Broadway purists will argue my inclusion of Gilbert & Sullivan in my Year, and the fact that this is a taping of a production from Opera Australia does nothing to combat that criticism. But, I love operettas and often find them an amusing diversion.
This production of HMS Pinafore does little favor to the genre, I'm afraid. It is certainly competently done with good singers and all the expected silliness, but it never seems exactly inspired, or as spontaneous as I've found the best operetta productions to seem. Perhaps that's partly from the notion of television taping in close-ups a production staged to be seen in an opera house. A roll of the eyes doesn't read in an opera house, but a double take reads as overblown on television.
The set for this production of Pinafore also struck me as very strange. I think the setting should be a sailing vessel. This set is clearly made to look like a steel warship, with a few ropes around for atmosphere. It looks more like the ship set for Anthing Goes than for G & S. The costumes on the other hand are beautiful, and it's nice to hear a full opera orchestra playing this musical romp of a score.
The production of Trial by Jury--which is the second half of this double bill--fares better. Set in contemporary times, the costumes are again very nice and the court-room set simple but workable. The playboy take on Edwin by tenor David Hobson (who also sang Ralph Rackstraw in Pinafore) is funny.
I doubt I'm the only one to find Pinafore rather homo-erotic. All those sailors! And some of the dialogue ("the finest seaman in the fleet" and "I'm a topman and a good one, too"). For those looking for attractive chorus boys, check out these sailors and jurymen. I'm heading to Melbourne!
HMS Pinafore & Trial by Jury
by Gilbert & Sullivan
Opera Australia production on DVD
Taped in 2006
Cast: Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, John Bolton Wood, Tiffany Speight, Richard Alexander, Colette Mann, Ali McGregor
This production of HMS Pinafore does little favor to the genre, I'm afraid. It is certainly competently done with good singers and all the expected silliness, but it never seems exactly inspired, or as spontaneous as I've found the best operetta productions to seem. Perhaps that's partly from the notion of television taping in close-ups a production staged to be seen in an opera house. A roll of the eyes doesn't read in an opera house, but a double take reads as overblown on television.
The set for this production of Pinafore also struck me as very strange. I think the setting should be a sailing vessel. This set is clearly made to look like a steel warship, with a few ropes around for atmosphere. It looks more like the ship set for Anthing Goes than for G & S. The costumes on the other hand are beautiful, and it's nice to hear a full opera orchestra playing this musical romp of a score.
The production of Trial by Jury--which is the second half of this double bill--fares better. Set in contemporary times, the costumes are again very nice and the court-room set simple but workable. The playboy take on Edwin by tenor David Hobson (who also sang Ralph Rackstraw in Pinafore) is funny.
I doubt I'm the only one to find Pinafore rather homo-erotic. All those sailors! And some of the dialogue ("the finest seaman in the fleet" and "I'm a topman and a good one, too"). For those looking for attractive chorus boys, check out these sailors and jurymen. I'm heading to Melbourne!
HMS Pinafore & Trial by Jury
by Gilbert & Sullivan
Opera Australia production on DVD
Taped in 2006
Cast: Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, John Bolton Wood, Tiffany Speight, Richard Alexander, Colette Mann, Ali McGregor
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