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Before my visit to San Francisco I knew nothing of The Lamplighters, but, of course, jumped at the chance of seeing Sorcerer so far from my usual haunts. What a delightful experience it was - undoubtedly the finest production I have seen of Sorcerer, and that includes D'Oyly Carte's. During the opening chorus Sir Marmaduke & Alexis were at the door of the mansion, raised & approached by a double flight of stairs. A little girl (about 4) gave them a bouquet of flowers. This was a charming touch. After the chorus left I thought "Ah, ha" that blank space between the steps conceals a trick door for J.W.Wells to disappear through at the end". But no. At his first entrance there was a flash of smoke and there was our sorcerer centre stage. He did a lot of magic besides. For the incantation his powers even swung the mansion round to the sides in two parts leaving a dark background where the sprites appeared instead of the usual back-stage singing. I was much impressed with the singing of principals and chorus. From the back row I could hear all the words clearly & distinctly. Only very rarely did a little American intrude in the dialogue. Otherwise the setting was an English village. It was perhaps wise that no attempt was made at dialect in the Act II opening chorus work. Costumes, made by the company I think, were colourful, and they blended well. The Lamplighters put on a dozen performances in a five week performance. They are lucky to have a duplicate cast of principals. A tradition of this society is to partake of coffee afterwards so that actors and audience can meet. This gave me a chance to thank some of the cast individually. Just one contact with an amateur society is better than any amount of reading of them at a distance. They are alive! The Lamplighters are 25 years old - not a record for G & S amateur societies but one well worth celebrating in this case. And they did it by producing a lavish and well illustrated history. We in Britain can rarely afford to put down our memories in such an attractive book. Long live the Lamplighters who have given so much G & S delight to San Francisco & neighbourhood. TED WOOD.

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