The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP), America's foremost Gilbert & Sullivan
repertory ensemble, is presenting its G&S Fest 2008, with performances of,
in January, The Pirates of Penzance,
Princess Ida, and The Mikado.
Last
night I saw their one-night showing of Trial
By Jury paired with a revue called G&S à la Carte!.
Trial by Jury was Gilbert and
Sullivan's first collaboration, and it's a funny, though not very deep,
trifle. It's only one quick act, taking
place in a courtroom, where the lovely Angelina (Laurelyn Watson Chase) is
suing the philandering Edwin (Patrick Hogan) for breech of promise of
marriage. The Learned Judge (Stephen
Quint) has designs on Angelina himself, while the draconian Usher (David
Wannen) tries to keep silence in the court.
Meanwhile, there are court onlookers, a Jury, and a chorus of
bridesmaids cluttering up the place. As
a friend said, it's very difficult to mess the show up, it's a well-oiled
machine. The NYGASP cast is delightful-
in addition to those mentioned above, Richard Holmes as Council for the
Plaintiff and Ted Bouton are also quite enjoyable. This version is a more modern-dress version than usual, with everyone in a vaguely 1940s style, and a press photographer (Paul Sigrist) running around documenting everything.
The
second half of the evening was G&S à
la Carte!, a "Topsy-Turvy, Historically Inaccurate Musical Soirée",
written by company member David Auxier.
It was rather in the mode of the Sondheim revue Putting it Together, taking familiar numbers from G&S shows and
placing them in a new context. The show
takes place at a cast party just after the first premiere of Trial by Jury, and features Richard
D'Oyly Carte (Richard Alan Holmes), his wife Helen Lenoir (Erika Person),
Arthur Sullivan (Stephen Quint), and W.S. Gilbert (Keith Jurosko). The four sit and trade amusing barbs till a
becardiganed audience member named Walter (an uncredited and scene-stealing Mr.
Auxier) barges in to point out the historical inaccuracies- (D'Oyly Carte didn't have his own opera
company yet, nor had he even met his wife at this point, etc…)- till Gilbert
quite rightfully points out that facts and history have little place in
operetta. The scene is then set for a
battle of wills as Sullivan and Gilbert argue over billing and whether the
music or the words are supreme. They
discuss their upcoming project "Singing sailors, I'm afraid…", and in an
amusing conceit, Sullivan sets "Gaily tripping" from Pinafore to the tune of "Climbing over Rocky Mountain" (from Pirates (and Thespis)), as well as to "Three Little Maids" from The Mikado before settling on the
"correct" tune; he is ably assisted by the female party guests. Various other songs from the G&S canon
are presented (by the main cast and the guests), some more deftly introduced
than others. Highlights were David
Macaluso and Laurelyn Watson Chase singing "Prithee Pretty Maiden" from Patience (as a precognitive reminiscence
of how D'Oyly Carte had / will have wooed Lenoir); and Auxier taking the stage
with The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe.
The only
real trouble with the show is the disparity between the frothy book and the
generally ballad-and-pomp-heavy musical selections (much as everyone loves
"Loudly Let the Trumpets Bray", it's a very long song that stops the action
dead), making the music at times seem incongruous. But overall, it's an amusing piece, full of
meta-commentary and in-jokes for those who love Gilbert & Sullivan as much as NYGASP clearly does.
