- January 22, 2025
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If this were the TV game show “Jeopardy!” the clue would be: “This expression describes the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.”
“What is topsy-turvy?”
It’s safe to say that many Sarasota arts patrons would bank some cash on this question if they were a contestant on “Jeopardy” or nod furiously if they were watching at home.
As two upcoming performances — one by Choral Artists of Sarasota and another by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Society — demonstrate, this is topsy-turvy country. Nearly 150 years after they were first performed, Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical operettas still resonate with audiences.
In the world of Gilbert and Sullivan, up is down and vice versa, and conventions are upended. Absurdity reigns.
Sometimes the team drew inspiration from real-life situations.Sir Joseph Porter in “H.M.S. Pinafore” was said to have been inspired by the politically connected English bookseller W.H. Smith, who was named Great Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty in 1877 even though he’d never been to sea.
On Sunday, Jan. 26, Choral Artists of Sarasota will perform a Gilbert and Sullivan Revue at First United Methodist Church. The next day, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Society will perform “H.M.S. Pinafore” at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
The Choral Artists performance will be conducted by the group’s artistic director, Joseph Holt, and will feature guest appearances by Luxe Consort members.
Going to a Gilbert and Sullivan show is like visiting a new city; it’s helpful to know a little bit about what you’ll be seeing, but the amount of research depends on the visitor.
With that in mind, it’s worth noting that British director Mike Leigh’s 1999 film, “Topsy-Turvy,” is available for streaming online. It’s a good introduction to the relationship of W.S. Gilbert, a dramatist, and Arthur Sullivan, a composer, who jointly wrote 14 comic operas between 1871 and 1896.
Their works, which include “Pinafore,” “The Pirates of Penzance” and “The Mikado,” were so successful that their producer, Richard D’Oyly Carte, built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to house their productions.
For a modern-day equivalent to Gilbert and Sullivan, think of such superstar theatrical collaborators as Rodgers and Hammerstein (“The Sound of Music,” “South Pacific” and “Oklahoma’) and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Evita”).
Retired opera singer and professor Joy McIntyre is going to be the narrator at the Choral Artists Gilbert and Sullivan revue. McIntyre, who lectures on opera and music in programs organized by Sarasota Music Archive, is a treasure trove of knowledge. We decided to pick her brain about Gilbert and Sullivan.
Asked why G&S musicals are still performed 150 years after they were written, McIntyre notes the songs stick in your head. As an example, she cites the song, “I’ve Got a Little List” from “The Mikado.”
He’s got ‘em on the list — he’s got ‘em on the list
And they’ll none of ‘em be missed — they’ll none of ‘em be missed
“You have these catchy little tunes that people can leave the theater singing,” McIntyre says.
Unlike their 20th-century counterparts, Gilbert and Sullivan couldn’t use radio, TV and film to bring their works to the masses. They occasionally turn up in modern mass media, including a 1983 film of “Pirates” starring Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt as well as cameos in the Indiana Jones film franchise.
Like many partnerships, the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan didn’t always run smoothly. History portrays Gilbert as a traditional Victorian family man who liked routine. Sullivan, meanwhile, had an unconventional relationship with an older American woman who was estranged from her husband.
Sullivan suffered from bad health and was plagued by respiratory infections, including one that ultimately killed him. He was stung by the critics’ dismissal of his operettas as light fare and longed to compose a grand opera. As chronicled in the film “Topsy-Turvy,” this tension led to the critical triumph of “Mikado.”
Holt of Choral Artists got his introduction to Gilbert and Sullivan with a high school performance of “The Gondoliers” in the Washington, D.C., area. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Holt returned to DC, where he was music director for the Georgetown Law Gilbert & Sullivan Society.
“It’s the only Gilbert & Sullivan Society in the country with its own law school,” Holt quips.
During his time in Washington, Holt served as principal pianist for the U.S. Army Chorus for 20 years. One of his friends from the chorus is Bob McDonald, who will perform in Chorale Artists’ revue.
Holt decided to include the Victorian masterpieces of satire in Choral Artists’ lineup this season because he thought they would be timely. “No one has done a Gilbert and Sullivan revue in a decade in Sarasota. It’s light and frothy. They make fun of people in power in such a wonderful way. We need something like this,” he says.
Because it is a revue with selections from “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “The Mikado,” “Pirates of Penzance” and “The Gondoliers,” the Choral Artists show will not have costumes. Those who want full regalia will have to buy a ticket to the “Pinafore” show at the Van Wezel by NYGASP, the memorable acronym for the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players.
At the Van Wezel, theatergoers will see New Mexico native James Mills play Sir Joseph Potter, a character at least 30 years older than he is in real life.
Like Holt, Mills has had a long relationship with Gilbert and Sullivan. While attending the University of New Mexico, Mills was selected for the prestigious College Light Opera Company, a summer program in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
“I played Patter Man in ‘The Yeoman of the Guard.’ It was a coveted role. It was a life-changing experience,” Mills recalls in a telephone interview.
After college, Mills moved to New York City and began performing with NYGASP about a year after his arrival. He answered an ad by the group in the theater casting publication Backstage.
At the audition, Mills wowed the veterans with his delivery of a signature G&S “patter” song, known for their fast tempo and tongue-twisting lyrics. He didn’t get a job immediately but was called back for another role later.
That was 18 seasons ago. Mills has dedicated his career to Gilbert and Sullivan. He will soon take the reins of NYGASP from Artistic Director Albert Bergeret, who has held the post for 50 years. During the summer, he passes on his G&S expertise at his alma mater, College Light Opera Company.
Although Mills loves his job, he is not optimistic about the future of Gilbert and Sullivan. “The Gilbert and Sullivan community is thinning,” he notes. “I hate to say that. Our parents and grandparents really grew up with it. But it’s sometimes difficult to inspire young people. It feels like missionary work.”
Mills will have no problem spreading the Gilbert and Sullivan gospel in Sarasota, where there is a devoted following.
Indeed, the nonchalance of “Three Little Maids From School Are We” from “The Mikado” might sum up the ethos for some newbies just starting out in a land where there are “no bad vibes on island time.”
Everything is a source of fun.
Nobody’s safe, for we care for none!
Life is a joke that’s just begun!
