Get Your Patter On: G&S Fest 2010

Details

Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Theater

Published on Monday, 04 January 2010 08:23

Written by Lynne Shannon

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP), America’s preeminent professional G&S repertory company, launches its G&S Fest 2010, presenting four classic shows between January 8 and 17, 2010. The fest plays at New York City Center - Main Stage, West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, New York, New York 10019.

This year’s Fest presents what are arguably the three most popular and widely-performed shows—including by schools—that instantly say “Gilbert & Sullivan”: The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Pirates of Penzance. Also included is the less-frequently performed Ruddigore.

The Fest begins with the ever-popular (and much-spoofed) Mikado, which Gilbert, a former lawyer, had swathed in Japanese decor to disguise his swipes at British realpolitik.

The duo’s first production together was H.M.S. Pinafore, which took the stage when England was thick with class consciousness. But Pinafore presented the revolutionary notion that when True Love strikes, class distinctions are moot. (Or are they?)

The second G&S collaboration, The Pirates of Penzance, is jolly fun, but with two morsels of food for thought: that a) accident of birth can be a bummer; and b) pirates are really all "noblemen who have gone wrong."

In 1869, Gilbert had written a short play, Ages Ago, for an intimate theatre presentation. For the famed British theatre had hit a nadir in the early mid-Victorian period, and playgoing was shunned by respectable folk. To indulge thespian thirsts, however, plays were allowed to be performed only at private gatherings. The productions were at first mounted very simply, often in parlors of private homes, and in order to avoid censure by calling them “plays”, were known as “Illustrations.” By 1875 theatregoing was respectable again, and Ages Ago later became the basis for the G&S collaboration that was Ruddigore.

This year, NYGASP presents an all-new production of Ruddigore, eagerly awaited by G&S fans everywhere.

Performance Schedule:

The Mikado
Fri, Jan 8 @ 8:00pm | Sat, Jan 9 @ 8:00pm | Sat, Jan 16 @ 2:00pm

The Pirates of Penzance
Sat, Jan 9 @ 2:00pm | Fri, Jan 15 @ 8:00pm

H.M.S. Pinafore
Sun, Jan 10 @ 3:00pm | Tue, Jan 12 @ 7:00pm: FREE Kids Night

Ruddigore
Thu, Jan 14 @ 8:00pm | Sat, Jan 16 @ 8:00pm | Sun, Jan 17 @ 3:00pm

"So give three cheers and one cheer more for the" three Great Classics and old Ruddigore!

More information can be found at http://nygasp.org.

G&S Fest 2010
January 8-17, 2010
New York City Center - Main Stage
West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues
New York, New York 10019

• < Prev
• Next >