The Yeomen of the Guard

This one was a bit bittersweet for me. This operetta (for want of a better word) is one of the lesser-known in the Gilbert & Sullivan canon. I did a production of it many, many years ago, so those memories colored my view of this performance. I saw the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players at City Center (a beautiful theater) in NYC. I bought a cheap ticket since I was more concerned with hearing the score than seeing and evaluating the entire production.

I was not let down. While my seat had a partially obstructed view, I was able to hear everything just fine.

When I did the show, our “orchestra” was a piano, electric organ, and tympani. This production had a small, but real, orchestra. Our production skipped the overture and substituted an Act II madrigal—“Strange Adventure.” Not a bad trade-off, but hearing the overture live was really great.

The company, while employing quite a few professional actors/singers was a little heavy-handed in the acting category. And I found some of the shift from spoken dialogue into sung sections a little off-putting.

The score doesn’t have any big G&S hits but it did have the requisite trios, ballads, patter songs, double choruses, etc. that you’d expect from a Sullivan score. Hearing them fully orchestrated was a real treat for me. And the vocalists were quite good across the board.

I don’t know the full story behind the NYGASP (as they call themselves) crowd but it seems a bit collegial in that they’re a bunch that have a bit of history, yet a bit of ingrown history, too. Still, the one major set was done quite well, costumes were for the most part executed well (there were a few unfortunate “pumpkin pants” shorts—think Sir Walter Raleigh—that ended up looking a little more like culottes/hot pants on a couple of the male characters), and lighting and sound were done pretty well, too.

All in all, a slightly more expensive concert than is usual for me, but one that I really wanted to experience, and I’m glad that I did.

ConcertMeister

Here's a version of "Strange Adventure": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsOBcnelPVU