This post was brought to you by the letters B and A, and by the word (Oxon)...
I popped up to Oxford for various reasons over the weekend, foremost among these being the acquisition of a degree. I was in good company, as sea_bright gained her doctorate earlier in the day - congratulations, Dr. Patrick! It was all great fun, particularly the Latin, and the Dean of Degrees' amusing speech at the pre-graduation dinner ("As you will know, the Sheldonian is an early Wren building, and the roof has no visible means of support. Unfortunately, when we had it surveyed last year, it turned out not to have any invisible means of support either"). kht, thalassius and awroe were kind enough to meet me afterwards, soon joined by sea_bright and princessdanae (who reminded me that, G&S hack or not, having an email signature that talks about 'erudition sham' when I'm 'passing an exam' is not necessarily the most appropriate thing when I'm emailing law firms).
After that - Sorcerer! I will admit that I had my doubts. It is, after all, perhaps the most boring of all the works of G&S. There are about two good songs, and the tenor character is the most unpleasant anywhere. A pretty tough challenge to meet while also attempting to make a colonial India setting believable.
You can see where this is leading, however. Utter genius. The key is to ensure that there's always something funny going on in the background, to complement or draw attention from the songs as required. This was brilliantly and consistently achieved. The costumes and set were excellent, the lighting good, and don't get me started on the quality of the cast. All first-rate singers and comic actors. It was staggering. The chap playing Dr. Daly managed to be utterly brilliant while concealing an American accent that I only found out about afterwards. Even the Indian interpretation worked well. I essentially spent the interval bouncing, and then the period after the show engaged in shaking the hand of everyone I could find who'd had anything at all to do with it.
The cast party was, I will say, illuminating, and never before has one word been quite so loaded with meaning. Many thanks to sea_bright for providing the Sally-Lunn-of-indeterminate-partnership-preference, and to thalassius for putting me up in his superb new flat.
Also: a good game of poker tonight. I won 4p, which is excellent by my standards.
After that - Sorcerer! I will admit that I had my doubts. It is, after all, perhaps the most boring of all the works of G&S. There are about two good songs, and the tenor character is the most unpleasant anywhere. A pretty tough challenge to meet while also attempting to make a colonial India setting believable.
You can see where this is leading, however. Utter genius. The key is to ensure that there's always something funny going on in the background, to complement or draw attention from the songs as required. This was brilliantly and consistently achieved. The costumes and set were excellent, the lighting good, and don't get me started on the quality of the cast. All first-rate singers and comic actors. It was staggering. The chap playing Dr. Daly managed to be utterly brilliant while concealing an American accent that I only found out about afterwards. Even the Indian interpretation worked well. I essentially spent the interval bouncing, and then the period after the show engaged in shaking the hand of everyone I could find who'd had anything at all to do with it.
The cast party was, I will say, illuminating, and never before has one word been quite so loaded with meaning. Many thanks to sea_bright for providing the Sally-Lunn-of-indeterminate-partnership-preference, and to thalassius for putting me up in his superb new flat.
Also: a good game of poker tonight. I won 4p, which is excellent by my standards.