THE SAVOY OPERAS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 63, 14 March 1936, Page 11

THE SAVOY OPERAS

VISIT OF WILLIAMSON COMPANY. Next Saturday afternoon the J. C. Williami-ion Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company will make a welcome reappearance at the Opera House, Wanganui, after an interval of four years. At the matinee the production will be “The Mikado." Ou Saturday evening “The Gondoliers" will be presented, and. the season will conclude on Monday evening with “The Yeoman of the Guard.” the Savoy operas are not merely evergreen; they arc as well assured of immortality as any work of art can be in a changing world. At a time when America and the Continent have almost taken charge of the light operatic stage and native English humour is said to be languishing in the theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan is more widely appreciated than ever. A Savoy company sent for the first time to the United States last year was received with tumultuous acclaim, and after many weeks New Yorkers could hardly bear to let it go. The gramophone and the radio have spread Suilian’s lilting airs ever more widely year after year, and have prepared countless thousands for the operas themselves whenever there is an opportunity to hear them. New Zealanders are behind no one in their loyalty to these classics of melody, humour and satire. Every five years or so J. C. Williamson Ltd. send an accredited company of high standing on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. Thousands of Gilbert and Sullivan devotees ardently look forward to its coming, and each visit makes new converts among the younger folk. With a view’ to inculcating a taste for Gilbert and Sullivan among the rising generation, J. C. Williamson Ltd. offer a halfprice concession to children at all performances. Plans will be opened at the D.I.C. on Tuesday morning.