30 November 2009: Gilbert and Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance
30 November 2009: Gilbert and Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance
Valley Light Opera, Amherst Regional High School. Music director: Joseph Sabol; stage director and choreographer: Graham Christian
One of the strongest and most pleasurable and joyful productions ever mounted by the Valley Light Opera. A uniformly strong singing cast, skillfully and imaginatively directed and choreographed, and musically very well prepared. This was opening night, and one expects a little unevenness, a few glitches here and there, and perhaps even some noticeable flaws or problems with timing. There was virtually none of this, much to my amazement and delight. I have known the Valley Light Opera from its very beginnings in 1975, and should mention that I have myself performed with this company many times. (Full disclosure: I tried out for the part of the police sergeant, but was beaten out by another long-term company veteran, Steve Morgan, who had a better low E.) The casting of principals was almost uniformly strong. The most difficult role to cast in any G. & S. show is the leading tenor role. Tenors, everywhere you look, are in notoriously short supply. The one they found to play Frederic, Michael Holt, was a less than perfect fit: his higher register was there, admittedly, but a bit on the thin side; and his acting in Act I was rather wooden and unexpressive (perhaps he was just nervous) — but, somewhat to my surprise, he came alive in Act II. In particular he held up his part in the trio, simply yet very effectively staged by Graham Christian in a series of three-part lateral movements across the stage, two characters moving backwards and propelled by the third character moving forwards — a refreshingly apt way of emulating in movement the three verses of the musical piece, in which each principal takes a turn.
The stage was nearly flooded with people, and initially I had some doubt that the total absence of risers would make it difficult to see people behind other people; moreover, the director tended to bring people whether chorus or principals well downstage and even onto the apron outside the proscenium wall (in the case of the bumbling police constables during the hilarious conflicts of police and pirates in Act II). Somehow, the absence of risers posed no problems at all, and from my vantage point in the middle of row J I had no trouble seeing anyone and everyone. Nor did I have trouble hearing anyone and everyone, partly thanks to the two microphones standing in the orchestra pit at the edge of the stage, and partly to the placing of the choruses so close to the downstage edge. It was even true that problems with diction, perennial with this company, were less in evidence than in any show of recent memory.
The setting was evocative of the Victorian toy theater, and succeeded well, particularly in the setting for Act II, outdoors among the wooded ruins of the estate Major General Stanley has purchased. Because this is a night scene through the entire act,