Okay, so it's not medieval, but I hope you will allow me this indulgence. I was watching the film Topsy Turvy the other day--about W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan's collaborative relationship, about their operas, about the making of the Mikado--and it got me to thinking about my brush with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the very same that had a contract with Gilbert and Sullivan to produce operas for their theatre, the Savoy, back in Victorian England. The movie is full of backstage insights and wonderfully produced numbers from the shows.
Though it doesn't appear that the opera company produces shows anymore, they do provide the music and librettos for others to perform. It seems that the DCOC was always on the verge of bankruptcy and in the 1970s, when I got to see them, they were on their last legs, too. I think it was supposed to be some of their last perfomances, though, according to this listing on the bottom of the page of the Mikado entry on Wikipedia, their last tour was in 1982.
But it had to be 1975 that they came to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and, at fifteen, I saw their performance of H.M.S. Pinafore. Mind you, I certainly heard the records of the operas enough at home, particularly Pinafore, the Pirates of Penzanze, the Mikado, Iolanthe, and the Yeoman of the Guard. But this was to be the first live performance.
We didn't have a lot of money, but my mother wrangled tickets in the nose bleed section, and in the warm California evening, English Victorian theatre was brought to life. John Reed played the right Honourable Sir Joseph Porter, who sadly died last year in February. He was wondeful, perfect. We even came back the next night for their goofy rehearsed spontinaity of their sort of improv-ed take on Pinafore, but with songs and set pieces from the other shows, and their own ad libs. Funny as hell. All inside jokes, of course.
A few years later during my trip to Europe, I was lucky enough to get seats in the Tower of London's moat (it's dry, in case you wondered) to see the Yeoman of the Guard performed, which of course, is where the opera is set. Very cool, indeed. For this performance, Tommy Steele was Jack Point (yes, the same fellow who played the Leprechaun in Finian's Rainbow). Loved it. What a unique opportunity!
And finally got a chance to see the Mikado performed at a local college. They did a quite admirable job.
If you have never seen a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, know that you will not only hear memorable and singable tunes, but there will also be much humor, history, and showmanship (and talking, since strickly speaking these are operettas). Do a little pre-research before you go so that you will know what political thing was going on in the day that Gilbert was satirizing. Perhaps watch Topsy Turvy to get a good broad view of the whole genre (though be aware that the story of just how Gilbert got the idea to write the Mikado is a bit of whimsy, a bit of half-told tales.) Just sit back and think of England...and enjoy the music.
