Never mind the why or wherefore!
A Celebration of the Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan
Catrine Kirkman (Soprano)
Kirsti Whitlocke (Mezzo-Soprano)
Samir Savant (Tenor)
Chris Cann (Baritone)
Graham Rogers (Bass-Baritone)
Piano: Paul Guinery
Devised by Graham Rogers
Staging: Chris Cann
Stage Manager: Fay Carradine
Lighting Designer: Steve Greenwood
Publicity Design: Tony Bannister
With special thanks to all at Louth Playgoers’ Riverhead Theatre.
Never mind the why or wherefore - Programme
“Now to the banquet we press” (The Sorcerer)
“Oh, happy young heart” (The Sorcerer)
“Is life a boon?” (The Yeomen of the Guard)
“Hereupon we’re both agreed” (The Yeomen of the Guard)
“In enterprise of martial kind” (The Gondoliers)
“When maiden loves, she sits and sighs” (The Yeomen of the Guard)
“Strange adventure” (The Yeomen of the Guard)
“A British tar is a soaring soul” (HMS Pinafore)
“Now wouldn’t you like to rule the roast?” (Princess Ida)
“When you find you’re a broken-down critter” (The Grand Duke)
“As o’er our penny roll we sing” (The Grand Duke)
“The sun, whose rays are all ablaze” (The Mikado)
“When all night long” (Iolanthe)
“O foolish fay” (Iolanthe)
“Refrain, audacious tar” (HMS Pinafore)
“Strange the views” ..… “Now take a card” (The Grand Duke)
INTERVAL – 20 MINUTES
“A tenor, all singers above” (Utopia Limited)
“Sweet and low” (Utopia Limited)
“When you had left our pirate fold” (The Pirates of Penzance)
“My name is John Wellington Wells” (The Sorcerer)
“A man who would woo a fair maid” (The Yeomen of the Guard)
“When a felon’s not engaged in his employment” (The Pirates of Penzance)
“The hours creep on apace” (HMS Pinafore)
“Never mind the why or wherefore” (HMS Pinafore)
“On the day that I was wedded” (The Gondoliers)
“If we’re weak enough to tarry” (Iolanthe)
“If you go in” (Iolanthe)
“There is beauty in the bellow of the blast” (The Mikado)
“Try we lifelong” (The Gondoliers)
Never mind the why or wherefore
Notes on Musical Numbers
The Sorcerer (Premiered at the Opéra Comique, 1877)
Aline Sangazure Catrine Kirkman
John Wellington Wells Chris Cann
The villagers of Ploverleigh gather for the wedding feast of Alexis and Aline (“Now to the banquet we press”).Aline rejoices on her wedding day (“O happy young heart”). However, her fiancé, Alexis, has hired a firm of Sorcerers: JW Wells & Co., to administer a love potion to the whole village, with chaotic consequences. When he arrives, Mr. Wells lists his merchandise in a spectacular piece of patter (“My name is John Wellington Wells”).
HMS Pinafore (Premiered at the Opéra Comique, 1878)
Josephine Corcoran Catrine Kirkman
Ralph Rackstraw Samir Savant
Captain Corcoran / Bob Beckett Graham Rogers
Sir Joseph Porter KCB / Bill Bobstay Chris Cann
Captain Corcoran of HMS Pinafore, plans to marry his daughter Josephine to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter, who comes on board bearing a glee he has composed to inspire the Royal Navy (“A British tar is a soaring soul”). Josephine is really in love with the common sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, but cannot bring herself to abandon her privileged life for him. She rejects his advances in the duet “Refrain, audacious tar”. That night, Josephine has second thoughts and weighs up the merits of her two suitors (“The hours creep on apace”). Ironically, her mind is made up by Sir Joseph himself. His declaration that “love levels all ranks” unwittingly convinces Josephine to follow her heart and elope with Ralph (“Never mind the why or wherefore”).
The Pirates of Penzance (Premiered at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, and the 5th Avenue Theatre, New York, 1878)
Pirate King / Sergeant of Police Graham Rogers
Ruth Kirsti Whitlocke
Frederic Samir Savant
Upon his coming of age, Frederic completes his pirate apprenticeship and leaves the band. However, he is visited by his old chief and nursemaid, who reveal that, being born on February 29th, he will not reach his twenty-first birthday for another sixty years, and must remain an apprentice until this time (“When you had left our pirate fold”). Later, the local constabulary, contemplate their forthcoming battle with the Pirates. (“When a felon's not engaged in his employment”)
Phyllis Catrine Kirkman
Queen of the Fairies Kirsti Whitlocke
Lord Mountararat Chris Cann
Lord Tolloller Samir Savant
Lord Chancellor / Strephon / Private Willis Graham Rogers
On sentry duty outside the Palace of Westminster, Private Willis muses on the intricacies of the British two-party system (“When all night long”). Willis is loved at a distance by the formidable Fairy Queen, but mindful of the ban on Fairy-mortal marriage, the Queen invokes the London Fire Brigade to provide a metaphorical cold shower (“O foolish fay”). Meanwhile, Lords Tolloller and Mountararat urge the lovelorn Lord Chancellor to marry his ward, Phyllis (“If you go in”). Phyllis, however, has other ideas and has decided to marry her true love, the shepherd Strephon (“If we’re weak enough to tarry”)
Lady Blanche Kirsti Whitlocke
Melissa Catrine Kirkman
Princess Ida runs a women-only university. However, her second-in-command, the formidable Lady Blanche, harbours a secret ambition to supplant her. In the waspish duet “Now wouldn’t you like to rule the roast”, Lady Blanche’s daughter, Melissa, urges her mother to take action.
The Mikado (Premiered at the Savoy Theatre, 1885)
Yum-Yum Catrine Kirkman
Katisha Kirsti Whitlocke
Ko-Ko Chris Cann
In the Japanese town of Titipu, Nanki-Poo and the beautiful Yum-Yum are in love, though she is engaged to Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Eventually, Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo are permitted to marry on condition that he is executed after a month. Yum-Yum sings of her beauty and joy in the exquisite aria “The sun whose rays”. Ko-Ko is too squeamish to execute Nanki-Poo and lies to the Mikado that he has done so. However, it transpires that Nanki-Poo is the Mikado’s long lost son. To save himself from a lingering death, Ko-Ko successfully woos the formidable Katisha and they anticipate their marriage in the duet “There is beauty in the bellow of the blast”.
Elsie Maynard / Kate Catrine Kirkman
Phoebe Merryll Kirsti Whitlocke
Colonel Fairfax Samir Savant
Jack Point Chris Cann
Sergeant Merryll / Wilfred Shadbolt Graham Rogers
Phoebe Merryll sings as she spins on Tower Green (“When maiden loves, she sits and sighs”). She is in love with Colonel Fairfax, who is to be executed that day. He is philosophical on his impending fate (“Is life a boon”). Phoebe’s father is an old friend of the Colonel and they successfully spring Fairfax from his cell, disguising him as Phoebe’s brother, Leonard. Fairfax has undertaken a blindfold marriage with Elise Maynard, who now finds herself married to a fugitive. Elsie’s former betrothed, Jack Point persuades the jailer, Wilfred Shadbolt to claim that he has shot Fairfax in order that he may pursue Elsie himself. In return, Point will teach Wilfred his jesterly arts (“Hereupon we’re both agreed”). The inhabitants of the tower become suspicious and discuss the mystery in the quartet “Strange adventure”. The disguised Fairfax discovers that his wife is the beautiful Elsie and embarks on courtship, unwittingly aided by the lovelorn Phoebe (“A man who would woo a fair maid”).
Duke of Plaza-Toro Chris Cann
Duchess of Plaza-Toro Kirsti Whitlocke
Casilda Catrine Kirkman
Luiz Samir Savant
Don Alhambra del Bolero Graham Rogers
Casilda, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro was betrothed in infancy to the King of Barataria. The Grand Inquititor informs them that the King disappeared in childhood and is now known to be one of the two Venetian gondoliers, but no-one knows which. All reflect on this confusion in the quintet “Try we lifelong”. The Duke relates his less than glorious military career (“In enterprise of martial kind”) and the Duchess tells her daughter the history of her stormy marriage (“On the day that I was wedded”).
Princess Zara Catrine Kirkman
Captain Fitzbattleaxe Samir Savant
The beautiful South Pacific island of Utopia is ruled over by the Anglophile King Paramount who has imported a team of English advisors to remodel the country. They include Captain Fitzbattleaxe of the Life Guards, who falls in love with the King’s eldest daughter, Princess Zara. Sadly, however, the fervour of his love damages the quality of his singing (“A tenor, all singers above”). Zara reciprocates his love and comforts him in the beautiful duet “Sweet and low”.
Ernest Dummkopf Samir Savant
Ludwig Graham Rogers
Julia Jellicoe Catrine Kirkman
Baroness von Krakenfeldt / Lisa Kirsti Whitlocke
The last G&S opera is set in the Ruritanian Grand Duchy of Pfenig-Halbpfenig, where the theatrical producer Ernest Dummkopf leads a plot to overthrow the miserly Grand Duke Rudolph. However, Ludwig, the principal comedian, gives the game away. Ernest demands satisfaction and this results in a duel, which is played out using cards, rather than swords or pistols (“Strange the views” and “Now take a card”). The hypochondriac Grand Duke feels under the weather from years of low living (“When you find you’re a broken-down critter”), but he is consoled by his soulmate, the formidable Baroness von Krakenfeldt, who is quite as mean as he is. They plan out their frugal marriage in the duet “As o’er a penny roll we sing”
Company
Chris Cann (Baritone)
Born in Devon, Chris first came to London as a student in 1992. He has performed in all the extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Principal roles include The Judge and Defendant (Trial by Jury), Alexis Pointdextre (The Sorcerer), Major-General Stanley (The Pirates of Penzance), Bunthorne (Patience) The Lord Chancellor, Lord Mountararat, Strephon and Private Willis (Iolanthe), Cyril (Princess Ida), Pooh-Bah (The Mikado), Dick Dauntless and Sir Despard Murgatroyd (Ruddigore), The Duke of Plaza-Toro and Don Alhambra del Bolero (The Gondoliers), King Paramount (Utopia Limited) and Ludwig (The Grand Duke). Chris has directed productions for the University of London Opera Group, New London Opera Group and the Centenary Opera Company. Productions include HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe (twice), Princess Ida, The Mikado, Ruddigore (twice) and this summer will direct his third production of The Sorcerer for the newLOG tour to Louth. He has also directed the newLOG spring concerts of G&S, Viennese and French operetta and has also appeared as Mr Box in Cox and Box/A Night at the Savoy. As founding Artistic Director of newLOG, Chris produced the acclaimed concert performance of Rutland Boughton’s Bethlehem in December 2005, in which he also sang the dual roles of Jem the Shepherd and Zarathustra the Wise Man. For Christmas 2006 he unearthed and produced a concert performance of Michael Balfe’s beautiful romantic opera The Bohemian Girl in London.
Paul Guinery (Piano)
Paul studied the piano at the Royal College of Music in London and was made an Associate (ARCM) in 1975, having gained experience there as a pianist and coach in the Opera School. He then took a degree in Modern Languages at Oxford before joining the BBC. For several years he was a staff announcer and newsreader for the BBC World Service at Bush House before moving to Broadcasting House to become a staff announcer for BBC Radio 3. He has presented many programmes over the years including the chamber music series Concert Hall, the long-running request programme Your Concert Choice, the Sunday morning series Sacred and Profane, and the choral music series Choirworks. Now a freelance, he still introduces orchestral concerts on the air, working closely with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on tour and at home, including the BBC Proms. Paul has had wide experience as a piano accompanist and takes part in a music festival every year in Cornwall. He has played for every newLOG production here at the Riverhead including four concerts, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore and last year’s Patience.
Catrine Kirkman (Soprano)
Catrine is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She has recently toured the UK with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, playing the roles of Lady Ella (Patience) and Phyllis (Iolanthe). Other recent roles include French Girl and Hotel Guest in Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice for the 2007 Aldeburgh Festival and Bregenz Festival in Austria; Despina (Così fan Tutte) with the Hayes Symphony Orchestra; Kitchen Boy and Nymph (Rusalka) with Opera Della Luna; Juliet in Britten's The Little Sweep in Aldeburgh; and First Bridesmaid in The Marriage of Figaro at the Savoy Theatre, London. She has also performed in Verdi’s Macbeth and Bellini’s La Sonnambula with Holland Park Opera, London; L’Elisir d’Amore with Grange Park Opera; and Tosca in Bregenz, Austria. Other Gilbert & Sullivan roles include Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), Yum-Yum (The Mikado) and Rose Maybud (Ruddigore), and she has appeared with the Festival Company at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, Buxton. Other recent engagements include Handel’s Messiah at St Giles’, Cripplegate in London, Mozart’s Requiem, and recitals at the Cirencester Early Music Festival and Oxford Lieder Festival. She has appeared with newLOG in all its previous spring concerts in Louth, including A Viennese Soiree and La Vie Parisiènne. Forthcoming engagements include a recording of Edward German’s Tom Jones for Naxos, Finzi’s Dies Natalis with the Royal Orchestral Society conducted by Benjamin Ellin, and Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with Opera Minima.
Graham Rogers (Bass-Baritone)
This is Graham’s tenth appearance at the Riverhead Theatre: he has taken part in five Gilbert & Sullivan productions here, as well as concert shows including A Viennese Soirée, A Night at the Savoy and last year’s La Vie Parisiènne. Roles Graham has played here are: Mr Cox (Cox and Box), Archibald Grovsenor (Patience), Strephon (Iolanthe) and the eponymous Mikado of Japan. Other G&S roles include Counsel for the Plaintiff (Trial by Jury), Dick Deadeye (HMS Pinafore), Colonel Calverly (Patience), Private Willis (Iolanthe), Florian (Princess Ida), Ko-Ko (The Mikado), Robin Oakapple (Ruddigore) and the Prince of Monte Carlo (The Grand Duke). Other operatic roles with newLOG include Count Arnheim in Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl and Dave the Shepherd and Merlin the Wise Man in Boughton’s Bethlehem. As Music Director of newLOG Graham has conducted productions here of The Pirates of Penzance (2005) and Ruddigore (2006), and will be returning to the Riverhead pit for The Sorcerer in June. Graham works for BBC Radio 3, and also writes on music: he contributed 31 entries to the recently published book 1001 Classical Recordings to Hear Before You Die, and regularly reviews concerts and CDs for the website ClassicalSource.com.
Samir Savant (Tenor)
This is Samir’s fourth visit to Louth and he is delighted to be back. He has performed with newLOG on a number of occasions including as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance and Nanki Poo in The Mikado. Samir is no stranger to stage and screen, being born in Bollywood (well, fringes of), and making his first television appearance with the Manchester Boys’ Choir in Songs of Praise. Various roles in studenthood followed, including in Kiss Me Kate, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and as Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore with the Cambridge University G&S Society at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall.
Samir works as a fundraiser in the arts, but manages to squeeze in quite a bit of singing. He is chairman and tenor-member of Pegasus, one of London’s leading chamber choirs, who reached the semi-final in the BBC Choir of the Year competition, and further afield has sung as a tenor soloist in works ranging from Bach’s St. John Passion to the Rachmaninov Vespers.
He speaks five languages and can effect a perfect cartwheel; neither skill will be in much evidence this evening, but he would be happy to oblige, and even tell you what his name means in Arabic, if you buy him a drink afterwards!
Kirsti Whitlocke (Mezzo-Soprano)
Kirsti Whitlocke completed her tertiary qualifications in 1999 with distinction for her Graduate Diploma of Opera at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has performed principal roles in conjunction with Opera Australia, Opera Queensland and The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. Kirsti has most recently performed the roles of Hebe, (HMS Pinafore), Fleta (Iolanthe) and Pitti-Sing (The Mikado) for the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in London. Other roles include Olga (The Merry Widow) with the Queensland Philharmonic, Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus)and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) for the 4MBS Festival of Fine Music. In conjunction with Opera Australia Kirsti sang the role of Giacinta in the Australian première of Mozart’s La finta semplice in 1996 and the role of Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. For Opera Queensland Kirsti was a touring principal in the Australian opera The Serpent. As a concert artist Kirsti has appeared with The Sydney Symphony Orchestra at The Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and in recital for the Bach, Mozart and Schubert Societies of Australia. Kirsti made her Louth debut as Phyllis in the University of London Opera Group’s production of Iolanthe in 2003. Her first appearance with newLOG was in the successful concert A Night at the Savoy, at the Riverhead Theatre in March 2006 She has subsequently given a “wickedly comic” (Grimsby Telegraph) performance as Mad Margaret in Ruddigore and also appeared in last year’s concert of French operetta. In London, Kirsti sang the villainous Queen of the Gypsies in Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl with newLOG in 2006