![]() ![]() Having already enjoyed Essgee's version of 'Tne Pirates', I came this production open minded and ready to be entertained. It has travelled round the world and eight years later it is being shown on a British arts channel and touted as a bona fide production of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera. The problem with committing something to film is that it attains a life of its own. This may have been good clean fun for any citizen of Auckland in 1997 who happened to be tone deaf but I wonder what possessed anyone to want to film this production. The cast performs excerpts from their productions of the Mikado and the Pirates of Penzance. ![]() There is a series of encores at the end where it becomes clear that this travesty is part of a trilogy. The entire opera is performed with a karaoke beat. The performance is aggressively amplified and the orchestra consists of three synthesisers, two percussion and a bass. The level of singing is what you would expect from a group of soap characters performing a Christmas pantomime. Some of the cast, judging from the applause on their entry, seem to be better known for starring in Australian soap operas. This is a film of a live performance, in 1997, in Auckland, New Zealand. Overall, maybe not for all, but I thought it was a lot of fun. The scene stealers are Drew Forsythe as a Sir Joseph that is a criss-cross between Toad, Mr Bean and Nosferatu and how he sang all those words AND did those very funny leg movements as well amazes me, and Rita Te Wiata, trust me after seeing this production you will never find a Buttercup this raunchy. Helen Donaldson and Simon Gallagher sing wonderfully too, and Jon English has superb comic timing. The performers do give it their all, the male chorus and the three ladies who strongly reminded me of the Andrews sisters are superb, and David Gould has a dashing presence and a very mellow bass baritone voice. Costumes and sets wise, this production also scores highly, the idea of the revolving ship set was very clever and apart from Dick's the costumes look great and stick to the time they were set in. The story may be standard perhaps, but as always with G&S the music is amazing, with memorable melodies and witty and droll lyrics. ![]() I did love this production's energy, it is never dull and notice how the chorus never stop moving, I loved the refreshingly camp choreography(such as Dick and the Captain under the cloak and especially Sir Jospeh's leg movements), I did like how different and nifty the arrangements were and I loved the hilarious dialogue especially the Return of the Dead-eye quote, Dick's digs at the orchestra and conductor and Sir Joseph's interaction with Dick about his name. It is not for "purists" however, there is a lot of added dialogue some of which is very smutty, the characters' personalities are changed Sir Joseph in particular and the orchestra is more a synthesised small band. ![]() Note: When you embed the widget in your site, it will match your site's styles (CSS).As a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, I watched this live performance and found it very refreshingly entertaining. Get the embed code Gilbert & Sullivan - World of Gilbert & Sullivan Album Lyrics1.HMS Pinafore: I’m Called Little Buttercup2.The Mikado: Three Little Maids From School Are WeGilbert & Sullivan Lyrics provided by Indeed! do you propose to leave the Navy then? I'm unpleasant to look at,Īnd my name's agin me, but I ain't as bad as I seem. The prospect is Elysian.Īh, don't shrink from me, Captain. Is to be the bride of a Cabinet Minister. Of this glorious country that official utterances are invariablyĬaptain. Your argument was unanswerable.Ĭaptain Corcoran, it is one of the happiest characteristics Sir Joseph, I cannot express to you my delight at the happy result Though your nautical relation (alluding to Capt.) ![]()
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