2004<\/p>\n
Adelaide
\nMusic Theatre<\/p>\n
HMS Pinafore
\nWS.Gilbert and A. Sullivan
\nCarl Rosa Company
\nHer Majesty\u2019s, Adelaide.<\/p>\n
4 November, 2004
\nTickets $ 49 – $ 79
\nBookings BASS 131 246.
\nUntil 7 November, 2004<\/p>\n
Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n
The Carl Rosa Opera Company occupied a distinguished part of English operatic history\u00a0 from its establishment in 1873 through to the late 1950s. It presented the first English productions of Carmen, Lohengrin and Aida and would have staged the works of Gilbert and Sullivan had the D\u2019Oyly Carte company not got their hands on them first. Now, 131 years later, under artistic director Peter Mulloy, a new Carl Rosa Company is staging Gilbert and Sullivan with an attention to authenticity that is Gilbertian in its detail – even using\u00a0 sets, props and costumes once owned by D\u2019Oyly Carte.<\/p>\n
As the first night curtain opens at Her Majesty\u2019s\u00a0 it reveals the deck of HMS Pinafore with an imposing varnished wooden bridge and a sailors\u2019 chorus in costumes restored from Gilbert\u2019s carefully tailored originals and wearing\u00a0 straw boaters specially woven for the production. The outfits and set by film designer Christine Edzard look particularly handsome under Hugh Hamilton\u2019s creamy lighting.<\/p>\n
But as that famous barge comes into view, things are not quite as trim for the major entrance of Act I –\u00a0 that of Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty. Gilbert\u2019s scathing satire on the appointment to this exalted position of the inexperienced civilian WH Smith, the newsagent tycoon, is given a new spin with Timothy West\u2019s bewildered arrival. Surrounded by an appealing bevy of pastel coloured sisters, cousins, and aunts, West mis-times vocal cues and the directional microphones – which have already been making ominous echoes -struggle to register his flickering delivery.<\/p>\n
As Ralph Rackstraw and his beloved Josephine, David Curry and Maeve Morris perform pleasingly but without much romantic sizzle and Graham Stone\u2019s Dick Deadeye, while in good voice, reduces the villainy to an eyepatch and the occasional shrug. Steven Page is refreshingly animated as the Captain and his reversal of fortune with Little Buttercup (Beverley Klein) is one of the sprightlier moments of the night. Also memorable is Ralph Meanley as the Boatswain and Sophie-Louise Dann\u2019s snazzily tailored Hebe.<\/p>\n
However, with the big numbers muted and energies unsustained, there is an overall\u00a0 sense of a production underdone and technically glitchy. As director and lead performer, Timothy West, an actor of eminent reputation, has failed to lift the ensemble to its evident capability. I am sure it will spruce up, but HMS Pinafore has made an inauspicious beginning to its Australasian tour of duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cShift of wind needed before Pinafore sails\u201d The Australian, November 8, 2004, p.7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2004 Adelaide Music Theatre HMS Pinafore WS.Gilbert and A. Sullivan Carl Rosa Company Her Majesty\u2019s, Adelaide. 4 November, 2004 Tickets $ 49 – $ 79 Bookings BASS 131 246. Until 7 November, 2004 Murray Bramwell The Carl Rosa Opera Company occupied a distinguished part of English operatic history\u00a0 from its establishment in 1873 through to the late 1950s. It presented the first English productions of Carmen, Lohengrin and Aida and would have staged the works of Gilbert and Sullivan had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-international","category-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2126,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions\/2126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}