Precious Nonsense

NEWSLETTER OF THE MIDWESTERN GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SOCIETY

Issue 57

Mad, I? Yes, very!

But why? Mystery!

Yes, I think I must be losing my mind, and it is a mystery as to the reason. In any event, if my mind isn't lost, several promised articles for the Nonsense are. I had, ready to go, except for the typing, an article from Michael Walters about the various recordings that had been made of the opera Princess Ida, one from Andre Ross about the successful musical comedies he has written, the libretto from Goldberg & Solomon's Tailors of Ponzance, and the information on ordering G&S piano duets from a music store in Madison. When I looked where I thought they were, there was something else there instead. I've torn up the house and can't find them. As soon as they turn up (or as soon as they are replaced), we'll get them in the Nonsense.

Good News! I found them all, except for the notice about the piano duets. Maybe the Madison Savoyards can help us out on this point: the notice was listed in one of their newsletters. If they could let us know about those duets again, we'll all know!

Otherwise, with the U.S. Postal rate having gone up, we're trying to get our money's worth out of the newsletter. Although the rate has gone up on first class letters weighing an ounce or less, it has remained the same for those up to two ounces, and has gone down on those that weigh more. So we may be in for some fat Nonsenses for a while. Speaking of mail, if you had tried to e-mail S/A Cole at the e-mail address listed in the last issue, try it again (it's sarah@NEMRT.com). The Nonsense had no sooner been mailed, when the e-mail at the office where I work went haywire. Took a month to straighten out, too. It seems to be working all right now, though, so give me a thrill and e-mail me. If you want to send something for the Nonsense that way, that'll be great: the big delay in getting it done is working up the energy to retype the information.



What Cheer! What Cheer! {Midwestern}

The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company (and the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra) are presenting Ruddigore this season! Performances will be at Mandel Hall (1131 E. 57th St.-- on the campus of the University of Chicago) on March 11 (7:30 pm), March 12 and 13 (8:00 pm), and March 14th (2:00 pm). They generally give it again in the summer, too, but watch and see. Tickets are $30.00 for patrons, $15.00 general admission, and $8.00 for students (but you'd better call to see what qualifies as a student). According to the University of Chicago's Music Department's Winter Calendar of Events, tickets are available only by mail through March 1: call the G&S Hotline at (773) 702-9075 to request an order form (or look in the envelope at the attached flyer). After March 1, tickets go on sale at the Reynolds Club Box office (703) 702-7300. Incidentally, for other information about what's going on musically at the University of Chicago, try calling their Concert Hotline at (773) 702-8069. If you prefer making Internet contact, the Department of Music can be reached at (so far as we know) http://humanities.uchicago.edu/music.

But before you call, read this: The University of Chicago Department of Music and The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company have been very generous. If, when ordering tickets by mail or by telephone (no walk-ups), you mention the Midwestern Gilbert and Sullivan Society, they will take $2.00 off the price of each Adult/General Admission ticket. I thought that was awfully nice of them.

The Sorg Opera Company (63 S. Main St, Suite 205; Middletown, OH 45044 / (513) 425-0180, Fax (513) 425-0181) and The Whitewater Opera Company (211 South 5th St., Richmond IN 47374 / (765) 962-7106, Fax (765) 962-7451 / wocop@infocom.com) will be presenting HMS Pinafore during their upcoming season. Sorg Opera Company will present it April 9-10, 1999, at the Sorg Opera House (57 S. Main St., in Middletown, OH), and Whitewater Opera Company will have it April 16-17, 1999 at the Civic Hall Performing Arts Center (380 Hub Etchison Parkway, in Richmond, IN). For more information, and individual ticket prices, please contact the respective companies.

The remaining opera in their season is Rigoletto (February 12-13, 1999/Sorg, February 19-20, 1999/Whitewater). Again, for more information, contact the company.



Ohio Light Opera's 1999 season presents quite a varied mixture of musical theater. This year's Gilbert and Sullivan productions include Pirates of Penzance (June 9*, 12*, 22*, 27*, July 4*, 8, 13*, 21*, 31, and August 6), Princess Ida (July 3*, 7*, 16, 20*, 29, August 1*, and 7), and three one-act operettas presented as A Victorian Trilogy. The programs are The Carp (by Frank Desprez, and new music by Quade Winter), Cox and Box, and The Zoo (June 15*, 29, July 3, 10*, and 25). Other shows include The Student Prince (June 8, 10, 13*, 18, 19, July 6*, 9, 15, 18, 21, 31*, August 1, and 4), The Firebrand of Florence by Kurt Weil and Ira Gershwin (June 11, 12, 17, 19*, 39*, July 1, 18*, 24, 28, and August 4*), Strauss's A Night in Venice (June 16*, 20*, 26*, July 2, 10, 17*, 22, 28*, and August 3*), Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne (June 24*, 25, 30*, July 11*, 23, 27*, and August 7*), and another "combination" consisting of the Spanish operettas La Verbena De la Paloma/The Festival of Our Lady of the Dove and La Gran Via/Broadway, called !Zarzuela! (July 14*, 17, 24*, 25*, 30, and August 5). Evening performances are at 8:00, Matinees (indicated by the *) are at 2:00. I don't know if Ohio Light Opera is taking orders for individual tickets, or combination tickets, but it doesn't hurt to get in touch with the company. They may be reached at The Ohio Light Opera, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH 44691 / (330) 263-2345. Individual tickets for all performances are $28.00.

The Madison Savoyards (P.O. Box 1612, Madison, WI 53701-1612 / (608) 231-9005 / or try e-mailing sdh@mail.slh.wisc.edu) are going to be presenting Princess Ida this summer. At this point, they are expecting to present it July 23-August 1, 1999, at the Wisconsin Union Theater. For more information, do contact the company.

The Mikado will be Light Opera Works' 1999 season finale. Before that, though, they will be presenting Beautiful Helen of Troy (La Belle Helene) by Offenbach (June 5-13, 1999), Friml's Rose-Marie (August 21-29), and, at the McGaw YMCA Child Care Center Auditorium, She Loves Me (October 8-31). Mikado will be presented December 26-January 2, 2000. Performances (except for She Loves Me) are at Cahn Auditorium (on the corner of Emerson and Sheridan Road, in Evanston, IL). Individual tickets are evidently not yet available, but subscription tickets are running from $69 to $149, depending on seat location. They also have reduced-price tickets for those aged 21 and younger. For more information, the business office can be reached at 927 Noyes St., Evanston, IL 60201-2799 or by calling (847) 869-6300. Or look at their web site at WWW.light-opera-works.org.



What Cheer! What Cheer! {National}

I'm sure we'll have more listings in the next issue, but so far, we know that the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Shreveport (Louisiana) will be presenting Pinafore at the Performing Arts Center. For more information, they can be reached at (318) 868-1429.




Where Can it Be?



John Tugwell's book is now available. The Gilbert & Sullivan Times features newspaper articles about Gilbert and Sullivan and the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company that appeared in the Portsmouth Mercury, and other sources, over the last 102 years. It is an interesting, softbound, book that is a lot of fun to read through. The book is about 8½" x 12", and, though I didn't count them, is said to have about 209 pages.

To review it briefly, it's a nicely-bound, privately-produced work that consists of copies of newspaper clippings about Gilbert and Sullivan, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (including human interest features about performers), and reviews and remarks about other G&S-related performances. If you've ever seen the reference book the New York Times came out with, consisting of reprints of many of its movie reviews and feature articles about the films, its format is similar to that one.

The articles are grouped generally by topic. Its table of contents lists: The D'Oyly Carte's 60 Glorious Years: 1922-1982, The First Gilbert and Sullivan Opera to Be Brought to the Screen: 1939, Sullivan's Centenary: 1942, Sale of valuable scores and diaries of Sir Arthur Sullivan: 1966, Sale of Costumes: 1984, Death of Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte: 1985, The New D'Oyly Carte Opera Company: 1988, and The Old and New Savoy Theatres: 1881 - 1929 - 1993. The book would greatly benefit from page numbers, topical headings on the pages, and an index (and with the current electronic word processing technology, it wouldn't be that hard to do), but it is better to have the book without these features than not at all. Because compiling a similar collection of articles would be -- as this is -- the labor of a lifetime. Although the article citations (the listing of the publication's title, the city where it was produced, and such) aren't all a librarian would want them to be, they all have some sort of source citation, and a little research on the part of the interested would fill in the details. Most readers aren't going to care, anyway. It is a fun book to read through: it has a number of entertaining reviews and insights on G&S matters from various years, many interesting human-interest stories about G&S performers. The newspaper articles also give background on performers that would have taken a lot of hunting to find. As a reference book, it has flaws, but as a source of information, it is sure to become virtually invaluable!

The current price on the book is £21.49 (by Air Mail), or £17.85 (surface mail). But the author, John Tugwell, says that he can only accept cheques drawn (in sterling) on a British bank, but he adds that cash sent by an International Money Order would probably be cheaper (he figures it would probably add another £2 to the cost. But ASK at the Bank! Mr. Tugwell has enough troubles, so don't go making extra work for him). In the meantime, Mr.Tugwell can be reached at 2 Deacons Close; Worle; Weston-super-Mare, Somerset BS22 6EF England / Telephone (09134) 516409.).



I wasn't aware of this until just recently (until I talked to the sales associate), but evidently early G&S vocal scores that included a piano version of the overture had that overture scored for two pianos. This is too late for Christmas, but The Madison Music Company (414 State St., Madison, WI 53703 / (608) 257-5877) has available five volumes of G&S overtures arranged as piano duets. (Hurray for the Madison Savoyards! They came through!) Volume 1 includes overtures for Pinafore, Gondoliers, and Princess Ida; Volume 2: Patience and Pirates of Penzance; Volume 3: Sorcerer and Mikado; Volume 4: Grand Duke and Iolanthe; and Volume 5: Ruddigore and Yeomen. The list price for the books is $9.95, but when I called the Madison Music Company, they said they had them for $9.50 (but I don't think that includes shipping). If you are a pianist, you may also be interested to learn that they have a mail order catalog for piano music. And if you know a couple of pianists, a volume of overtures might make a nice gift!

Results of The Postcard Drawing

Last time around, you may recall, we had a postcard drawing, on the topic of where one goes to buy G&S-related merchandise; or, if one didn't know of any place, what one would like to buy. Personally, I found the results very interesting; not so much the distributors as the things people would be interested in buying.

But first, in this drawing, everybody who sent in a card ended up winning something. The MGS had a bunch of little refrigerator magnets with its name and various "Bab" illustrations on them, and we had enough for all respondents. Three people received a whole set of those magnets, so let's hope all are contented with their prizes.

Now, as for what people would want to buy. This impressed me, because there was virtually no duplication of responses. Two mentioned books, and two mentioned recordings. As for the rest, there are those of us who would be interested in buying Postage Stamps, Theater Programs, Tote Bags, Notecards, Posters, Bookmarks, Tie Clasps, Buttons/Badges, Postcards, Stickers, and one who said Anything. If anyone does sell any of these things, let the MGS know: we'll see if we can make some connections. Or, if you were thinking of distributing anything, now you know what there might be a market for.

As for sources, there were a lot for books and ephemera, some for stationery, and a smattering of other things. One drawback is that most of the sources are in England, and another is that prices for items aren't available. Oh, well; it's a start. The following is a compilation of the sources and products:



Bets Melli Books (Books)

1107 Fairview Road

Swarthmore, PA 19081

Merchandise: Books

(Identified by Ron Fava (Hockessin, Delaware))



Blackwells Book Store (Music Department) (Books)

Oxford, United Kingdom

Merchandise: Books

(Identified by Dr. R.L. Evans (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota))



Gilbert and Sullivan Society (Books)

Merchandise: Books

(Identified by Dr. R.L. Evans (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota))



Wilfrid M. de Freitas (Books)

369 Kitchener Ave.

Montreal, Canada, H3Z 2G1

Merchandise: Books, Ephemera

(Identified by Ron Fava (Hockessin, Delaware))



C.D. Paramor (Books, Ephemera)

25 St. Mary's Square

Newmarket

Suffolk CB8 OHX, United Kingdom

Merchandise: Books, programs, etc. One of the best-known sources for out-of-print G&S materials and ephemera.

(Identified by Ron Fava (Hockessin, Delaware))



David B. Lovell (Books, Ephemera, Stationery)

23 Franklyn Rd.

Aylestone, Leicester LE2 8LN, United Kingdom

Merchandise: Books, Magazines, Postcards, Ephemera, Etc.

(Identified by Ron Fava (Hockessin, Delaware))



Barataria Books (Books, Pictures)

12 Canfoid Grove

Alleston, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD15 7AT United Kingdom

Merchandise: Books, Posters, Reproductions

(Identified by Ron Fava (Hockessin, Delaware))



La Belle Epoque (Pictures)

11661 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 304

Los Angeles, CA 90049

Phone: (310) 442-0054 / Fax: (310) 826-6934

Merchandise: They buy/sell original prints (especially Vanity Fair prints) and posters related to G&S, as well as theatre and music memorabilia.

(Identified by Kenneth Taylor (Los Angeles, California))



Musical Wonder House (Recordings)

18 High Street

P.O. Box 604

Wiscasset, ME 04578

Phone: (207) 882-7163

Merchandise: Novelty G&S recordings The Musical Wonder House is a museum of music boxes. At one time, at least, they had available cassettes of G&S melodies played on various music boxes, and of G&S suites played on player pianos. The recordings are very pleasing, and the piano one is especially interesting. The informative program notes tell how player pianos were originally developed to allow performers to play duets with themselves. That kind of player piano is featured in the recording.

(Identified by Sarah Cole (North Aurora, Illinois))



Dress Circle (scores, recordings)

57/59 Monmouth Street

Upper St. Martin's Lane

London WC2H 9DG, England

Phone: 0171-240-2227 / FAX: 0171-836-8279

E-Mail: online@dresscircle.co.uk / Web Page: http://www.dresscircle.co.uk

Merchandise: D'Oyly Carte Recordings (CDs), Vocal Scores

(Matt Crawford (Kaysville, Utah) says, "They are a great company with which to work".)



Musical Collectables (Stationery)

The Old Vicarage

Haley Hall

Halifax HX3 6DR, England

Merchandise: Notelets 10 Notelets, each featuring 4 characters from a different G&S opera.

(Identified by Stanton A. Taylor (Shreveport, Louisiana).)



Ohio Light Opera (Stationery)

College of Wooster

Wooster, OH 44691-2363

Merchandise: Notecards of original costume design sketches by Elsie Sowchuck from circa 1992.

(Identified by Stanton A. Taylor (Shreveport, Louisiana))



Vintage Images (Stationery)

Box 228

Lorton, VA 22199

Merchandise: Postcards "Gilbert and Sullivan in America" set of 12 postcards, featuring Nineteenth-century pictures of performers from American productions of the operas, from David Stone's collection of G&S ephemera. Incidentally David Stone has been very kind to the MGS: when we had a number of these sets damaged during the Chicago Deluge of 1996, he sent us some as replacements. The pictures are fun to look at, and fun to send, too.

(Identified by Stanton A. Taylor (Shreveport, Louisiana) and Ralph MacPhail, Jr. (Bridgewater, Virginia). )



Wildgoose Publications (Stationery, Pictures)

The Reading Room

Dennis Street

Hugglescote

Leicester LE67 2FP, England

E-Mail: Rachel@wgoose.demon.co.uk / Web Page: Wildgoose@wgoose.demon.co.uk

Merchandise: Theater Poster reprints, Notecards They have available D'Oyly Carte poster reprints, notelets/notecards with G&S and opera motifs.

(Identified by Ralph MacPhail, Jr. (Bridgewater, Virginia))



Now, if anyone knows of any other sources of G&S materials, please let us know. We have the base for doing another G&S Shopper, so let's go for it. In the meantime, performing groups often have items they sell as fundraisers (like cookbooks, notecards, and sometimes videos of their productions). If your organization has any such items, now's a good time to promote them.



But one of the most interesting things one of the postcards was looking for was Information. It said, "I would likeexplanations of the details concerning the real history behind the G&S operetta story lives. This would make a good sized book, I'd guess!" The respondent goes on to mention the actual First Lord of the Admiralty during the initial run of Pinafore. Personally, I think articles on these people would be tremendously interesting. I'd even go a little farther, and be interested in learning about celebrities' experiences with G&S, or important people who had had experiences similar to those of characters in the operas. (For instance, in the 1870s, Japan began a program of Westernization, and sent many young people to live in the developed countries. A few years ago, a book came out about one of the girls, who was the first Japanese graduate from Vassar College: Sutematsu Yamakawa (later Oyama). Like Utopia Limited's Princess Zara, she helped bring Western culture to her island nation. It's interesting to see the differences between Utopia and Japan in how the culture was adopted.) As individuals, we might not be able to do much about the G&S related products that are available, but we could do something about the G&S-related information and anecdotes. In this issue, we have an article about Marie Dressler: let's see what we can get together for the next one.




Let the Welkin Ring with the News

Do you remember the 1937 film The Girl Said No (the one in which the bookie tricks the taxi dancer into paying off his gambling debt, and ends up backing a production of The Mikado)? Well, we just learned that the woman who played the girl, Irene Hervey, died December 20, 198, at the age of 88, according to the January 8, 1999, broadcast of Chuck Schaden's Those Were the Days. She is probably better known for playing Jack Carson's sister (and James Stewart's eventual love interest) in Destry Rides Again, but she did do a charming job in The Girl Said No. We are sorry to learn of her passing. (Incidentally, Those Were the Days is a four-hour Saturday radio program on Chicago radio station WNIB (FM 97.1) about vintage radio. The January 8th broadcast included the necrology of entertainers who died in 1998.)

The November 25, 1998, Aurora (Illinois) Beacon-News included an article on p. 10 about changes in Great Britain's government, part of which sounded as if it had been lifted out of Iolanthe. According to the article, among other things the current Labor government plans to do is strip hereditary peers of their right to vote in the House of Lords. Judging from the figures quoted, 759 unelected peers would be affected, leaving 600 life peers, who don't pass on their voting rights to their descendants. Those living in England could no doubt give us a clearer picture of what such a change would mean to the way the country is governed, but it interesting to see such a proposal coming from someone besides an influential fairy. There is still no specific talk about opening the peerage to competitive examination, though.


Thoughts on Princess Ida Recordings

We know of only two Princes Idas this year in the midwest: The Madison Savoyards' upcoming summer production, and Ohio Light Opera's. But in the Midwestern Gilbert and Sullivan Society, we take life, and newsletter contribution, as it comes. The following is a June 1998 review from Michael Walters in England of various recordings of the opera. Most of these recordings the casual listener may never have a chance to hear, since they aren't likely to be available, but at least we'll have a better idea of what we're missing. As always, with articles in Precious Nonsense, the opinions expressed by the authors are their's, and not necessarily anyone else's. But you may agree with him.

An Examination of the recordings of Princess Ida, by Michael P. Walters

Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. England)

Princess Ida has not fared as well as some as regards records. Apart from the four complete D'Oyly carte recordings, little of importance exists; there are few records of single arias. One of these is an early disc by Scott Russell of the Kissing Song, a pedantic, nervous rendering, generally laboured and lacking in characterisation, the singer having trouble reaching some of the top notes. Of the others, Gama's music fared best, since Martyn Green and Charles Herbert Workman recorded both the character's songs. As this represents the bulk of the role, it is true to say that every major performer who played it and whose voice has been recorded, did record the part. Walter Passmore, who recorded nothing from the opera, never played it, for he was rarely away from the Savoy and Ida was not performed there during his time. Workman sings the two songs in a rather clipped style, which does not noticeably differ from his other roles. They are basically renderings of the songs rather than an interpretation of the part. (The same could be said of much later recordings by Nelson Eddy.) There is no emotion in Workman's Act 3 song, and nothing to distinguish it from that in Act 1. The records seem to have been made in a hurry for he misses a word in the second song.

The uniqueness of the role of Ida has been so much commented on that it is more than a pity that it has so rarely been satisfactorily recorded. It is, however, interesting to speculate on how it may have been performed over the years by reference to the voices of those who sang it. At least nine sopranos who sang the role for D'Oyly Carte made records. In chronological order, these were Elsie Spain, Sylvia Cecil, Rita Mackay, Ann Drummond-Grant, Muriel Harding, Jean Hindemarsh, Ann Hood, Valerie Masterson and Barbara Lilley. Those who recorded the role were Winifred Lawson, Muriel Dickson, Victoria Sladen and Elizabeth Harwood; of these the last-named never played the role on stage. Elsie Spain's only known surviving recording is a duet with C.H. Workman from The Yeomen of the Guard. Her voice sounds shrill and harsh when played at the speed at which the disc was transferred to LP; however, when played slower it takes on a mellow, authoritative tone. A voice with power and sonority -- in fact just the sort of voice that would have been ideal for a role such as Ida. Sylvia Cecil made a dozen or so sides of variable quality, but a Decca record of "Ah sweet mystery of life" (from Naughty Marietta) and a couple from Coward's Pacific 1860 (in which she starred), indicate a stage personality of riveting and imperious nature. This, together with a famous photograph of her as Ida, taken in 1919, suggests that she would have been magnificent and that it is a tragedy that she was never able to record the role.

Little remains on which to assess Rita Mackay. She played the leading soprano roles for a couple of seasons, and Audrey Williamson (Gilbert and Sullivan Opera, p. 136) speaks highly of her. Her only recording, however, is as Lady Ella in Patience, and her only solo is of course, "Go breaking heart" which she sings probably better than anyone else I have heard. A sonorous, soaring voice, she would seem to be vocally admirable for Ida, though what her dramatic potentialities were, I cannot say, for I know nothing of her career before or after her D'Oyly Carte period. Ann Drummond-Grant began her singing career as a soprano, then, after a break, returned as a contralto. Unfortunately her soprano voice was never recorded; all her records date from the later part of her career so it is impossible to asses her with reference to this role. Muriel Harding had a soft and plummy voice, and I find it difficult to imagine her as a successful Ida on the basis of her records. Jean Hindmarsh, who I saw in the role (my first Ida) had a stature and bearing that suited the role, but she, and the remaining singers come into the living memory category, and any comments on them can be based directly on recollections rather than records and so are outside the scope of this paper. It would be interesting to hear from readers who may recall any of the previous Idas on the stage, and so could comment on their performances.

Turning now to the complete recordings, the acoustic (1924) is the faintest in sound, but the most satisfactory as far as the performances are concerned. Winifred Lawson is almost the only Princess Ida I have been able to listen to on record and enjoy, and Leo Sheffield the only Hildebrand. The overture is not very distinguished, but this is really inevitable on acoustic records. The orchestra is grumpy, with none of the delicacy the music require; nevertheless it is a reasonably adequate performance of a perfunctory piece of music. The opening chorus is sung rather more legato and less staccato than is now customary, and I think is the better for it. It is Winifred Lawson who "makes" the set, and she sings "O goddess wise" with a clear and sustained voice with no trace of tremolo. "I built upon a rock" is taken with dignity and expression, but she is, perhaps, at her best in the Act 2 finale (the section beginning "Be reassured") where she soars effortlessly over the chorus. The pristine whiteness of her tone is perfect for this role. As Hilarion, Derek Oldham sings beautifully, with poise, control and his remarkable romantic charisma. He is best in "Today we meed"; his other song "Whom thou hast chained" is cut to one verse, and is sung with charm, but with a certain amount of strain on top notes. The finale ("With joy abiding") is very fine, both soloists sounding genuinely in love.

Leo Darnton's Cyril is a joy, and makes one regret that this is his only recording. His Kissing Song is certainly only favourite performance of this number -- sun with an infectious musical comedy charm unparalleled by any other Gilbert and Sullivan record. But the voice also has delicacy, and in "They intend to send a wire to the moon" he handles his verse with more elegance than even Derek Oldham. Darnton's lovely held note with the crescendo and diminuendo at the end of his verse of "O dainty triolet"is quite ravishing -- all other Cyrils sound characterless by comparison. Sydney Granville as Florian does not come near the other two, and is no more than adequate in this particular role: In his solo in the opening chorus he sounds positively elderly. Henry Lytton recorded King Gama twice, but the earlier recording is definitely the better of the two. It is quite simply the best Gama I have heard -- there is a quaint humour in the voice, and no attempt at forced effects as in the case of some other performers of the role. The essence of Lytton's interpretation of his first song is the apparent (but tongue-in-cheek) non-comprehension of why he is disliked. The song in the last act is excellently delivered also, with perfect diction and just a suggestion of a tear in the voice. The first song is taken very slowly and the second very fast. In "P'rhaps if you address the lady" there is a gentle teasing from Lytton, reciprocated by Leo Sheffield; the insults are indeed done "most politely". Hildebrand is one of Sheffield's best roles, with an astringent precision, and he is allowed to take both "Now hearken to my strict command" and "Some years ago" very fast indeed. The latter item sounds marvellously bad-tempered and he gets extra emphasis on the line "the long and the short of it" by pausing on the word "short". A hallmark of the performances of both Lytton and Sheffield is that they were able to get added histrionic emphasis by getting marginally and momentarily out of time. It is a trick which would be frowned on today, but in the hands of an expert can be most effective, as these performers demonstrate.

Darrell Fancourt also recorded his role (Arac) twice, and is magnificent on this recording. He sings "This helmet I suppose" with warmth and authority, though showing some strain n top notes. "We may remark" is a bit dead-pan, but relieved by Sheffield's irritable short after "pooh poo it". The querulous "yes, yes, yes"s are also very effective. Bertha Lewis is the most satisfactory Blanche, and this recording contains the only published record of "Come Mighty Must", though off-the-air performance on tape (including one by Monica Sinclair) exist. Lewis's is a fine fruity rendering and one should note her accented pronunciation of deceivéd , which suits the music better than unaccented, as is frequently used. Her voice blends wonderfully with that of Eileen Sharp in "Now wouldn't you like to rule the roast". The latter takes Sacharissa's single line as well as Melissa, and her voice is clearly produced. In her most important solo, "Thus our courage all untarnished", it is charged with girlish simplicity; she takes the lower note on "exclaim". Lady Psyche is Kathleen Anderson's only recording and she sings "A lady fair" expressively and has a distinctive voice, slightly nasal. The phrasing is tasteful and calculated to give due weight to the words. However, in the opening number of the act "Towards the Empyrean heights", although she sings clearly and dramatically, she emerges as no more than a competent soprano.

The electric 78 rpm recording on HMV (1932) has better sound than the acoustic version, but apart from one or two interesting an historically important performance from some of the minor characters, has little to commend it. Malcolm Sargent conducts, taking the opening section of the overture molto vivace, then relapsing into a languid andante. The orchestral forces he was able to command were clearly superior to those of Harry Norris a decade earlier. The opening chorus is taken more staccato than in the acoustic, and sounds less effective. Henry Lytton's Gama is not a patch on his earlier recording. This was the only role he recorded twice, and it was, incidentally, his last recording. He had deteriorated both musically and dramatically; the paralysis of the lips with which he was afflicted toward the end of his career is beginning to be noticeable on these records. "When'eer I spoke" is languid and sung with little sense of urgency, and he is clearly having trouble in physically singing the music. King Hildebrand, Richard Watson's only recording from his "early" D'Oyly Carte period, is unworthy of him. Although an admirer of his later Decca series of records, this one disappoints me, and his thick "fluffy" voice really has not the timbre for Hildebrand. He seems to find the patter difficult, and nowhere is he any match for Leo Sheffield's acid sarcasm. Although he sings intelligently in places (noticeably in "Some years ago"), in other places ("P'rhaps if you address the lady"), he is unbelievably mechanical. Muriel Dickson, the Ida, does have a certain amount to commend her. She has a very big voice, much larger than Winifred Lawson's, and she is highly though of by some American enthusiasts, partly at least because she made it to the Metropolitan Opera House (though I believe only for one or two season). While the voice is big, it lacks individuality and has a strong tendency to spread. It is by no means as clear or as well-focused as Lawson's, and the big aria, "O Goddess Wise" does not compare with the earlier singer's recording. She is at her best in the quiet passages, as for instance in "The world is but a broken toy" which has a poise and tranquility, but the men's voice so not blend as well as they do in the Lawson rendering. Miss Dickson is beautifully sweet in the last act finale, clearly the aspect of the role that really suited her nature. It is in the dramatic sections that she falls down: "I build upon a rock" is finely sung but with little real emotion, and the Act 2 finale (beginning "Be reassured") is almost unbelievably "cosy" with no drama or sense of urgency from any of the singers.

As Hilarion, Derek Oldham's performance is mainly interesting for the fact that he was allowed to sing both verses of "Whom thou hast chained"; it is still, however, somewhat abridged. He sings the number with passion and intensity. Elsewhere he has lost some of the charisma, and is not as good as on the earlier recording. Charles Goulding as Cyril sings for the most part intelligently, and his phrasing is excellent, but he is no match formally for Leo Darnton. Goulding's tone varies, and is particularly unlovely in "They intend to send a wire to the moon" -- which song, nevertheless, emerges very well due to the contributions from the other two. The Kissing Song is dull and taken conventionally; Goulding cuts off the long notes, suggesting he may have suffered from shortness of breath. It may be worth noting that he rarely sang the role. Hilarion was his more usual part. On the other hand, George Baker gives a far better performance as Florian than Sydney Granville, but the role is not sufficiently prominent for his presence to be a real recommendation for the set. Darrell Fancourt repeats his performance as Arac, and is mostly just as good as before, but no better. "We may remark" is taken quicker, and the preceding "Some years ago" slower, thus making less contrast between the sections. "We are warriors three" emerges as quaintly humorous due to Sargent's taking the number at a rather pompous majestic and less taut tempo than Norris: Fancourt responds by sounding more like an emperor than a king's son! It is the sections involving Melissa (Nellie Briercliffe) which are really worth listening to. She is magnificent in the solo "Thus our courage all untarnished", capturing the timidity and the mock defiance excellently. (She sings the lower alternative notes and the fanfare is missing.) In the duet with Blanche she is deliciously mellow, and the two ladies' voices blend beautifully, though elsewhere Dorothy Gill is an acid and strained Blanche. Alice Moxon is no more than adequate as Psyche; she sings with expression, but I find it hard to find any marks of individuality in her solos in the opening sequence of Act 2. In "A lady fair" she sings with ladylike grace. Phyllis Evens is satisfactory in Sacharissa's single line. (Neither of these last-mentioned were members of the company and seem to have been HMV's "tame" singers.)

Moving on to the first of the Decca recordings: this coincided with the 1954 revival. The production imported Victoria Sladen, a singer who has become almost a dirty word in G&S circles as a result of her unfortunate with this production and recording. Few of those who saw her as Ida or who have heard the record have a single good word to say for her, yet she was an extremely popular singer in her day so one must ask the question -- what went wrong? For "Go wrong" something undoubtedly did. The first I heard of her voice was on this record, and I was inclined simply to dismiss her. It was only when, a number of years later, I heard another record by her, "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca, that I began to suspect that there might be more to the matter than met the ear. Victoria Sladen was born in 1910, and made her reputation as a singer of emotional music such as Puccini operas. She also sang German lieder when she got the chance, which seems not to have been often. In the immediate post-war years she was a frequent singer on the wireless (radio), and in 1951 published a book of reminiscences entitled Singing my way. In order to be as fair to her as possible, I read this book. The proportion of singers who write autobiographies is very small, and one wishes a lot more would do it -- it would make the task of the researcher so much easier, even if the books were never actually published but merely deposited in a reputable library. Miss Sladen's book was not, one would suppose, a bestseller, and few would read it for pleasure today -- or, indeed for any other reason than to find out something about the author. Singing my way is not so much an autobiography as a soap-box, which enables the singer to air her views about singing techniques, and how opera, etc., ought to be performed. She says comparatively little about her life, and betrays reticence about her age, which had to be gleaned from other sources. The pretentious title of the book is mirrored in the pompous self-righteous tone and style of the writer. Difficult as it is to unravel the personality of Miss Sladen, several facts emerge, both for and against her. The most immediately obvious is her conscientiousness. She may be a pompous prima-donna, but she is a dedicated one -- who sets high standards for herself, and is rigorous in her self-discipline. Since, however, one supposes that anyone who knows anything about singing would accept that self-discipline and hard work is a necessary part of any singer's life,and one wonders why she found it necessary to justify the point. But through this another point emerges: the books' utter lack of humour. Not once does Miss Sladen tell a funny story, and even a few potentially funny stories are told in such a way as to suggest that the author saw nothing funny in them. In short one must conclude that miss Sladen has no sense of humour ,and a sense of humour is essential for anyone who plays G&S (incidentally, nowhere in the book does she mention G&S, even in passing.)

Although apparently popular in her day (the 1940s) as a stage and wireless performer, Victoria Sladen made little impact as a recording artist. (This fact is not necessarily significant. There were a number of other important British singers of the period whose recordings were almost nil. One example is the Wagnerian bass Ronald Stear whose voice survives only in a couple of Giorgio's lines on the Lytton recording of The Gondoliers.) Apart from Princess Ida, and at least one off-the-air recording, Sladen's only known disc is a 78 of "Vissi d'arte" backed by "oh my beloved Daddy" from Gianni Schicci, made in 1949. By 1953 it had been deleted from the catalogues, so clearly it was not a best seller. It was rated sufficiently, however, for the Tosca aria to be included in a three LP set of English opera singers, "Stars of the Old Vic and Sadlers Wells" issued in the early 1970s. Both arias come as a revelation to anyone who has heard only the Ida set,for they betray a voice that sounds twenty years younger and more brilliant than in the recording, made only five years later. The voice in 1949 was a voice of limpid purity and tenderness, marred only by a pronounced tremolo on high notes -- a condition which, however, seems to have been common to many sopranos of the time. Yet only five years later the voice sounds tired, old, and has unpleasant hissing sibilants. The off-the-air recording referred to above (and there may be others awaiting discovery) is a broadcast (undated) released by "Connoisseur Cassettes" in the 1990s. It is a programme of "Songs from the Shows" in which she gives a delightful performance of "Oh who shall say that love is cruel" from Merrie England. There seems to be some evidence that she misused her voice, for one correspondent who head her on stave with the old Sadlers Wells Opera, told me that an audience nickname for her was "old screecher". This same informant implied that Miss Sladen was not over-popular with the artists or the D'Oyly Carte management; Bridged D'Oyly Carte referring to her as "that woman". It was also suggested that Miss Sladen knew she was not liked, abut insisted on the letter of her contract, including the recording. One can hardly blame her for that.

Victoria Sladen is by far the worst of the four Idas on record, and "O goddess wise" is positively painful. She shows a very considerable wobble and very prominent sibilants. These two features override all else in her performance. There is a fuzziness, though this may be partly due to the recording. She sounds matronly, some of her top notes are shrieked, and there is a weariness with life in her voice. In no sense does she create the imperious princess with a thirst for learning and living. This contrasts markedly with her own self-professed attention to detail and character of the roles she played, as set down in her book. She is at her worst in "Be reassured" which sounds incredibly stodgy,m but is probably not helped by Isidore Godfrey's plodding conducting. In "The world is but a broken toy", she lacks clarity and is flat on at least one ofher to notes. She is better in "I build upon a rock", and though she still hisses and wobbles, her control is better and some of her tone and phrasing is almost elegant. But she runs short of breath during "Stand forth ye three".

Thomas Round's Hilarion is one of the better things on this recording. "Ida was a twelvemonth old" is finely sung, with sweetness and lyricism, and throughout he sings with charm and emotion, though he has not quite the charisma of Derek Oldham. "Whom thou hast chained" is given complete for the first time on record. Although I have never been an admirer of Leonard Osborn's records, I have to admit that this is one of his better ones, at least in places, for his Cyril is strangely variable. In "O dainty triolet" he is glacial, but his crescendo and diminuendo on the last held note are excellent. He is less happy in "I am a maiden", where he sounds a very different person to the tenor of Act I. He handles the Kissing Song with considerable delicacy, though he seems to be having trouble with top notes, and cuts some of them off very quickly. He is, however, superb in his little solo "Madam your words so wise" where he really sounds as if his mouth were full of cold roast lamb. Jeffrey Skitch is a clearly sung Florian.

The period during which Princess Ida was out of the repertory prior to the 1954 revival seems to have resulted in a total reassessment of the character of King Gama, in my view not for the better. Eschewing genuine feeling and characterisation, Peter Pratt converts the character from the rather human creature Lytton (and Martyn Green) into an Alberich-like gnome; and his affected acid vibrato is, I feel, unnecessary and detracts from the role, since everything else is sacrificed to the "funny voice." His diction, however is very good. Of his two songs, "When'eer I spoke" is better of the two -- there is more expression here than in the second song. The role of Hildebrand appears to defeat Fisher Morgan, and his plummy voice does not suit this part at all. Although he is rather good with his "rum tum tum"s in the Act 1 finale, he labours "Some years ago" which is take far too slowly. He does try hard though, and succeeds better than Watson but lacks Sheffield's acidity. He is characterless in "P'rhaps if you address the lady". Curiously, there was apparently an abridged copy of this recording which credited Richard Watson with this last-mentioned number. I have not seen or heard this recording, and am indebted for this information to Mr. A.E. Barrett of Norwich. On receipt of his letter I listened to the number again, and was surprised to find that I could not actually tell by listening to it, which of the two is singing. It seems unlikely that Watson would have been called in to record that number -- surely an understudy would have been available had Morgan been taken ill? A minor mystery.

Donald Adams sings Arac's music strongly,and gets good support from the other brothers. Muriel Harding is probably the best Lady Psyche on record,and sings with a very ladylike grace and charm; her feeling and expression is sorely lacking in the rest of the cast. Beryl Dixon (Melissa) has great charm in these lighter soubrette parts, and a distinctive tone which I have always liked. In "Thus our courage all untarnished" she sings the optional top note, and in "Now wouldn't you like to rule the roast" she and Ann Drummond-Grant make a splendid pair. It is interesting to hear the latter's really rather soprano-like timbre on the high passages -- oh to have heard her as Ida rather than Blanche. Cynthia Morey sings Sacharissa's one line very clearly.

This recording is not one of Isidore Godfrey's happier ones, sounding on the whole rather heavy-handed. Apart from "Come Mighty Must" most of the music is included, but one curious omission is the symphony to each verse of "Now hearken to my strict command"; it is difficult to see the purpose of omitting this. Godfrey makes the orchestral entry to "Walls and fences scaling" sound like the entrance of the Sorcerer in Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, presumably not by design? The sound level seems dull and lacks top in places, certain numbers come out very badly, for instance in "The Woman of the wisest wit", the women's voices sound shrill. I am advised that in a reissue of this record, though not the original pressing, one of King Gama's songs is omitted. I do not know the reason for this. But, although this recording is unsatisfactory in many ways, it cannot be dismissed, for historically it is so important as to be unique in D'Oyly Carte annals. It is the only complete recording made of a major revival of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera with exactly the cast that appeared on stage.

The last D'Oyly Carte recording, published in 1967, has Sargent conducting once again,and the result is infinitely superior to that of Godfrey. The recording quality is far better, and for orchestra sound this is the best of the four. For some reason best known to himself, however Sargent brought in his protege, the young Elizabeth Harwood, to sing the title role, and she is only slightly less objectionable than Victoria Sladen. She has the same wobble, and though lacking the sibilants, has a very forward and harsh tone. Her rendering of the music is matter of fact, with no involvement, and leaves me utterly cold. To be fair to her of course, she subsequently became a fine opera singer, but this recording represents an early phase of her career that would have been better forgotten, It would have been more interesting to hear Jean Hindemarsh, who had just played the role, or Ann Hood, who was playing the part at the time, but on the record is relegated to the role of Lady Psyche, which she sings well but with rather veiled voice. (On this recording the line "while Darwinian man though well behaved" is given as "while a man however well behaved".) Philip Potter sings Hilarion with charm and tremendous feeling, but his style and voice production are distinctly suspect in places. He has not quite got Oldham's charisma, though he comes pretty near to it, and is not as accomplished a musician as Round, though he has more charm. David Palmer is a hard-voiced Cyril who yells his top notes. The Kissing Song is competent but undistinguished. Incidentally, the song ends on a chord and the melodrama leading into "Oh joy" is omitted. No other recording does this. However, Palmer manages "Madam your words so wise" better than anyone else, actually burping during this verse. Jeffrey Skitch sings Florian with a lot more expression than on the earlier recording. Hildebrand is one of Kenneth Sandford's least happy efforts, both on stage and on record; he is said to have admitted he did not like the part. John Reed follows the tradition set by Pratt of interpreting Gama as a snarling, spitting imp, a quite wrong interpretation. He also overacts, barking the music rather than singing it, and squeaks some of the top notes. Of all Reed's parts, this was the least successful. Valerie Masterson is an undistinguished Melissa, Christine Palmer a nasal Blanche, and Donald Adams sings Arac well, but with a lot of sibilants.

The 1998 Big Quiz Results



The winners in this year's big quiz were Thomas Drucker and Phocion Park. As a matter of fact, they were the only entrants! We'll have to work on group participation, it appears. They will win a copy of the video of the Stratford Festival's Iolanthe, Mikado, or Gondoliers, which were generously provided by member Herman Fried. But in any event, we will be in touch with them so they can select the prize most suited to their needs. In the meantime, for those of us who played along at home, the answers were:

1. On what date was Sullivan knighted? On May 22, 1883.

2. On what date was Gilbert knighted? On July 15, 1907.

3. From which Gilbert and Sullivan opera does the music for "Hail, hail, the gang's all here" come? From The Pirates of Penzance, specifically the Second Act chorus "With Catlike Tread" ("Come, Friends, who Plow the Sea").

4. Who wrote the music for Gilbert's 1874 "extravaganza" Topsyturvydom? Alfred Cellier wrote it.

5. 1998 marks the centennial of Sullivan's The Beauty Stone, which opened at the Savoy Theatre on May 28, 1898. Who wrote the libretto for this work? Arthur Wing Pinero and J. Comyns Carr wrote it.

6. What part did Walter Passmore play in The Beauty Stone? He played The Devil.

7. In which Gilbert and Sullivan opera is there a reference to red tape? In Thespis.

8. Where does the Learned Judge suggest to the Usher that he go? To Russia (Russher).

9. What is Lady Sangazure's Christian/given name? Her name is Annabella.

10. From where do the carved oak and tapestry in the Corcorans' home come? They come from (distant) Rome.

11. Who can tell undoubted Rafaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies (although he has more difficulty telling a chassêpot rifle from a javelin)? Major General Stanley has this skill, though in later Pirates productions, they were Mauser rifles he had trouble distinguishing from javelins.

12. What does Bunthorne say he would do if he had Elysian Fields? He would let them out on building leases.

13. Who was a fairy down to the waist, but had mortal legs? Iolanthe's son Strephon.

14. What is the name of the hostess of the Pigeons? According to Cyril in Princess Ida, she was Mistress Lalage.

15. At what age (according to Yum-Yum) do girls in Japan come to "years of discretion"? At Fifty.

16. How long before the action of Ruddigore begins did Sir Ruthven flee his home and adopt the identity of a mild-mannered farmer? Twenty years before the action.

17. What happens if a family fool tells a joke that's too French? According to Jack Point, half-a-crown is stopped out of his wages.

18. From what does the Duchess of Plaza-Toro vow her complexion derives its perfection? She sings that it's from somebody's soap.

19. Who has an aunt in the publication department of The Palace Peeper [The Utopian edition, not the New York one]. Tarara, the Public Exploder.

20. What is the subtitle of The Grand Duke? The Statutory Duel.

21. In which opera is Beethoven mentioned? He is mentioned in The Mikado.

22. In which opera is Hans Christian Andersen mentioned? In Iolanthe (incidentally, it was pointed out that we had spelled Andersen's name wrong in the original list of questions. It is spelled with an "en", rather than an "on".

23. Who is Hugh Ambrose? He is author or compiler of the book The Merrie Jestes of Hugh Ambrose, from which Jack Point collects his original light humor.

24. In Gilbert's Bab Balled "Captain Reece", what is the name of the ship that Captain Reece commands? The Mantlepiece.

25. Who claims that his "nature is love and light"? The Mikado makes this claim.

26. Who is Ko-Ko's solicitor? Pooh-Bah is Ko-Ko's solicitor.

27. Why is Sir Despard "moody and sad" (according to himself)? Because [he] is thoroughly bad.

28. Which Gilbert and Sullivan opera takes place in the sixteenth century? The Yeomen of the Guard takes place in the sixteenth century.

29. In which Gilbert and Sullivan opera is there a reference to a bicycle? In Iolanthe (during a nightmare tour of Salisbury Plain on one).

30. What is the Mikado's "object all sublime"? His object all sublime, which he shall achieve in time, is to let the punishment fit the crime (and to make each prisoner a source of amusement, whether he or she likes it or not!).

31. Who describes himself as "a very Narcissus"? Archibald Grosvenor so describes himself.

32. Who describes himself as "an old fogy"? Dr. Daly calls himself one.

33. What, according to Phyllis, is the penalty for marrying a Ward of Court without the Lord Chancellor's consent? She believes it to be penal servitude for life.

34. What, according to Ko-Ko, is the penalty for being the wife of a man who is beheaded? Ko-Ko says the penalty is burial alive.

35. How old is Scaphio? He is sixty-six.

36. How old is the Lord Chancellor's attorney (in his dream)? He is eleven.

37. What treat (again, in his dream) does the Lord Chancellor serve a party of friends and relations? He serves them penny ice and cold meat.

38. Whom does the Learned Judge claim to have restored "to his friends and his relations"? Many a burglar he's restored to his friends and his relations.

39. How, according to King Gama, does Hildebrand torture him with "torments worse than death"? By giving him nothing to grumble at!

40. In which two operas are there references to torture chambers? They are referred to in The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers.

41. In which two operas does a Headsman (in one case, only a nominal Headsman) appear on stage? They appear in The Mikado and The Yeomen of the Guard.

42. Name two operas in which a notary appears? They appear in The Sorcerer and The Grand Duke.

43. What is the name of Pygmalion's wife in Gilbert's 1871 play Pygmalion and Galatea? Her name is Cynisca.

44. During a performance of what Gilbert and Sullivan opera is a murder committed in Sara Hoskinson Frommer's 1997 mystery novel Murder and Sullivan? Murder was committed during a production of Ruddigore.

45. Who has arms that are "tattooed to the shoulder"? Richard Dauntless is so decorated.

46. Who "always tries to utter lies, and every time he fails"? The Chorus says that Ko-Ko has this difficulty.

47. Who says that he has "a great respect for brains -- I often wish I had some myself"? George, Lord Mountararat makes this wish.

48. Who employs an Acting Temporary Sub-Deputy Assistant Vice-Chamberlain? Grand Duke Rudolph employs such a chamberlain.

49. What was Teasing Tom's "favourite toy"? It was A great big squirt, according to Archibald Grosvenor's "very daisy" of a decalet.

50. Who claims to have forged his own will? Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd forged his will, since, as he points out, "a man can do what he likes with his own".



Bonus Question: In Mary Roberts Rinehart's book Three Pirates of Penzance, what is the name of the main character? Her name is Laeticia Carberry, a very determined middle-aged woman, who, with her two friends, keep getting into situations that prim old maids don't generally find themselves in. For whatever it's worth, one of my favorite sequences is when they're driving the canteen/ ambulance in France during World War I, and capture a town. There isn't much connection here with Gilbert and Sullivan, aside from the name of the book, but the stories are very funny.



Best Wishes for your success next year!




Opera A La Carte's Pirates

While we don't as a rule have reviews of individual productions in the Precious Nonsense, we're including this one, from former Chicagoan Dennis Constant, as a reminder to local performing groups that G&S doesn't need to be "boffed for yocks" to be entertaining. We also include it since the company in question regularly tours through the Midwest, and it's good to hear what we may have in store.



Review of

Pirates of Penzance (Opera A La Carte (of Los Angeles), McCallum Theatre, Palm Desert, CA: October 25, 1998, by Dennis Constant



Opera A La Carte's production of Pirates of Penzance was the best Pirates I have seen in the 35+ years I have been attending G&S concerts, and was performed, of all places in the heart of California's blazing Sonoran Desert, at Palm Desert's McCallum Theater, the city's attractive performing arts center. The soloists and choruses sang with such impeccable diction that I could understand almost every word. Additional, the quality of the orchestra and musical director was an unexpected treat. Pirates is not my favorite G&S operetta, but this presentation was simply too good not to relish.

Richard Sheldon, who played the Major-General, found the Los Angeles-based company in 1970 as a concert ensemble, but, according to him, it quickly grew to become "the foremost G&S repertory company in the country because of its high artistic standards as well as the authenticity of its presentations."

This refreshing authenticity was reflected in the group's costumes and interpretation. The 1870s-style clothes were reminiscent of those pictured in Baily's classic, The Gilbert and Sullivan Book, and the audience was spared the maddening updating of lyrics or attempts at slapstick comedy that are endemic to American performances.

Sheldon was the best Major-General I have seen since the incomparable John Reed, delivering a flawless performance while properly resisting acting clownish. The male and female choruses sang and moved well, though the leader of the Bobbies could have had more volume. Many performers were noticeably older than those of other G&S groups, and the "beautiful maidens and daughters" of the Major-General, while excellent singers, alas, were not as attractive as the young lovelies typically found in G&S groups performing in the Midwest.

The most fascinating performance was by Tracy van Fleet, who played Ruth. Most "Ruths" are towering and rotund, lacking in looks, with big booming voices. Van Fleet was slender, vaguely cute, and very funny, moving gracefully and playfully, with an excellent voice that was not overpowering. Her mannerisms were a curious mix of flirtatiousness and the swaggering gestures of her pirate companions.

Richard Sheldon and his company deserve our thanks for an enjoyable, first-class production.



By the way, Dennis Constant is a recent emigree to California, and is looking for the G&S enthusiasts and groups that are in the Rancho Mirage area. If you're able to put him in touch with any groups (or with yourself, for that matter, contact S/A Cole, and she'll be glad to help you and Dennis Constant make connections.


Art and Nature Thus Allied

When Marie Dressler played Katisha



As mentioned earlier, one of the responses in the postcard drawing mentioned how the sender would like to know about the real people who are referred or alluded to in the G&S operas. It sounds like a great idea: if anyone wants to write up a report on such historical characters, we'd be pleased to receive it!

In the meantime, (as also mentioned earlier,) one of my personal pet ideas has been to include reports about people who actually did things that happened to G&S characters, or about celebrities' experiences with G&S. As we get such reports on art reflecting life (and visa versa), we'll put them in under this heading.

A notice in the latest McFarland & Company book catalog reminded me of the following incident. Marie Dressler: A Biography; with a listing of major stage performance, a filmography and a Discography is evidently slated for release in January 1999 (to digress, it's supposed to cost $49.95. Its ISBN is 0-7864-0520-1, if you want a copy). Maybe we'll get verification on this incident, but in the meantime, I'm getting my information from her autobiography My Own Story; as told to Mildred Harrington (New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1934). I had stumbled across the book a number of years ago at a library sale, and still consider it 50¢ well spent (if you ever get the chance, it's a book worth reading even without the Katisha incident). I'm taking Miss Dressler's word for the accuracy of the story: if evidence shows that it isn't completely true, at least it's extremely plausible.

But we probably have a number of readers who don't know who Marie Dressler is. If you've ever seen any of the film Dinner at Eight, Marie Dressler was the woman playing the retired actress who, when Jean Harlow said she'd read that machines would replace every profession, responded, "My dear, that's something you need never worry about!"

Leila von Koerber was born in Canada in 1869; the second child of an Irish-Canadian merchant's daughter and a tempestuous German ex-soldier. And she was ugly. At the beginning of the book, she tells of how, as a young child, she was helping to entertain visitors by showing them the family picture album. One of the pictures was of her beautiful older sister (aptly named Bonita) and a cousin holding on to a rope that was probably attached to a sled. One of the visitors asked Leila where she was in the picture, and she replied that she was on the sled. It was then that she noticed there were no pictures of her in the family album, and the first time she realized just how ugly she was.

By the time she was fourteen, she and her sister were trouping with a dramatic stock company. She had taken the stage name "Marie Dressler", so as not to "disgrace" the von Koerber name. The responsibility her family's perpetual wandering had given her, along with her natural bigness, helped her pass herself off as eighteen years old, and as Bonita's older sister. Eventually, Bonita gave up the theater to get married, Marie had changed performing companies, and through the good graces of some old friends, was part of the Deshon Opera Company, which was performing in Philadelphia.

On page 56 of My Own Story, Marie Dressler states:



Although, in a way, I was happy with the Deshon Opera Company, I knew that I had not yet found myself in the theater. While I was casting about for my particular niche, I saw "The Mikado" and knew that, while Gilbert and Sullivan had may have written the rest of the score, they had hand nothing to do with the role of Katisha. It was conceived in heaven especially for me.

She goes on to say how she would practice the part any place she could, including the theater where the company was performing, before anyone else had arrived for rehearsals. Evidently, the Deshon Opera Company was one of the companies performing Mikado at that time in Philadelphia, because she also mentions, "At that time, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone else would ever hear me spout [Katisha], as Agnes Hallock, who had been assigned the part, was an exceptionally robust young woman."

If someone feels ambitious, he or she might find it interesting to examine the theatrical records or newspaper microfilms from Philadelphia to figure out what year the Deshon Opera Company was presenting Mikado. Chances are, it would have been before 1890. During one of her pre-rehearsal practices, Marie Dressler tells of coercing a stagehand into cueing the lines where Katisha is listing her remarkable attributes. The lines she quotes were all ones that, according to Ian Bradley's Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, were cut out early in The Mikado's history:



Advancing on the transfixed stage hand, I roared, "Observe this ear!"

He looked thoughtfully at the indicated member, but failed to pick up his cue.

"Say, 'Large'," I prompted him.

By this time, the stage hand, whose head barely reached my shoulder, was thoroughly cowed.

"Large," he whispered hoarsely.

"Large?" I bellowed, returning to my lines. "Enormous! But think of its delicate mechanism! It is fraught with beauty! As for this tooth, it almost stands alone. Many have tried to draw it, but in vain!" [p. 57]



The stagehand finally runs off in terror.

Then comes a turn of events right out of 42nd Street. Agnes Hallock sprains her ankle. While the manager is panicking for lack of an understudy, Marie reveals that she knows the part. Because the costume fits her, she gets the part. As she says on page 58, "And so, ingloriously, I went on. But my secret rehearsals had done their work. I lived the role of Katisha. And if I do say so, as should, I was a riot in the part."

I wonder if the audience would have understood just what a riot she really was in that part. It isn't often that Katisha is performed by an actress who had as much personal experience being regarded as a homely, undesirable woman.

Marie Dressler's autobiography gives many useful pieces of advice, not merely on life in the theater, but on life in general. One point that has stuck in my mind was, not surprisingly, on being attractive. She says,

To this day, I contend that every woman has the right to feel beautiful, no matter how scrambled her features or how indifferent her figure. . .To all women between the ages of eight and eighty, who want to grow in beauty, here is my advice: Forget what your looking glass tells you, but say to yourself a dozen times a day, "I am beloved." No woman who actually believes that she is precious in the eyes of another can be entirely without charm. (p. 14)



And Marie Dressler was charming. As with all performers, her public popularity rose and fell with the times, but throughout her life she had many loyal friends and fans. When she died in 1934, she was about as popular as she had ever been during her career.

If you get a chance to see any of Marie Dressler's films from the early 1930s, you'll see an interesting thing: her face may be plain, but it is far from being unattractive. The trials of life and her innate passion and optimism reflected in that face have made it gorgeous, not like a spring garden, but on a grand scale, like a mountain or a Midwestern thunderstorm. Like Katisha, and with better reason, Marie Dressler showed that it is not in the face alone that beauty is to be sought, and that there really is beauty in the bellow of the blast.

Incidentally, one of her good friends was Lillian Russell, who had a very strong connection with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. McFarland is also publishing a biography of her, by Armond Fields, which should be available this month. The ISBN is 07864-05090. It lists for $42.50. McFarland & Co. can be reached at Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640 / (800) 253-2187 / www.mcfarlandpub.com.

"Bridey" Ross Reminisces

Andre M. Ross is an amateur writer of successful musicals for the last twenty-three years, and, in this tongue-in-cheek piece, speculates on the source of his inspiration, as well as the fallacy of drawing conclusions from superficial similarities. The books he refers to include The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan (Garden City Publishing, 1938) and The Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers -- Gilbert and Sullivan (Dr. Alan James. Omnibus Press, 1989), as well as his own twenty plays. As always, opinions expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Midwestern Gilbert and Sullivan Society. I hope you enjoy the piece as much as Mr. Ross enjoyed putting it together.

It is September 20th, 1995. About a year has passed since I became aware of something which I recognized as being more than coincidental. I had not felt well for several months and had to cut back on my activities. In order to pass the time I turned to my Gilbert and Sullivan tapes and their librettos. They seemed to provide something beyond mere entertainment during this rather frightening time. I began to notice similarities between lyrics of Gilbert and those in my own musicals.

In The Gondoliers, Casilda sings,"Dead as the last year's leaves." I thought of my operetta Natasha and Vladimir and a song in the second act called "Dove Tarantella". It was sung by a chorus and contains the line, "Dead is the past as last year's leaf."

In The Yeomen of the Guard, the archaic term 'derring do' appears, and is totally appropriate, since the opera takes place in the 16th century. In my show, Frozen Assets, a musical taking place in the present, Zelda and the Baron sing:

We will need a sign explaining so no one will misconstrue

The gross tragedy pertaining to his former derring-do!

I cannot recall ever having used "derring do" previously.

I discussed the above two apparent coincidences with my daughter, and she brought up the idea of past life regression. Was there a connection between W.S. Gilbert and myself? I thought it unlikely, but felt it was an idea that was amusing. It could be a fun way to pass the house-bound hours. And so my daughter provided me with Gilbert & Sullivan, by Dr. Alan James, and I began to learn about the life of W.S. Gilbert.

W.S. Gilbert was born in London on November 18, 1836, and died in a lake on his estate May 29, 1911. I was born September 6, 1920. Starting in 1862, Gilbert began contributing to Fun, a humor magazine, and illustrated some of his writings with drawing which he signed 'Bab'. They became known as 'Bab Ballads' and the first of these [to be illustrated] was The Story of Gentle Archibald.

The change had really turned his brain;

He boiled his little sister Jane;

He painted blue his aged mother;

Sat down upon his little brother . . .

Placed beetles in his uncle's shoe;

Cut a policeman right in two. . .



Upon reading this I immediately thought of a poem I had written in the early seventies:



Gertrude had a little brother.

Mother said to treat him tender.

"How?" asked eager little Gertrude.

"Should I put him in the blender?"

Gracious no!" Replied her mother.

Don't be one who misconstrues!

That would overload the circuit

And most surely blow a fuse!"



Both verses have four metrical feet in each line. Both of them present rather gruesome ideas. Might they have been spawned by the same intellect? . . .

In HMS Pinafore, the Captain confides in Buttercup that he is concerned for his daughter Josephine's refusal to marry Sir Joseph Porter. In my musical Frozen Assets, Baron Hasenpfefer is also having difficulties with his wilful daughter, Rosalinda. He finds a sympathetic ear in his neighbor Zelda, Queen of the Gypsies.

Zelda:

Come now, Baron, I can see that there is something which troubles you.

Baron:

Ah, Queen Zelda, you know me so well! My daughter, Rosalinda, recently met this Blanding Clavicle of whom we spoke and has but the highest praise for the man. . .Her romantic notions are difficult to deal with at times.

Zelda:

I can well understand your alarm at Rosalinda's finding even one positive thing to say concerning Blanding Clavicle.



Many other similarities in plot development and characters surface each time I read Gilbert's librettos. Take, for instance, the duet sung by Little Buttercup and Captain Corcoran in Act II of HMS Pinafore. The song is made up of old, scrambled and newly invented adages. There is a character in my musical Safe in One's Own Small World? called Aunt Rhoda. She uses old bromides as a means of expressing herself. At one point she states the following:

Don't upset the applecart. Don't rock the boat. Don't go looking for trouble. SO far so good. Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile. Out of sight out of mind. Be thankful for small favors. Every cloud has a silver lining. Blood will tell-

Gilbert took great delight in ridiculing popular mores. In Trial By Jury it was the legal system; in Patience it was pseudo-intellectuals; in Iolanthe, the peerage. In The Great Stone Bagel I use various characters to satirize various aspects of moral conduct, such as the importance of wealth, sexual harassment, redneck philosophy, spectator sports, proper speech. In many of my other plays I noted that I had satirized everything from religion in Mayerling to family pride in Safe in One's Own Small World?"

Gilbert had the habit of creating a major role for an older woman who was to be a figure of fun, such as Buttercup, Ruth, Lady Jane, the Queen of the Fairies, or Katisha. Major roles for older women abound in my shows: Wueen Blanda in Bagel, Anna and Edna in Tobit or Aunt Rhoda in Safe?, to name a few.

Patter songs appear frequently in Gilbert's operas. My only true patter song is sung by the Doctor in Natasha and Vladimir. There are six verses, the first being:



Can this simple fellow, Boris, now be made to comprehend

That his daughter must be yielded to another?

It is obvious his feelings for Natasha he'd confused

With the ones he should be having for her mother!



[Editor's note: Natasha and Vladimir is one of the most startling love stories I've seen. It's about a gypsy girl who has fallen in love with her trained bear. The situation is resolved when she is transformed into a bear herself. Now there's a fairy tale ending I don't recall even the Grimms having encountered! The Doctor sings this song after the girl's father has tried to explain her misguided affections to him, without success.]



I probably would have used more choruses in my plays were it not so difficult to find singers. However, there are two choruses in Natasha and Vladimir, one of children and one of adults, as does The Wondrous Adventure of the Mississippi Mademoiselle. Mayerling has one of woodsprites. The Trials of the Tin Cup Saloon can be performed with as few as three dance-hall girls, two cowboys and two Indians, or with a chorus of each.

During the production of Ruddigore, Alan James notes that "Gilbert was criticized by the French because of the implied insult to the French Navy in Dick Dauntless' num

ber 'I shipped, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop', since they took offence at being referred to as 'Mounseers' and 'Parley-voos'. Gilbert intended to satirize British boasting, not French valor." A Native American whose son had a role in The Trials of the Tin Cup Saloon objected to the dialogue I had given the Indians in the show. Since the show is intended as a spoof on old cowboy movies, I had my characters speak in the same manner as those characters would have spoken. It had not been my intention to insult Native Americans in any way. As a matter of fact, the Native Americans are the heroes of The Trials of the Tin Cup Saloon. . .

Another similarity between the work of W.S. Gilbert and myself was brought to my attention as I read the notes accompanying a tape of The Art of the Savoyard. This is a collection of early recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan songs performed by some of the singers who sang roles in the early productions of the operas. Present in the notes is the following:



Much of Gilbert's stage business has already been lost*. The reading of his dialogue has suffered particularly, and in recent years it has not been uncommon for an entire act of a new G&S production to be played without getting a single laugh!"



It has been my habit to make a dot on a piece of paper each time the audience laughs at my dialogue or lyrics. At the end of each act I count the dots. I usually do this at several performances and make comparisons. Unlike Gilbert, I do not direct my plays. I do, however, know where the laughs are possible and, when they do not appear, search for the reason this has happened.



[*Editor's note: the "lost" referred to in connection with the stage business means that the original business isn't used, not that there is no record as to what it is. Even Gilbert's notes are still available.]



Most of my shows are easily produced, having one or at the most two simple sets. They all contain a great deal of humor and none of them contain material unfit for a young audience. Since realizing the possibility that I may, indeed, house the spirit of W.S. Gilbert, other coincidences continue to come to light. An example is the fact that my younger son has Gilbert as a middle name.

Back in the 1970s I had a frequently recurring dream in which I was in the great hall of a mansion and I know that it was MY mansion. Although none of the homes in which I have lived could be considered mansions, I would compare them with the one I had seen in my dream. There was not the slightest resemblance between them and my dream mansion. In time, the dreams abated and I all but forgot about them until one day recently when I was glancing through my Gilbert and Sullivan by Dr. James. On page 153 was a photograph of Grim's Dyke, Harrow Weald, Gilbert's Home from 1890 until 1911. My thoughts turned immediately to the dream. Was Grim's Dyke really MY house, but in another lifetime?



Draw your own conclusions as to the current residence of the spirit of W.S. Gilbert. By way of conclusion, though, Dr. Ross explains the probable origin of his inexplicable familiarity with the G&S operas, and his fondness for them. He may not have the Spirit of Gilbert, but he clearly has the Savoyard Spirit. Ed.



During my entire life I have been interested in music and theatre -- nearly obsessed by them. Yet, knowing I had no talent as a singer, actor or dancer and unable to perform music on the simplest of instruments, I somehow knew that there was a way I could become involved. I began to write plays in 1975 and have had the good fortune to have had most of them performed.When my interest turned to musicals in 1980, the interest turned into an obsession. To date I have written eleven shows and have collaborated with three composers.

The works of Gilbert and Sullivan have always fascinated me. One of my earliest childhood memories is that of hearing my mother sing "I'm called Little Buttercup". In recent years I have found myself incensed upon learning that those in charge of a G&S production have replaced Gilbert's lyrics with some cutesy lines of their own. How dare they think that they might improve on perfection! I would become angry when producers messed around with Mozart and set Don Giovanni in the Bronx, but not as angry as I would have, had they done the same to Iolanthe!

One of the most parodied lyrics in Gilbert and Sullivan has to be Ko-Ko's "I've got a little List" from The Mikado. Forgive me, but I had to do this:



As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,

I've got a little list -- I've got a little list.

Of all cutesy young directors who dress pirates up as clowns

And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed.

All producers who envision that the cast of Gondoliers

Should inhabit deepest Africa and be equipped with spears,

And set Pinafore in Brooklyn and The Yeomen on Capri

The Mikado on a space ship and The Sorcerer at sea.

At those egocentric culprits I in outrage shake my fist!

They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be misssed.



If you would like to learn more about Andre Ross's many musicals, he would probably be pleased to hear from you: 3735 Atwood Road, Stone Ridge, NY 12484.







And that pretty well takes care of what we have this time around. In the next issue, we should have a description of either one of Gilbert's or Sullivan's non-G&S works, one of The Tailors of Poznance (Ronald Lewis had provided a copy of the libretto, and I know where it is!), news from other G&S societies I'd hope, and whatever else we can find. Membership renewals will probably be going out with the next issue, too, but we'll see how things go.

In any event, please do keep in touch! The Nonsense is only as good as the material our members provide! Speaking of provided, the G&S-related illustrations appearing in this issue are computer graphics that were provided by James Farron. We certainly appreciate his efforts in making these pictures so easy to use.

Midwestern Gilbert and Sullivan Society

c/o Miss Sarah Cole -- 613 W. State St.

North Aurora, IL 60542-1538