MODEL OF A MODERN MUSICAL
Opera Nuova updates H.M.S. Pinafore
Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical operas always present directors with a dilemma. Given that some of the satirical references very much belong to the 19th century, how do you get a balance between updating the humour and maintaining those traditional elements so beloved by Gilbert and Sullivan fans?
Director Kim Mattice Wanat has found an answer Down Under, from the Australian performance and publishing company Essgee Entertainment. Its 1994 version of The Pirates of Penzance was a huge hit and then became the top-selling music video in Australian history. Essgee followed this up with The Mikado in 1996, and H.M.S. Pinafore a year later. It was Essgee’s version of the latter that Mattice Wanat decided to use for Opera Nuova’s new H.M.S. Pinafore production, which opens on Wednesday Feb. 22 at the Capitol Theatre in Fort Edmonton Park, running through Sunday Feb. 26.
Essgee’s technique was to keep much of the traditional material while at the same time updating the dialogue, and in particular the choruses. Opera Nuova has described it as a blend of Gilbert and Sullivan and contemporary musical theatre.
“Essgee has rewritten several of the chorus pieces to give a more contemporary beat — which will appeal to younger audiences — while maintaining the traditional beauty of the solos and arias. It gives a much more eclectic flavour to the work,” said Mattice Wanat.
Other changes include the insertion of some favourite arias borrowed from other Gilbert and Sullivan operas, notably In Sailing O’er Life’s Ocean Wide from Ruddigore. The role of Dick Deadeye has also been considerably extended. He is the ship’s contraband supplier, money lender, and mischief maker (he even runs an illegal casino), and his fate at the end of the opera is somewhat unexpected.
The basic story remains unchanged. Set on the British warship of the title (which is docked in harbour), it follows the love intrigues centred around the captain’s daughter, Josephine. She is loved by the sailor Ralph, but courted by the first lord of the admiralty himself, Sir Joseph Porter. Considerations of class and status seem to prevent any happy untangling of the amorous webs, until the bumboat woman, Buttercup, reveals her terrible secret.
Buttercup is being played in this production by Robert Herriot. He, of course, has had a long association with both Opera Nuova and Edmonton Opera as a director, and has an especial affinity with Gilbert and Sullivan. He will be directing Patience for Opera Nuova’s summer program this year, and H.M.S. Pinafore in its original version for Edmonton Opera in March next year.
Cross-dressing in H.M.S. Pinafore is nothing new — the role of Ralph has sometimes been played by a woman, and, in an early American production, Buttercup was played by a seven-foot man. Mattice Wanat, though, says here the cross-dressing is entirely a matter of disguise, rather than a question of gender identity, a device to get the character onto the ship and reveal that secret.
Sir Joseph Porter is being played by Evan Westfal, an Edmonton based singer-songwriter, actor, and vocal instructor. The rest of the cast are all young professional singers who are alumni of the sum- mer opera training program for which Opera Nuova is celebrated.
Bass-baritone Ian Fundytus, who spent several summers with Opera Nuova and now often appears with Cowtown Opera in Calgary, plays Captain Corcoran. Edmonton’s Josh Thayer plays Dick Deadeye, while Cam Kneteman returns home from Toronto to play Ralph. The role of Josephine is shared in the performances by two Edmonton-based sopranos, Isabel Davis and Camille Holland. They are joined by what Opera Nuova calls “an enthusiastic and passionate community chorus from all walks of life.”
In Essgee’s original 1997 production, the singers were accompanied by three Moog synthesizers, but here the instrumentation is a little more conventional, if still unusual. It involves three pianos (played by musical director Simon-Marc de Freitas, Spencer Kryzanowski and Andrew St. Hilaire), double-bass (Farley Scott) and percussion (Court Laslop).
Opera Nuova has collaborated with Fort Edmonton Park before.
“It’s a wonderful partnership — we’ve now done two Gilbert and Sullivan operas there in our summer festival,” says Mattice Wanat. It was Fort Edmonton Park who suggested doing one in the offseason, and H.M.S. Pinafore is the result.
The final change to the original partly reflects that venue. Opera Nuova’s production moves the action to the 1940s, entirely appropriate for the Capitol Theatre, whose design recreates the 1929 restoration of the original theatre.
“People will find this version very witty,” says Mattice Wanat. “It has all the original humour with a little more contemporary mentality. It was so huge and successful in Australia — we are really excited to bring it here.”