Show Your Face!
Martha McGinnis, General Editor
John Huston, Contributing Editor
January is the month of Janus, the Roman god of doors and gates. He has two faces, one looking towards the new year, and the other looking back to the old. It is appropriate, therefore, that our January meeting should feature two Gilbert & Sullivan groups in concert. The first is the St. Anne’s Music and Drama Society’s production of The Yeomen of the Guard, directed by Toronto’s veteran producer of G&S, Roy Schatz. The second is the North Toronto Players’ Patience, under the direction of two new-generation Savoyards, Laura Schatz and John Huston. Come out and see old faces and new performing your favourite excerpts from these two shows. Tickets for these shows, and for the St. Pat’s Players’ production of The Grand Duke, will be available at the meeting, which will take place on January 6 at 7:30 pm in St. Anne’s Parish Hall.
Thanks to Jim Carnegie, who makes this publication possible, and Merry Christmas to all from the editors of To-ran-to-ra!
President’s Message
Joan Woodland
Our December meeting was a most enjoyable evening of music, fun and Christmas cheer. Many thanks to all those who participated by providing the entertainment and the “goodies,” and most especially to Laura Schatz and Douglas McIntosh, for planning and organizing the evening. The next Society meeting will be Saturday, January 6 [see meeting announcement above -- eds.].
Some of you have asked why, then an annual membership fee is paid, it is still necessary to collect an admission charge at each meeting. Our annual fee is for the general operation of the Society, including the cost of this newsletter. The fee collected at each meeting helps to pay for rental of the hall, the cost of refreshments and other meeting expenses, such as the P.A. system. The charge for our regular meetings is $2.00 per person.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive of the Toronto Gilbert & Sullivan Society, I extend to each and every one of you sincere best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 1990.
For St. Anne’s Fans
As this month’s featured show, To-ron-to-ra is proud to salute The Yeomen off the Guard, which will be performed this year by the St. Anne’s Music and Drama Society under the direction of Roy Schatz. St. Anne’s is the senior performing group in Toronto, having staged an annual production for twenty-seven consecutive years. For twenty-five of those years, Roy Schatz has directed the shows and taken a leading role in them. Contributing editor John Huston interviewed Roy at his home.
JH: Have you a favourite G&S opera, Roy?
RS: If I want to be serious, I like Yeomen, and if I want to be merry then it is The Gondoliers, but for beautiful music my favourite is The Sorcerer.
JH: Once again this year you will be playing Jack Point. How many times have you performed this role?
RS: This is the third time we have done the show at St. Anne’s, and this will be my ninth or tenth Jack Point.
JH: As a director, what do you consider the proper place of “traditional” stage business?
RS: If one has the right size of stage, and the performers willing to learn, and capable of learning and carrying off the business, then I think the traditional approach makes a lot of sense. If there are certain things the performers are unwilling to do, or incapable of doing... then I think some adaptation is in order. I enjoyed the Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s Patience [performed in 1968 in hippie attire -- eds.] because it required very few changes of lines and at the time... was a perfect spoof. I probably do not have enough creativity to think such a thing through.
On the other hand, when someone comes up with a good idea like Scot Denton’s staging of “Catlike Tread” [St. Anne’s pirates, 1988] I go along with them. When Michael Burgess [former actor and employee off the D’Oyly Carte, now an Anglican priest] said he thought our Pirates was the finest amateur production he had ever seen, I felt it was because it was not all me!
JH: Have you ever had a show “bomb” at St. Anne’s?
RS: We have never had a failure either financially or histrionically at St. Anne’s -- I don’t think. I will tell you a funny story. George Young [Scot Denton’s father] used to have a claque present to applaud every time I made my first entrance. He was anxious to build the reputation of there being a “great star” at St. Anne’s!
JH: You seem to have a secure audience, and you have performed in all thirteen shows, either at St. Anne’s, or with the Toronto G&S Society. Have you ever thought of departing radically from traditionally staged G&S?
RS: No, I’m a coward! [laughs] You have to bear in mind that I was holding down a very demanding full-time job, and was on the boards of St. Anne’s Church and St. Anne’s Tower. I didn’t feel I had the time to do anything I had not done before... I can take what someone else has done, and then do the schoolteacher’s job and adapt the curriculum to fit! Maybe that’s why I don’t have much respect for modern staging -- because I can’t do it myself.
JH: Do you have a favourite memory of directing?
RS: I love the dancing in G&S and, had I been born in this generation, I might have been a dancer. I think my happiest moment of all was teaching the cachucha to the entire cast of The Gondoliers [St. Anne’s, 1985]... I think the dancing for the Stratford productions has been without equal anywhere in the world for G&S. That is why I like the comedy baritone roles: they all have some dances to them. That line about Sir Joseph teaching Captain Corcoran to dance a hornpipe on the cabin table shows dancing was part of the quintessence of Gilbert’s productions. Any group that does not have a dancing director should hire a choreographer.
JH: Do you have a philosophy or a set of rules about directing?
RS: Avoid slapstick until you master the basics. There is lots of opportunity for little touches of slapstick once you have done that.
Respect Gilbert. Gilbert was a brilliant writer and stager, and it is so easy not to respect him and try to be clever. There are very few people as clever as Gilbert.
Analyze the particular strengths of your artists and capitalize upon them. I would advise [young directors] to look at [the D’Oyly Carte] book of directions to figure out in advance which are suitable for the stage and the cast. If you are going to change them, discuss with the cast what was the original intent, and respect it even if you don’t execute it exactly.
In linguistics we distinguish between local flavour, for example French-Canadian, and changes to the basis of the language, such as Joual. Local flavour makes sense as long as you respect the basis of Gilbert’s language and Sullivan’s music.
JH: Is there anything that you avoid, as a director of G&S?
RS: I do not ever like the tawdry. I felt the film of Pirates was, at times, very clever. The scenes with the Pirate King [Kevin Kline] were simply brilliant. However, I thought that the cheap New York chorus girls were out of place [Hear! hear! -- eds.]. That was descending to the tawdry rather than adapting to the reality... I do not like anything cheap or spurious. I am a prude, and I am not apologizing for it, so I do not like any modern sexual vulgarity in G&S. I believe completely in human sexuality -- don’t get me wrong -- but I do not believe in any tawdriness or vulgarity on the family stage.
JH: You have presented all the Gilbert & Sullivan shows at St. Anne’s except Utopia and The Grand Duke. There is a rumour that you may do The Grand Duke next year. Is this true?
RS: I am not even thinking about next year’s show.
Thanks go to Roy Schatz for allowing To-ron-to-ra to conduct this interview. The production of Yeomen will take place at 8pm on January 26 and 27 and February 1, 2 and 3, with 2pm matinees on the 27th and the 3rd. It will be presented at St. Anne’s Parish Hall, on the northeast corner of Dundas and Dufferin. For ticket information, call Ruth Cox in the evenings at 255-4370 or Roy Schatz during the day, at 922-4415.
Erratum - Sergeant Meryll will be played by Paul Buchanan in St. Anne’s upcoming production of Yeomen. Our apologies to Paul for omitting him from the list in the last issue!
Ephemera
Attention, collectors of Gilbert & Sullivan paraphernalia! Illustrated centenary souvenir booklets of The Yeoman of the Guard are available from: Peter Gibbons, 71 Hockley Lane, Eastern Green, Coventry, CV5 7F5, U.K.
Booklets of Princess Ida and Trial By Jury & The Sorcerer are also available for the same price, while The Mikado and Ruddigore have colour illustrations and cost slightly more.
On The Record
[For those of you interested in purchasing recordings of The Yeomen of the Guard, the editors have reprinted an updated version of Douglas McIntosh’s review from the May 1987 issue of To-ron-to-ra.]
Sir Malcolm Sargent recorded Yeomen three times with the D’Oyly Carte Company -- in 1929, 1931 and 1964, as well as once with his own Glyndebourne forces in 1958. Three other “official” D’Oyly Carte recordings were made, in 1920, 1950 and 1979. The Company’s second stereophonic version was, in fact, its last commercial recording of a complete G&S opera.
1920 EMI Acoustic Recording
George Baker, Peter Dawson, Edward Halland, Derek Oldham, Ernest Pike, Robert Radford, Violet Essex, Ruby Heyl, Bessie Jones, Edna Thornton, Nellie Walker. Conducted by George V. Bing.
The third “official” recording in EMI’s acoustic series largely features professional singers under contract to the recording company, but for the first time, does include a D’Oyly Carte member: Derek Oldham sings both the roles of Colonel Fairfax and the First Yeoman. George Baker sings Jack Point and shares the role of Sgt. Meryll with Peter Dawson, who also sings Second Yeoman. Only two excerpts are now available -- “Rapture, Rapture” with Peter Dawson and Edna Thornton as Meryll and Dame Carruthers, and the Act II finale, “0 Thoughtless Crew” featuring George Baker, Violet Essex and Derek Oldham as Jack Point, Elsie and Col. Fairfax. Both are contained in the superb Arabesque set of the 1931 Ruddigore (Cat No. 6548-2L), which includes highlights from all D’Oyly Carte acoustic recordings.
1929 EMI Electrical Recording
George Baker, Peter Dawson, Walter Glynne, Arthur Hosking, Henry Millidge, Derek Oldham, Leo Sheffield, Nellie Brierdiffe, Dorothy Gill, Elsie Griffin, Winifred Lawson. Conducted by Malcolm Sargent.
Arabesque Records have re-issued the freshest copy of this 1929 set they could find. Their notes mention that a bad microphone was apparently used for several choral sections. However, Malcolm Sargent’s first recording of this opera clearly illustrates his dramatic flair. The only non-D’Oyly Carte members of the cast, George Baker and Peter Dawson, return to their roles as Jack Point and Sgt. Meryll. Derek Oldham is the only company member to give a repeat performance. Although the sound quality is not high, this set is of tremendous historical importance, as the only complete recording currently available to feature singers like Baker and Dawson. Moreover, it is the only pre-World War II Yeomen available. It includes excerpts from the 1926 Mikado, the company’s first electrical recording, including most of Sir Henry Lytton’s contributions as Ko-Ko. This is currently available on Arabesque LP (8067-2L), and should be released on CD within the year.
1950 Decca Monophonic Recording
Darrell Fancourt, Martyn Green, Neville Griffiths, Donald Harris, Leonard Osborn, Geoffrey Sanders, Richard Watson, Ann Drummond-Grant, Ella Halman, Muriel Harding, Deidree Thurlow, Conducted by Isadore Godfrey.
The D’Oyly Carte’s first Decca recording of Yeomen features a number of famous Company members, like Fancourt, Green, Watson and Halman. Among my favourites is Ann Drummond-Grant, who had yet to assume the contralto roles from Ella Halman. In this set she sings Phoebe beautifully. Characteristic of Godfrey’s conducting style, tempi are brisk and the score takes on a dance-like quality. Curiously, a short section from the Act I Finale is cut, as is the duet “Rapture, Rapture,” reducing Darrell Fancourt’s already small contribution. Martyn Green is in excellent form as Jack Point, especially in the patter songs. Decca has not yet re-issued this classic set in their series of monophonic recordings of the 1950’s. You may find a copy on London’s Richmond line.
1958 EMI Stereophonic Recording
Owen Brannigan, John Cameron, John Carol Case, Denis Dowling, Geraint Evans, Richard Lewis, Alexander Young, Doreen Hume, Elsie Morison, Monica Sinclair, Marjorie Thomas. Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.
The first stereophonic Yeomen is Sargent’s 1958 recording with the Pro Arte Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus (SXDW 3033). This is a superb set in every sense. Owen Brannigan is one of the finest Shadbolts on record. Richard Lewis and Elsie Morison are superb as Elsie. Monica Sinclair -- my favourite G&S contralto -- delivers the definitive Dame Carruthers. Geraint Evans sounds far too robust as Jack Point: it’s difficult to imagine him wasting away for Elsie’s love. That apart, Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts this performance with great gusto and a keen sense of dramatic impact. Tempi are well-judged and the chorus sounds resplendent. One of the greatest Yeomen sets ever recorded, it is available as an EMI CD (CDS 7 47781 8).
1964 Decca Stereophonic Recording
Donald Adams, Thomas Lawlor, David Palmer, Philip Potter, Anthony Raffell, John Reed, Kenneth Sandford, Margaret Eales, Elizabeth Harwood, Ann Hood, Gillian Knight. Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.
Three years before his death, Sargent was invited back to the D’Oyly Carte to make his final two complete G&S opera recordings. He brought with him the renowned operatic soprano Elizabeth Harwood. Together with the D’Oyly Carte Company, they give us two outstanding recordings, Yeomen and Princess Ida. It is difficult to choose between Sargent’s 1958 and 1964 Yeomen. Donald Adams is a marvellous Meryll. Equally fine is Anthony Raffell as the Lieutenant. John Reed is probably the finest Jack Point on record, delivering his patter songs well and sounding suitably frail. Kenneth Sandford has not quite the sonority of Owen Brannigan, but he makes much of his duets. Philip Potter -- my favourite G&S tenor -- is excellent as Fairfax, as is Harwood as Elsie. This is a superb set, recorded in nearly perfect acoustic conditions and recently re-issued with the 1963 Trial By Jury on CD (417 358-2), LP (417 358-1) and cassette (417 358-4).
1979 Decca Stereophonic Recording
John Ayldon, Barry Clark, Malcolm Coy, Jon Ellison, Gareth Joichael Rayner, John Reed, Meston Reid, Kenneth Sandford, Geoffrey Shovelton, Patricia Leonard, Barbara Lilley, Jane Metcalfe, Suzanne O’Keefe. Conducted by Royston Nash.
The D’Oyly Carte’s last recording of a complete G&S opera is somewhat disappointing, especially when compared with Sargent’s classic versions. The recorded sound is very dry, uncharacteristic of Decca’s usual high standards. Royston Nash doesn’t conduct with the same lilting gait as Isadore Godfrey nor with the dramatic impact of Malcolm Sargent. The result is a version which, although competent, is not clearly delineated in its musical approach. The principals all sing well and we are treated to a repeat performance of John Reed’s and Kenneth Sandford’s earlier roles. John Ayldon takes the character of Sgt. Meryll and, as a bonus, sings “A Laughing Boy But Yesterday,” one of the so-called lost songs which Nash restored to regular performance in the Company’s final years. Dialogue between “Here’s a Man of Jollity” and “I Have a Song to Sing O” is also included. This set also boasts the “Ballet Suite No. 1” from Victoria and Merrie England, expertly rendered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This is a welcome addition to any collection of Sullivan’s orchestral music. For those who are interested only in obtaining the best version of Yeomen, though, this set falls far short of the earlier Sargent recordings, even with its considerable bonus items.
Ivanhoe-ho-ho
Sullivan’s one excursion into Grand Opera, Ivanhoe, may be his least-known theatrical work. Although initially very popular -- its premier run of over a hundred and sixty performances is, the Contributing Editor believes, still unrivalled -- it is known today only in individually recorded arias, and in one ghastly live recording. Now, at long last, the opera is available on three compact discs. The recording features the Prince Consort, who have also recorded Sullivan’s The Rose of Persia and The Beauty Stone; the performance of their professional soloists and orchestra gives Ivanhoe a chance to shine. To order this CD set, cheques for £34.50 should be made payable to Pavilion Records and sent to: Pavilion Records, Sparrows Green, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6SJ, U.K.
Witty Ditties
Thanks to all of you who submitted entries for the Carol Contest: there is obviously talent out there! The winner was the following lyric, sung to the tune of “Strange Adventure” from The Yeomen of the Guard. Laura Schatz, Douglas McIntosh, and Frank and Corinne Cairns performed it at the Christmas meeting. An honourable mention goes to the carol entered by Len Wilgus and Anne Wingfield.
“Sleep, my tiny Babe, so lowly,
Sings the maid in lullaby.
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
As foretold, the Child so holy,
Cradled, with His mother nigh
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
Ox and ass beside Thee lowing,
Stars in heav’n above are glowing,
Kings on Thee their gifts bestowing,
As she sings her lullaby
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
Little Child, whom God is sending,
Sleep so sweet, and do not cry
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
O’er the manger Mary’s bending,
Joseph standing guard nearby
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
Heav’n and earth with joy are ringing;
Skies are filled with angels singing;
While our homage we are bringing
Mary sings her lullaby
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).
Lullaby, lullaby,
Mary sings her lullaby
(Lulla- lulla- lullaby).”
Peer Upon’t
While London is quite rightly regarded as the mecca for G&S enthusiasts -- especially with the new D’Oyly Carte re-enshrined at the Savoy -- New York City has good claim to the attention of all Savoyards this winter. The Pierpont Morgan Library, home to the Reginald Allen Gilbert & Sullivan collection, is hosting a one-of-a-kind exhibition entitled, Gilbert and Sullivan: A Window on the Victorian World. Expanded by the addition of loans from other collections, both public and private, the display will run until February 18.
The Savoyard will be “took flat aback” by the completeness of the exhibit. It is not just that all of Sullivan’s original manuscript Savoy scores, except Thespis and Utopia Ltd., are present -- in addition to the scores for his Symphony No. 1 (and only), Ivanhoe, The Martyr of Antioch, Cox & Box, and The Contrabandista; nor that there are vocal scores, opening night programmes, and first editions of the libretti, including Thespis. Marvellous as it is to see these, it is the Allen collection’s seventy-five thousand personal mementos that are truly worth the trip. It is a tribute to curator Frederic Wilson that he has chosen to display pieces that not only represent significant milestones in the lives of both men, but also provide information about the operas and their progenitors.
In the display case devoted to The Sorcerer is a letter from Sullivan to George Grossmith, asking if the amateur performer is “inclined to go on the stage” in the new piece. In the next display case, we see Gilbert’s letter to Sullivan, in which he outlines the basic plot and casting of H.M.S. Pinafore. Another lets us read over Gilbert’s shoulder as he sketches out possible plots and doodles characters for what would become Iolanthe; Patience shows a letter to George Grossmith from Oscar Wilde, asking for tickets to opening night.
As the operas progress we sense Sullivan’s dissatisfaction with Savoy opera, exemplified in the composer’s contract with Chappell, which states the conditions for publishing the score. Throughout the printed document, Sullivan has altered the term “comic opera” to “opera.” Gilbert, too, is unhappy. The same case contains his letter suggesting the removal of Meryll’s “A Laughing Boy” from Yeomen, as their “professedly comic opera” was too full of sombre tunes.
By the time we reach The Grand Duke, the end is certain. Letters from both men attest to their bitterness over the opera’s failure. The exhibition does not end there, however, just as Savoy opera did not end with The Grand Duke. The Nautch Girl, Lucky Star, The Rose of Persia, and The Emerald Isle are all represented by vocal scores, costumes, sketches, prompt books and posters. The manuscript score of Fallen Fairies is there, as is Gilbert’s letter to Edward German, asking him to collaborate on the piece, the librettist’s last.
Finally there are the spin-offs: games, advertising cards, film posters, fans, shaving mugs, programmes from “pirate” productions -- all witnessing the fervour with which Gilbert & Sullivan burst upon their Victorian world. I have covered only a minuscule part of the exhibit in these pages, and, if any members are staying in New York, I urge them to spend a day at this astonishing gallimaufry of G&S.
[gal.li.’mauf.ry, n. Heterogeneous mixture, jumble, medley. -- eds.)
Members in the Media!
Toronto members may be interested to hear that the August 25th issue of The Guardian contained a photograph of Jill Pert, who played a leading role in the Society’s penultimate production of Iolanthe. The picture shows Jill in costume for her role of Katisha in a production of The Mikado, which ran at the Barbican Theatre, London, from August 30 to September 3. John Ayldon (Pooh-Bah) and Christopher Gillet (Nanki-Poo) were also in the photo.
An article concerning another member of the Toronto G&S Society appeared in the December 3 issue of the Toronto Star. Vit Wagner interviewed Derek Bate, who is a conductor of Les Miserables at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
Thanks to Ray Rawlings for bringing these excerpts to our attention!
Combin’ Yeomen
This month’s quiz is all about our featured show, The Yeomen of the Guard. Put on your thinking cap (and bells)
The entrance of Jack Point and Elsie Maynard contains a substantial amount of dialogue spoken over music. Name the other G&S shows that share this feature.
What do the plots of Yeomen and The Sorcerer have in common?
After the opening night of The Yeomen of the Guard, Gilbert took the unusual step of removing two characters from the opera. Who were they?
Sullivan wrote two other “Romantic Operas” at the Savoy with librettists other than Gilbert. Name these operas.
There are a number of animals mentioned in The Yeomen of the Guard. Who talks about the following?
ass
dog
lion
maggot
skylark
squirrel