Gilbert & Sullivan - The Gondoliers / Michell, McDonnell, Egerton, Opera World
Tuneful and atmospheric,The Gondolierscomes closer to conventional operetta than most Gilbert and Sullivan works. Two young men learn that one of them is heir to a throne. But no one knows which is the prince and which is the gondolier, so they travel to the fictitious kingdom of Barataria to rule jointly. Sullivan's Italianate score--his most radiant--sets the tone, though there's a fair helping of Gilbert's trademark wit. The result is exceptionally mellow for G&S.;This production (part of the Opera World series of Gilbert and Sullivan works, made for British TV in the 1980s) is well done in a straightforward way, neither gimmicky nor very imaginative. The cast, a mix of Savoyards, opera singers, and stage actors, is pretty good vocally and comically. Things would be more stimulating if Tom McDonnell and Francis Egerton, in the title roles, were less generic. Marco and Giuseppe are impossibly idealistic: kings naive enough to believe in democracy. They should be adorable (like other Gilbert and Sullivan leading men, they're pursued by an entire chorus of women) as well as absurd. These performers offer only mild personalities and reasonable voices. As with many productions in the series, this one suffers from less than perfect technical values. The performers are badly amplified; you can tell when someone has stepped away from a microphone. And the actors sometimes address their lines to persons unknown offscreen, which suggests an attempt to save money by cutting down on cast size.--David Olivenbaum