October 17, 2006
From the opening drum roll to its closing mirror image, this production fairly skipped along, delighting the audience with music, song and whimsy. Gilbert and Sullivan’s class-based comic operetta was performed with great energy from start to finish as the eight performers and five musicians excelled.
The plot revolves around a middle-class naval captain's daughter who is in love with a lower-class foremast hand (a common sailor, well below officer rank), even though she is betrothed to the upper-class First Lord of the Admiralty, the government official in charge of the Royal Navy. As with most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise twist changes everything dramatically near the end of the story.
The innovative use of the overture and opening number to create a ship’s deck from an empty stage and a few props was a brilliant way to begin, and one quite forgot the lack of a full chorus and orchestra as this talented cast and band hit top gear immediately. A cheeky Little Buttercup (Louise Crane) was soon flogging her wares to the crew of Bill Bobstay (Martin George), Dick Deadeye (Philip Cox) and our hero Ralph Rackstraw (Oliver White). The snobbish Captain Corcoran (Ian Belsey) and his daughter Josephine (Fiona Hammacott) established themselves quickly, allowing the basis of the plot to roll out seamlessly.
The comedy stakes were raised by the introduction of Sir Joseph Porter, superbly played by Simon Butteriss as a combination of a young John Inman and a gleeful Kenneth Williams. He was accompanied by his sister, his cousin and his aunt; cousin Hebe played by Carolyn Allen, while sister and aunt where doubled by Louise Crane and (in hilarious panto dame style) Philip Cox. The musical highlight for me was an increasingly drunken and frantic performance of When I Was A Lad which brought the house down. That said, the singing throughout was of a consistently high standard, with the energy of the cast making one quite forget the lack of a traditional chorus.
Musically and dramatically this was a splendidly realised production that entertained from start to finish. The quality of singing was extremely high, from the operatic (Fiona Hammacott) to the deliciously comic (Simon Butteriss) via all points in between (the whole cast). Music was well realised using piano, violin, drums and wind with some very funny interaction with the cast. Effective choreography (Jenny Arnold) and a fine set (Graham Wynne) added the final elements to enable the company to deliver a well directed (Jeff Clarke) show.
Opera Della Luna are to be congratulated on their thirteenth year of touring such innovative musical theatre, long may this Bicester based company continue. www.operadellaluna.org
The plot revolves around a middle-class naval captain's daughter who is in love with a lower-class foremast hand (a common sailor, well below officer rank), even though she is betrothed to the upper-class First Lord of the Admiralty, the government official in charge of the Royal Navy. As with most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise twist changes everything dramatically near the end of the story.
The innovative use of the overture and opening number to create a ship’s deck from an empty stage and a few props was a brilliant way to begin, and one quite forgot the lack of a full chorus and orchestra as this talented cast and band hit top gear immediately. A cheeky Little Buttercup (Louise Crane) was soon flogging her wares to the crew of Bill Bobstay (Martin George), Dick Deadeye (Philip Cox) and our hero Ralph Rackstraw (Oliver White). The snobbish Captain Corcoran (Ian Belsey) and his daughter Josephine (Fiona Hammacott) established themselves quickly, allowing the basis of the plot to roll out seamlessly.
The comedy stakes were raised by the introduction of Sir Joseph Porter, superbly played by Simon Butteriss as a combination of a young John Inman and a gleeful Kenneth Williams. He was accompanied by his sister, his cousin and his aunt; cousin Hebe played by Carolyn Allen, while sister and aunt where doubled by Louise Crane and (in hilarious panto dame style) Philip Cox. The musical highlight for me was an increasingly drunken and frantic performance of When I Was A Lad which brought the house down. That said, the singing throughout was of a consistently high standard, with the energy of the cast making one quite forget the lack of a traditional chorus.
Musically and dramatically this was a splendidly realised production that entertained from start to finish. The quality of singing was extremely high, from the operatic (Fiona Hammacott) to the deliciously comic (Simon Butteriss) via all points in between (the whole cast). Music was well realised using piano, violin, drums and wind with some very funny interaction with the cast. Effective choreography (Jenny Arnold) and a fine set (Graham Wynne) added the final elements to enable the company to deliver a well directed (Jeff Clarke) show.
Opera Della Luna are to be congratulated on their thirteenth year of touring such innovative musical theatre, long may this Bicester based company continue. www.operadellaluna.org