The Gondoliers

I had a lovely evening watching the Gondoliers at Kington. The cast showed few nerves on what was their opening night; and as opening nights go, this was a fairly slick performance. The principle characters looked comfortable in their roles and it was nice to see some of the younger members being given principle parts. I was particularly impressed by Eloise King as Tessa and Tim Hollinghurst as Luiz. David Hippard and Mark Beaton as Marco and Guiseppe were very well balanced and their harmonies were lovely. The quartet, sung by Greg and Gwen Varney as the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, Jess Squire as Casilda and Tim Hollinghurst, was extremely enjoyable too. In fact I spent most of the evening tapping my toes and trying not to sing along; I think I may have failed on occasion (Sorry Helen).  Jim Smith has such a lovely rich tone and was just right as Don Alhambra.

I loved the opening of act two; it was a beautiful tableau showing off the costumes and the set perfectly. As always, I was amazed by the large number of chorus members on stage, and who all gave enthusiastic performances. Well done everyone.  

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