 | Christchurch Gilbert and Sullivan Society | |
|
| ||||
| The salty flavour of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore came over in a rip-roaring style in Christchurch G and S Society's week-long production at the Regent Centre, supported by good audiences for this young company. The third in line of the Victorian light operas at the centre, Pinafore proved as meaty as the others. Star of the production was undoubtedly Lymington soprano Susan Kemp who received the strongest of current audience enthusiasm. Her solos and group songs, demure and declamatory, were delightful. | Playing her father as Pinafore's captain, Leonard Godfrey, also from Hampshire, had considerable standing, as befits his experience on the stage, and he made the switch from skipper to seaman with a tinge of regret from the audience. His successor, as romantic Ralph, was tenor Terence Trickett, of Poole, suitably imposing as a lovelorn sailor with an unrealised birth of high degree. Paul Morton, of Southbourne had the most humorous part as the First Sea Lord, Margaret Goddard was Buttercup, Brian Davies was Dick Deadeye, and Rebecca Sutherland was Hebe. | |||
| ||||
| Fans of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, and especially their nautical HMS Pinafore, were treated to a highly competant performance by the Christchurch G and S Society. For despite a slightly weak male chorus, the cast, headed by Terrance Trickett as Ralph Rackstraw and Susan Kemp as Josephine, managed to keep the story moving along nicely. | A simple but effective set was complemented by the Victorian costumes and on the whole the lead singers and, to a lesser extent, the chorus, coped manfully with the tongue-twisting lyrics. Susan Kemp's pleasant voice gave her character strength and Terrance Trickett's performance was memorable. | |||
| ||||
| Gilbert and Sullivan rule the musical waves at Christchurch this week in stout-hearted company. The town's young Gilbert and Sullivan Society find their sea legs fairly and squarely on the quarterdeck of HMS Pinafore. It was hardly surprising G&S gained instant patriotic acclaim when their salty offering took to the stage in 1878. England's pride in its wooden walls was fit to burst - and Pinafore gave voice to it in a charmingly Victorian way. Jolly Jack Tar still commands a popular image, so the five-night Regent Centre run should have no trouble staying afloat. A strong crew are on parade, well drilled where it counts most - in coping with the considerable intricacies of the score. G&S seem to take an almost fiendish delight in cramming as many words as they can into a single breath. The company can congratulate themselves on having recruited Poole's Terence Trickett into their ranks. | One of East Dorset's most sought-after singers, he proudly puffs out his ample chest in the role of Ralph, the romantic seaman of the piece. Playing opposite him in real songbird style as Josephine is Lymington soprano Susan Kemp, only months after taking the lead in the Pirates of Penzance for New Milton Musical Society. Josephine's father and Pinafore's CO, Captain Corcoran, is admirably portrayed by Leonard Godfrey. Paul Morton confidently disguises his usefulness as First Sea Lord Sir Joseph Porter. Margaret Goddard as Little Buttercup and Brian Davies as Dick Deadeye pull their weight, along with John Berry (Bill Bobstay), Derek Blake (Bob Beckett) and Rebecca Sutherland as Hebe. Director Nigel Finch, the society's founder and still only 23, extends his meticulous eye to a splendid set (rigging courtesy of the National Theatre) and spotless costumes. He also shares musical honours with fellow pianist Claire Morton, conductor Rita Galloway and percussionist John Lovell. | |||