Magnificent production! And having the lyrics in subtitles really gives you a further appreciation of Gilbert’s genius in addition to that of Sullivan’s music!
This is the best performance of HMS Pinafore I have seen. Very good singing and character acting. I have always appreciated how Australians bring enjoyment into whatever they do. Thanks, mates!
Pinafore was my first G&S: the last seat in a full-house Melbourne Princess Theatre, back row of the gods. What a romp. It remains my favourite; I have seen it many times, with many companies and many theatres, and one performance using preserved Polly Woodside as the stage and the audience on tiered seats erected on the dock.
Wonderful. I have not sung in this since the 1980s but remember it all here in the UK. Ag 28mins is my favourite - the Queen's navy, the satire from 1870s UK, the history, our past - shared history UK/Australia. The moving up from office boy, articled clerk, solicitor (partner) - which my grandfather's brother did qualifying in the 1890s not long after that seeped through our generations to my own - at least 5 lawyers in our family and counting.... and the way the words show that wonderful point - that there were people who should never have been in charge of the navy who were put in charge of it. I also remember how scathing of G&S I felt my opera loving father was and other musicians - that this is not proper opera - why can't we just live and let live opera v operetta and all other forms of music. As my grandfather was the 10th child born in 1880 when his father was about 50 and my father similarly last child when his father was 49 we had 2 generations in place of 4 so in a sense as a family are much closer to this Victorian age than most.
Oh thank god someone uploaded this again. I watched this on YT back in 2009 and it must have been taken down because I haven’t been able to find it again since
I love GnS, i grew up on gramophone records, before TV, up in the country. I’ve seen, Pinafore, Mikado, Pirates and Iolanthe as school musicals, and been in Pirates school musicals. My son was introduced to GnS as a child, Opera Australia and the company with Jon English ( miss him). So I’m loving this
We did this when I was in 9th grade. Our orchestra was pretty good, our singing was generally passable (though not always), but I really don't think we understood the humor at all, the whole ambience of it. It was too old-fashioned, too English. We had a lot of fun though, and the music is really great.
Sullivan wrote notes to be sung, not shouted. Sir Joseph Porter and Little Buttercup and Dick Deadeye need to be reminded of that. Otherwise a nice performance.
I like just about everything of this production - except for Buttercup.I don't mind the cockney accent for her speaking but I wish her singing was less affected and bit more pleasant to listen to.
Although this was otherwise a brilliant production, Colette Mann as Buttercup was just absolutely awful. I know they used that voice to reflect Buttercup's lowly social standing (as it was seen in those times) but Mann can neither sing nor act.
Oh dear. G&S is, admittedly, _damned difficult_ to bring off successfully. The worst mistake you can make was endlessly repeated here - play it for laughs and it is no longer funny at all, just embarrassing. Pitching the humour and it's timing is a knife-edge balance, and I don't think the AO got it right even once, turning this into an expensive version of amateur night at the local town hall. Music and singing all OK, but the direction _terrible._ If this is the only version of G&S you have seen, keep looking, but elsewhere.
It doesn't help that it's a staged performance - meant to be seen from a distance - with so many close-ups. I attended a concert of some G&S recently and the one which really woke the audience up was the one that was appallingly hammed by the singer. I could see the conductor wincing.
I do agree with your first sentence. The reason it is so hard is because you need an ensemble cast of singers and comic actors - which G&S had: some superb singers, others are competent singers but not superb - they are there for their comic acting. Furthermore large opera houses often don't lend themselves well as you then need bigger voices, and the need to project to the extent required can undermine the ability of the singer to act it appropriately - plus it shrinks the pool of available talent. I would be kinder in my review though. The chap playing Captain Corcoran is a very talented singer who can certainly act. This doesn't hold true for all of the cast though. One cast member is very weak in the singing department and, surprisingly, not that strong in the acting (though perhaps her inadequate singing has knocked her confidence). I like many of them though: one or two important roles, cast poorly, undermine it in my view - and probably make it difficult for any director to succeed
