J. C. WILLIAMSON SEASON

Evening Star, Issue 22326, 30 April 1936, Page 16

J. C. WILLIAMSON SEASON

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN OPERAS There was a large demand for scats when the box plans were opened yesterday at the 13.1. C. for the approaching J. C. Williamson Ltd. Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera season wwcli begins on Saturday night next. Iho opening production of the season will bo ‘ The Gondoliers,’ which can be staged only for one night and one matinee, and it will be followed by ‘ The Pirates of Penzance,’ ‘ The y eoman of the Guard,’ ‘ The Mikado, ‘ lolanthe,’ ‘ Patience, and H.M.S. Pinafore.’ The company of 100 members includes some of London’s bestknown and most-popular Savoy Theatre artists, including Ivan Menzies, Evelyn Gardiner, Gregory Stroud, and Bernard Manning, who wore popular artists with the last J. C. Williamson Ltd. Gilbert and Sullivan company that appeared here, and Winifred Lawson (soprano), Godfrey Stirling (tenor), Richard Watson (basso), Helen Langtou (soprano), and Eileen Kelly (mezzo), all of whom will make their first appearance here in The Gondoliers.’ Other principal members of the company sire Clifford Cowley, Vincent Mac Murray, Julie Russell, Phyllis Dickinson, and Tommy Jay. ‘ The Gondoliers ’ is deliciously tuneful, and its dialogue and company show the late Sir W, S. Gilbert at his very best. It does not contain the faintest suspicion of that vulgarity or commonplace which characterises the average musical play of to-day. The Duke of Plaza-Toro, with his comic stateliness; his imperious duchess; their beautiful daughter, who, curiously enough, loves the young king she was betrothed to in her babyhood, and whom she has ample opportunity of meeting under the guise of “his grace’s private drum”; Don Alhambra, with his Grand Inquisitor’s tear; the merry gondoliers with their brides —-all these are the most delightful people. Local atmosphere is given by the fandangoes, boleros, and cachuchas which run through, the whole opera, while the gavotte ‘I Am a Courtier Grave and Serious ’ adds the necessary Old World touch. The company includes a full operatic chorus of 50 voices, a band of specially selected instrumentalists, and a' talented Australian ballot. Scats in central positions may be selected from 9 o’clock this morning at the D.T.C. The demand yesterday for seats eclipsed the record booking when the plans were opened for the White Horse Inn Company.