The Gondoliers

The Gondoliers’ is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular operettas and this was a production full of verve with everyone on stage making a positive contribution.. A brilliant set depicting The Piazzetta, Venice and an excited chorus of contadine eagerly awaiting the arrival of Marco and Guiseppe got the show off to a rousing and most colourful start.

The bright, lively somewhat lengthy opening immediately demonstrated the great strength of the choral singing which as always was first class throughout the evening. We are introduced to the two gondoliers Marco (Michael McFarlane) and Guiseppe (Geoff Lee) who have come to choose their brides. This duo made an excellent pairing both totally at ease and bouncing off each other while acting ‘as one’. Marco’s ‘Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes’ was a real show stopper. His chosen bride is Gianetta (Anna Thomson) who grew in confidence as the evening progressed and interacted well with the perky Tessa (Annabel Hamid). Both convinced us of their pleasure when chosen as brides but also their displeasure in finding out that one of them could be left on the shelf in the number ‘In a Contemplative Fashion’.

The fun and games in The Piazzetta are interrupted by the arrival of the penniless Ducal party who have come to find the son of the reigning monarch to whom their daughter Casilda was married as a baby. Ian Lawson gave a lively, articulate performance as the Duke of Plaza Toro while Fiona Main was a curt, domineering Duchess who left us in no doubt as to who was the boss in their relationship. Their beautiful daughter Casilda (Sarah Whitty) was charming and sincere in her love for Luiz (Chris Cotter) the simple drummer boy elevated to prince when the truth comes out about the mistake made by his nurse when he was a baby. Both of their duets were beautifully sung. Tom Paton was an impressive Don Alhambra with a commanding stage presence and portrayed a rather subtle interpretation of the role.

The set for Act 2 was quite stunning as were the men’s costumes. While most of Act 1 was quite traditional in it’s production, the opening of Act 2 allowed the 20 strong male chorus not only to demonstrate their fine singing but also some neat foot work and fun. Footmen playing with a football, reference to Netflix, selfies being taken and Donald Trump brought in on the act all added to the humour and brought the action up to date. New lyrics to ‘To Help Unhappy Commoners’ were witty and topical.

One comes to expect superb solo and chorus work from this company and they never fail to deliver. There was some very well balanced ensemble work particularly in the quartet in the Act 1 finale when Marco and Guiseppe have to leave their beloved brides. Here the choral singing was at it’s best.

This was certainly a lively, colourful production with some interesting little touches and of course red and white rose petals falling and glittering confetti in the finale.

Congratulations once again on an excellent production which was supported by an orchestra which was superb throughout.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.