From p00629@psilink.com Fri Nov 12 06:51:30 1993 Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 20:27:57 -0800 To: "Alex Feldman" From: "James M. Farron" Subject: STONE.REV A New PATIENCE to Try by Annabeth Packard A few months ago, S/A Cole requested that I read a new script and write up my opinion of the work, which is The Savoyard's Pa- tience, A Parody of the Gilbert and Sullivan Cult, by Michael Shawn Stone, Ph.D., Artistic Director of Basingstoke Productions in New York (c.1989, All Rights Reserved. Bruce McKillip, Creative Contributor. $10.00 U.S. Price subject to change.*). I agreed with some trepidation, as the author is a personal acquaintance of many years standing and an expert in the field of G&S, while my credentials are of the garden variety, I-know-what-I-like-when-I- see-it (or hear it, or read it, as in this case!). I participated in my share of G&S productions in high school (didn't everybody?), and at college, where our president, Lee Hastings Bristol, Jr., was himself a great G&S enthusiast. During the years when Dr. Stone was affiliated with the Light Opera of Manhattan (LOOM), I had the pleasure of seeing all the G&S operas, except Thespis. Most recently I've been accompanist and occasional performer with the Park Ridge Gilbert & Sullivan Society. So I'm treading on dangerous ground to presume to criticize the work of one as well educated in G&S as Dr. Stone. (His spelling--well, that's something else...or used to be! A many years ago, I used to proofread for him.) By way of homework and preparation, I read the original script of Patience twice, from my Martyn Green Treasury with the delectable marginal notations; watched a videotape of the PBS performance of several years ago; and read and re-read the new script. I enjoyed it more each time; even his Preface and Glossary are interesting, enlightening, and contain humorous insights, from Savoy Operas to Casting Couch. Webster's Dictionary defines a parody as "a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect". Dr. Stone, in parodying Patience has transferred the argument from the aesthetic cult of Gilbert and Sullivan's day to the diverging points of view and enthusiasms in the staging and performance of G&S operas: purist Savoyard vs. non-traditional. All the characters are translated into performers preparing for a G&S festival. The twenty lovesick maidens are "an endowed corps of professional Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts who are bound to be on duty every day". The Dragoons are Yeomen of the Guard, come to "apprentice again this season", but alas, they are amateurs and have little appeal for the maidens, who will yearn after whoever represents the most faithful adherence to tradition. Here (with the author's permission) is how the Officer of the "Yeomen" describe a G&S fan: If you want a receipt for that popular mystery Known to the world as a G&S fan Take all the remarkable people in Sa'voyland Rattle them off to a Sullivan plan: The pluck of Sir Joseph on board of the Pinafore Genius of Koko devising a scheme A long winded toast by Pooh-Bah a-din-a-fore and Phoebe's "Ods Bodkins! What does it mean?" A science of Sullivan, eminent musico, Wit of Sir William who wrote out the plan The pathos of Point never rendered by Boucicault, Style of the Kimono, pig tail, and fan. Feminist theory divested of quackery, Lyrical powers of Marco and Guiss-'sap'-pi, S'ciety Annual, Pirate named Samuel, Thomas Tolloller, The G&S Manual, Despard and Roderic, period clothes, Sorcerer's teapot, a maiden named Rose. Take of these elements all that is fusible, Melt them all down in theatrical crucible, Set them to simmer and throw out the scum, And a G&S fan is the residuum! Dr. Stone has retained much of the original dialogue and made the appropriate changes. He has cleverly inserted lines and even vocal numbers from other G&S operas, with extremely good effect. This is a popular and viable technique, as those of us who were at the Midwestern Gilbert and Sullivan Society's annual outing, for Light Opera Works' Princess Ida, well know. Remember the burst of appreciative laughter that followed Hilarion, Cyril and Florian's impromptu chorus of "Three little maids from school are we" as they donned undergraduate garb at Castle Adamant? Such lines seem even funnier and fresher in their new context, while retaining all the charm of familiarity. Some of my favorite examples: Bunthorne: I will recite a wild, weird, fleshly thing, yet very tender, very yearning, very precious. It is called "O Hollow, Hollow, Hollow." Patience: Is it a patter song? Or Lady Jane, informing the maidens that Bunthorne "wildly loves", proves her point by stating that she "found them together, singing choruses in public." The Yeomen are entreated to "be authentic Savoyard, ere it is too late!" In this work, which is a paraphrase as much as a parody, the author pokes fun at the excesses of G&S enthusiasts, such as their tendency to "sprinkle their conversation liberally with phrases from the operas", but he is clearly laughing with us in our efforts to find a common ground between doing it as it has always been done (or we think it was always done) and finding outrageous and avant- garde settings. Fortunately, Gilbert and Sullivan's operas have in them the stuff of which lasting appeal is made, and no matter where or how they are set, they touch the heart as well as the funny bone, and make us laugh at the human foibles we all recognize and share, whether presented in a conventional Victorian framework or transplanted to 20th century Tokyo. I thought Angela summed it up perfectly when she says "Gilbert and Sullivan is history and it is art, but it is also fun. And when it loses its fun, it is no longer that special delight called Gilbert and Sullivan". My personal opinion is that Dr. Stone's version, or "Director's Conception", would be fun for any G&S group to perform. It contains a delightful, topsy-turvy mix of characters, costumes, and ideas from the best-known and -loved G&S operas in a vehicle which is eminently constructed to incorporate them. It is a witty and novel approach, and one which any performing group can appreciate, in that they themselves are the target for much wry humor. G&S fanatics everywhere come in for their share, too, and it's no more than we deserve if we take ourselves too seriously. While much can be said for the scholarly approach that seeks to find and preserve the quintessential G&S and pass it on, there is room for much flexibility and creative imagination in adapting plots and lines to changing times, as the author proves. I enjoyed reading A Savoyard's Patience immensely. I'd enjoy seeing it even more. I hope someone will undertake to bring Dr. Stone's characters to life so that they may admonish and delight us. *Persons interested in obtaining a copy of the script for A Savoyard's Patience should inquire of Basingstoke Productions Ltd., Box 20172 PACC, New York NY 10129. [This article appeared in Issue 27 (September 1990) of Precious Nonsense, the newsletter of the Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Posted by permission of Sarah Cole, Society Secretary/Archivist. For information on Society membership write to: The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society, c/o Miss Sarah Cole, 613 W. State St., North Aurora, IL 60542-1538.] . alex@diamond.idbsu.edu Message-Id: <2962153724.5.p00629@psilink.com> Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 20:29:17 -0800 To: "Alex Feldman" From: "James M. Farron" Subject: RHYME.G X-Mailer: PSILink-DOS (3.4) We ... received this item recently from member Jane Stedman, and with all the various talk there has been about The Pirates of Penzance in this issue, it seemed to fit right in. The unsigned verse originally appeared in Judy, or the London Serio-Comic Journal 27 (July 7, 1880): 4 (as the title suggests, "a kind of imitation Punch). Dr. Stedman goes on to say that other semi- derogatory remarks about Pirates appeared in the journal during the same season. In any event, the author didn't seem to think "sat a gee" was much of a rhyme for "strategy" in the Major General's song, and the verse consists of his suggestions for future rhymes. Rhyme Overtime Each night, at Opera Comique The author says to "strategy" In vain a better rhyme you'll seek Than that he uses-- "sat a gee." As Grossmith capers anyhow And sings his rhyme to strategy, All those who've seen him must allow He might bestride a fatter gee. Now, Gladstone roams with might and main Against the Tories' strategy, And tolls his thunders of disdain-- Whatever is the matter, G? Why do you nightly talk such stuff And rave at Dizzy's strategy? Be quiet--do; we've heard enough Of your too fluent chatter, G. And should you keep this style on long If this, then is your strategy; You'll find we're right and you are wrong, And soon your friends you scatter, G. Miss Smith, who sings though past her prime (It is her mother's strategy), Has got no ear for tune or time-- Just hark!--you can't call that a G. And though, poor girl, she does her best To aid her mother's strategy; The wretched truth must be confest, I never heard a flatter G. There's Jones, who longs to prove he's wise By any kind of strategy Can not spell "grasping"--when he tries He quite forgets the latter G. So, Gilbert, take your choice of these When next you rhyme to "strategy," And don't be angry, if you please, Nor get as mad as hatter, G. {I still like "sat a gee". Ed.} [This item appeared in Issue 27 (September 1990) of Precious Nonsense, the newsletter of the Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Posted by permission of Sarah Cole, Society Secretary/Archivist. For information on Society membership write to: The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society, c/o Miss Sarah Cole, 613 W. State St., North Aurora, IL 60542-1538.] . alex@diamond.idbsu.edu Message-Id: <2962153772.6.p00629@psilink.com> Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 20:30:07 -0800 To: "Alex Feldman" From: "James M. Farron" Subject: RUSSELL.MAD X-Mailer: PSILink-DOS (3.4) The Truth is Found/ A Nice Dilemma We Have Here Speaking of lyrics, some members may remember that, about a year ago, the question of what the lyrics are to the "Madrigal" of Anna Russell's skit "How to write your own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera" was raised. The madrigal was the only song not included with the skit when it was printed in The Anna Russell Songbook (and it's one of the funniest things in the skit, too!) A number of people responded, and it's taken S/A Cole this long to find the responses (it's the move). Anyway, the consensus seems to be that the lyrics are: Baritone: See the maid of matchless beauty Contralto: On the ground her eye she's keeping Baritone: Sadly, sadly is she weeping, Soprano: Masterpiece of filial duty, Tenor: Weep not gentle turtle dove Contralto: Future days should all be sunny, Clodbelly has lots of money Tenor: What if from your love you've parted? Soprano: If you've money, who wants love? (Fa-la-la. . .) Many Thanks to Laura Schatz, of the Toronto Society, and Mary Lou Hornberger, and the many others who could identify the words! Anna Russell sings all four voices, and between the words and the voices she gives the vocal parts, the song is gloriously funny! If you haven't heard it before, the skit appears on the record Anna Russell Sings! Again?, and is worth hearing! [This article appeared in Issue 27 (September 1990) of Precious Nonsense, the newsletter of the Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Posted by permission of Sarah Cole, Society Secretary/Archivist. For information on Society membership write to: The Midwestern Gilbert & Sullivan Society, c/o Miss Sarah Cole, 613 W. State St., North Aurora, IL 60542-1538.]