Reviewed by Ewart Shaw, Thursday 30th April 2015
The third and final production in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society's Festival at the Arts Theatre is
G&S Fest: Princess Ida.
When Princess Ida was premiered, in 1884, women's colleges were being founded at Britain's most prestigious universities, but the women who studied couldn't formally graduate. As for the vote, nine years after the premiere of Princess Ida, New Zealand and, the following year, South Australia, extended that right to women.
When Tennyson's poem that provides the original impetus for the story was first published in 1847, women's education at tertiary level was as likely as the suffrage, which is to say, not at all.
So the G and S Princess Ida inhabits a world of unreality, where women have a university of their own to which men are not admitted, and where Princess Ida, daughter of King Gama, rules the roost. Of course, this being G and S, she was married at the age of 1, to Prince Hilarion, son of King Hildebrand. Should she not leave her academic seclusion to consummate the marriage, her father and three brothers, Arac, Guron, and Scynthius will die.
The original poem actually alludes to the difficulties of the issues in the story as being "too comic for the solemn things they are .Too solemn for the comic touches in them".
For Gilbert, the laughs outnumber the solemn bits, but there is food for thought, especially in director, David Lampard's, vision of the finale.
While two of my friends, one a dyed in the wool Savoyard traditionalist, disliked the performance, I was very taken with it, as was my companion, an actively feminist lawyer and music lover.
The semi-staged production kept the virtues of the other operettas in the season, with clear diction and very good quality singing. The director moved the cast effectively on the narrow and broad stage space and, while the disguises adopted by the prince and his mates when they joined the student body were, let's face it, unlikely to fool anyone.
What worked for me was the music. Sullivan's ambition to be a great 'serious' composer of oratorios and operas may not have survived
Queen Victoria, but he was a dab hand at delightful melodies, often styled like English folk tunes, ballads and madrigals, with expressive part writing and wonderful choral finales, like the operas of Meyerbeer and other popular composers of the day.
Furthermore, the cast, headed by the veteran Rick Trevaskis as King Gama, was a good showcase for younger talent, especially among the men.
James Nicholson brought youthful energy and a fine voice to the role of Hilarion, ably supported by Beau Sandford and Nicolas Perrotta. Gama's three sons, Arac, Guron, and Scynthius, Christian Evans, Nicholas Munday and Samuel Nicholas, were an effective trio, dressed in black suits, white shirts and Raybans, like characters from The Matrix. I was wondering how they were going to manage the trio in which they identify and then remove articles of medieval armour, but the witty rewrite worked very well as they stripped down to stain shorts and t-shirts. Peter Hopkins, who directed HMS Pinafore, was a fine Hildebrand.
Meran Bow, as the pedantic Lady Blanche, put on a star turn, and possesses the vocal heft and depth that makes the contralto roles in G and S such a success when they are done well. She was ideally partnered by
Vanessa Lee Shirley as her daughter, Melissa, especially in the 'rule the roost' duet where Melissa persuades her mother to turn a blind eye to the presence of the disguised men in the hope of taking over the academy from Ida.
Victoria Coxhill, with Jacqui Maynard and Josine Talbot, make up the rest of the student body, and sing well in the ensembles.
The title role is taken with both hands by Joanna McWaters, a dramatic soprano with great lyrical gifts, shown off excellently in this production. When she enters, brandishing a spear, you know that she's really going to stick it in someone. In the final scene when, in order to save her family from death, she gives in to the marriage, she leaves you in no confusion as to how she feels, bereft and betrayed.
The choruses were well sung even if diction suffered at times, and I have to say "hi" to Cathy Cox who seemed always to find a light when the chorus was on stage.
David Lampard, the director and designer, played Florian twenty years ago and his career as a performer has been overtaken by his imaginative and energetic work as a director for the company and also recently for the State Opera of South Australia. He's a testament to the opportunities this company has given to so many people, both amateur and professional, to develop their skills. Peter Deane's broad and enduring commitment to music in South Australia is the background to his rare appearance conducting a G and S. He does it with skill, and the band respond well to his direction..and this time the percussionist gets to come out on stage. Deane conducts a very clever distillation of the original score, by Yorkshire arranger, James Newby.
The interlocking casts and overlapping production teams in the series have done remarkably well. Low in budget, but high in expertise.
There is a bigger challenge ahead for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Over the last few years, Adelaide has had very successful productions of new musicals such as The Addams Family Musical, Young Frankenstein The Musical, and The Producers, all of which attracted younger audiences. Legally Blonde: the Musical was sold out before it opened, when the Hills Musical Company presented it last year. They also mounted a praiseworthy version of The Drowsy Chaperone. Four of those are spin-offs from films, and a local youth company has just staged Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The operettas are old fashioned, yet still have a lot to say, and a lot to laugh about. There are great tunes, and wonderful character opportunities, but that may not be enough to keep the company relevant to younger audiences. We'll see.
The Gilbert and Sullivan Society's production later this year is Guys and Dolls, and that's a big gamble. I'll certainly go.
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