NEWS
By Tim Smith | July 16, 2009
There is something gloriously indestructible about the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. The music sounds fresh and charming, even in the most jaded or cynical of times. The plots manage to hold up, even when their seams show, and still generate sufficient interest and humor. The Pirates of Penzance is a particularly strong example, boasting a felicitous score that reveals the remarkable depth of Sullivan's lyrical craft and his ability to complement Gilbert's clever words imaginatively.
NEWS
By Tim Smith | July 15, 2008
Light entertainment and a heavy heat/humidity quotient somehow go together perfectly. In one of Baltimore's more charming summer traditions, the Young Victorian Theatre Company makes that point each year with the help of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The work chosen for the troupe's 38th season is as welcome for its relative novelty as for the general quality and flair of the presentation. The Gondoliers marked the final triumph of the extraordinary Gilbert and Sullivan franchise. Shortly after the premiere in 1889, an absurd, protracted quarrel over the expense of new carpeting at the duo's home base, London's Savoy Theatre, took a hefty toll on creative juices.
NEWS
By Tim Smith | July 10, 2008
One of the greatest partnerships in musical theater - wordsmith W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan - encountered periodic misunderstandings and conflicting goals. A particularly trying time for these two strong-willed creators of the world's most-popular operettas came in 1889, when Sullivan decided he needed a text that would be secondary to the music. Naturally, the librettist took severe umbrage at the idea. Testy letters were exchanged, egos severely bruised. The duo seemed on the verge of disunion when, thanks to diplomacy by producer Richard D'Oyly, who had made a fortune on G & S, a handshake saved the day. The result was the 12th Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, and one of their biggest successes: The Gondoliers.
NEWS
By MARY JOHNSON | January 23, 2008
By putting a current spin on The Pirates of Penzance, Anne Arundel Community College Opera may well transform students and other young audience members into Gilbert and Sullivan devotees. This production, which opens Friday for a two-weekend run, is even more accessible than the operas presented in past seasons, though all gained relevance by changing location and period. The Bartered Bride was transported to Maryland's Eastern Shore and The Elixir of Love was set in a 1930s village in Tennessee.
NEWS
By Mary Johnson | November 30, 2007
Gilbert and Sullivan fans - and those not yet in their ranks - will find 2nd Star Productions' The Pirates of Penzance at Bowie Playhouse a highly entertaining show. Considered by many Gilbert and Sullivan devotees to be the best and funniest operetta ever penned by the British duo, Pirates is their only work to premiere in the United States, when in December 1879, Arthur Sullivan conducted the New York theater's orchestra. 2nd Star's current reincarnation succeeds on several levels - as a tuneful musical, a clever spoof and an old-fashioned romance that is well cast.
NEWS
By Tim Smith | July 10, 2007
For its annual production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, the Young Victorian Theatre Company has not so much sprinkled Baltimore-isms on H.M.S. Pinafore as drowned the old vessel in them. That's not to say the result is all wet, but merely to point out that anyone who prefers G&S reasonably undiluted may have some trouble swallowing this concoction. Saturday night's opening performance at the Bryn Mawr School generated enough musical values and high spirits, though, to keep the ever-fresh spark of Sullivan's brilliant score burning nicely.
NEWS
By TIM SMITH | July 11, 2006
There are obvious reasons that The Sorcerer is not among the most popular Gilbert and Sullivan operettas: a creaky plot about a love potion turning a quiet English village into a sea of pressing marital intentions; a score that is more pleasant than brilliant and infectious. There are also very good reasons to ignore those flaws and give The Sorcerer a spirited go. That's what the Young Victorian Theatre Company has sensibly - and admirably - chosen to do for its 36th season of dedication to the G&S repertoire.
NEWS
By TIM SMITH | July 9, 2006
It is not too much of a stretch to say that the world might not know Gilbert and Sullivan today had it not been for The Sorcerer, the first full-length operetta they created together. It's also not much of a stretch to say that an awful lot of people don't know a note or a line of The Sorcerer. And that's a pity. THE SORCERER -- 3 p.m. today and July 16, and 8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday -- Bryn Mawr School, 109 W. Melrose Ave. // Tickets $35 -- 410-323-3077 or yvtc.org.
NEWS
By Tim Smith | July 7, 2005
With laughing song" and "ringing cheer," Gilbert and Sullivan's greatest operetta, The Mikado, took London by storm in 1885. Today, 120 years after "a most brilliant house" at the Savoy Theatre gave the first performance a "tremendous reception" (as Sullivan wrote in his diary), the work remains widely prized nearly everywhere for its wordplay, tunefulness and just plain fun. The Young Victorian Theatre Company celebrates its 35th anniversary this month, as it celebrated its 30th, with a production of The Mikado, opening tonight at the Bryn Mawr School.
NEWS
By Mary Johnson | September 16, 2004
Great fun and masterful music-making marked the Annapolis Chorale's concert opening its 32nd season and yearlong celebration of J. Ernest Green's 20th anniversary as artistic director. Green's estimable tenure has seen the company grow into the largest performing arts organization in Annapolis, with nearly 300 in the full chorale, chamber chorus, Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Youth Chorus. The groups will perform more than 20 concerts this season. In the opening moments of Saturday's concert, Green reminded the audience of the Sept.