You don’t have to be a Gilbert & Sullivan aficionado to enjoy this charming, tongue in cheek production. Albert Bergeret has kept winking wry, not broad and visuals inventive. Voices are excellent; lightness pervades.
Under fairy law, the popular Iolanthe (Amy Maude Helfer) committed a capital sin by marrying a mortal. She’s instructed never to see the man again (he thinks she died) and exiled from the flock. Twenty-five years later, the Queen (Angela Christine Smith) finds forgiveness in her heart. Both ladies have confident mid range voices. Helfer’s is aptly warm.
Train Bearer Peter Shaerf; Lord Chancellor (James Mills)
Fairies slide down a waterfall (nifty) and dance – most graceful, one Fanny Bryce-like. Choreography throughout is crafted for non dancers, yet appears without qualification. (David Auxier with original choreography by Janis Ansley Ungar.) Soloists’ lyrics are pristine, while group song emerges a collective
(if pleasant) sound.
Flat, cut-out and painted scenery (Jack Garver) depicts an “Arcadian Landscape” that looks illustrated. A waterfall is achieved with light. Later Parliament’s bricked courtyard creates classically aesthetic space. Chiffon and flowers describe unfussy fairy costumes. Extravagant menswear reflects the late 1580s with Elizabethan doublets, ably employed capes, and short, puffed breeches (Gail J. Wofford).
The Male Ensemble
Iolanthe has stayed close to watch over her now 24 year-old child, Strephon (David Macaluso, born fairy from the waist up, mortal from there down. Her sisters tease that she looks too young. Fairies are, of course, immortal. “My brain is a fairy brain, but my other half is a gibbering idiot,” the young man shrugs.
An Arcadian Shepherd (colorfully be-ribboned hook and all), he’s besotted with Phyllis (Claire Leyden), ward of the Lord Chancellor’s court (James Mills). She returns his feelings with no idea of her lover’s heritage. The bewigged Chancellor denies permission to wed citing the Strephon’s unsuitability. Wrestling with law, he wants her for himself.
The Company
David Macaluso’s often perplexed expression suits his character well. Vocals are appealingly earnest. Claire Leyden has a beautiful, seemingly effortless soprano and lovely ingénue deportment. The voices meld with silky ease. James Mills’s Chancellor is the highlight of the evening. The actor sings with brio, is farcical without pushing it, exceedingly nimble and all ‘round fun to watch.
Phyllis is instructed to choose among peers of the realm lead by the competing Earl of Mountararat (Matthew Wages) and Earl Tolloller (Daniel Greenwood). The men dance and sing. With an arched eyebrow and skip here and there, the two are thoroughly engaging.
Earl Mountararat (Matthew Wages) Phyllis (Claire Leyden), Earl Tolloller (Daniel Greenwood)
Strephon is seen sitting by the water with his mother. Phyllis (and the Peers) assume the woman they observe is 17. Iolanthe runs away. The Chancellor is her husband. She can’t, by fairy law, reveal herself.
Furious, Phyllis declares she’ll marry a Peer, any Peer. The Queen confronts surprised nobles who yield
to “an influential fairy/from Andersen’s library…”
Iolanthe’s son is magicked into Parliament with the ability to reconcile both houses, but he’s miserable without his love. She, in turn, has worked out an amusing way to get her main suitors to walk away – together. Truths are revealed. The Fairies decide they too are enamored of mortals. A brawny Beefeater (David Wannen, who makes the resonant most of his time on stage) is the Queen’s choice. Laws are changed. All retreat to fairyland. Fa La!
Photos by Danny Bristol
Opening: Center left Iolanthe (Amy Maude Helfer; The Queen (Angela Christine Smith)
On the occasion of its 50th Anniversary
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players present
Iolanthe
Words – William S. Gilbert; Music – Arthur Sullivan
First performed at Savoy Theatre, London England 1885
Directed and Conducted by Albert Bergeret
The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College
524 West 59th Street
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players
