GILBERT AND SULLIVAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN

J. C. WILLIAMSON COMPANY SEASON OPENS NEXT WEEK The New Zealand season of the J. 0. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Company will open at His Majesty's Theatre next Wednesday. The company will continue playing in Auckland until March 14, after which it will set out on a comprehensive tour of southern centres. The repertoire includes " lolanthe," "Pinafore," "Mikado," "Gondoliers," "Pirates of Penzance," "Trial by Jury," "Yeoman of the Guard," "Patience," and "Princess Ida." Gilbert and Sullivan opera has always been popular in N6w Zealand. Although it represents at onco two halves of a unique whole yet libretto and music re-

main such perfect units that each has a distinctive life by itself, the librettos alone having enjoyed an enormous vogue among book buyers, while the scores are equally well-known by purely musical people. _ ... Not only did Gilbert and Sullivan perfect an art-form, but they also created a unique school of acting and singing. Gilbert, on his side, insisted on having his words evaluated to the finest syllable, and pronounced so clearly that the furtherest seat in the gallery could hear ; and he had a sense of acting and stage management almost as autocratic as Wagner's. Sullivan saw that his contribution should be really sung; while Richard D'Oyly Carte's co-ordination showed a unique understanding of the aims of both. The tradition, so carefully thought out and built up, has been continued ever since, so that each acterisation, whether of veterans or the youngest members of the chorus, has a quite unmistakable flavour. In London, the tradition gained a totally new lease of life at the hands of Rupert D'Oyly Carte. This, was just as it should have been, for he is the actual and sole descendant of the triumphing trio who created Savoy Opera between them. As the son of Richard D'Oyly Carte, he was born and bred in the whole atmosphere of Savoy Opera, in all its manifestations, and he has treated it as lovingly as a family heirloom. In New Zealand, too, this tradition has been fully maintained throughout the many years during which the Gilbert

and Sullivan Operas have been produced by J. C. Williamson, Limited. Mr. H. Stringer, Now Zealand representative for J. C. Williamson, Limited, announces the following dates for performances at southern North Island centres: —Hamilton, March 16 and 17; New Plymouth, March 18 and 19; Hawera, March 20; Wanganui, March 21 and 23; Palmerston North, March 24 and 25; Hastings, March 26 and 27; Gisborne, March "28 to April 2: Wairoa, April 3; Hastings, April 4; Waipukurau, April 6; Dannevirko, April 7; Masterton, April 8 and 9.