Such an outstanding performance. I am so glad that I stumbled upon this video from 2008--and I wish I had seen it live. Great singing and acting and the perfect interpretation of the message which I believe W.S. Gilbert intended to convey. Finally, most mobile phones are of the "smart" variety today, but the jingle at the beginning stands the test of time to 2023.
Not the best known of the Savoy Operas, possibly because it requires such a large cast. To find a cast of this size and quality is indeed rare. The production values are exceptional with such attention to detail in every area, the musical qualities are outstanding. You may gather that I love this production.
I love this show for several reasons, mostly for the music and the rapier wit of the lyrics. In particular Mr. Goldbury's song that is a very concise treatise on capitalism. replete with all its not so honorable loopholes. King Paramount's reaction is pure gold. "on first sight it strikes us as dishonest..." Utopia Ltd. was first staged in 1891 and had a few later performances through 1904 but did not see another until D'Oyly Carte again presented it in 1975. Interesting to my somewhat conspiratorially oriented mind. Wm. Gilbert was a very accomplished satirist in his day and even ran slightly afoul of Queen Victoria for portraying the Lord of the Admiralty as a man who had never been to sea in HMS Pinafore, a casting that happened to be true of the Real Lord of the Admiralty. He repeatedly mocked the House of Lords, and more than once took a pot shot at the Joint Stock Company's Act of 1862. He has King Paramount do so in Utopia describing a nation that would become a Limited Liability Corporation. The fact this lovely operetta was not again performed for too many years has made me wonder if the reason for this was that Gilbert was too uncomfortably close to what governments had been in fact doing since that odious Act was passed. It is said the United States was incorporated in similar fashion as described in a seemingly harmless poking-fun manner as Utopia does, in 1872. Curious and curiouser as Alice said once...
