Sunday, May 18 at 2 PM at Sudbury United Methodist Church: YEOMEN OF THE GUARD Retrospective. You've all read the rave review of the recent Sudbury YEOMEN. Sorry we won't see the creative sets or magnificent costumes - but we do expect many of the top-notch singers, conducted by the multi-talented Bruce Miller. And if a soloist can't be there - you may be the one to take his or her place! At the least, you'll have a chance to sing along with the chorus. In fact, although Eric Schwartz will be accompanying on the piano, if you'd like to play along on an orchestral instrument, call mlc (see Our contact info on the masthead), and We'll see about getting finding an orchestra part for you! Come take part in this wonderful opera.
HOW TO GET THERE: HAWES HALL, SUDBURY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. The church is located at 251 Old Sudbury Road, a.k.a. Route 27, in Guess Which Town. From Route 128, take Route 20 west (through Weston and Wayland) to Route 27, Follow Rt. 27 northwards to Sudbury Center. How do you know you're there, when it all looks like Country to a City Girl like Us? After sailing along at around 45 mph, past a lovely Wetlands area, you'll suddenly see a 30 mph sign, followed immediately by a People Crossing sign. The church, a large white one surrounded by a lovely large parking lot, will appear immediately afterwards, on your left. Hawes Hall is at the left end of the church building.
APRIL IN WATERTOWN: The April meeting started off, after a slight delay to allow for Continental Cablevision to adjust the sound levels of their videotaping equipment, with Wayne Ward of the Royal Victorian Opera Company playing "Hail Poetry" for us. Dick Freedman then made announcements about upcoming shows, membership, and the International Festival. Reminding people of the Topsy-Turveydom connection with last month's meeting, he read the Bab Ballad My Dream, which ends with the stanza
Still I could wish that, 'stead of here,
My lot were in that favored sphere!--
Where greatest fools bear off the bell
I ought to do extremely well.
Dick then turned the meeting over to Chuck Berney, who introduced Princess Toto [reviewed later in this issue by Don Smith]. The fates rewarded Juliet Cunningham's appearance to renew her membership with the winning ticket in the door prize drawing, which awarded her a NEGASS T-shirt. All then adjourned downstairs for refreshments, brought in, as usual, by the Hochmans and the Mahoneys (whom we thank for the service with insufficient frequency).
-- POOH-BAH
GILBERT'S STAGE DIRECTIONS. The following list, captured from SavoyNet, provides a wonderful quiz. Who can match the stage directions with the appropriate operas? The author explains: I offer below some of my all-time favourite WSG stage directions! EVERY opera in the canon is represented at least once except one - I shan't tell you which!
Here goes, in no particular order:-
and finally-
plus:
Have fun!! -- IAN HOLLAMBY
| Tentative Meeting Schedule, 1997: | |
|---|---|
| May 18 | Sudbury Savoyards' YEOMEN retrospective. Join the chorus or orchestra, and be prepared to fill in for absent soloists. |
| June 8 | Election meeting at the Newton Library, featuring The Gilbert & Sullivan Story video. |
Next Bray-Stuffing: Sunday, May 25 at 3 PM in Our less-and-less-soggy home: 111 Fairmont St., Arlington. Call Us at (617) 646-9115,or send e-mail to mlcar@mit.edu, for directions. -- mlc
WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME WE new member Anastasia Conlon of Canton, MA, of whom We know nothing more at present. Tell Us, Tell Us all about yourself! HEARTY GREETINGS OFFER WE!
Alas, Ah me, and Well-a-day: We hear that Christopher Burkhart, late of Monterey, MA, has moved on to that home where The Last Chord is to be found. Sincere sympathy to those he leaves behind!
We were sent this by so many SavoyNet/NEGASS types who all enjoyed it so much that We have to share it with the non-Netters in NEGASS!
[We join our operetta already in progress. The infamous Pirates of Pergamum have just seized a bevy of beautiful Mytilenean maidens, and are attempting to carry them off for matrimonial purposes. Gabrielle intervenes, with a recitative (well, it's better than a pan flute solo):]
Gabrielle: Hold, scoundrels! Ere ye practice acts of villainy Upon the peaceful and agrarian, Just bear in mind, these maidens of My-TIL-ene1 Are guarded by a buff barbarian! Pirates: We'd better all rethink our cunning plan; They're guarded by a buff barbarian. Maidens: Yes, yes, she is a buff barbarian.
[Xena leaps in from the wings, with a tremendous war cry, does a mid-air somersault, and lands on her feet on the Pirate King's chest.]
Xena: Yes, yes, I am a buff barbarian! [The orchestra starts up.]
I am the very model of a heroine barbarian; Through Herculean efforts, I've become humanitarian. I ride throughout the hinterland -- at least that's what they call it in Those sissy towns like Athens (I, myself, am Amphipolitan). I travel with a poet who is perky and parthenian2 And scribbles her hexameters in Linear Mycenian3 (And many have attempted, by a host of methods mystical, To tell if our relationship's sororal or sapphistical). Chorus: To tell if their relationship's sororal or sapphistical! To tell if their relationship's sororal or sapphistical! To tell if their relationship's sororal or sapphisti-phistical! Xena: My armory is brazen, but my weapons are ironical; My sword is rather phallic, but my chakram's rather yonical4 (To find out what that means, you'll have to study Indo-Aryan5). I am the very model of a heroine barbarian! Chorus: To find out what that means, we'll have to study Indo-Aryan -- She is the very model of a heroine barbarian! Xena: I wake up every morning, ere the dawn is rhododactylous6 (Who needs to wait for daylight? I just work by sensus tactilis7.) And ride into the sunrise to protect some local villagers From mythologic monsters or from all-too-human pillagers. I hurtle towards each villain with a recklessness ebullient And cow him with my swordwork and my alalaes ululient8; He's frightened for his head, because he knows I'm gonna whack it -- he's Aware that his opponent is the Basileia Makhetes!
[The music crashes to a halt, as the Chorus stares at Xena
in utter confusion. She sighs.] It's Greek.
It means "Warrior Princess"!
[Light dawns on the Chorus, and the music resumes.] Sheesh . . .
Chorus: He knows that his opponent is the Basileia Makhetes! (etc.) Xena: Because I've got my armor, which is really rather silly, on (It's cut so low I feel like I'm the topless tow'rs of Ilion, And isn't any use against attackers sagittarian9). I am the very model of a heroine barbarian! Chorus: It isn't any use against attackers sagittarian-- She is the very model of a heroine barbarian! Xena: In short, when I can tell you how I break the laws of gravity, And why my togs expose my intermammary concavity, And why my comrade changed her dress from one that fit more comfily To one that shows her omphalos10 (as cute as that of Omphale11), And why the tale of Spartacus appears in Homer's versicon12, [She holds up a tomato:] And where we found examples of the genus Lycopersicon13, And why this Grecian scenery looks more like the Antipodes, You'll say I'm twice the heroine of any in Euripides! Chorus: We'll say she's twice the heroine of any in Euripides! Xena: But though the kinked chronology, confusing and chimerical (It's often unhistorical, but rarely unhysterical), Would give a massive heart attack to any antiquarian, I am the very model of a heroine barbarian! Chorus: 'Twould give a massive heart attack to any antiquarian- She is the very model of a heroine barbarian! [As the orchestra plays the final chords, a wild Xenaesque melee ensues, and the curtain has to be brought down.]
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G&S FOR YOUNG READERS. Ted Koban, who was in Sudbury's IDA last year, has heard his two young children, who attended dress rehearsals and attentively watched the video of the show, singing "From the distant panorama" at that early-morning hour when children and birds awaken. (They've even acted out the show using Beanie Babies as cast!) He's hoping that Harvard-Radcliffe G&S will continue their institution of Milk-and-Cookie Matinees, as he intends to use their fall MIKADO as his kids' introduction to the opera. He remembers reading in the Bray about a group which printed a special coloring book for kids to use before attending the performance, and wants to know where he can get a copy.
We're afraid Ted may be referring to the note written by Mary Finn and printed in the January Bray, describing Valley Light Opera's innovation at their recent MIKADO: "The standard program included the argument of the opera, but in addition, VLO had leaflets that told the story, but were aimed at the younger audience member. Written and illustrated by a couple of 5th and 6th graders, these leaflets gave the argument in simple language, and included things like "The first thing you hear will be the orchestra. They will play some of the melodies you will hear later in the show."
We dimly recall printing something about a CA group that may relate to this - but We can't find Our source. If there IS a coloring book, We'd love to hear about it - but We fear there isn't - yet.
Since Ted's children are just learning to read, he spends a lot of time hunting for suitable books: ...I was waiting for my children to finish a program at our local library and was looking around. I came across a children's storybook... PIRATES as adapted by Ward Botsford, illustrated by Edward Sorel, published by Random House, NY, 1981... The book was text with some lyrics interspersed. The best part was the Glossary section in the back which had a great explanation of the particulars of Major General Stanley's first act patter song."
Ted sent Us his favorite glossary page:
The Major-General's Song: Major-General Stanley tries to impress everyone with his superior military knowledge by reeling off a bewildering series of names, places and things. He starts off with Marathon, a battle fought in Greece in 490 BC, and Waterloo, a battle fought in Belgium in 1815. Then, in order categorical, or as the words occur, he gives us a list of terms used in mathematics: quadratical, binomial theorem, and hypotenuse. Next he mentions Sir Caradoc, a knight living at the time of King Arthur, and Heliogabalus, a Roman emperor. Acrostics are word puzzles, and elegiacs are a kind of poem, often expressing sorrow. A paradox is something that seems to contradict itself, is puzzling, or is very hard to believe -- like Frederick's situation. Conic and parabolus are two geometrical terms. Raphaels, Gerard Dows, and Zoffanies are paintings done by Raphael, an Italian painter, Gerard Dow, a Dutch painter, and Zoffany, a German painter. The great Greek playwright Aristophanes did write "The Frogs," though there is no croaking chorus in it [With all respect, We do object: there is a Frog Chorus, and they do croak! - mlc], and that infernal nonsense "Pinafore" is a wonderfully funny operetta that Gilbert wrote in 1878. Babylonic cuneiform is a very ancient kind of writing, and Caracticus was a British king in the first century. [We're so glad the author didn't describe his uniform, which was not rated "G", as We understand it, consisting, as it did, entirely of blue paint! -- mlc] Next the Major-General moves on to things military: a mamelon is a small hill, ravelin means part of the outside of a fort, a mauser is a German rifle, and a javelin is a spear. When the Major-General says "sat a gee", he's talking about riding a horse.
-- WARD BOTDFORD
Web-swinging idea: As there always seem to be a number of letters or questions regarding G&S recordings, you might want to plug the G&S Discography Website, run by Marc Shepherd:
http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/
Any question anyone can possibly ask about G&S recordings will most likely be answered here. And if not, it is a place to start. So far 221 different recordings are listed (as of April 7) with appropriate details of cast lists, format, catalog number, and - in the case of videos - sources for purchase. Beside a historical narrative, there is a chronological index, and indexes by opera and by performer. There are reviews of the quality and historical significance of the recordings. The listings include as sources: 78s, 45s, LP records, cassettes, films, compact discs, videotapes and television and radio broadcasts. (Would you believe 40 different productions of the MIKADO?)
-- DON SMITH
-- mlc
We also have lengthy articles by Wally Mason and Frank Behrens, listing more sources for G&S recording re-issues -- but We fear we're running out of space. Our next issue will appear very soon!
-- mlc
\\\\\\\\\ REVIEWS \\\\\\\\\
PRINCESS TOTO IN WATERTOWN: The 25 plus in the audience who braved the indoor entertainment for the NEGASS meeting of April 27, instead of being outdoors on the first beautiful weekend of spring, were treated to a wonderful performance of Gilbert's Princess Toto, music by Frederic Clay, the latest presentation of Chuck Berney's Royal Victorian Opera Company. This cut-down version (adapted by Nina Vinci Nichols) preserves the essence of the original three-act, full length opera while making for a work which can be easily be performed by a small group. (The full opera has 16 soloists plus a full chorus.)
The performance was uniformly magnificent, with all of the performers characterizing their roles perfectly. Carol Mastrodomenico acted and sang the title character with all the beautiful characterization which the audience has come to expect from her. Her depiction of the flighty and impetuous Princess - who acts on the spur of the moment as well as being unable to remember what she has done for more than 10 minutes - was ideal. (Imagine marriages to two different Princes, flights with a brigand chief and with a band of Indians and a father who is desperately trying to marry her off and you might get a glimpse of what Gilbert cooked up in this plot. It actually does make sense!) Her confidante Jelly was depicted by Ginger Green, whose singing and acting were equally delectable. (The full version, to fill out Gilbert's food-fetish in names, also contains characters named Tapioca, Sago and Vermicelli.) The interactions between the two women were very special and their duets were spectacular.
While this is very much a show for the women to stand out, the men performed well also. Bob Grady, as King Portico, the Princess' long-suffering father, was suitably pompous and put upon, particularly by Henry Kettell as Zapeter, his chief advisor. The latter has the funniest bit in the entire opera - a take-off of Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha which had the audience rolling in the aisles. James Moylan as Prince Doro (betrothed in infancy to the Princess "at the early age of one." - sound familiar?) provided a superb tenor (he gets the girl in the end) while Barry Garden as the other love interest, Prince Caramel, the patter-baritone role, gets fed up with Toto's antics and grabs Jelly instead. Garden's singing and acting were equally spectacular as the frustrated and put-upon Prince.
Accompaniment was ably performed by Music Director Wayne Ward at the piano. The music is extremely tuneful and deserves far wider exposure. One hearing was certainly not enough for this opera, which chronologically comes between TRIAL and SORCERER. Those who sacrificed their afternoon in the sun received far more benefits than they missed. "Such an opportunity will not occur again."
(For anyone wishing to read the play, it is printed in a volume, Plays by W. S. Gilbert by George Rowell, in the British and American Playwrights Series, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 28056 7, published in 1982.)
J. DONALD SMITH
[No reviews have arrived yet for either the MITG&SP or the H-RG&SS spring productions. We saw the MIT show, and hope We are not overstepping Our editorial boundaries - which include an unwillingness to write reviews Ourself - by stating that We would not be sorry to hear that this semester's Directorial Team might plan to direct again for MITG&SP - mlc]
|
Here are the dates for this year's International Festival:
Newsletters and booking forms for this year's Festival are available from: Gilbert and Sullivan Festival,P.O. Box 59285, Philadelphia, PA 19102-9285. Phone and FAX: 215-629-0672 Also available are various souvenirs - e.g.: the video of The G&S Story, which President Dick Freedman purchased to show at the Election Meeting in June (after which NEGASS will donate it to the G&S Archives in the Newton Free Library!) is their catalog number V05. $30 plus $2.50 postage. |
NEW YORK CITY's TEN-TEN PLAYERS PLAN HOLLYWOOD PINAFORE by George S. Kaufman and Sir Arthur Sullivan (with "deepest apologies" to William S. Gilbert). [Nathan Hull writes:] Reset by the author (of Kaufman & Hart fame) to the Hollywood of the 1940's, this version of PINAFORE [originally done on Broadway in 1945] is a very biting satire of the movie studio system, where Kaufman himself had been kept "prisoner" for many years...
Speaking with my Savoyard hat on, lots of G&S adaptations suffer because they don't rethink the material from the ground up. Not true here. Although he follows the bare outlines of the story (with a few surprises) and keeps most of the music, Kaufman was one of this century's best comic minds, and certainly has his own agenda. Having lived with this script morning, noon and..., I can truthfully report that Kaufman has done the rarest of things: he has created new characters with their own lives, own preposterous agendas, and own foibles out of the older work. Although it owes a huge debt to the original,... it is a new work of art with its own sensibilities and feeling.
I originally thought the transplant would be incomprehensible to a modern audience, but I have finally realized that Hollywood of the 20s, 30s, and 40s will always exist as a mythical place in our collected consciousness...
So here are the new characters: Joe Porter is the studio boss who gets paid $3 million a year, who wants his afternoon graham crackers and milk while he rests from chasing starlets. Little "Butter-Up" is the gossip columnist "Louhedda Hopsons." Mike Corcoran is a highly paid director whose daughter, Josephine, has taken the screen name of "Brenda Blossom." She is in love with a lowly writer, Ralph, who only makes $75 dollars a week, far less than even the doorman. Writers are kept in the dungeon. Writers are never asked their opinion. Nobody would ever marry a writer. Hmmm... Sounds like Kaufman had an ax to grind, no? (Of course, I haven't even told you about the Story Conference where they end up gagging the writer, then plugging his ears and finally blindfolding him! Subtlety is not exactly in Kaufman's plans.)
And the lyrics? Well, from the opening chorus of "We are simple movie folk, of the wood that's known as Holly!" they are brimming with clever invention. I'm particularly fond of Little Butter-Up describing the power of a gossip columnist:
My mere disapproval
can mean your removal;
Take care not to merit my scorn;
So you who have known me
will do well to phone me
Before you are married or born.
Of course, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I had an attachment to the lyrics I get to sing as Porter describing his final ascent to the lofty position of studio boss:
So all you shlemiehls, whoever you may be
If you want to rise to the top of the tree,
If you wouldn't be regarded as a darned old fool,
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule:
Just turn your back 'neath the mistletoe,
And you all may be rulers of the studio!
[Nathan goes on to praise the director, David Fuller, to plug the show as a possible addition to the Savoyard canon, and to tell his readers] I honestly think if you are a Savoyard within any reasonable striking distance of New York, you will HATE yourself if you don't see this show.
...The show runs Thursday through Sunday, from May 1st to May 25th. Since it is only being done with piano, tickets are a modest $12, with reservations at (212) 288-3246, extension 3.
--NATHAN HULL
YIDDISH PIRATES UPDATE: Al Grand of SavoyNet writes: I just returned from a tour of six cities in Florida with my Yiddish version of Gilbert and Sullivan's PIRATES, otherwise known as Di Yam Gazlonim. We performed in Delray, West Palm Beach, Sunrise, Westin, Coconut Creek and Hollywood. The audiences responded to the performances with joy and enthusiasm. Zalmen Mlotek is still planning to mount a professional production of Di Yam Gazlonim in New York, and Eugene Marner still wants to create a television documentary of the production. Mr. Marner has filmed over forty TV films and documentaries for PBS, including Abba Eban's "Heritage, Civilization and the Jews", "Creativity with Bill Moyers" and the four part series "Challenge to America with Hedrick Smith". The entire production will be under the artistic direction of Zalmen Mlotek. The cost of mounting such a production is astronomical and we are seeking a wealthy sponsor or organization (e.g., a foundation) to finance the project. In the unlikely event that you should happen to know a person or group who may be interested in sponsoring this project, he/she/they may contact Mr. Mlotek by e-mail at 102734.2445@compuserve.com. [We unfortunately have no non-electronic contact info for these people - but in a past news update, Al sent this name and phone number for people interested in becoming involved in his project: David Mladnov Phone: (617) 558-6480 Fax: (617) 527-3104]
PO Box 367, Arlington, MA 02174-0004
Send electronic contributions to our new e-mail address:
negass@iname.comPresident RICHARD FREEDMAN:
(617) 630-9525; e-mail: rnf@null.net
Vice-President PATRICIA BREWER: (617) 323-3480
Secretary: CAROL MAHONEY: (617) 648-1720
Treasurer CARL WEGGEL: (508) 474-0396
Program Chair PETER CAMERON: (508) 975-0405
Members at Large:
JANICE DALLAS: (617) 275-7412;
JaniceDals@Juno.com
SHELDON HOCHMAN: (508) 842-7617
J. DONALD SMITH: (508) 823-5110;
dsmith@umassd.edu
Membership Officer: BILL MAHONEY: (617) 648-1720
Newsletter Editor: MARION LEEDS CARROLL
(617) 646-9115; mlcar@mit.edu - and, coming soon:
http://web.mit.edu/mlcar/www/mlcarroll.html
NEGASS membership dues are $15 and up. Please send membership inquiries to Bill Mahoney C/O the above address.
The NEGASS Web Page is located at
http://www.negass.org