Synopsis
Programme
Impressions/Performances
A show that delivers exactly what it says on the, er, programme - over two and a half hours of selections from the collaborative works of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The show begins with the grandest of Sullivan's operetta overtures, that from "Yeomen of the Guard", before taking us on a tour of some of his most delightful music and Gilbert's wittiest lyrics.
The vocalists are Jeremy Peaker (baritone), Graham Stone (bass), Andrew Forbes Lane (tenor), Jenni Bern (soprano) and Pauline Birchall (mezzo soprano). Peaker was the creator of Much Loved Productions Limited which has been touring operatic musical shows successfully for sixteen years. He is also Managing Director of The British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as well as being a full time member of Opera North. In this show he is main compere and regales us from time to time with theatrical anecdotes and background to some of the music - also calling upon his fellow performers to fill in the gaps between numbers with some of their own favourite stories. Peaker, Stone and Birchall have each sung in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, whilst Bern and Lane each have experience with the English National Opera and other prestigious operatic companies.
The music, whether solo, duet, trio, quartet or full company is all excellently performed and there are many highlights throughout the evening, both musical and comical. Among the former were Bern's beautifully sung renditions of the classic "Poor Wandering One" (Pirates), Birchall's "Alone and Yet Alive" (Mikado) and Stone's "The Sentry's Song" (Iolanthe). Comedic highlights included Lane's (deliberately) falteringly sung "A Tenor, All Singers Above" (Utopia) and Birchall's hilarious drunken routine singing "Come, Bumpers-Aye, Ever So Many".
The orchestra, numbering over two dozen (conducted by Anthony Kraus), was equally first class in wresting the best from the albeit limited acoustics of the relatively small concert hall.
Verdict
An evening of musical entertainment certain to delight all Gilbert and Sullivan fans.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net