Theatre Review: Sinfonicron's The Gondoliers
Travis Jones |
Last Updated:2/2/10 Section: Arts & Culture
I must confess to being biased against musical theater, for too often I find its song and dance alienates me from any narrative or emotional nuance. Sinfonicron Light Opera Company's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers handily avoids these pitfalls, for this light-as-a-feather comedy seeks to do little more than entertain and does so admirably.
With a cast of nearly thirty, it is quite the spectacle. The opera, set in Venice during the early 19th century, opens with more than a dozen gondolieri and contadine (peasant women). The women gather in hopes of being chosen by brothers Marco (Dylan Echter '12) and Giuseppe (Paul Burgess '12) as their brides. In many ways, this number sets the stage for the entire show, for it promises the hilarity, joyousness, and fabulous dress which the next couple of hours ultimately deliver.
Fans of Gilbert and Sullivan will appreciate that the Sinfonicron production maintains their dry wit. The vocal performances are stunning and the plot gripping, and the production, under the direction of Keegan Cassady '10, has a sense of irony and a self-consciousness of its own absurdity that only add to the comedy intended by the text. Even in the opera's greatest moment of dramatic gravity, the show's tongue remains planted firmly in its cheek. Taking melodramatic acting to its comedic extreme, young lovers Casilda (Mary Myers '10) and Luiz (Tim Koch '11), agonizing over their imminent separation, gesticulate and emote broadly in a moment of self-parody.
In addition to its own sense of irony, The Gondoliers expects a level of audience participation, breaking "the fourth wall" to acknowledge itself as artifice. In a moment of comedic empathy with the audience, Casilda stands at the edge of the stage and, as the orchestra begins to play for the next number, pleads with them, "Oh god, not another song!" The audience is not only acknowledged directly, but through the culture in which it exists as well. Anachronistic references abound, relying on the audience's familiarity with contemporary music, film, and even William & Mary-specific culture. A high point of the opera occurs when the grand inquisitor, Don Alhambra (Barret Armbruster '10), informs the gondoliers' wives, with his most flamboyant Beyoncé hand wave, that one of them will soon find herself "a single lady."
With a cast of nearly thirty, it is quite the spectacle. The opera, set in Venice during the early 19th century, opens with more than a dozen gondolieri and contadine (peasant women). The women gather in hopes of being chosen by brothers Marco (Dylan Echter '12) and Giuseppe (Paul Burgess '12) as their brides. In many ways, this number sets the stage for the entire show, for it promises the hilarity, joyousness, and fabulous dress which the next couple of hours ultimately deliver.
Fans of Gilbert and Sullivan will appreciate that the Sinfonicron production maintains their dry wit. The vocal performances are stunning and the plot gripping, and the production, under the direction of Keegan Cassady '10, has a sense of irony and a self-consciousness of its own absurdity that only add to the comedy intended by the text. Even in the opera's greatest moment of dramatic gravity, the show's tongue remains planted firmly in its cheek. Taking melodramatic acting to its comedic extreme, young lovers Casilda (Mary Myers '10) and Luiz (Tim Koch '11), agonizing over their imminent separation, gesticulate and emote broadly in a moment of self-parody.
In addition to its own sense of irony, The Gondoliers expects a level of audience participation, breaking "the fourth wall" to acknowledge itself as artifice. In a moment of comedic empathy with the audience, Casilda stands at the edge of the stage and, as the orchestra begins to play for the next number, pleads with them, "Oh god, not another song!" The audience is not only acknowledged directly, but through the culture in which it exists as well. Anachronistic references abound, relying on the audience's familiarity with contemporary music, film, and even William & Mary-specific culture. A high point of the opera occurs when the grand inquisitor, Don Alhambra (Barret Armbruster '10), informs the gondoliers' wives, with his most flamboyant Beyoncé hand wave, that one of them will soon find herself "a single lady."
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