G and S “left alone”

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 10

G and S “left alone”

The humorists Roy Cowen (left) and lain Kerr are adamant that they in no . way burlesque Gilbert and Sullivan in their presentation of “An Evening With Goldberg and Solomon,” which will be seen in Christchurch next week. Telephone calls have been received at the theatre in which they are to perform threatening boycotts and criticising the burlesquing of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work.

Mr Kerr explained that if any Gilbert and Sullivan purists had a right to be critical of the show then surely it would be the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company which had staged the Savoy operas successfully for so many years, yet its members had given the two men a tremendous reception. In fact, the man who suggested that Messrs Kerr and Cowen team up was a London theatre agent, Mike Sullivan, whose grandmother, Rosa, was a first cousin of Sir Arthur Sullivan. Mr Kerr said that “An Evening with Goldberg and Solomon” was primarily a fun show and was intended to show what might have happened had Gilbert and Sullivan been born Jewish. "However, we do not touch Gilbert’s lyrics or plots and Sullivan’s music is left strictly alone.” Mr Cowen said that neither he nor his partner had updated anything. “We merely changed the Victorian couch for a Jewish one.” Both men are lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan and Mr Kerr was the co-founder

and musical director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society many years ago in Dunedin where he spent his youth. The show took the two men 10 months to put together. Lyrics change according to topicality and there are sections that can be changed in the event of the pair making a second tour of a count™. It has been presented for four years in Britain, South Africa, Rhodesia, Italy and the United States. The two men, who have been writing and directing productions for the last eight years, have appeared in British television shows such as the “David Frost Show” and “Late Night Lineup.” lain Kerr attended Otago Boys* High School in Dunedin, where he was active in musical activities. When he was younger he was wellknown as a pianist in the radio children’s session run by Mr Peter Dawson. Later he was an organist in a cinema. After his school years he left for Australia, where he became an entertainer.