The Gilbert and Sullivan Newsletter Archive

The Trumpet Bray

NEGASS
New England Gilbert and Sullivan Society
P. O. Box 367, Arlington, MA 02174-0004

"Ye torrents roar! Ye tempests howl!"

Vol. XIX, No. 5
February, 1995

When the night winds howl


LAST MINUTE LIGHT OPERA RUDDIGORE sung by NEGASSERS: Feb. 12, 3 PM, First Parish Church in Watertown. Program Chair Patricia Brewer tells Us that she has already entirely cast this performance, as a result of phone calls in response to her article in the last Bray. (In fact, Randi Kestin just called Us to bubble over with the delighted news that she is cast as Rose Maybud, with Steve Levine as Robin Oakapple, Larry Seiler as Richard Dauntless, and Phyllis Wilner as Mad Margaret.) There's still room for Bridesmaids and Bucks & Blades/Ghosts (although, at this point, any ghost who wants a portrait will have to bring his own: the artist who offered to provide them has been overwhelmed with requests).

LMLO performances are always an opportunity for a lot of spontaneous fun. The actors are "on book," blocking is improvised on the spot, and costumes and props are whatever people bring. The accompanist for this year's extravaganza will be Eric Schwartz, so we can all relax, knowing everyone will sound good with him to support them.

HOW TO GET THERE: First Parish Church is located near Watertown Square, the intersection of Mt. Auburn, Galen, Arsenal and Main St. (Rt. 20) in Watertown. From the Square take Main St. one block west to Church St. (at the traffic light), then travel north one block on Church. You'll find the church on a hill overlooking a parking lot adjacent to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Public transportation IS available: take the #71 bus from Harvard Square to Watertown Square the church is within easy walking distance. If you'd prefer a ride, call Program Chair Patricia for people in your area to contact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEGASS AT THE MOVIES: At 3 PM on a balmy January day (up to 65 degrees!), a rather large crowd of NEGASSers and MIT types (and a few Harvard students as well) gathered at MIT indoors to enjoy the classic film, The Gilbert & Sullivan Story. While more frivolous mortals jogged in shirtsleeves and generally enjoyed the April weather (Our crocuses are about to bloom!), the serious Savoyards among us watched charming Victorian types with excellent posture and deportment and the clearest diction imaginable, dancing, singing and acting their way through the lives of the Triumvirate and scenes from their works. We laughed. We cried. We applauded. All Savoyards should see this film once in a while, just to remind us of past glories and to inspire us with future dreams. mlc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Braystuffing. On Jan. 3, Patricia Brewer, Nancy Burstein, Peter Cameron, Marion Carroll, Alice & Shel Hochman, Fred Hughes, Bill Mahoney, Eric Schwartz, Don Smith, and Carl Weggel gathered at the home of President Dick Freedman to stuff the Bray and enjoy a videotape of Hancock County, Maine's prizewinning UTOPIA. We enjoyed Dick's attractive decor (basically Japanese, with lots of G&S posters), his friendly pussycat, good food & drink, and an excellent production, including the adjudicator's remarks at the end. I, for one, found that I agreed with most of his remarks, including the oftrepeated: "Well, how about that!" The picturepostcard perfect set was fabulous especially in view of the fact that it had been transported from Maine to Buxton; the costumes were varied and glorious; and the cast, although clearly amateurs, gave such an excellent ensemble performance, showing such signs of loving direction and intensive work, that I wouldn't have traded it for the most polished of hack "professional" performances. I'd see it again, with CELERITY
Tentative Meeting Schedule, 199495:
February 12: LMLO RUDDIGORE
April 9 (yes, this is the date!) NSLO concert, Salem
[Later meetings tba e.g., a possible Royal Victorian Opera (Chuck Berney) production!]

~ NEXT BRAY COPY DEADLINE: March 12 ~

Next BrayStuffing: Sunday, March 19, 3:00 PM. While folding & stuffing the Bray, we'll be treated to a videotape of THE GRAND DUKE as performed by the Savoy Co. of Philadelphia in Buxton last summer. This should be worth a trip to see, and it's going to be a trip for some of us: we'll meet at the home of J. Donald Smith, Riverbend Condominium, 96 Old Colony Ave., #320, East Taunton, MA 02718. Telephone: (508) 8235110.

HOW TO GET THERE (Don sends the following instructions): Proceed south on Massachusetts Route 24 and take exit 13A (US 44 eastbound). Turn right at the first traffic light Orchard Street, which is immediately after the 24 crossover. Proceed south on Orchard. It changes name several times, but when you cross the Taunton River the street becomes Old Colony Avenue and the condo 'Riverbend' is immediately on your right (an old mill building). Parking is unrestricted, except in the fire lanes or handicapped zones. My entrance is the second one in from the street. For anyone accompanied by a nonG&S spouse, I am less than 10 minutes from the Taunton Galleria Mall (although if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all.)

Don suggests that folks may want to arrive as early as 2:30 in order to explore his extensive G&S collection. Don is a serious collector who is interested in forming contacts with likeminded Savoyards (Robin Oakapple and Wilfrid deFreitas, are you reading this?!). His home should be an enchanting spot. Contact him at the above address & phone #, or email him at DSMITH@UMASSD.EDU, if you want to discuss the sorts of things collectors discuss! mlc

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Canadian Member Wilfrid deFreitas, who's a bookseller in Montreal, reports that he's currently working on a second "Little List" of G&S books, programmes, signed photos, etc. which he HOPES will be ready soon. If you'd like a copy, write, call or fax Wilfrid at 369 Kitchener Ave., Montreal Canada H3Z 2G1. Tel: 514 9359581 FAX: 514 9318999 email: none (he's one of the 9 people left in Canada who don't have email... yet!) [and We're one of the 3 in the USA who don't YET! mlc]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The invaluable Ralph MacPhail, Jr. sent Us a note in November asking ,"What do you do with all the notices & flyers that come your way? Throw 'em out? Nay! Say it's not so I have a suggestion..." This was the complete note. No suggestion was forthcoming. We are left feeling like Inez in the torture chamber, but without the illustrated papers. Ralph, please tell Us, already! mlc.

;>:):):):):):):):);>:):):):);o:):):):);>:):):):
);>:):):):)

Silly computer jokes from the 'net: The Ruddigore Virus: It causes scanned images to step out of your monitor and threaten to kill you. The KoKo Virus: It's supposed to trash your hard disk, but only gets as far as listing the files it's going to get rid of. The Catlike Tread Virus: It adjusts your computer's sound to its highest volume and installs a voicefile programmed to tell you how quiet it is. The Captain Corcoran Virus: It never (hardly ever) crashes at C:> The Basingstoke Virus: Reverses any damage caused by other viruses. The Jack Point Virus: Your hard disk dies when you shut down the computer. Or maybe not. We're not really sure. The Defendant Virus: Causes your modem to attempt connections to two bulletin boards simultaneously. The Thespis Virus: Does something to the computer's sound card, but no one has ever heard what. Sir Despard Virus: Deletes your Print Shop Deluxe program from your systems folder, then inserts Adobe PhotoShop. [huh? mlc] The Gondoliers Virus: Your computer can't tell real files from fake ones. The Utopia Virus: Imported from England. Reorganizes your files, with calamitous results. The Arac Virus: Strips away all programs before announcing itself ready to compute. Computer left with capacity of TRS80. [Oh We get that one! mlc] The Grand Duke Virus: Tries to compress all your files into one sector. Grosvenor Virus: Actually, it isn't really a virus. It just acts like one to meet more computers. Bunthorne Virus: It is a virus, but it can't manage to infect anything.
NANCY BURSTEIN

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

We beg to offer an unqualified apology: Last Bray We managed to refer to THE FOUNDLING as a work by Finn and Weinberg. Bob Weingart subsequently called to ask what had happened. We explained that Our brain was mush. Everyone knows, of course, that THE FOUNDLING was written by Mary Finn and Bob WeinGART. And while We're apologizing Two Brays ago We published something concerning Thomas Drucker and his visit to MIT's symposium on Norbert Weiner. The correct name, as Thomas subsequently pointed out to Us, is Wiener. (Spellcheckers have their limitations.)


Did any of Us know about the Vermont G&S Players, who put on an unusual production of PATIENCE last summer? The Saphir (Linda Radtke) wrote to explain that Director William Metcalf (who also played Col. Calverly) "pitt[ed] a bellbottomed and laptoptoting Bunthorne against 'our local heroes,' the newlyformed minorleague baseball team, The Vermont Expos (in complete baseball gear provided by the team). Gilbert's words, with a little modification, seemed amazingly appropriate... These excellent productions have become a traditional part of the Vermont Mozart Festival each summer." We apologize for losing your letter until now, Linda, and beg you to Tell Us, Tell Us All About next summer's production before the performance, so folks can plan to see it! mlc














REVIEWS:

YEOMEN at SLOC: November 1994 marked the first time in seven years that I had the luxury of sitting in the audience for a Savoyard Light Opera Co. production, without the responsibilities of an orchestra member (six years) or board member (four years). The show, YEOMEN, proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with one of the strongest casts SLOC has assembled to date.

The depth of talent on stage was evident in that the minor leads such as Kate (Mary Whallon) and the Lieutenant (Rick Barnes) were superlatively sung. As for the principal leads, Donna Parry as Elsie and Peter Stark as Jack Point were riveting. Of especial note were the heartfelt beauty of Parry's soaring soprano in "'Tis done! I am a bride", and Stark's bittersweet wit in "Oh! a private buffoon." Adele Keohan as Phoebe and Jake Jacobs as Wilfred were alternately hilarious and touching, and entirely believable. Malcolm Tickner was a noble, restrained Fairfax with an attractive touch of irony, especially in the "Leonard Merryl" scene in the first act finale. The actual Leonard Meryll was well played by Brian Harris, whose set design added greatly to the atmosphere of the evening.

Laura Schall Gouillart as Dame Carruthers and Edwin Morris Milham as Sergeant Meryll were well matched in temperament and voice; the second act quartet "Strange adventure" was an absolute jewel. Music Director Willis Traphagan, who conducted the excellent orchestra, allowed the beauty of the voices to shine throughout the evening, and balanced the orchestral contribution admirably.

My only quibble was that there were not quite enough hearty Yeomen to balance the charming lady Citizens, but the thorny problem of how to attract more male chorus members is endemic to many local theatre groups. SLOC's chorus members are quite experienced in G&S, and they moved and sang with assurance, ably guided by Stage Director Lora Chase.

Special mention must be made of the lighting design by Mike Bromberg, particularly effective in the second act finale. The stage deepened to a dusky, dreamlike quality, with couples encircling each other in a stately dance, while a pitiless, harsh spotlight focused on the solitary Jack Point as he sobbed at Elsie's feet. It was a genuinely poignant end to a fine evening in the theatre. I look forward to SLOC's 1995 production! ALESSANDRA KINGSFORD

[What a pleasure to read such a wellwritten, positive review of a show We had to miss, filled with artists We know to be excellent! We still have room, by the way, for another review of Harvard's RUDDIGORE or any other show anyone would like to review. We just received another comment from someone who said, "well, I'm not an official reviewer, you know" to which the reply is, NOBODY AND EVERYBODY IS AN OFFICIAL REVIEWER!!! Anyone who has anything to say about a production or a book or ANYTHING is welcome to submit an article!!! We'd be happier if it could be submitted on an IBMcompatible disk, and We'll be happiest when We can receive official email, but We'll take what We can get. In fact Help Us pressure Our husband into installing the email package he's been promising Us: submit articles to HIM, at jcarroll@osf.org!!! mlc]














PRINCESS IDA, performed by The New York G&S Players, Dec. 29Jan 1 at the Symphony Space, NYC. Directed by Albert Bergeret & Jan Holland.

This was a very beautifully staged production which gives the lie to Deems Taylor's criticism of the opera having "practically no action at all."" The choreography for the girl graduates, the sons of Gama, and the Hilarion trio was particularly lively. The scenery was elaborate, the basic set with battlements modified for each act, a throne for Hildebrand, benches and a swing for the graduates, and a dungeon in the third act. Billed as a professional troupe, the players lived up to the standard. Eight of the 15 leads were listed as members of Actors Equity. The interpretation was faithful to G&S, with only occasional updating, which was unobtrusive. The costumes were a sort of spoof of Elizabethan dress, with the girl graduates in long conical hats. Hildebrand in long red gown was imposing, Lady Blanche suitably autocratic, Gama very Martyn Green, the sons of Gama clumsy (but not too clumsy), and the romantic leads in good form. With two fifteenminute intermissions, it was a long evening, but one didn't mind at all. SCRIBE

;>:):):):):):):):);>:):):):);o:):):):);>:):):):
);>:):):):)

Nettings re The Critical Edition of G&S, Reportedly posted by Ronald Braude: They have decided to issue performance materials for all of the operas as they are issued. The pianovocal score for TRIAL will be engraved soon and the schedule is for it to be proofed early in 1995, with a target issue date of May. Of course these dates may not hold, but the materials will be available sooner rather than later. So you can kiss Kalmus and whomever goodbye when that occurs. AND orchestra parts will follow after publication of the pianovocal score. Again, this is the plan for all of the operas. DICK FREEDMAN


DICK FREEDMAN'S Buxton Diary, continued:

Friday, 8/5. The Essex Group presented MIKADO in a 1920's setting. NankiPoo was a palmcourt singer and the Mikado was a gangster. There were a pair of bartenders hovering around the rear of the stage for no particular reason, and they were effeminate for no particular reason. The adjudicator specifically suggested that the show would have been better without them. But there were other shortcomings, including principals having wrong notes in their solos!

Saturday, 8/6. John Reed gave a Master Class in the afternoon. I almost didn't get in. The large room that had been scheduled was preempted for a wedding and so it was held in a small room with barely enough seats for the preticketed. But I managed a seat, and was disappointed that he opened with a talk that included several of the anecdotes he had told in our earlier conversation! Once beyond that, though, it was very enjoyable to watch him "direct" the entrance of the PlazaToros and the KoKo and Katisha scene that precedes TitWillow.

The Arden Singers from Pennsylvania provided half the evening's entertainment with COX & BOX. I've never been much of a fan of C&B, but people who like the show told me this was a pretty good presentation of it. Following the interval, though, was a performance by Hinge & Bracket. Apparently these two are well known and beloved in the UK, both as female impersonators and as lovers of G&S. I had learned the former the night before, and became convinced of the latter (later confirmed by a local) during the show by the knowledge and skill they showed. Their running banter was very humorous, their singing (including high soprano) skillful, but what brought the house down was their final number, a sort of medley of certain verses of G&S that teemed with hidden meaning when sung by these two: "I'll tear the mask from your disguising", "We are dainty little fairies", "Go away, young bachelor, we are not what you take us for", and others. There has been some discussion among the Americans about what we can do to host the Festival in '96, but we have nothing to offer that corresponds to this act. As part of the evening's announcements, Ian Smith announced Festival '95, again in Buxton, July 30th to August 12th (one day longer).

Sunday, 8/7. Although all the tour plans by the Festival organizers have fallen through, we (Mark Woodruff, Steve Levine, and I) visited Chatsworth, a nearby Ducal Palace, through the kindness and in the company of Peter and Pat Gibbons. It is immense, and forms the focal point of what amounts to a national park.

The former D'Oyly Cartes (did I mention the accent is on the first syllable of that name, instead of the third?), Shovelton, Sandford, John Ayldon, and Patricia Leonard, sang and acted their way magnificently through YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, although Alistair Donkin as Jack Point was not quite to my taste. I was disappointed when they came on in business suits, but those who had known it was to be a concert version were pleased to find more staging than they had expected.

The people from Hancock County, Maine, have begun to arrive, and I have discussed with some how much we would like them to be part of NEGASS. We agreed that better communication between us is desirable. Their venue, though, is three hours past Portland (or five hours from Boston), and they perform in February. Even if the roads are clear, we would need to arrange a weekend visit rather than just a one day trip. They are very nice, and enthusiastic, and I hope we can get at least one car of people to make the trip.

Monday, 8/8. The Festival Production of PIRATES showed the effects of a firstclass director, Roberta Morrell, and a hard week of morning and afternoon rehearsals. Mabel was magnificent and the police were especially entertaining.

Tuesday, 8/9. Again a visit through the kindness of the Gibbons, though Pat gave up her seat in the car ("I've seen it many times.") for another visiting American who wanted to see Haddon Hall. It was sobering to see hard stone steps worn so deeply. Parts of Haddon Hall date back to Norman days.

The Preston Gilbert and Sullivan Society performed an excellent PRINCESS IDA, except that the Hulks were not very good. "We are Warriors Three" needed a few more rehearsals, and in the stripping number the assistants were taking things off them too early! But the "Gently, Gently" drag scene was terrific (it won the Festival Best Concerted Number prize) as Hilarion, in an encore, sang an octave higher while Cyril and Florian looked in astonishment.

Wednesday, 8/10. We visited Manchester by train, and visited the Museum of Science and Industry and the Jewish Museum.

I have determined to order videotapes of THE GRAND DUKE and GONDOLIERS, but am waiting to put in my order to see what I think of the Maine production of UTOPIA, LTD.. The set is magnificent! Three or four of those carved Polynesian heads, potted palms, a luxuriant water scene on the backdrop, and the lighting suggests a tropical heat. The natives wear grass skirts, bone or sharktooth necklaces, and the men are shirtless the very picture of "halfclothed barbarians" in lazyland. The king is carried in on a huge throne, with some amusing business relating to his request to be put down. The singing is clear, again very important in an unfamiliar show, and energetic (except where required to be languorous). All the principles are superb, except for maybe the last of the Flowers of Progress. I was a bit disappointed that Mr. Goldbury's song in the Act I Finale was reduced to two verses, but...

During the interval I put in my order for the three tapes, and announced my resolve to go to Hancock County next February. Even if the second act wasn't as good... But it was even better! They took a gamble, introducing an original song, but it fit so well and was sung clearly enough that, to my mind, they won the gamble. They also did a superb job of introducing topical jokes into the Drawing Room scene I had forgotten what a great opportunity that scene provides. Another Goldbury verse cut, to my chagrin, but I still come away from this thinking that the Americans (UTOPIA first, GRAND DUKE second) have come over to show the British how to do G&S! How Gilbertian!

Thursday, 8/11. The Master Class in the afternoon, again by John Reed, was not so well organized. They moved from a hotel to the room that has been used each night for the cabaret. The subjects were not prearranged, so when the call came for volunteers came I went up to be clay in the hands of the master.

The Festival MIKADO was another worthy performance, with a lot of traditional fan work, although I was a bit unsatisfied with the KoKo.

Friday, 8/12. The rail strike is on, so I get up at 6:00 to take a taxi to the bus stop, a Trent bus to Stockport, a G&M bus to Manchester airport, and Air Canada back to Toronto. DICK FREEDMAN
;>:):):):):):):):);>:):):):);o:):):):);>:):):):
);>:):):):)

Plans for Buxton, 1995 [Posted to the 'net by Steve Johnson for Ian Smith, and netted by President Dick This was posted in November, but reached Us much later, alas! mlc] ... I am just back from a whistlestop tour around the USA and first, a big and sincere "thanks" to all those people I met in Chicago, San Francisco, Stanford, Houston, Philadelphia, Ellsworth (ME) and New York. Your collective interest in our second Festival back in Buxton next year really does excite me. As you will have read, Hancock County, Maine gave us our first International Champions. ... One of the "main" reasons for my visit was to do some arm twisting and ensure that they come back to defend their title next year... I have a feeling we will see them in Buxton with IOLANTHE next year. I and the many friends they made in the festival certainly hope so ... GRAND DUKE and UTOPIA shows and participants had a big impact on 1994. So let's hope that we have the Savoy Players with their MIKADO back next year as well. And what was also great was the obvious interest from the Lamplighters in San Francisco and Houston G&S. I know they would like to come to Buxton '95 with IDA and PINAFORE... One of the big topics throughout my tour was the question of organized trips for supporters. I think it is a great idea and again we will be cooperating closely with experts in the USA, including Rex Travel in Chicago to put together a series of tempting packages... which we believe will suit every taste and pocket... The programme is not finished, but is taking shape. Highlights will include the full costumed and produced SORCERER which will be presented by an original D'Oyly Carte principal lineup on the middle Saturday. We believe this will be the first time there has been such a performance since the company closed down in 1982. We are very excited! Principals will include Julia Gross, Geoffrey Shovelton, Kenneth Sanford, John Ayldon, Alistair Donkin and Patricia Leonard. We're planning daily "conversaziones" with many of the stars. They will attend daily coffee mornings, give master classes in the afternoon, and have some role each evening either in the theatre or festival club. Our old friend Thomas Round is already confirmed as one of the hosts. Alistair Donkin will direct the Festival Production on August 11th. Open auditions will be on Sunday, August 6th. We anticipate a busy middle weekend. This year it will feature an international G&S Quiz (knockout teams of three); a major market of G&S memorabilia; a Sullivan Sunday in Buxton and a "surprise" Sunday evening currently being finalized. We also plan a wide range of roundtables throughout the Festival which we hope will have major interest to visiting societies. We'll be brainstorming ways and means of raising money, selling tickets, and looking at many other "how to...." situations. So I am delighted to be able to report five provisional performance applications from North America plus nine from the UK (including Wales and the Isle of Man!) and that is before anything official has been distributed. We already have a number of group bookings for theatre tickets irrespective of what is playing. Any Societies considering applying to perform should contact us in Halifax (Fax: International Code +44 1422 355604) as quickly as possible to enable us to forward full details. Final selection will be Thursday, December 22 [once again, the Bray has the news too late We must get onto the Net to be of more use to our readers! mlc] and we hope to hit the SavoyNet on the 23rd with the programme. [We haven't seen it has anyone else? mlc]
IAN SMITH

;>:):):):):):):):);>:):):):);o:):):):);>:):):):
);>:):):):)

Comparing Sullivan with Brahms: Netting posted by Larry Garvin (remember him from Rockville?) (lgarvin@law.fsu.edu): Some time back, there was an inquiry (perhaps under mythinformation?) about the person who compared Sullivan favorably to Brahms, at least as far as pure talent went, but felt that Sullivan had squandered his talents... Robert Papperitz, who has been termed variously a German critic and a teacher at Leipzig, appears to be the person paraphrased... I saw a truncated version of this in volume 9 of The New Oxford History of Music, p. 485 n. 181 (the volume on Romanticism, edited by Gerald Abraham). The source is given as Samuel Midgley, My 70 Years' Musical Memories (London, 1934), pp. 2122. The music library handy to me lacks this book. Might someone with access chase this down and provide to us the full quote? Here 'tis: "[p.21:] . . . This brings me to a subject on which I shall have a good deal to say later. In that unfortunate period, English music was decidedly 'in the dumps,' and it was not pleasant to hear it continually slighted and disparaged. Earlier on in my year at the Conservatorium, Mr. Leach had sent me a copy of Sullivan's Light of the World, which had just been produced at the 1873 Birmingham Festival. I showed it to Dr. Papperitz, one of my teachers, who took it home to look through. When he brought it back, he asked me to play over some of the numbers, and we had a long talk about it. He was disappointed with the work, and thought it unworthy of the young composer, who, a few years earlier, had shown, during his studies at Leipzig, a real genius for composition. 'But you Englishmen, who come here and show such promise, become utterly spoiled when you get back to commercial England,' Dr. Papperitz complained. 'Compare Sullivan with Brahms. Of the two I think Sullivan had the greater natural musical talent; but Brahms will not write a [p. 22:] note he doesn't think worthy of his gift, and after he had been acclaimed by Schumann successor to Beethoven, and could command big money for his work, he quietly retired into a country place, where for two years he diligently studied how to improve his style, so as to be able to perfectly express the musical thoughts that surged within him. As for Sullivan' he went on, 'he settles in London, and writes and publishes things quite unworthy of his genius. He is petted by royalty, mixes in aristocratic circles, acquires expensive tastes which oblige him to prostitute his talents for moneymaking works. As a consequence, his musical ideas become more common, his modes of expression deteriorate, and England and the world are robbed of the fruit of his Godgiven gifts. To all of this I could only reply that I thought Dr. Papperitz was in the right. Such of Sullivan's anthems and hymn tunes as I had become acquainted with seemed to me commonplace, and The Light of the World quite unworthy of the composer of the music to The Tempest, which was written during his student days at Leipzig. Since those days, Germany has become a great commercial nation; and whether in consequence or not, her musical repute and output have steadily deteriorated. Are Music and Mammon entirely antagonistic? Since England acquired her colonial Empire and became absorbed in manufacture, her poetic and musical gifts have dwindled, and during the last two hundred years, she has produced no musician of the front rank. It is true there is a great ferment going on at present, but the really great English musician has not yet appeared." [End of chapter.] These are the only two pages from Midgley's book I have, which suggests that they are the only ones dealing with Sullivan in this source. Sent on by Ralph MacPhail, Jr. to DICK FREEDMAN

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
We're enjoying What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, by Daniel Pool (1993, Simon & Schuster, NY). No specific references to G&S, but lots of interesting general facts such as the exact relationship between a half farthing and a sovereign, and of interest, in view of all the productions of IOLANTHE going on just now the exact position of the Lord Chancellor in English society. (He was originally the King's Secretary, and was not necessarily a Lord, but was often raised to the nobility just because it seemed like a good thing to do. In any case, he was always included in the Prime Minister's cabinet, and was addressed as "Right Honorable SoandSo...") And, by the way, according to pg. 1023 of this volume, "The growing tide of democratic sentiment in the nation meant that the nonelected House of Lords could not credibly interfere with legislation proposed by a popularly elected body like the Commons. After the king threatened to pack the Lords by vastly enlarging the peerage when they refused assent to the Reform Act of 1832, the Lords backed off and became something of a rubber stamp to the Commons thereafter." So when is IOLANTHE actually set? Sometime around 1832? mlc


Not to be pretentious, but oh, damme, let's be pretentious. We are reading a very nice translation of Stanislavski in Rehearsal The Final Years by Vasily O. Toporkov, a leading Russian COMIC actor during the first half of the 20th century, who played a variety of farces and comedies under S's direction. Somehow, We don't tend to think of Stanislavski and comedy in the same breath The Method is for High Drama, isn't it? But We wonder what Gilbert, who revolutionized stage direction in England by insisting that the actors actually do what he told them to, and who scorned "Pork Pies," would have thought of quotes like this one, spoken during a rehearsal of Tartuffe: "We must avoid the usually accepted way of playing Molière, the way which transforms Molière's living people into boring stereotypes, mere masks. That is awful; it is always tiresome and unconvincing. There is a convention that comedy must be played that way. Instead, you must believe in what is happening on the stage and place yourself in the midst of it. Drama, comedy, tragedy do not exist for the actor. There is only I, a person in the given circumstances... The comic element arises of itself through the disparity, the incongruity between your behaviour and what is really taking place..." S's comments go on to discuss the identification an audience member can feel with a sincere actor, and the strong emotional responses which can result. "He will laugh heartily... he will blame himself or be indignant... he may even drop a tear, but the play, nevertheless, still will be a comedy. The audience will receive a sharp sting, but it will go out of the theatre enriched." In other words: "He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip, but his laughter has an echo that is grim..."? What do other Savoyards think about this sort of thing? mlc

~~~~~~~~///////~~~~~~~~~~~~~///////~~~~~~~~
CALENDAR:

Multitalented NEGASSer Dr. Joseph Cherepon, who puts on a G&S fundraiser for Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, CT, every couple of years, is at it again: COX & BOX is planned for March 24, 25, 31, and April 1 at 8 PM, & April 2 at 2 PM. Dr. Joe is the Stage Director; Luke Oliveri is Music Director. To fill out the program, and to keep the women in his area busy, Joe sat down and wrote an original Victorian oneact farce for seven actresses: The Maid's Night Out. The only problem: Two of the men in his C&B cast have had to drop out, leaving only 1/3 of a cast! Call Dr. Joseph Cherepon at (203) 6848284 during office hours, or at (203) 4290430 evenings if you a) are a baritone or tenor who'd like to perform in C&B, or b) would like info on the performances.

Auditions for The HarvardRadcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players' production of PATIENCE, Directed by Eileen St. David (apparently a former San Francisco Lamplighter) and Music Directed by Benjamin Di Scipio, will take place courtesy of Harvard's "Common Casting", which occurs in the Loeb Drama Center (better known as the home of the American Repertory Theater) every evening from 6:0012:00 during "the first week of February" (Jan 31Feb. 3). (HRG&S will be there every night, but not the whole time each night). For more info, contact Matt Saunders of HRG&SP at (617) 4930748 (msaunder @fas.harvard.edu). Performances will run for the weekends of April 69 and 1315 (yes! Easter and the beginning of Passover). [Thanks to the many folks who forwarded this info to Us! mlc]

Auditions for the MIT G&S Players' production of IOLANTHE (Stage Director: mlc; Music Director, David Grundberg) are set for February 8 & 9, 710 PM in Room 491 of the MIT Student Center. Performances are currently planned for April 20, 21 & 22 at 8 PM, with a 2 PM matinee on the 22nd. For info call (617) 2530190, or email: savoyardsrequest@mit.edu

If you're in NYC, sing along with the G&S Sunday Group in TRIAL and L'Isle de Tulipatan (Offenbach) in the living room of Dan Kravetz on 2/5 at 2 PM call Dan at (212) 7575804 for more info [and say hi to him for Us! mlc].

The dates for the celebrated Hancock County G&SS's 1995 production of IOLANTHE will be February 3, 4, 5 (matinee only), 10, 11, and 12 (matinee only). The show will be repeated during the third week in July for the summer folk. The venue is the Grand Auditorium, Main Street, Ellsworth, ME. Call 207/3745859 to reserve tickets.

SLOC will hold its annual meeting Feb. 5 at 7 PM at the First Religious Society, School St., Carlisle. Call V.P. Rich Bissell at 3690678 (We assume that's 508) for more info concerning the planned Little List Contest and G&S Wish Fulfillment!

Valley Light Opera's annual meeting will be held March 14 at 7:45 PM. Anyone interested in singing with the crowd one chorus from each of 12 G&S operas as part of the meeting entertainment is urged to call Kathy Moser at (413) 2539375, Marese Hutchinson at 4591947, or Cathy Bennett at 2561502 for info on rehearsals. This meeting is a crucial one: VLO has sent out a very informative newsletter describing the positions of Producers (the position is divided into 4 or 5 logical sets of tasks), Directors, Ticket managers, Publicity head, and other members of the crew, with the warning that if these positions cannot be filled, VLO may have to downsize, switch to Broadway shows, combine with another troupe, skip a year or two, or actually disband! This would be a shame VLO is one of the most respected, longestablished G&S groups in the area. Contact president Cami Elbow (4135490024) or general managers Bill and Sally Venman (5491098) with ideas or comments.

The Westborough Players will present PIRATES, directed by Lora Chase (Stage) and Fred Frobotta (Music) at the Gibbons Middle School in Westborough 3/ 1718 & 2425 at 8 p.m., and 3/26 at 2:00. Tix are $12 and $10. Call (508) 3667587 for tix & info.

The King Phillip Savoyards will present GONDOLIERS 3/24 & 25th at 8 PM, and 3/25 & 26 at 2 P.M. at the Duxbury Elementary School. Stage Director: NEGASSer Michael McGuire; Conductor: Merilee Mafera; Producer: Richard Knox. Call (617) 9340468 for more info.

Montreal West Operatic Soc. will present IOLANTHE April 5 8 at Royal Vale Theatre, 5851 Somerled in NotreDamedeGrace (Montreal). [NEGASSer Wilfrid deFreitas is the Lord Chancellor!] Later performances are planned for Quebec City (4/22) and Knowlton, PQ (5/6). Curtain time for all shows is 8:00 p.m.. For tix & info, call (514) 4887629, write to P.O. Box 1091, Station "B", Montreal, PQ, H3B 3K9, or send email to Shaun G. Lynch (s_lynch@cam.org).

Catch UMGASS in PINAFORE April 616 in Michigan, call 7617855 for info.

The OffMonroe Players will produce MIKADO May 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20 at 8 p.m. and May 7& 14 at 2 p.m. at the Salem United Church of Christ, 60 Bittner Street, Rochester, New York. CoDirectors are Jean Ryon (2562781) & Joe Washington (2429271). Admission is free, with donations gratefully accepted. For tix, call 2325570, Monday through Friday, 6 to 9 p.m., starting 4/24. Send Email to CoProducer Bob Weeks (RCWACC@RIT.EDU) for more info. The Bronx Opera Company has just held auditions for its Spring 1995 production of YEOMEN. The performances will take place Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6 at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College in The Bronx, and Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13 at the John Jay College Theatre in Manhattan. The conductors will be Michael Spierman and Beatrice Affron; the director will be Scott Pegg.

Light Opera Works of Evanston, IL plans PIRATES June 311. The biggest boast on their flyer: The theater in which they perform has been renovated it has 6 new men's' rooms and THIRTEEN new women's rooms! Now, this is worth a trip to IL! Call (708) 8696300 for more info.

Geoffrey Shovelton's G&S Concert Group, which includes Deborah Clague (sop. & Mrs. Shovelton), Lorraine Daniels (mezzo), Geoff (tenor), Ken Sandford (heavy baritone), John Ayldon (bass baritone) and David Mackie (accompanist), will be touring the US in Feb. & March.. All, except Deborah, are former D'Oyly Carters. They plan only 2 East Coast stops: Washington, DC on Feb.. 11, and Colden Center, Queens College, NY on Mar. 5. JESSE SHEREFF (shereff@cs.nyu.edu), former Pres. of the G&S Society of NY, thinks they're worth seeing, and has more dates and places for the rest of their tour.

THE NEW ENGLAND GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SOCIETY
PO Box 367, Arlington, MA 021740004

President RICHARD FREEDMAN
(617) 6309525 ~ wk/voice mail: (508) 8804032
email freedman.richard@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com
Secretary CAROL MAHONEY: (617) 6481720 Membership Officer BILL MAHONEY: (617) 6481720
Acting Treasurer CARL WEGGEL: (508) 4740396 Program Chair PATRICIA BREWER: (617) 3233480 Editor MARION LEEDS CARROLL: (617) 6469115

NEGASS membership dues are $15 and up. Please send membership inquiries to: Bill Mahoney, 111 Jason Street, Arlington, MA 02174

Marion





Page created 28 Nov 1996