The Story
Venetian Bliss Expressed in The Gondoliers
Two boys capture the hearts of two girls, and they marry -- the end? What sounds like the idyllic ending to an Italian romance, however, is only the beginning of “The Gondoliers.”
“The Gondoliers,” playing Jan. 21-23 at 8 pm and Jan 23 and 24 at 2 pm at Phi Beta Kappa, was written by W. S. Gilbert and composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1889.
The opera centers around two men, Marco and Giuseppe, guiding the iconic Venetian gondolas -- until informed that one of them is the next king of Barataria. The trick is, no one knows which one is actually the King. Or rather, the trick is that they aren’t told that one of them was likely already wed -- at infancy -- and the bride’s family has come to retrieve the freshly crowned King.
Among the tricks and trials, however, Marco (Dylan Echter ’12) and Giuseppe (Paul Burgess ’12) radiate charm. Whether it was with Burgess' voice raising for “Rising Early in the Morning” or Echter's shining in “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes,” they maintained beautiful melodies and a whimsical naïveté. Their lively wives Gianetta (Maurene Comey ’10) and Tessa (Kate Hughes ’12) were as determined as they were likeable, with strong and clear voices.
The musical humbly teases itself, with purposeful melodrama between lovers and larger than life characters.
“We wanted to travel from that comedic melodramatic place to someplace more tender,” director Keegan Cassady ('10) said.
This is mostly true in lovers Casilda (Mary Myers ’10) and Luiz (Tim Koch ’11). Myers spurned and adored with equal passion, preparing to love “until death … A quarter of an hour ago.” After receiving the news that they could never be wed a quarter hour before, their chemistry, though over-the-top, did yield genuinely tender moments, such as during the song “Beloved.” Though there were plenty of moments of adoring exaggeration, the whole was melodically harmonized with an undercurrent of sincerity.
The Duke, Duchess and Don Alhambra, were three other blithe caricatures of the aristocracy. Rebecca Phillips (’11), playing the mustached Duke foppishly flickered across stage. Her wife, Chris Richardson (’13), commanded scene with violent waves of his ornate fan - both of them, preened with white make-up and pink circles on their cheeks were the very picture of classic aristocracy parody.
“We decided to switch the genders for an emphasis on the parody, as well as to give the women another larger part,” Cassady said.
Alhambra’s (Barret Armbruster ’10) twitchy eye and twitchier mustache drew many laughs as he loomed with all the power of a Grand Inquisitor, “dropped a Grand Inquisitor’s tear,” and found all humor at the expense of a Grand Inquisitor. His unexpected appearances were hilariously uncomfortable, as his scrutinizing eye peered from beneath the rim of his immense, black hat.
More than just one man, however, Alhambra was omnipresent in his four mute servants. They lurched, danced, reveled and reviled as the moment called, coming to announce Alhambra, provide lighthearted comedic relief or further portray Armbruster's whims. Choreographed by Anna Hunter ('10), the four dancers (Sarah Kyle '12, Jessica Kyle '12, Daniel Lefler '12, Jane Rabinovitz '13) smoothly wafted across stage in surreal and graceful ways.
The entire ensemble, however, was part of the comedic caricature. From the opening Venetian Pastorale of “List and Learn,” where the contadine (or peasant maids) frolicked to the amusement of the gondoliers, and each actor had a distinct personality and a distinct -- albeit tumultuous -- relationship with his or her respective love.
With the large cast and full orchestra, it was difficult at first to ascertain lyrics -- but this was mediated in time for the second act, and the impeccable harmonies were always audible. The orchestra, directed by Miriam Foltz (’10), permeated the theater from the pit with beautifully executed music.
Sinfonicron is a light opera company composed of Delta Omnicron, Phi Mu Alpha, Nu Kappa Epsilon and Theater Students’ Association. January 3rd, two weeks prior to the return of the rest of campus, approximately 80 people in the Sinfonicron company worked rotations of three hour shifts from 9 am to 9 pm.
Rotating a schedule of two shows composed by Gilbert and Sullivan and another Broadway musical, Sinfonicron selected “The Gondoliers” with its larger scale of interaction for its possibilities for dance and more interaction for the ensemble, as well as its lighthearted presentation of marriage.
As a whole, Sinfonicron's "The Gondoliers" was all the wide expression and charming romance of Venice, with a touch of art .