A Night at the Savoy

newLOG's third annual spring concert in Louth followed in the footsteps of previous successes and received an enthusiastic response from a capacity audience at the Riverhead Theatre.

The concert, entitled A Night at the Savoy, was devised by Graham Rogers with Musical Direction by Paul Guinery and Staging by Bob Vaughan. It was a tribute to the genius of the Group's central composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan, and sought to balance his operas with WS Gilbert with those of other librettists: principally Basil Hood and FC Burnand. The first half of the evening consisted of a fully staged performance of Sullivan's first comic opera, Cox and Box, to a libretto by Burnand. This one-act musical farce, or "triumviretta" featured Graham Rogers and Chris Cann as the eponymous long-lost brothers and Phil Errington as their landlord, Sergeant Bouncer. The piece was wittily staged by Bob Vaughan and featured many very funny touches, including an outrageous majorette dance with dish mops and the trio of performers becoming entangled in an unravelling roll of wallpaper. Other highlights included Phil's martial "Rataplan-ing" and the outrageously camp Buttercup Serenade. The audience received the opera most warmly and were particularly delighted to hear it complete, including the oft-cut Gambling Duet, in which Cox and Box try to avoid winning the hand of the terrifying Penelope-Ann!

In the second half, the trio were joined by Catrine Kirkman (Soprano) and Kirsti Whitlocke (Mezzo) for a selection of solos and ensembles from a range of Sullivan's operettas. Popular numbers, such as the three quartets from The Gondoliers and "When I was a lad" from HMS Pinafore were balanced with rarely heard pieces from The Rose of Persia and The Chieftain to give a real taste of Sullivan's genius. The programme was preceded by a delightful entracte, arranged for piano by Paul Guinery and including many of the numbers to be heard later in the evening. There were many great items in the concert, but special mention must be made of Catrine's sublime "Only the night wind sighs alone" and Kirsti's wonderfully seductive Habanera, both from The Chieftain. Other fine solos inlcuded Phil's stirring "A laughing boy but yesterday" (a deleted number from Yeomen), Graham's characterful "When I was a lad" (Pinafore) and Chris, in Peter Sellers mode, as Hassan from The Rose of Persia. Bob also made a brief cameo appearance as a foil for Kirsti in "Were I thy bride" (Yeomen). The concert concluded with the vivacious dancing quintet "The woman of the wisest wit" from Princess Ida, but the overwhelming audience reaction was rewarded with an encore: the equally sparkling "If Saphir I choose to marry" from Patience to round off a very successful evening.

Despite snow and bitter cold, the Riverhead Theatre was full to the brim and the concert was a fine publicity opportunity for the forthcoming summer tour in June. Maureen Lill, President of the Louth Playgoer's Society assured everyone that newLOG is now an established and eagerly awaited part of the local calendar and expressed the hope that our regular visits would continue.