GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SEASON

Evening Star, Issue 22325, 29 April 1936, Page 6

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SEASON

‘GONDOLIERS' ON SATURDAY At the D.I.C. this morning the box plans were opened for the approaching ,J. C. Williamson Ltd. Gilbert and Sullivan opera season, which begins on Saturday night next. The opening production of the season will be ‘ The Gondoliers,’ which can be staged only for one night and one matinee, and it will ( be followed by ‘ Thd Pirates of Penzance,’ ‘ The Yeoman of the Guard,’ ‘ The Mikado,’ ‘ lolanthe,’ ‘ Patience,’ and ‘ H.M.S. Pinafore.’ The English-speaking public have much, indeed, to thank Gilbert and Sullivan for, and rightly recognise the fact; for what other men have given pleasure, so refreshing and so untiringly, to many millions of people of all ages and of all classes? This has been clearly demonstrated for many years throughout New Zealand, where young as well as old have revelled in the operas, the elders returning to the old themes as to an old friend, and the young, who have never seen or heard them, recognising their worth on the instant, and becoming converts on the spot. Small wonder that Gilbert and Sullivan operas have been running somewhere or somehow ever since they were born. And they will continue to do so, for if some of them bear traces of their own time they h|ve the touch of all time, for they deal with the eternal foibles of human nature. They have actually no rivals. They have become classics, though unlike many classics they make an appeal which is universal. And New Zealand having seen and learned to love them year after year, always looks forward eagerly to their coming. The present company achieved a wonderful triumph on its opening night in Wellington recently, when ‘ The Gondoliers ’ was again enjoyed by an audience that filled to overflowing the huge auditorium of the Grand Opera’ House there. When Ivan Mcnzies, Evelyn Gardiner and Gregory Stroud made their appearance as the Duke of Plaza-Toro, the Duchess of Plazo-Toro, and Guiseppe the action of the opera was stopped for fully five minutes owing to the wonderful reception which was accorded to these popu-. lar artists. The new members of the company—Miss Winifred Lawson (soprano), Mr Godfrey Stirling (tenor), Richard Watson (basso), Miss Helen Langton (soprano), and Miss Eileen Kelly (mezzo) —all made conspicuous successes in their respective roles, and Mr Stirling received no fewer than three encores for his brilliant singing of ‘ Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes.’ ‘ The Gondoliers ’ is packed with rich musical numbers, ensembles, brilliantly clever dialogue, and genuinely humorous situations, and it undoubtedly gives all the members of the company outstanding opportunities to display their talents as singers, dancers, and for fun-making. It is said that the work of the chorus and the orchestra is a big feature of each of the operas, and so is that of the clever Australian ballet.