Summer 2019 Prog Songs for the Stage
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The Pirates of Penzance (1879) Gilbert & Sullivan Hail Poetry A Policeman’s Lot is Not a Happy One (arr. Peter Gritton) H.M.S. Pinafore (1878) Gilbert & Sullivan I’m Called Little Buttercup (Soloist: Janet Ayers) The Mikado (1885) Gilbert & Sullivan The Sun Whose Rays are All Ablaze (arr. Peter Gritton) Three Little Maids from School Are We (Soloists: Jean Parker, Lucy Hart & Tess Jones) Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day Tit-Willow (arr. Peter Gritton) The Gondoliers (1889) Gilbert & Sullivan Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes (arr. Peter Gritton) Try We Life-Long The Merry Widow (1905) Franz Lehár Vilia (Soloist: Jean Parker) Die Fledermaus (1874) Johann Strauss II Fledermaus Selection (arr. John Bateson) Good songs to youth restore us Brother dear and sister dear Ha, what a feast, what a wondrous sight Interval – refreshments available in the annex Kismet (1953) WriGht & Forrest Selections from “Kismet” (arr. Meyer Rappaport) Introduction - Sands of Time - Night of My Nights - He’s in Love - And This is My Beloved - Baubles, Bangles and Beads - Stranger in Paradise South Pacific (1949) Weill & Anderson Some Enchanted Evening (Soloist: Chris Allen) Man of La Mancha (1965) Darion & LeiGh The Impossible Dream (Soloist: Peter Kidger) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) Richard M & Robert B Sherman Hushabye Mountain (arr. W Simon, adapteD by S Hubble) Cats (1981) Nunn & Lloyd Webber Memory (arr. D Cullen) Les Misérables (1980/85) Boublil, SchönberG, Natal Medley from “Les Misérables” (arr. ED Lojeski) & Kretzmer At the End of the Day - I Dreamed a Dream - Castle on a Cloud - Do You Hear the People Sing? - On My Own - Bring Him Home - Finale Martin Guerre (1996/99) Boublil, SchönberG, Hardy & Clark Live With Somebody You Love Parade (1998) Jason Robert Brown The Old Red Hills of Home Rodgers and Hammerstein On Broadway (arr. Mac Huff) The Sound of Music - Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - Edelweiss - The Surrey with the Fringe on Top - I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of my Hair - June is Bustin’ Out All Over - Oklahoma - I Whistle a Happy Tune - Do-Re-Mi - It Might as Well be Spring - There is Nothin’ Like a Dame - Shall We Dance? - You’ll Never Walk Alone Encore: Aspects of Love (1989) Black, Hart & Lloyd Webber Love Changes Everything (arr. Francis Shaw) W. S. GILBERT & ARTHUR SULLIVAN Gilbert anD Sullivan collaborateD on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896. Gilbert (1836-1911), who wrote the libretti, createD fanciful "topsy-turvy" worlDs where each absurDity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offence, gondoliers ascend to the monarchy, anD pirates emerge as noblemen who have gone astray. Sullivan (1842-1900), six years Gilbert's junior, composeD the music, contributing memorable meloDies that coulD convey both humour anD pathos. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE or, The Slave of Duty. The opera's official premiere was in New York City on 31 December 1879, anD its LonDon Debut was on 3 April 1880; it ran for 363 performances. The story concerns FreDeric, who, having completeD his 21st year, is releaseD from his apprenticeship to a banD of tenDer-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, anD the two young people fall instantly in love. FreDeric soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His inDenture specifies that he remain apprenticeD to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. BounD by his own sense of duty, FreDeric's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. H. M. S. PINAFORE or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor Pinafore openeD at the Opera Comique in LonDon, on 25 May 1878 anD ran for 571 performances, which was the seconD-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. The story takes place aboarD the ship HMS Pinafore. The captain's Daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intenDs her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First LorD of the ADmiralty. She abiDes by her father's wishes at first, but Sir Joseph's advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph anD Josephine to overturn conventional social orDer. They Declare their love for each other anD eventually plan to elope. The captain Discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert anD Sullivan operas, a surprise Disclosure changes things Dramatically near the enD of the story. Gilbert imbueD the plot with his usual mirth anD silliness. The humour focuses on love between members of Different social classes anD lampoons the British class system in general. It also pokes gooD-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, the Royal Navy, anD the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. Little Buttercup a Portsmouth DocksiDe venDor – who is the "rosiest, rounDest, anD reDDest beauty in all Spithead" – comes on boarD to sell her wares to the crew. She hints that she may be hiDing a Dark secret unDer her "gay anD frivolous exterior". THE MIKADO or, The Town of Titipu The most successful of the Savoy Operas, which maDe fun of English bureaucracy, thinly DisguiseD by a Japanese setting. Their ninth operatic collaborations, it openeD on 14 March 1885, in LonDon, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre anD one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. By the enD of 1885, it was estimateD that, in Europe anD America, at least 150 companies were proDucing the opera. The Mikado is a comeDy that Deals with themes of Death anD cruelty, which Gilbert treats as trivial, even lighthearteD issues. The MikaDo Decrees that flirting is a capital crime, so the Titipu authorities attempt to thwart this decree by appointing the next prisoner scheduled to be decapitated to the post of Lord High Executioner. This is Ko-Ko, formerly a “cheap tailor”, for it is reasoneD that he coulD "not cut off another's head until he cut his own off", and since Ko-Ko was not likely to try to execute himself, no executions coulD take place. Nanki-Poo, the son anD heir of the MikaDo, arrives in search of his beloveD Yum-Yum. He is DisguiseD as a wanDering minstrel, to avoiD the amorous aDvances of Katisha, an elDerly laDy of his father's court. Yum-Yum, however, is engageD to Ko-Ko, so Nanki-Poo prepares to commit suiciDe. Ko-Ko finds him and makes a bargain with him: Nanki-Poo may marry Yum-Yum for one month if, at the enD of that time, he allows himself to be executed, leaving Yum-Yum free for Ko-Ko to marry. This woulD save the town from irretrievable ruin, as the MikaDo has DiscovereD that no executions have been taking place in Titipu, anD has now ordereD that an execution must take place within a month, or the town’s status woulD be reDuceD to the rank of a village. The Sun Whose Rays is sung by Yum-Yum as she prepares for her weDDing, anD the Madrigal is sung by a quartet of Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo anD two other characters in orDer to cheer themselves up from the fact that Nanki-Poo is to be beheaDeD in a month’s time. Tit-Willow is sung by Ko-Ko in an effort to woo Katisha, the elDerly laDy who is in love with Nanki-Poo. THE GONDOLIERS or, The King of Barataria The Gondoliers, Gilbert anD Sullivan's last great success, premiereD at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 anD ran for a very successful 554 performances, closing on 30 June 1891. Gilbert returns to the satire of class Distinctions figuring in many of his earlier librettos anD by setting the work comfortably far away from EnglanD, he was embolDeneD to Direct sharper criticism at the nobility anD the institution of the monarchy itself. The story concerns the young briDe of the heir to the throne of the fictional kingDom of Barataria who arrives in Venice to join her husbanD. It turns out, however, that he cannot be iDentifieD, since he was entrusted to the care of a Drunken gonDolier who mixed up the prince with his own son. To complicate matters, the King of Barataria has just been killeD. The two young gonDoliers must now jointly rule the kingDom until the nurse of the prince can be brought in to Determine which of them is the rightful king. Moreover, when the young queen arrives to claim her husbanD, she finDs that the two gonDoliers have both recently married local girls. A last complicating factor is that she, herself, is in love with another man. Try we life-long is a quintet sung by CasilDa, the new queen, anD her family as they try to work out how to aDdress the issues presented by the current circumstance. Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes is sung by Marco, one of the gonDoliers, near the beginning of Act II, but this version is our final offering from Peter Gritton’s collection of choral arrangements, G & S for Choirs. THE MERRY WIDOW An operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár, the story concerns a rich widow, anD her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finDing her the right husbanD. The operetta has enjoyeD extraorDinary international success since its 1905 premiere in Vienna anD continues to be frequently reviveD anD recorDeD, with film anD other aDaptations also being maDe.