tyro:
noun (plural tyros): a beginner in learning anything; a novice.
:smack:
Didn’t even occur to me to look it up in a real dictionary. In my defense, I’m home sick today.
Just to echo everybody here-I think the Mikado is still my favorite, and “I’ve got a little list” is still my all time favorite G&S song.
And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy,
And who “doesn’t think she dances, but would rather like to try” is an absolutely brilliant lyric.
Actually, though, even the worst of their operettas have high points. I can’t eat a pig in a blanket without thinking of The Grand Duke and breaking into “You Must Eat a Sausage Roll”:
It’s a greasy kind of pasty,
Which, perhaps, a judgement hasty
Might consider rather tasty:
Once (to speak without disguise)
It found favour in our eyes.
Huzzah and huzzay, and welcome to the Inner Brotherhood! The collaborations of W.S. Gilbert and A.S. Sullivan are among the greatest jewels produced by the Victorian Era, and have played a critical role in the development of modern musical theater on both sides of the pond. Not to mention that they’re bursting at the seams with rapier wit, scathing satire, comical absurdities of the highest order, and music that soars, swoons, froths, or tickles with equal genius.
You are not alone in discovering the joys of the Savoy canon. A moment’s Googling will prove that Gilbert and Sullivan companies are active all over the globe – in fact, there are probably more organizations devoted to the appreciation and performance of these works than for those of any other artist, save perhaps Shakespeare.
Musicologists have, to date, failed in their attempts to supply concrete definitions of these terms. How many musical numbers, for example, does it take to reclassify a play as a musical? Does The Scottish Play become MacBeth! if the witches sing their spells? Why is Don Giovanni considered a grand opera when its music and subject matter are mostly lighthearted farce? Shouldn’t Carmen be recategorized as operetta since it includes spoken dialogue? The truth of the matter is that these terms are anything but set in stone. If you want to get untranitpicky about it, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations occupy a unique artistic niche and have, according to some authorities, been assigned a classification all their own: Savoy opera. For general conversation, though, light opera, operetta, or, indeed, opera, are equally applicable.
Oh, by the way, the name “Savoy” is permanently associated with the collaborations of G&S. This is due to the fact that the London theater built by their impresario, Richard D’Oyly Carte, was itself called The Savoy. Diehard G&S fans are known as Savoyards.
I have been performing in G&S for over 15 years. While any hopes of stardom in bel canto circles are, for me, but distant memories, I have the great fortune of regularly landing character roles in a company that stages first-rate G&S productions each year.
It seems to be mainly a coastal phenomena in the US. Chicago has two companies that do one show a year, and Kansas City has one company that might do a show every three years. A damn shame, as my younger niece has a voice well suited as a G&S ingenue. But as her high school never did them, and the music program at her college (Longview) is awful, she never caught the bug.
You’re right of course.
And the next time a G&S thread rolls around, I’ll end up doing the same damned mistake. It’s some sort of weird mental block. 
Hmm. I’ve never used emusic.com before but 72 credits for the whole album seems a bit steep. A credit per track seems fine for some albums, but seems a bit crazy for the length of these tracks. Especially since they don’t seem to want to give the pricing plans to me untill they get all my contact info.
Though I did search around and found a couple of positive reviews for the Ohio Light Opera Company’s 2005 performance. Maybe I’ll buy that one instead.
Which is too bad, because (from what I’ve heard) he was actually referring to Minstrel Singers (men in black face), and NOT black people. Unfortunately, too fine a point for today’s audience
I have the e-music connoisseur, 75 downloads per month and it costs me 30.99 or .41 per track, and I have the $9.99 single audio book per month plan as well.
Malacandra “Iolanthe has a really great patter song, “When You’re Lying Awake”, featuring both verbal dexterity and an amusing description of a really strange nightmare.”
Thanks for that 
I read the lyrics (couldn’t find an audio) and that’s got to be one of the coolest songs ever. I loved it!
Lurker - “I had to literally construct a diagram to make heads or tails of Yeomen; It didn’t help that I only had an audio version.” <–lol
C Dexter… I’ve Got A List kicks ass! I may just have to learn that 
I hate to sound snobbish so early into my learnins but I’m getting annoyed at how hard it is to find a clip of someone singing the original bloody words. I know they’re trying to be topical and modern, and that’s cool, but they haven’t half the wit that Gilbert had. Sorry, rant over.
Boulter’s Canary - "…The best patter song (IMO) is either the “madness” song from Ruddigore (“generally rapid unitelligible patter/is very seldom heard and if it is, it doesn’t matter” sung at a billion notes per second)…
I tripped over that in the Kevin Kline Pirates film - they just kind of threw it in after Most Ingenious Paradox. My God, did Gilbert have something against singers? kline does a masterful job of it and I’ve seen some cool ones on youtube - Vincent Price
Kizarvexius - Wow! A grander or more emphatic welcome I could not hope for. Thanks Bud I’m really enjoying the pieces that I’m getting. I’m hoping to get a copy of The Mikado for Chirstmas.
So many of the songs astonish me. I’m so choked that it took me 36 years (I can be forgiven my 1st 12 or so can’t I?) to come into this.
Thanks to everyone who’s thrown in their suggestions! I’m really looking forward to getting to know G&S*
Zeke**
- I gotta say, the music is cool but I’m a word-type geek so I get more out of the G than the S
** I know that this has been way to long and I’ll try to effuse less prolifically next time 
Since my faves are already given many times, I’ll mention that Netflix has a surprising number of G&S videos. I’m doing research on Oscar Wilde at the moment and just “moved to Number 1 position” Patience, which is one of their lesser known works (Wilde is the inspiration for the character of Bunthorne; like many other G&S plays it was very much comic social commentary of real and [then] current events).
Another mention of TOPSY TURVY. It’s true as someone said that it’s very odd, but so were G & S, and Jim Broadbent (Gilbert) is one of those actors who if they filmed him making banana sandwiches for his wife’s prayer meeting I’d probably watch it eventually, with Timothy Spall (bka Peter Pettigrew in HARRY POTTER or the wicked beadle in SWEENEY TODD) isn’t far behind him.
And you can also see the bad-ass Lucius Vorenus from *Rome *(Kevin McKidd) fussing about not being able to wear his corset.
Strongly seconding getting in touch with your local theatres. G&S are mainstays of the community and regional theatres. My local theatre(which I work with fairly often) did both Pinafore and Pirates within the past three years. Getting your hands on the source material helps a lot and being able to play around with the roles is great fun.
There was an Aussie production of Pirates I found some clips of on youtube which was quite funny, especially “With Cat-Like Tread”. They’d sing the opening softly and then just full out blast “NO SOUND AT ALL” which is a bit exaggerated, but hilarious.
Enjoy,
Steven
Way back in 1974, while I was in Monterey, California, I saw a one act musical based on Star Trek. It was set to the music from “Pirates of Penzance” I don’t remember who was supposed to have written it, or who performed it, but it was absolutely hilarious.
I don’t suppose there’s any other old farts around who may have heard of this?
I had an odd introduction to their music. My dad loved The Mikado and played it often, but that is no guarantee that a style of music will take.
No, it was my favorite rock star covering one of their songs. Todd Rundgren love G&S and covered “When You’re Lying Awake” on his album Todd back in 1974 (billed as “The Lord Chancellor’s Nightmare Song”). Years later, he covered “Nevermind the Why and Wherefore” with his wife Michele and bluesman Taj Mahal.
Hah hah— remembered the scene but not the actor; retro-gnition can be funny.
Most likely “Starship Pinafore”. There appear to have been numerous parodies by that name.
I have read that this whole scene is a parody of the “Abductors’ Chorus” from Rigoletto – the Pirates score is actually filled with Verdi references. At the end of Act I, the duke’s courtiers sneak into Rigoletto’s house to kidnap the hated jester’s daughter. As they creep along, they urge one other to be as quiet as possible, but the dynamic of the music suggests that they’re not doing a very good job of it. Sullivan turned the joke on its ear by having the pirates “sneak” onstage to a trumpet fanfare, singing “With cat-like tread upon our prey we steal” in a triumphant forte.
OK, this thread motivated me to join the local G&S society. And - they’re putting on “Sorcerors” next summer!!
:smack:and it got mrAru and I to surf to amazon, find the damned Vincent Price G&S, and buy the boxed set of DVDs…:eek:
At least we decided it was our mutual christmas present 