Princess Ida

This, the only, 3 Act Gilbert & Sullivan Opera is rarely performed today and this is a pity as it contains some of Sullivan’s best music and Gilbert’s usual sharp wit. Walsall G & S Society brought the story more up to date with some good ideas and for most of the time it worked.

There was a cleverly designed and constructed set and this was supplemented by different projections on the backcloth. Congratulations to some of the members and the technical staff for achieving this. It was certainly effective

There was some good singing during the performance and Louise Sawalha (Ida) showed an excellent vocal talent. There was plenty of bluster from John Cruxton (Hildebrand) and this was well matched by the cunning and guile of Adrian Davies-Ratcliffe (Gama). Mac Hammond (Arac) commands the stage when he appears and he was well supported by his side-kick Guron played by Keith Alderson. Most of the fun during the evening came from John Ramsey (Hilarion), Gary Gentle (Cyril) and Liam Simkins (Florian). They worked really well together in singing, acting and characterisation. Another fruitful collaboration was that of Liz Ellison (Blanche) and Bethan Harris (Melissa). They were well supported by Sue Rogers (Psyche), Ellyn Cruxton (Sacharissa), and Caroline Hammond (Chloe). Although the men’s chorus was few in number they certainly made up for it by the volume of sound they produced.

I know that societies have to watch their budgets very carefully these days and this production was accompanied on a keyboard. Although the playing was excellent it couldn’t do justice to the wonderful music penned by Sullivan.

The costumes were very effective and suited the updating perfectly.

Well done to all concerned!

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