rushing to get to bed to get some sleep before early busses,
trains or other modes of departure, there was not really time to
congratulate the winners or say good-byes properly. But there
will be the occasion to renew friendships, those that haven't
blossomed during the winter, during next year's Festival,
Philadelphia, PA, July 20-27 and Buxton, England, August 4-18,
1996.
For those who chose to stay an additional day, there was a
'Festival Fringe' performance of Jesus Christ Superstar by St.
Mary's Roman Catholic High School, last year's second place
winners with their incredible production of The Gondoliers.
Since they were not doing G&S this time, they were invited to
participate in the Fringe. I did not stay, heading to London for
a week to decompress. I did catch the Hot Mikado before it
closed; it made a nice antidote and made it possible to start
thinking about seeing some 'normal' Gilbert and Sullivan again.
Updated 9 Dec 1996
Sunday, 30 July
Monday, 31 July
Tuesday, 1 August
Wednesday, 2 August
Thursday, 3 August
Friday, 4 August
Saturday, 5 August
Sunday, 6 August
Monday, 7 August
Tuesday, 8 August
Wednesday, 9 August
Thursday, 10 August
Friday, 11 August
Saturday, 12 August
Sunday, 13 August