Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
#0Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 3:11am
Hi All,
I've just recently begun exploring the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan. I purchased "HMS Pinafore" a couple weeks ago and that started my love affair. I then rented "Topsy Turvy", which is a fantastic movie and ran out and bought "The Mikado". After that, I just decided to go all out and picked up "The Gondoliers", "The Pirates of Penzance", "Iolanthe" and "The Yeoman of the Guard", which included "Trial By Jury".
I am just crazy nuts about this duo now, and "Yeoman" is definitely my favorite. The score is brilliant, I love the touching story, and the libretto is wonderful. The song "I have a song to sing" is rapidly becoming one of my favorite songs ever.
I am sure there have got to be other G&S fans out here. Let's chat!
"What the hell happened to you? You look like a Make-A-Wish Kid. You know, I just knew you were gonna bring shame on this new family of ours, and it just figures you had to go make yourself over into some heroin-shootin skate board chic on the only day E! could interview you!" - Cherry Cherry, on her daughter Mary Cherry
Updated On: 4/23/05 at 03:11 AM
timote316
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
#1re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 9:25amMy chorus is presenting Trial By Jury tomorrow night, actually (the chorus is the jury). It's a fun piece.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 9:46am
Yes! Yes! Yes! for G & S!
They are unquestionable master of the musical genre.
Great to hear that there are actually other BWW members who recognize and appreciate the genius of these two men working collaborativley.
PATIENCE is a favorite of mine, but, hell, they are all wonderful in their own special ways.
#3re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 9:57amThe Mikado is one of my all-time favorite musicals. I know every word. :)
#4re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:16am
I was in a production of Patience in the 80s and helped costume The Mikado and Iolanthe. I've always had a fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan. Iolanthe was the first musical production I ever saw on stage and I immediately fell in love with the theatricality of it all - I have a very strong memory of the Queen of the Faeries summoning Iolanthe from the bottom of the swamp - where she rose up covered in seaweed and muck, only to be pardoned and allowed back into the faerie ring - it was so beautiful...
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
#5re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:22amI was just in The Mikado, and it was such a blast. Pirates has always been one of my favorites, and I'm just starting to explore their other stuff. I think G&S are brilliant!!!!
"Did you know that if you take the first two vowels in Olive and rearrange them it spells I-Love?"-Spelling Bee
"It's night like this that hotel bars were specifically made." Light In The Piazza
#6re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:33am
YES, YES, YES.......my introduction to musical Theater was the Mikado. I was watching Foul Play with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn........I immediately bought the Mikado, and now own all that are available.
I even went so far as to see a Chicago Parks production, years ago, of Mikado, entirely performed by african-american children (even the orchestra), except for the Mikado, who was a caucasian friend of mine.
It was such a precious production......the kids were young, and not very good. But they had spirit and played/sang their hearts out. What was sad is very few parents came. There were only maybe 25 people in the audience.....but we clapped for them as loud as we could.
I also used to go up to Stratford, Ontario to see G&S productions when I lived in Michigan.
My favorite is Iolanthe, followed closely by Mikado and pirates
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#7re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:57am
LOVE G&S!
I've done, Gondoliers, Iolanthe, Mikado, Pirates, Ruddigore and most recently was in the LA production of PINAFORE! which was a totally re-wrtten score having to do with gays in the military. They ended up taking it to the Finge Festival last year in NY, but, alas, I could not go as I was starting the tour of Hairspray then.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#8re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 11:01amI love their work. My favorite has always been PIRATES OF PENZANCE, and have been desparate for Universal to release the dvd of the movie. So far, nothing. The Guthrie in Minneapolis put this on last year, it was Fantastic!
Gooch
Understudy Joined: 3/15/05
#9re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 11:08amI suspect that many broadway fans love G and S, as there are obvious similarities in tone, patter and often in humour. My favourte is Iolanthe; if you haven't gotten to know it, you are in for a treat. Ditto Ruddigore.
#10re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 11:51am
My first exposure to musical theatre was an LP of THE MIKADO. I have appeared in PIRATES as the Sergeant of Police, TRIAL BY JURY as The Defendant, H.M.S. PINAFORE as Ralph Rackstraw and THE MIKADO as Pish-Tush and as Pooh-Bah, and workshopped a stage version of the Ronald Searle cartoon DICK DEADEYE. I will be directing a modern-dress MIKADO this fall in Washington State.
They were geniuses, and the folks here on the board who aren't familiar with them would do well to investigate their works.
#11re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 12:00pmgilbert and who??
RIP glebby <3
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#12re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 12:03pmGoogle them Turtle
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#13re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 12:12pm
just kidding ... i am the very model of a g & s fan 
RIP glebby <3
joeybiltmore1
Leading Actor Joined: 2/22/05
#14re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 1:53pm
A few years ago I decided I needed to know more GIlbert and Sullivan than Pirates, which I had done. I am SO glad I did and I had a blast exploring the other shows one by one.
There are MANY recordings to choose from (and I now own more than two of most of the shows) I found that the best recordings in general have been the "New D'Oyly Carte" Company ones, mostly recorded in the early 1990's. Unlike the earlier recordings, they are digital and offer some nice production photos.
My favorites (at least today) are Ruddigore (so fun and a bit creepy), The Mikado (excellent from start to finish) and Princess Ida, which offers some of the most ravishing of Sullivan's music and orchestrations.
While the plots sometimes rehash the same ideas again and again, there is no denying the Gilbert offered consistently superb lyrics. I am so glad I decided to explore these terrific, ground-breaking works - the beginning of the musicals we all love so much.
#15re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 2:42pmI love G&S! I had my first experience doing the chorus of "HMS Pinafore" and "Princess Ida" at a summer stock theater a few years ago, since then I've played Sir Joseph in another production of "Pinafore" as well as Ko-Ko in "The Mikado." I've seen a bunch of other G&S shows too--"Pinafore" is my favorite but I also really like "Yeomen of the Guard." It has a really beautiful score.
beacon1
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/31/04
#16re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 3:29pm
LOVE G&S
Love love love love!
My first experience was The Mikado. When the characters names were listed in the program I was hooked. Nanky-Poo, Yum-Yum,
Koko... In fact to this day, when someone says "Defer" I always think "De-ferr. De-ferr to the Lord High Exe-CU-tioner!"
Love Pirates, Pinafore, Patience and Trial by Jury...so much to enjoy! Saw Sal Viviano as Frederick on tour...its was swoon at first site!
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
Updated On: 4/23/05 at 03:29 PM
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QueenS
Leading Actor Joined: 8/15/03
#17re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 3:42pm
Last season, Theatre TenTen (in NYC) did a wonderful version of "Iolanthe" with only a handful of people. They cut out the big choruses and only used 3 peers, 3 fairies and the principals.
It worked really well.
Dummy
Understudy Joined: 3/31/05
#18re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 3:45pmHuzzah for G & S fans! My parents started me on Gilbert and Sullivan when I was still in the womb, I think. You must add Ruddigore and Princess Ida to your collection. You'll be hooked for life.
#19re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 3:47pm
One of my favourite pieces of theatre is Iolanthe.
Such a wonderful score, a wonderful libretto, and I think the West End needs a well-staged revival of it.
As for the others, love the lot of them, though The Gondoliers and The Mikado stand at the front of the pack for me, with Patience not far behind.
And yes, Yeoman of the Guard has a wonderful score, but the story suffers from the lack of comedy. Comedy was Gilbert's fortê, and he should have stuck to it...
#20re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 5:17pm
I'm in a G&S group called Opera-Lytes, and we're doing HMS PINAFORE this weekend, and next. I've done THE MIKADO, UTOPIA LIMITED, TRIAL BY JURY, and PRINCESS IDA (I was CYRil!!!). We're doing PATIENCE in next spring.
What I'm REALLY excited about is a Christmas G&S program we're planning for next year!
Praying Decca Broadway will put "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" on CD!
#21re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/23/05 at 5:35pm
Yes, I ADORE G&S!!!!
I've performed in THE MIKADO and stage managed THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. They are also my two favorites of theirs, they're so fantastic.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
phantom_tenor
Leading Actor Joined: 1/11/05
#22re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/24/05 at 4:01am
Yay for G & S!!
Everything they did was gold. except maybe "utopia ltd".
Pirates is my favourite, followed by Iolanthe, the mikado and yeomen, all tied.
Seeing what promises to be an awesome production of Pinafore/trial by jury at the Sydney Opera House later this year, starring none other than Anthony Warlow as Captain Corcoran and the Judge.
For anyone looking for a great introduction to the music of gilbert and sullivan, get the D'Oyly Carte "The Best of Gilbert and Sullivan. It's a double disk set, and it's just amazing. All done as it's meant to be done, if a little too strictly adhering to tradition.
rockfenris2005
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#23re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/24/05 at 5:13amIolanthe is incredible. It is absolutely perfect!
Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try
-South Pacific
#24re: Any Gilbert & Sullivan fans on here?
Posted: 4/24/05 at 8:18amPhantom_Tenor - Are you an Aussie?
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