The Quintet will be performing with piano NEGASS EVENTS accompaniment in Gordon Hall, 225 Music Mountain Rd, Falls Village, CT. Further NEGASS annual meeting on Sunday, information can be obtained by calling Music June 23 Mountain at (860) 824-7126 or emailing [email protected]. The annual meeting of NEGASS will be held on Sunday, June 23, 2019 at the Park Ave RECENT PRODUCTIONS Congregational Church in Arlington MA beginning at 2 pm. The church is located at 50 Paul Revere Road. Ruddigore began slowly but became quicker and more enjoyable G&S EVENTS By John E. Dreslin, D.M.D. Connecticut’s Troupers Light Opera Company, NYGASP ensemble will foray into now in its 74th season, presented Ruddigore at the Connecticut in June Norwalk Concert Hall the first two Saturdays of April. The principal cast was uniformly first rate. Among the notable standouts was Brett Kroeger as Rose Maybud, looking especially stunning in her wedding gown at the end of act 1. Her wonderful soprano voice and acting ability has won her lead parts for the past five seasons. Opposite her, Robin Oakapple was portrayed by Michael Costantino with a wonderful sense of comic timing. New comer Erick Sanchez-Canahuate had all the “bumptious self-assurance” that the part of Richard Dauntless calls for. He possesses a booming tenor IN THIS ISSUE Do You Have The “Wan’dring Minstrels Quintet.” 1 NEGASS Events a Tale to Tell-O? 1 G&S Events The "Wand’ ring Minstrels Quintet” of the New You are invited to share your 1 Recent Productions York Gilbert and Sullivan Players will be feature article of 750 words or 7 Cast Spotlight performing various G&S selections and audience so on any G&S related topic. 8 Remembrances requests at Music Mountain in Falls Village, Send to [email protected] 8 Communications Connecticut at 5 pm on June 22, 2019. 9 Calendar Volume XXXXIII No. 6 ≈ O Joy, O Rapture unforeseen! The clouded sky is now serene. ≈ June 2019 voice and dancing skills which were shown off in the 1st act Hornpipe. Rounding out the cast were Ben Hoyer as Sir Despard, having great fun manipulating his “evil baronet” cape, the always reliable veteran G&S’er Wendy Falconer as Dame Hannah, Marian Shulman as Mad Margaret, Chris Heatherington as Old Adam, and John Matilaine as Sir Roderic. All was under the able direction of Kevin Miller, with very effective Volume XXXXIII No. 6 June 2019 choreography by Tiffany Williams, who also EDITOR-IN-CHIEF appeared onstage as one of the featured dancers. David DeVries — [email protected] The choruses, although consisting of only five ORGANIZATIONAL STAFF women and nine men, had a very nice and robust Martha Birnbaum, webmistress — [email protected] sound and were very effective. The sizeable Martha Birnbaum, membership - [email protected] orchestra was conducted by music director Eric Angela Jajko, NEGASS ensemble director – [email protected] Kramer. There was once again, as last year, no 2nd Susan Larson, education outreach - [email protected] trombone, and also no percussionist, though NEGASS BOARD OF DIRECTORS occasionally the lead trumpet player would put Elaine Crane, president — [email protected] down his instrument and play some timpani notes tba, vice president — [email protected] Ann Ferentz, secretary — [email protected] where solos were called for, as in the beginning of Brad Amidon, treasurer — [email protected] the overture. Jacqueline Haney, program chair — [email protected] Martha Birnbaum, member-at-large – [email protected] Jacqueline Haney, member-at-large – [email protected] Tom Frates, member-at-large – [email protected] Ben Morse, member-at-large - [email protected] Christine Petkus, member-at-large - [email protected] Carolyn Schwartz, member-at-large and publicity chair — [email protected] Angela Jajko – president emerita – [email protected] THE TRUMPET BRAY is published six times a year on the 1st day of February, April, June, August, October, and December by the New England Gilbert and Sullivan Society (NEGASS), PO Box 118, Arlington MA 02476. The Ghosts in the 1961-62 D’Oyly Carte production. GENERAL NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS AND REVIEWS may be sent to [email protected] . On the subject of the overture, Mr. Kramer elected to do the original Hamilton Clarke version, unlike MEMBERSHIP NEGASS membership dues are $25. Please join NEGASS online at www.negass.org, or contact [email protected]. the revised one by Geoffrey Toye which is used in most performances these days. I find the Toye THE TRUMPET BRAY Members receive the Bray as a PDF email version much superior, but this is a matter of attachment. All editions including the current one are available at www.negass.org. personal taste. Moreover, the tempos used in the overture, opening chorus, and Rose’s “If DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION OF MATERIAL: 15th of the months of somebody there chanced to be” seemed very January, March, May, July, September, and November. slow. This got things off to a rather difficult start. www.negass.org Fortunately, from the time of Robin’s entrance on, the pace picked up and the show became much more enjoyable. One other problem was that some of the dialogue from where I was sitting was unintelligible; amplification seemed to be from just a couple of onstage microphones. The acoustics of the rather large theater are not the best in any case. This was especially troublesome in the “abduction scene” Volume XXXXIII No. 6 2 June 2019 between Robin and Dame Hannah, which was adapted from one of the best-known comic operas delivered over the busy string underscoring. ever written, but not directly. There was a 1939 Of interest also was the inclusion of the often Broadway adaptation titled The Hot Mikado which omitted Away, remorse! by Robin in Act II. There featured an African-American cast -- and Bill were also some other incidents in the score where “Bojangles” Robinson in the title role! The Hot original versions of the musical numbers were Mikado was, in turn, a reworking of The Swing restored, which differ from those found in the Mikado from 1938. Bell and Bowman were Schirmer scores that many productions use, but disappointed in the surviving material they could these were minor changes. find from the 1939 version and instead created this new adaptation. Gilbert’s story is basically There were some really deft comedic touches unchanged, though many of the lyrics are updated, throughout. One of my favorites was the way that and Sullivan’s music remains familiar, performed Robin and Despard were made to look very much in 1940s popular music styles. alike, and could certainly have passed for real brothers. Both were of similar stature and had matching goatees. However, in the first act Despard’s was black and Robin’s grey. But once Robin resumed as the evil baronet in Act II, his goatee was now black, and when Despard appeared, his had suddenly become grey. The haunting scene, complete with the administration of the “agonies” by the ghostly ancestors was very well staged. The portraits themselves were created from actual photos of the cast members. I also want to give credit to the program design which featured individual photos of all the cast photoshopped into classic portraits, so that they all looked like the works of “old masters.” The period costumes by Lea Kessler Shaw and Marian Shulman (who was also credited for the program design) were very nicely done. In all this Hot Mikado poster for the 1939 Broadway production. production made for a most pleasant evening’s entertainment. In her directing debut with Belmont Dramatic Club, Amelia Boyce Munson set the action at Club Hot Mikado: a great take on a classic light Titipu, a nightclub decorated in Asian motifs. Pacing was brisk throughout, and the opera choreography was well-planned and well-executed, with many really wonderful individual By Jacqueline Haney performances. The cast of 13 was uniformly The Belmont Dramatic Club is the second-longest excellent, with a number of professionals and continuously producing community theatre group seasoned amateurs appearing. in the US, having done 262 productions since rd 1903. The 263 , Hot Mikado, was a terrific addition The “Gentlemen of Japan” were each attired in a to their history. Performances were April 27 & 28 three-piece suit and tie of a VIVID solid color – and May 4 & 5, 2019, at Payson Park Church in bright red, acid green, electric blue, hot pink, and Belmont, Massachusetts. The church hall was a fine so forth. When the ladies appeared, they were in a space, with a nice little stage, an arched ceiling, and range of solid colors as well, in 1940s’ dresses that better-than-average padded folding chairs. The 6- were both attractive and flattering. Elliot Raff, as piece orchestra was to one side of the audience, Ko-Ko, was the only one somberly attired, in a mostly behind a simple pipe-and-drape divider. black suit, though his performance was not somber at all. Gabriela Manuell Barrera as Yum-Yum Hot Mikado was originally produced at Ford’s wore a particularly fetching frock of very bright Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 1986, with book & yellow. lyrics adapted by David H. Bell and music adapted and arranged by Rob Bowman. It is, obviously, Volume XXXXIII No. 6 3 June 2019 Peter Cavicchio gave us a Pooh-Bah who was “the Simsbury’s Patience was patience coolest cat in Titipu”, and, backed by Sebastian rewarded Espinosa as Pish-Tush, helped carry the story-line along. Along with Ko-Ko, they presented the trio By John E. Dreslin, D.M.D. “I am so proud” in a jazzed-up style that was quite Simsbury Light Opera presented Patience as its 74th wonderful.