"150 friends and 2 and half tons of baggage"

But it's quite another thing if you say "Oh, and I'd like to bring along 150 of my friends and 2-1/2 tons of baggage."

Fortunately, this is the second time to Buxton for us so we have learned a few of the tricks. The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society is in its 45th season. I would hardly call us sedentary, but we have been in the same rehearsal and shop space for 30 years and have a summer lease on the theater that doesn't expire until 2027! We have had an amateur orchestra as an integral part of our Society since the early '60s. Our sets tend to be heavy-duty, multi-level, realistic-looking, long-lasting and heavy. When we do move, it's only a few blocks from our shop to the theater.

So bringing this lot over the north pole to England requires some serious logistical planning. Last time we were in Buxton (for HMS Pinafore in 1996) we learned that the proscenium in Buxton was 15 feet narrower than we were accustomed to in Seattle. Given the very short (1-day) get-in time we were not able to do much about it. Some of our blocking looked like rush hour at the subway. This time we know about that, but we still need to fit a lot of people on the stage.

		"traveling with a full band"

Also, last time, we left our orchestra at home. This time, they would not hear of it! So at last we will be traveling with a full band. Probably a good thing, because we were not able to pin down a good orchestration for The Grand Duke so we have done our own. It will as close as possible to the one heard on opening night in 1896 with all of the songs intact. We will be able to ship our celli, but the Board balked at buying a ticket for the string bass. We will be renting an instrument in Manchester.

One advantage of all this is that we will have a big band sound at our cabaret!

In order to eliminate blocking problems we had last time with an unfamiliar set, we also decided to bring our own. However, our Board was adamant that we not short-change our Seattle audiences by making the set flimsy looking. As usual, we reached several compromises.

The set is made of 4X8 foot flats made of 1/8 inch Luan plywood with very light framework, weighing less then 25 lbs each. There over 100 of these flats, connected together with hinges, to make up the set. We have a few platforms and some interesting props, and, of course costumes. To get this all to England took some interesting negotiations with the air lines.

We selected Air Canada as our carrier and we will be traveling in three "waves." Our largest group, 120 people, will be going on August 6th. On this particular airline, each passenger is allowed two check-through bags weighing no more that 140 lbs total. We have agreed with the airline that if we limit our travelers to 90 lbs total each, Air Canada will "credit" us with 50 lbs of freight for each of the 120 people, or 6,000 lbs. This covers the set, props, costumes and instruments.

The only slight inconvenience is that we must get everyone and everything from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada to catch the flight. Chartered busses and a truck will pick up everyone very early that Friday morning to make the 140-mile trip to British Columbia. We assume that there will be little problem with customs when we show up with a German village in the back of our truck!

		"sleepless from Seattle"

We will fly from Vancouver, with a stop in Toronto, and then on to Manchester. We have arranged for a truck at the Manchester airport to take our stuff to Buxton. We should all arrive Saturday afternoon. We may coin a new phrase; "Sleepless from Seattle."

We have been working closely with Guy Dunk at the Buxton Opera House, to make sure that everything will fit. We even had to take into account the raked stage in Buxton, since our Seattle stage is flat. One challenge was to design a set that could be assembled and hung in the very few hours that we have on the morning of our show. We actually intend to have a practice session before we leave. We will need all the volunteers we can muster.

But we will be there. I think you can look forward to a truly fresh version of The Grand Duke. And I don't think anyone will complain that we didn't do it the way D'Oyly Carte traditionally did it in the '50s.

Mike Storie