Danny Bristoll
Their productions are deeply respectful, more-or-less traditional productions (without being encased in amber, as were the D’Oyly Carte productions with designs and stage business that had been done for a century). The operettas are done with painted flat scenery (by “Albère” – rather charmingly done in period style) with a chamber-sized orchestra and reduced chorus.
There are a number of recent dangerous trends in staging Gilbert & Sullivan over the last four decades stemming from the Wilford Leach production that was mounted by the Public Theater and went to Broadway in the early 80’s. (I saw it back then – I was young… then…) One is casting pop and rock voices and the other is an overlay of deliberate, broad anachronistic camp to the material. None of that happened here – company founder, stage director and lead conductor Albert Bergeret kept a nice sense of Victorian propriety about the proceedings which only highlighted William S. Gilbert’s subversive humor. The singers had a broad background in opera, operetta, musical and spoken theater yet all were steeped in the G&S idiom.
The only criticism of Bergeret’s direction I might have is a lack of speed in the playing, a sense of deliberation and slowness in picking up cues with spaces in between lines which gave a dutiful energy to the performance, dampening the comic timing. Otherwise, there was a lot of charm to the presentation and much to enjoy. I saw two performances – one on January 5th, a Sunday matinee and the following Saturday evening January 11th which featured some cast changes in major and minor roles.
Many of these singers have become mainstays of the company appearing year after year. Patter specialist James Mills (Major General Stanley) is one such veteran as is contralto Angela Christine Smith (Ruth) who have performed all the roles for their type in the G&S canon. Smith had a true plummy contralto and didn’t overact her role. Mills had a touch of routine but nailed some genuine laughs, especially at the second Saturday night show which had more verve all around. As the coloratura Mabel, the lovely Claire Leyden (first weekend) was a fetching Victorian maiden with powerful high notes (sometimes too consistently loud) and dexterous agility. Her alternate the next weekend, Sophie Thompson, had a much weaker tone with edgy and approximate coloratura but was delightfully daffy and ditzy in characterization. Leyden had a touch of steel which was apt for a Major General’s daughter. Thompson’s coloratura aimed purely for operatic parody rather than legit light opera.
Of the two Pirate Kings, handsome David Wannen (who not only is a performer but the Executive Director of the company – he has done musical theater and modeling but also has an MBA from Columbia) was the stronger of the two swashing and then buckling with doofy machismo and had the stronger bass-baritone voice. The alternate King, Matthew Wages, deliciously devilishly over the top as Sir Despard Murgatroyd in last month’s Ruddigore, is a big talent who uncharacteristically sang and acted with insufficient bravado and strength. Frederic, the Slave to Duty, was played both weekends by the winningly boyish Alex Corson who initially seemed to have a slight musical voice in the middle but was capable of pingy operatic high notes (his rep has ranged from Tony in West Side Story to Ernesto in Don Pasquale).
Danny Bristoll
Bass-baritone David Auxier, also the choreographer and a company veteran since 2010, was a rubber-limbed Sergeant of Police who danced as much as he sang. Again, he was rather deliberate in his delivery pausing between lines and stretching out comic business to the breaking point. Auxier’s tone is light and short on the low notes but he is a genuine triple threat. Adam Hirama Wells was a droll pirate henchman Samuel who seemed game for anything thrown his way. Mezzo Hannah Holmes (Mad Margaret in Ruddigore) was a delightfully spinsterish Edith while both Laura Sudduth and Caitlin Borek earned laughs as the willing sister Kate who pirouetted into the arms of the first available pirate – both dance as well as sing.
Conductor Joseph Rubin initially disappointed with a rather disjointed overture lacking bounce and variety, but as the action and singing started, he showed more aptitude and élan.
With the closure of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company decades ago and another modernized adaptation called Pirates! The Penzance Musical (set in New Orleans with jazz/swing style music) with Jinx Monsoon as Ruth and David Hyde Pierce as the Major General heading Roundabout’s — and our — way in April, traditional bread and butter Gilbert & Sullivan is an endangered species. I am glad that NYGASP and Albert Bergeret are keeping the G&S flame burning in a world where operetta and light opera is a true rarity – it is nice to see and hear the real thing done in the proper style.
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