Princess Ida

A memorable evening with great singing from principles and chorus alike, not one of the most well known, or performed of the Savoy operettas, but it does contain some of the most wonderful music of Sullivan. Halifax made most of Gilbert's script extracting as much humour as possible in this intriguing plot. The expirenced principles Hilarion (Leon Waksberg) and Princess Ida (Anna Trent) performed and sang their parts beautifully, along with Hilarion's friends and Princess Ida';s lady professor's. The nasty King Gama (Colin Fine) and Good King Hildebrand (Ian Moorhouse) gave strong performances. I really enjoyed the musical numbers performed in Act Two where the trio (Hilarion and companions) were dressed as women students in the 'Castle Adamant University for Ladies' , which men are excluded on the pain of death. Of course in the end all was forgiven and Hilarion and Princess Ida did find love. I must mention the delightful unobtrusive Orchestra under the baton of Richard Buxton. The Society does not use microphones and we could hear every word. Lovely colourful scenery and beautiful costumes all helped to make this a worthy production. G& S at it's best.

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