HMS Pinafore/Trial By Jury Savoy Opera Company Inc.

HMS Pinafore/Trial By Jury Savoy Opera Company Inc. presented by Savoy Opera Company Inc. Savoy Opera Company Inc. has an unbroken performance history in excess of sixty years. We specialize in the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas (the 'Savoy Operas' from which we we take our name.). Our productions are 'traditional'. Whilst contemporary changes are occasionally employed, we see no need to depart markedly from the brilliant dialogue and characters which have kept G & S relevant, fresh and popular for over 130 years. Our productions feature full orchestral accompaniment and strong casts combining experience with fresh young talent. Our forthcoming double-bill of 'Trial by Jury' & 'HMS Pinafore' at the Alexander Theatre features two of the most popular shows in the G & S repertoire. 'Trial by Jury' was the first show written by G & S and its popularity prompted their subsequent collaborations. Many features of later shows are hinted at in 'Trial'. It is a short one act satire of the English legal system. It tells the story of a breach of marital promise and the subsequent legal action brought by a wronged bride against her caddish former fiancée, all overseen by a lively, (and now unmarried), Judge. There is no spoken dialogue but lively, non-stop music. The attractive bride protests her loss to the highly sympathetic (and all-male) jury, whilst the defendant seeks to persuade that his personal habits are so unlovable that the plaintiff is well rid of him and no damages should be awarded. It includes the well known 'patter' song from the Judge who tells of his successful legal career as a barrister, aided in large part by his strategic marriage to the elderly and ugly daughter of a successful solicitor: 'You’ll soon get used to her looks, said he, and a very nice girl you’ll find her, she may very well pass for forty three in the dusk with the light behind her!' The formidably difficult 'A nice dilemma', featuring the entire cast, is another choral highlight. Presented with full orchestra, featuring a strong cast and chorus it is a delightful entree to the second show of our double-bill, 'HMS Pinafore'. 'Pinafore' consists of two Acts. The show is a crowd-favourite and has delighted patrons of all ages since it was written in 1878. The fictional First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter KCB, is enamoured of Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran, but so too is a lowly sailor, Ralph Rackstraw. Despite the rebuffs she gives Ralph (which her lofty position as the captain’s daughter dictate), Josephine secretly loves Ralph. When Sir Joseph attends upon ‘HMS Pinafore’ with his many admiring sisters, cousins and aunts, his desire to treat the ship's crew as anyone's equal (excepting his) causes almost immediate disciplinary problems. The show has memorable secondary characters, especially Dick Deadeye, a sinister member of the crew, and Buttercup, the bumboat woman with a dark history. The rollicking antics and sentimentality, but enduring patriotism, of the British sailor, (upon which the fortunes of the British Empire were then so dependent), are gently and affectionately mocked. The show features many toe-tapping songs interspersed with the soaring solos and beautiful ballads for which Sullivan is justly famous. ('Fair moon, to thee I sing' is a particular favourite.) In one of the best-known patter songs in G & S, Sir Joseph recounts his life history (which closely followed that of England’s then First Lord of the Admiralty, a lawyer who had never been to sea!) ending with the homily: 'Stick close to your desks, and never go to sea, and you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee! 4 Shows only at the Alexander Theatre Sat 30th April – 8pm Fri 6th May – 8pm Sat 7th May – 2pm and 8pm PRICES: Standard: $35.00 Senior/Pensioner: $28.00 Unemployed: $20.00 Student/Child: $20.00 Groups of 10 or more: $28.00 Infants under 2 (Babes in Arms) do not require a ticket when not occupying a seat.