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Washington Savoyards
Gilbert
and Sullivan's comic opera "Patience, or Bunthorne's
Bride" is not one of the more popular creations
by this British librettist-composer team. With its
wacky dialogue and stage business, the opera spoofs
the 19th-century British "aesthetic" movement
-- propelled by such renowned figures as the playwright
Oscar Wilde, the painter James Whistler and poet-artist
Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Conducted
by Richard Fazio, the Washington Savoyards wrapped
up a weekend of sparkling "Patience" performances
Sunday at the Duke Ellington Theatre in Georgetown.
The plot revolves around the fortunes of the winsome
milkmaid Patience and her zany, upside-down definition
of love: Her attraction to the idyllic poet Grosvenor,
radiantly sung by Peter Joshua Burroughs, requires
her (in her own mind) to be unselfish and therefore
to reject him. Soprano Sarah Minckler gave this
role vibrant vocal color and stylistic agility,
nicely balanced by contralto Diana Cantrelle as
the languishing Lady Jane. Scott Kenison sang with
powerful persuasion as the pretentious aesthete
Bunthorne, idolized by the bevy of lovesick maidens
who have scorned the attentions of dragoon officers.
Both ladies and soldiers provided tightly paced
choral forces.
Stage
director Catherine Huntress-Reeve kept everyone
moving to bolster the satiric atmosphere. Aside
from some intonation hurdles, the orchestra's contribution
was commendable. The entire cast gave the production
conviction and merriment galore. In February, the
Savoyards' productions will move to the Atlas Performing
Arts Center in Northeast Washington.
—Cecelia
Porter in the Washington Post, Tuesday,
November 7, 2006; Page C07
The
H Street corridor in Northeast, DC is quickly filling
up its dance card as now the Washington Savoyards
will complete their season at the Atlas Performing
Arts Center. Presently they are performing G &
S "Patience" at the Ellington School that
offers a delightful evening of theatrics and music.
About 50% of the credit goes to the excellent music
direction by Richard Fazio. The other 50% goes to
the super singing and spritely dancing of the three
leads, Sarah Minckler, Peter Joshua Burroughs and
Scott Kenison.
This
Gilbert and Sullivan is a farce as it puts down
the pre-Raphaelites who proposed and wore medieval
dress and focused love on aesthetics and not sexual
attraction. There is a happy ending as the one poet
returns to modern-at-that-time dress and wins the
love of the heroine. Ms. Minckler was outstanding
as she sang the patter songs . . . and one love
song . . . in zestful style. Her acting was impeccable
in carrying out the script's demands. Peter Joshua
Burroughs was a total delight as he paraded and
sashayed around proclaiming his beauty. He was well
matched by Scott Kenison who proclaimed his aesthetics
and "bad" poetry and their duet of "When
I go out of door..." was the show stopper.
Most of the rest of the cast just never seemed able
to flow into songs like the leads which is so important
for G & S. Some of the girls (why were there
only 14 when the songs name 20) were totally wooden
although they improved somewhat in the second act.
Of course, the biggest problem with the secondary
cast was the lack of precision of articulation so
that one had to refer to the program to see what
the theme of the songs were. Matt Williams as the
major had a lovely Irish tenor but he had too many
vocal breaks in his solos. And Diana Cantrelle was
a delight and suddenly coherent in the second act
duet with much help from Scott Kenison. The one
set scenery was ordinary but the costuming by Eleanor
Dicks was class A. Many kudos to the director, Catherine
Huntress-Reeve who managed excellent stage pictures
and creative dancing and movement.
— Reviewed by Bob Anthony
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