UMGASS : All posts

with video: UMGASS 'Pirates of Penzance' performance ends in real-life marriage proposal

Cast members Jonathan Roselle and Ali Kahn got engaged during a curtain call for UMGASS' "Pirates of Penzance."

Photo by Dane Hillard

play review

A seaworthy 'Pirates of Penzance,' thanks to talented U-M Gilbert & Sullivan group

According to Gilbert & Sullivan, “it is a glorious thing to be a pirate king.” Equally glorious, however, is the robust production of G&S’ comic operetta “Pirates of Penzance” that opened Thursday night at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

The University Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society bills itself as the oldest student-run society nationwide dedicated to performing the operettas of Sir William Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. What they don’t say is that it may also be the best.

Over the years, one excellent production has followed another, and the current “Pirates,” zippily directed by UMGASS veteran David Andrews, is no exception. Old G&S would be proud.

play preview

UMGASS mines for pirate gold in Gilbert & Sullivan's popular "Penzance"

“Pirates of Penzance,” the well-known Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta, has been a hit from stage to Broadway to the movies and back to the stage. Now it’s the spring production of the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

The familiar show has much to recommend it, said UMGASS veteran David Andrews, who is directing the production.

play review

with poll: Review: Strong cast makes musical magic in UMGASS' 'Iolanthe'

What did you think of the show? Leave a comment and/or vote in the poll at the end of this post:

In Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe,” the political leaders of the time, the House of Lords, come in for their share of barbs as a bunch of do-nothings who hold their positions through privilege. And what do people think of our lawmakers today? Well, you know the answer to that.

And when the Lord Chancellor sings about “a new and original plan,” it’s hard not to think about how many elected representatives have pronounced something similar since G&S’s day.

UMGASS visiting fairyland by way of 'Iolanthe'

play review

Smooth sailing for UMGASS' enduring 'HMS Pinafore'

Give three cheers (and once cheer more) for the cast and crew of the “HMS Pinafore.” The current production, by the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society, is shipshape in all regards.

The show, which opened Thursday, will continue through Sunday afternoon at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

Gilbert & Sullivan’s familiar comic operetta is one of the duo’s most enduring, and it’s easy to see why, with so many catchy melodies and a lighter-than-air love story that pokes fun at the English class system in place in the late 1800s.

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Gilbert & Sullivan's popular 'HMS Pinafore' setting sail at U-M

“HMS Pinafore,” one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most seaworthy comic operas, will set sail Thursday-Sunday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre as the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s spring show.

“Pinafore,” which pokes fun at the English class system of the late 1800s, involves a forbidden love affair between lowly sailor Ralph Rackstraw and the captain’s daughter, Josephine, who has been promised in marriage to Admiral Sir Joseph Porter. The two youngsters plan to elope, but the captain catches wind of the plan and throws Rackstraw in the brig. At the last minute, a peddler named Little Buttercup reveals a secret that saves the day.

play review

UMGASS' non-traditional "Princess Ida" finds its footing in the second act

It was clear from the outset this would be no ordinary staging of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operetta “Princess Ida.” Although the music was as expected, other parts of the show strayed about as far from traditional G&S as one could stray.

“Princess Ida,” the fall production of the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society, opened Thursday night in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

The three-act operetta tells the tale of Princess Ida (Alexandra Kahn), daughter of King Gama (Mitch Gillett), who has been betrothed since infancy to Prince Hilarion (David Wolff), son of King Hildebrand (Jesus Murillo). Strangers to each other, Ida has renounced men and founded a university for women at Castle Adamant. Hilarion, aided by his pals Florian (Matt Peckham) and Cyril (Alan Nagel) and disguised as women, sneaks into the castle to claim his bride.

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UMGASS offering a fresh take on 'Princess Ida'

Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Princess Ida” will have an updated look when the comic operetta opens Thursday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. The show is the fall production of the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

The presentation freshens up the setting and costumes while still being faithful to the score and libretto, said Director John Hill. Instead of setting the show in late 1800s England, the court of Castle Hildebrand is now a conservative town in western America, and the ladies of Castle Adamant are costumed as iPad-wielding scholars in modern dress.

play review

Another memorable - if slightly surreal - 'Mikado' from U-M's Gilbert & Sullivan Society

Gilbert and Sullivan by way of Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter? I do hope the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society will not hire the services of the Lord High Executioner to lop off my head if I say that at times I felt as if I had stumbled down a rabbit hole during Thursday night’s performance of “The Mikado” at Lydia Mendelssohn Theater.

Perhaps it was the costumes, some of which seemed inspired by equal parts Joan Collins in the ‘80s TV show “Dynasty” (look it up, kids) or maybe one too many trips to The Beatles’ Pepperland. Or maybe it was due to the relatively young, energetic cast, directed by Josh Borths. Quite possibly it was the sheer challenge of outdoing a memorable “Mikado” UMGASS staged in 2006. Surely the fact that most of the show’s principals are vocal performance majors at the U-M had something to do with it.

Whatever the reason, UMGASS outdid itself, delivering a fresh, funny and more than occasionally surreal interpretation of the popular G&S comic opera.

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UMGASS aims for a fresh take on Gilbert and Sullivan's well-known 'Mikado' comic opera

When the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society opens it latest production of “The Mikado” Thursday night, it will be up against some pretty stiff competition — the group’s own superb 2006 staging of the show.

Director Josh Borths acknowledged that comparisons to that earlier version are inevitable, and said he and the cast are doing their best to offer a “Mikado” that’s fresh, yet equally memorable.

“I can’t re-create the magic of that production, and we want to create new magic with this one, Borths said. “From our cast, to our music director, to myself — we’re all offering new things and new insight into the work. Me, being a younger director, with less exposure to the conventions of G&S, I offer a different way of looking at things. We’re hoping to have the same effect (as the 2006 show), but I’m not looking to go back in history to inform what we’re doing now.”

theater review

UMGASS' 'The Sorcerer' uses a love potion to conjure up musical magic at Lydia Mendelssohn

"The Sorcerer" continues through Sunday.

I can see why “The Sorcerer” is not one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s more popular works. It takes a while — at least halfway through the first act — to really get up steam. There’s not much that can be done about that; the show’s written that way. But as soon as the action starts to unfold, it’s a terrific little comic operetta.

The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s version of this third G&S collaboration runs tonight through Sunday in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Because of a scheduling conflict, I had to catch the final dress rehearsal Wednesday night, but that wasn’t a problem; the show I saw was definitely ready for prime time.

play preview

Gilbert and Sullivan's lesser-known 'The Sorcerer' uses a love potion to poke musical fun at social rank

When a show coming up at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre employs a love potion and pokes fun at the foibles of the upper crust, chances are good it’s a Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta, and that the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society is involved.

UMGASS will present “The Sorcerer” Thursday-Sunday. Mitchell Gillett directs; Yaniv Segal is music director.

“The Sorcerer” was the third G&S collaboration. Although not that well known, the work introduces many devices that would later become staples of Gilbert and Sullivan’s more popular offerings.

“It’s got everything they would build on for the bigger shows, but in miniature,” Gillett explained. “You can see shadows of stuff that pops up in ‘Pirates’ and ‘Pinafore’ and ‘Iolanthe.’ … So it’s the one that tends to fall by the wayside because it’s not the funniest one, but they were getting their legs, finding how to write the shows they eventually made famous.”

theater review

“Gondoliers” a delightful romp into the world of Gilbert & Sullivan

Brian Tanner, left, and Ben Bradley in "The Gondoliers."

Gilbert and Sullivan’s joyful “The Gondoliers” is the perfect excuse for a springtime visit to imaginary kingdom of Barataria, which, at least until Sunday, appears to be located just inside the doors of the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.

The University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society opened the comic opera Thursday night.

theater preview

Mistaken identity at heart of Gilbert & Sullivan's comic "Gondoliers"

Brian Tanner, left, and Ben Bradley in "The Gondoliers."

The University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society takes a trip to the make-believe kingdom of Barataria for it’s next show, “The Gondoliers,” which opens Thursday, April 1.

The story is based on a familiar Gilbert and Sullivan plot device. Two boys, 1 the son of a gondolier and the other the heir to the throne of the make-believe kingdom of Barataria, are mixed up at birth. Since no one knows which is which, the pair decide to share power. Circumstances are complicated (it wouldn’t be Gilbert and Sullivan if they weren’t) because the 1 who is truly the king was married by proxy to Casilda, the daughter of a Spanish duke, when he was an infant. When Casilda arrives in Barataria, she finds, to her dismay, both boys wedded to local girls, making one of the lads a bigamist. The mess is sorted out eventually with the arrival of the true king’s mother, who knows which boy is which.

theater review

Fun and frivolity from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Patience"

You’ve got to admire the British and their ability to poke fun at themselves. Case in point - Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operetta “Patience,”

The musical, which runs through Sunday in Mendelssohn Theatre courtesy the University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society, focuses on the obsession of the English and the aesthetic / poetic movement at the time it was written, in the late 1800s. It was laugh-out-loud funny Thursday night to watch rival poets Bunthorne (Richard Harper) and Grosvenor (Robby Griswold) try to grandly out-aesthetic each other, and a hoot to see the swooning young ladies of the village - poet groupies all - traipse around behind whichever one of the poets happened to be available.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s "Patience" pokes fun at followers of fads

Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera “Patience” may have been written over 100 years ago, but that doesn’t mean its focus on the obsession of the English and the aesthetic/poetic movement of the day is dated.

“Basically what it really comes down to is it’s a show about the need to be part of a fad, and the fad in England in the late 1800s was aesthetic poetry,” explained Diana Colleen Herstein, director for the upcoming production by the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society. “It’s a very kind of overly incomprehensible, very gothic poetry — Lord Byron or Keats, or the more lighthearted aesthetic poetry of people like Oscar Wilde.

“It’s not uncommon to how we would treat celebrities or pop singers,” Herstein said of the idolatry the poets received. “Those poet figures became the idols of their day and people would flock around them like teenagers now flock to the Jonas Brothers.”