THE MERRYMAN AND HIS MAID

 Curtain Call at New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players' production of Yeomen of the Guard

New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players have been delighting NYC audiences for half a century and we have witnessed their growth in artistry and audience size at least for the latter portion of this period. Their professionalism makes them one of the Big Apple's premier performing companies. We have always enjoyed their musical values as well as their production values. Last night's performance manifested their importance on the NYC cultural scene.

So curious were we about the difference between Yeomen of the Guard and the trio of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas most commonly produced (The Mikado,  H.M.S. Pinafore, and Pirate of Penzance) that we did an online search to learn the details, as you, Dear Reader, may also choose to do. We will focus on a few interesting details before relating our experience with this delightful production.

The first thing we noticed was that the overture was not merely a collection of tunes but was composed in sonata form. Speaking of the excellent NYG&S Players Orchestra, helmed by Maestro Joseph Rubin, we were particularly delighted by the way the winds highlighted Sullivan's themes. The next thing that differentiated this work from other G&S works is the lack of institutional satire. There are no sendups of the judiciary, the navy, or the police. As a matter of fact, the Yeomen are a particularly normal bunch, gorgeously decked out in Beefeater's garb.

And finally, the ending is not a tidy resolution with everyone happy. Rather, it is bittersweet with the Merryman (the jester or fool, as it were) collapsed in a heap on the floor as the Maid, his theatrical partner, weds another man. Even sadder, the lovesick Phoebe has lost the object of her affection and is bound to a man she doesn't love--the Jailer Wilfred Shadbolt, in order to keep him quiet about a risky plot. Similarly, Sergeant Meryll, Phoebe's father, is obliged to wed Dame Carruthers whom he has been avoiding for years, all to keep the same secret. We will say no more about the plot but hope that you, Dear Reader. will catch the final performance tonight and see for yourself.

We don't want to convey the impression that the work is completely serious. As in Shakespeare, there are more than enough moments of levity and sufficient plot twists to tease your brain. As a matter of fact, the opening aria, sung by Phoebe (marvelous mezzo Amy Maude Helfer) "When maiden loves, she sits and sighs" led us to believe that she would be the one to enjoy a happy ending. 

The one who does enjoy the happy ending is Elsie Maynard, a strolling singer portrayed by the winsome soprano Natalia Hulse who weds a condemned prisoner (terrific tenor Thomas Valenti) in order to save his inheritance.  Have we aroused your interest yet?  The heartbroken Merryman, as performed by James Mills, not only touched our heart but also dazzled our ears with patter song.

The closest role to a villain (but not really) is that of the Jailer turned Jester who in spite of constant rejection by Phoebe may eventually wed the woman who has been fighting him off. Matthew Wages imbued the role with a great deal of humor in the effective manner in which he spoke his lines, accompanied by perfect facial expression and gesture.

We also enjoyed the performances of Andrew Martens, Sergeant of the Guards and Phoebe's father. He lent stature and honor to his role, even as he connives and plots to save his friend's life. His Lieutenant was effectively portrayed by the well known David Auxier who so successfully co-directed the work, along with the afore-mentioned Mr. Mills.  Phoebe's brother was played by Cameron Smith and Sarah Hutchinson played the part of Dame Carruthers niece, both necessary to move the plot forward. It is always a pleasure to hear the striking contralto voice of Angela Christine Smith as Dame Carruthers;  we have enjoyed her performances in every one of the company's productions.

We would like to commend the production values.  The set by Richard Manfredi and Albère does evoke the Tower of London, or at least the way we imagine it in the 16th century. Phoebe's home, or at least the room where she spins, occupies a corner of the stage. No more is needed. Costumes by Gail J. Wofford and Jan Holland are resplendent.

We generally have a quibble and here it is. The sound was muddy at times. We cannot tell whether it was a flaw in the electronics or careless diction on the part of the singers but we did understand every word sang and spoken by Mr. Valenti. We considered that our spotty comprehension had to do with our lack of experience with miked voices,  but our companion confirmed our opinion. The well chosen singers could probably be well heard without amplification. Or perhaps subtitles might be provided as they are by Utopia Opera's productions of G&S operettas.  Just sayin'.

© meche kroop

A MEMORABLE IOLANTHE

David Wannen, Angela Christine Smith, Claire Leyden, and David Macaluso

Although not as frequently produced as The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance, lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan's works must count Iolanthe as one of their masterpieces. It was a fine selection to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Although we were not here 50 Years ago, throughout  our theater going days we have watched this venerable company increase in artistry and prestige until last night when we watched enthusiastic fans filling the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, a sizable and comfortable venue with (thankfully below ground level) orchestra pit, well filled by Maestro Albert Bergeret and his superb orchestra. 

As a matter of fact the first thing we noticed was the sparkling overture. Once the action started one's attention became riveted upon W.S. Gilbert's lyrics which are so clever that they take one's full attention; one might miss just how skillfully the music establishes both situation and character. Focusing on the overture with its alternation between the lyrical and the pompous, the romantic and the official, informs us of Sullivan's mastery of tunefulness and orchestral colors.

The plot has something for everyone. The story, like most of those by G&S, focuses on satire of British institutions, in this case the British Parliament and its  self serving custom of the Lords marrying off their wards to the highest political bidder, so to speak. If the theme of political corruption and the emotional tendency for self-justification are insufficient to entertain you, there is always a love story between a beautiful soprano (in this case, the wildly talented and operatically trained Claire Leyden) and a tenor who must overcome obstacles to win her love--in this case the tenorrific David Macaluso.

Opera lovers may catch bits and pieces the Savoyards borrowed from the world of opera and ballet, bits both musical and physical.  For example, during the patter song "When you're lying awake" (sung by the marvelous James Mills as The Lord Chancellor), Maestro Bergeret, who also directed, kept bidding the increasingly exhausted Mr. Mills for encore verses until the poor singer was on the verge of collapse, only to be wound up again just like Olympia, the mechanical doll in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. Ballet lovers may have noticed reflections of the "Dance of the Cygnets" in Swan Lake as the fairies danced in Act I.

The story is a charming one in which the fairy Iolanthe (portrayed by Amy Maude Helfer)  had escaped the death sentence reserved for fairies who marry mortals by the leniency of the Fairy Queen (played by contralto Angela Christine Smith, so amply of body and voice). She had born a son Strephon (Mr. Macaluso) in her forbidden marriage with the Lord Chancellor (Mr. Mills).

Strephon has become a shepherd and has fallen in love with a charming girl who is a ward in Chancery of The Lord Chancellor who does not accept his suit. Strephon is overheard speaking affectionately with his mother who, as a fairy, has not aged and appears to be romantically involved with Strephon, sending poor Phyllis into a fit of anger and determination to marry one of the Lords, never mind which. Both The Earl of Mountararat (marvelous Matthew Wages, with resonant low tones and exquisite comic timing) and The Earl of Tolloller (tenor Daniel Greenwood, with similar comic talent) vie for her hand in a delightful duet. 

Let us not forget the similarly superb comic chops of David Wannen whose huge bass tones were just perfect for Private Willis of The Grenadier Guards whose "When all night long a chap remains" struck us as perfect political commentary.

If we have said very little about the voices, it is because amplification never gives us a true picture of the singers' instruments.  However, the only one in the cast whom we have often heard unamplified on the opera stage is Ms. Leyden and to her vocal gifts we can attest.  Everyone else is in the cast sounded just fine but simply not describable. The acting was flawless as was Bergeret's direction.

Gail J. Wofford's costumes were marvelously colorful and period apropos (1885). Jack Garver's set design was simple but effective. David Auxier's choreography was well suited to the fairies and to the Lords who somehow reminded us of the Rockettes.

I was an extraordinarily satisfying lighthearted evening at a time when our own nation is ripe and ready for political satire. Unfortunately, all we get are memes and cartoons on FaceBook and on Instagram. We wish we had a team as clever as Gilbert and Sullivan to write something pertaining to contemporary times.

Since we always have a minor quibble, let us just suggest that titles be provided. We spent some time reading the libretto and marveled at Gilbert's skills with wordplay and rhyming. That much of the words were lost during the performance seemed particularly unfortunate. Naturally, low voices are more easily understood so Mr. Wannen and Ms. Smith were always clearly understood. The female chorus, whilst charming, was the least comprehensible.

© meche kroop

INNOCENT MERRIMENT

Rebecca Hargrove, David Wannen, John Charles McLaughlin, Sarah Caldwell Smith, David Auxier, David Macaluso, Cáitlin Burke, Matthew Wages, and Amy Maude Helfer

Delighting audiences since 1885, W.S.Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado has been brought up to speed by an inventive framing device. Possibly borrowing a page from Mike Leigh's 1999 film Topsy Turvy, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players' Director and Choreographer David Auxier-Loyola has written a prologue hinting at how G&S came up with the idea for The Mikado. In this prologue, he himself portrayed the dour Gilbert with David Macaluso taking the role of the genial Sullivan. 

At an impasse, their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte opens a trunk of mementos redolent of the Victorian obsession with japonaiserie. Meanwhile, members of the D'Oyly Carte Company invade the space with their varied complaints. Making a big splash was the powerfully voiced Cáitlin Burke who would play Katisha, the "daughter-in-law elect" of the Mikado. We had the same thrill of recognition that we experienced seeing the film, as words were tossed about that would make their way into the operetta.

The device added a great deal to our appreciation although it did make for a long evening. Yet we were never bored and the three hours sped by. We have nothing but good things to say about the cast, the orchestra conducted by Joseph Rubin, and the production values.

Why has this operetta endured since Victorian days? One had only to look around the Kaye Playhouse to see heads wagging in time with the music and arms subtly waving back and forth; one had only to listen to the crowd emerging at the end humming the tunes. Good music will do that! Furthermore, Gilbert's lyrics are not only hilarious and clever but responsive to the rhythms of the English language in a way that very few lyricists have managed to achieve.

The more you hear Sullivan's music the more you appreciate it. Last night we were particularly taken with his complex writing for ensembles, particularly in the madrigal "Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day".

We also enjoyed the contemporary updating of "I've Got a Little List", sung by Ko-Ko, the tailor who has been given the role of Lord High Executioner. Similarly we got a big kick out of "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime" sung by the Mikado himself. These are not the actual titles of the songs but rather how they are commonly known.

Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado in the disguise of "A Wand'ring Minstrel" was sung by the sweet voiced tenor John Charles McLaughlin who gave a sympathetic and engaging performance.

His self-absorbed beloved Yum-Yum was adorably realized by the superb soprano Sarah Caldwell Smith who is well known to us from the Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live. "The Sun, Whose Rays are All Ablaze" was beautifully rendered.

Impressing us with his comic chops was David Macaluso who kept the audience in stitches with his physical humor, accompanied by generous facial expressiveness. In the prologue, he portrayed Arthur Sullivan.

Matthew Wages, who is well known to us from several performances with Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live, made a very humorous Pooh-Bah adopting different expressions, different vocal colors, and different gestures for each of his many occupations, from solicitor to Chancellor of the Exchequer to Bishop of Titipu.

David Wannen made a regal Mikado and clearly enunciated all of the miscreants of society on his list--and the appropriate punishments for each. We wondered whether the updatings were written by Mr. Auxier who portrayed Mr. Gilbert in the Prologue and Pish-Tush in the operetta itself.

We enjoyed Amy Maude Helfer as Pitti-Sing as much as we enjoyed her recent performance as Ruth in Utopia Opera's Pirates of Penzance. She has a great flair for G&S. 

Almost stealing the show as the vengeful Katisha was the sonorous voice of Cáitlin Burke. Her final scene with Ko-Ko was a marvel of actors working off one another. He cannot stand her but must marry her so that Nanki-Poo can wed Yum-Yum. He serenades her with "Willow, Tit-Willow" so successfully that her rage melts and she becomes an almost-nice person.

Adding to the success of this production is a wonderful set by Anshuman Bhatia. A railway station stage left bearing the sign"Town of Titipu" and a tailor shop stage right appear before a painted backdrop looking a bit like a Japanese woodcut of mountains. A few branches of flowering trees and a bench provide a place for wooing.

Benjamin Weill's lighting was exemplary. When Yum-Yum sings about the sun's glory, the stage is warmly lit with golden tones. When she comes to the verse about the moon, the lighting becomes dark and tinged with cool blues.

Quinto Ott's costumes were colorful and playful. The women's Victorian gowns revealed the armature underneath that served to create the shape that was popular in that era. Those of the Mikado and Pooh-Bah were appropriately over embellished.

Much work had been done to appease the Asian community's objections and the production managed to be politically correct whilst holding to the intent of the piece. We have no idea what the cast wore in 1865 but this reminder that the work is about Victorian England and not about Japan made it seem just right.

Victorians needed to see their hypocrisies, bureaucracies, sexual repression, and political chicaneries exposed and ridiculed. Perhaps today we need a work that ridicules political correctness! But where could we find another Gilbert and Sullivan?

© meche kroop

PIRATICAL and DRAMATICAL

Cast of The Pirates of Penzance -- a Utopia Opera production

We have often written about how rare it is to find a composer who can set the English language in a musical way. One must capitalize upon its punchy rhythm and unique rhymability. Who beside Stephen Sondheim has done that? One must go all the way back to Victorian days to the works of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan to find such heights of delight.

As many times as we have seen Pirates of Penzance, the production by Utopia Opera was the absolute best, hands down. For one thing, the small theater at Hunter College (the Lang Recital Hall) permitted an up close and personal viewing. For another thing, the enunciation of the language was so crisp that we didn't miss a single clever rhyme. Also, the performances were filled with energy, thanks to some dynamic direction by the super talented William Remmers and some excellent casting of singers with comedic chops. Furthermore, the staging was filled with so much invention that we never missed the sets. 

Musical values hit the mark with Music Direction shared by Mr. Remmers with John Cuk who conducted the lively score, placing the string quartet plus bass at ground level and the winds and percussion on one side of the stage.

The singers were superb. As the Pirate King, Erik Contzius created a lovable rascal to whom Frederic (fine tenor Daniel Kamalic) was apprenticed at a very young age. For those of you who don't know the story, Frederic's nursemaid Ruth (a very funny Amy Maude Helfer) thought she was apprenticing him as a pilot, not a pirate.

Having reached his 21st birthday, Frederic assumes he has fulfilled his duties and is free to abandon the crew of pirates whom he loves individually but deplores as a group. This crew is a strange lot, never attacking a weaker party and having a soft spot for orphans, a feature which becomes an interesting plot point.

Frederick falls in love with Mabel, one of five daughters of Major-General Stanley, hilariously portrayed by Mr. Remmers, thus absenting himself from his usual task of conducting the orchestra. This role is the most challenging one of the opera, involving a patter song ("I am the very model of a modern Major-General") that we have never heard sung so rapidly, nor so crisply. 

The role of Mabel was sung by the splendid soprano Kathleen Norchi who was given songs that seemed to send up the tropes of bel canto opera. She easily negotiated the elaborate fioritura and made a worthy love object for young Frederic.

Trey Sandusky created the character of the Sergeant of Police who adopted a "dese, dem, and dose accent" whilst singing "When a felon's not engaged in his employment". We don't know why a cockney accent wasn't chosen to contrast with the plummy British accents of the other characters but it worked and was very funny.

Juan José López Delgado was equally excellent as Samuel, the Pirate King's lieutenant and the second in command to the Sergeant of Police. As Major-General Stanley's other daughters we had a comely group of young women--Kayla Faccilongo, Leslie Ratner, Shannon Gaffney, and Jane Hoffman.

We love seeing imagination taking the place of major expenditures and give credit to Eric Lamp and Angel Betancourt for their clever costuming.

Perhaps one reason that this comic opera is so successful in the United States is that the objects of skewering are not as unknown to Americans. Satirizing a sense of duty is more familiar than the inner workings of British political bodies. As a matter of fact, the work premiered right here in New York in 1879, shortly before it played in London. It has been popular ever since.

We are thrilled that Utopia's audience voted to see this work. By now, we hope you know that the audience selects works for Utopia Opera to produce. Although the audience is always enthusiastic, we have never heard such wild applause. The production absolutely deserved that acclaim.

We urge you to attend the final performance--today's matinée-- if tickets are still available. Photos of the performance are on our Facebook page, Voce di Meche. Utopia Opera's ninth season continues with a Mozart/Salieri double bill in the Spring.

© meche kroop

UPSTAGING THE ART

Stars of New Camerata Opera at the Affordable Art Fair

This opera fan took great pleasure in the fact that our favorite art form upstaged the visual art last night at The Affordable Art Fair, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion. It's not that the paintings were deficient in any way; it's just that the operatic performances were so compelling.

For the better part of three hours, these outstanding singers, bewigged and gloriously costumed by Angela Huff, strolled around the two floors of the exhibit, dazzling the audiences with arias, duets, and ensembles.  Verdi and Mozart, Bizet and Offenbach, not to mention Neapolitan songs, kept the audience following them from room to room. We would not be a bit surprised to learn that a good percentage of the attendees would be showing up for the unusual double feature that New Camerata Opera will be performing at the end of November--Gustav Holst's Savitri and John Blow's Venus and Adonis.

The singers' makeup and wigs made them particularly unrecognizable; included were sopranos Barbara Porto and Lily Arbisser, mezzo-sopranos Eva Parr and Amy Maude Helfer, baritones Jay Lucas Chacon and Stan Lacy, and tenors Victor Khodadad and Erik Bagger. Mr. Bagger, Artistic Director of the company, astonished us by being the least recognizable of all, and by accompanying himself on the guitar! We love discovering people's hidden talents! 

Aside from Mr. Bagger's guitar, all the singing was a cappella! It has been an exciting year watching small opera companies experimenting with new formats and new venues. This adventure provided lots of fun for the cast and the art lovers who offered enthusiastic applause after every song. Down with folks who think opera is stuffy!  Not so!

(c) meche kroop

A PC MIKADO

W.S. Gilbert (Joshua Miller), Richard D'Oyly Carte (Matthew Wages), and Arthur Sullivan (David Macaluso)
(photo by Carol Rosegg)

For us, art and music of quality are what it's all about; we confess to care not a whit for political correctness and we resent tampering with the classics.  We approached New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players' new production of The Mikado with a great deal of trepidation.

We need not have worried. Whatever offensive material that was extirpated from the original "really won't be missed". This version succeeded on every level and can be recommended without reservation. Director David Auxier's concept is a framing device that brought to mind Mike Leigh's fascinating film from 1999--Topsy Turvy--which showed the trials and tribulations that underpinned the seemingly effortless oeuvre of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Today, in similar fashion, a full year of labor and much consulting and compromising with a mostly Asian advisory board were not visible in the finished product. What the audience gets is a lengthy evening of effervescent entertainment that flew by in double time. Part of the credit goes to the prodigious talents of composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist W.S. Sullivan. The rest goes to Mr. Auxier's concept and a lot of hard, but invisible, work.

In a clever framing device, we get a glimpse of the interaction among Gilbert, Sullivan, and impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte. There are petty squabbles and negotiations plus various complaints from the members of the D'Oyly Carte company. A case of writer's block is solved when Gilbert gets knocked out by a falling sword which D'Oyly Carte has brought back from a London exhibit of Japanalia. As we recall, in the Victorian period, Great Britain was fascinated by the recent opening of trade with Japan.

The blow to Gilbert's head leads him to imagining all of the cultural inconsistencies of his own nation grafted onto a mythic Japan. The Mikado is the result. Gilbert's skill always lay in satirizing the ridiculous bureaucracy, sexual prudery and cultural inconsistencies of his time and place. Moreover he did so by skillfully using his native language in a manner that has never been equalled.

Sullivan brought to the table a banquet of musical gifts. The tunes are infinitely hummable and we dare anyone to attend without humming a few of them all the way home and on into the night and next day. His rhythms are infectious and, to appreciate his consummate compositional skills, we recommend listening to the harmonies and overlapping voices of "Young Man Despair" sung in Act I by Pooh-Bah, Nanki-Poo, and Pish-Tush--or the "merry madrigal" of Act II.

Once the prologue ends, the opera begins and scenic elements and characters from the Prologue are transformed. D'Oyly Carte becomes the ambitious Pooh-Bah (sung by baritone Matthew Wages). Sullivan becomes Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko (sung by baritone David Macaluso), and Gilbert becomes Pish-Tush (sung by baritone Joshua Miller).  The men are dressed in Victorian fashion but with Japanese fabrics and accoutrements. Gilbert carries a notebook and we are never allowed to forget that he is writing his libretto in his head.  This work, like others of Gilbert and Sullivan, examines British mores and institutions and ridicules them. It is not at all unusual in the world of opera for plots to be transposed to other countries or other epochs. It is easier to look at oneself from afar!

Tenor Daniel Greenwood made a splendid Nanki-Poo and impressed with his delivery of "A Wondering Minstrel I";  soprano Sarah Caldwell Smith made a winsome Yum-Yum, his love interest. We enjoyed her aria "The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze".  It was a memorable performance, both vocally and dramatically.

The "Three Little Maids From School" trio is always a delight. Ms. Smith was joined by the lovely soprano Alexandra Haines as Peep-Bo and mezzo-soprano Amy Maude Helfer as Pitti-Sing who contributed greatly to the complicated execution plot, balancing the male voices.

Caitlin Burke brought the house down as the angry and violent Katisha, chiming in with her "daughter-in-law elect", infuriating the Mikado. There was something very touching about her softening when Ko-Ko wins her hand by singing "Willow, Tit-Willow".

Chris White electrified the proceedings with large booming tones as he related ways to "let the punishment fit the crime". He had suitably magisterial presence while keeping the humor going.

All of the singers seem to have experience in opera as well as musical theater and brought both excellent voices and convincing acting skills to the production. Mr. Auxier's direction and choreography could not have been better. The sets by Anshuman Bhatia were simple (a mountainous scene as backdrop and two shoji-screened rooms); the lighting by Benjamin Weill was dramatic.