Dan Myers
With a colorful, vibrant production of “The Gondoliers,” the Madison Savoyards have recovered from last year’s travesty of “The Mikado,” returning to the idiomatic traditions of Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.
The Savoyards, whose performances run through August 7, have wisely chosen to stage the last of the collaborators’ greatest creations. “The Gondoliers” combines spoofing of constitutional monarchy with Mediterranean spicing. Beginning in Venice, it ends in Barataria (ex-barrister Gilbert’s covert pun suggesting a “kingdom of lawyers”), and the plot involves identity confusion about which of two newly married gondoliers is king of that realm.
Utilizing simple but effective sets by Mike Lawler and luscious costumes by Rebecca Stanley, the production is a visual delight. Stage director Audrey Lauren Wax joins vivid action with Kristin Roling’s bouncy choreography, keeping everything in spirited motion.
The one drawback is the bugaboo of so many G & S productions: the issue of diction. Both in singing and speaking, the soloists are not always perfectly clear, and the singers in the chorus, especially the women, are verbally blurred. As a result, much of Gilbert’s crisp and satirical wit is diluted, and even lost at times. (The best diction, ironically, comes when the chorus sings a short number in Italian, every word clearly audible.)
If the English words are not always fully realized, the music certainly is. “The Gondoliers” has more than a dozen singing roles, and the cast delivers fine vocal performances. I was most impressed by Alaina Carlson’s beautiful articulation as Tessa. The two gondoliers — tenor Christopher Aaron Smith as Marco and baritone Brian Schneider as Giuseppe — are splendidly virile. I found the Duke of Plaza-Toro (William Rosholt) and Don Alhambra (Don Dexter) rather too exaggerated in their clowning: The former should be less flamboyant and more pompous, while the latter needs elements of menace. But Rebecca Beuchel is a proper wife-who-wears-the pants (under exaggerated pannier skirts) as the Duchess. Of the other women, Deanna Martinez struck me as a bit shrill as Cassilda (the Plaza-Toro daughter who is the eventual Baratarian queen), while Lauren Welch is nicely tart as Gianetta.
Though the orchestra occasionally overwhelms the singers, it’s led with polish and flair by conductor Kyle Knox, Madison’s ubiquitous back-pocket maestro.
Remaining shows of this enjoyable production will be at Music Hall on the UW campus on the evenings of August 5 and 6 and Sunday August 7.
