Iolanthe was the first Gilbert and Sullivan I performed. It was the summer after my junior year of high school and I went to the National Music Camp at Interlochen to sing and dance my little heart out. I'm sure I had heard of G & S before (my father always talks about being the "Little Midshipman"--a role which doesn't appear in the printed score-- in a production of Pinafore when his sister was Little Buttercup) but I had never seen one of their operettas, been in one of their operettas, and had probably never sung any of their songs. Oh, wait, there was the Linda Ronstadt Pirates (shiver)...
The Interlochen production of Iolanthe featured something like 150 high-schoolers. Over-whelming, yes. A lot of fun, you bet. I've since met many people who spent summers at Interlochen, and the operetta is always mentioned as one of the highlights of their time there. One of my first entries in my Year of Musical Thinking mentions the death of Mel Larimer who was the musical director for the NMC operettas.
Anyway, onto the production at hand. This is a 1984 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario Canada. It stars operatic contralto (and Canadian favourite) Maureen Forrester. Ms. Forrester is by far the best singer in the cast, but there is much else to be delighted by. Paul Massel as Strephon is a good singer with a nice hairy chest.
The production is created as a faux Provincial touring show, with stage hands opening crates and unpacking costumes and props. The look of the production is therefore whimsical and two-dimensional. There are tons of Canadian-isms interpolated into the lyrics, and I can't claim to understand most of them, despite being somewhat a Canadi-ophile.
Oh, dear, I just Googled Mr. Massel and it appears he's now a Catholic priest. I could make a very mean joke about Strephon being half a fairy, but I won't.
I need some therapy.
The Interlochen production of Iolanthe featured something like 150 high-schoolers. Over-whelming, yes. A lot of fun, you bet. I've since met many people who spent summers at Interlochen, and the operetta is always mentioned as one of the highlights of their time there. One of my first entries in my Year of Musical Thinking mentions the death of Mel Larimer who was the musical director for the NMC operettas.
Anyway, onto the production at hand. This is a 1984 staging at the Stratford Festival in Ontario Canada. It stars operatic contralto (and Canadian favourite) Maureen Forrester. Ms. Forrester is by far the best singer in the cast, but there is much else to be delighted by. Paul Massel as Strephon is a good singer with a nice hairy chest.
The production is created as a faux Provincial touring show, with stage hands opening crates and unpacking costumes and props. The look of the production is therefore whimsical and two-dimensional. There are tons of Canadian-isms interpolated into the lyrics, and I can't claim to understand most of them, despite being somewhat a Canadi-ophile.
Oh, dear, I just Googled Mr. Massel and it appears he's now a Catholic priest. I could make a very mean joke about Strephon being half a fairy, but I won't.
I need some therapy.
Iolanthe
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics by WS Gilbert
First performed in 1882
This production from 1984 at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada
Cast: Maureen Forrester, Paul Massel, Eric Donkin, Arvo Kittask, Katharina Megli, Marie Baron
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