Casts for NYGASP's "Utopia" and "Yeomen"

Yes, yes, yes, you're waiting for a post. This will have to do for now.

People have been asking who the cast is for the upcoming NYGASP performances at Symphony Space. I am here with that scoop. We are doing Utopia, Limited for the first time in ages. It is late Gilbert (1893), written four years after what was to be their final lasting success, The Gondoliers. It was written for the money and not a very inspired piece, but a towering masterpiece compared to The Grand Duke from three years later - the only G&S financial failure and a real load of rubbish. The Grand Duke may be a soggy blob of a pointlessly plotted operetta, and I can't bear to listen to it, but it doesn't make me mad the way Utopia does. Almost every page has a lazy, possibly inadvertent quote from an earlier, better G&S opera, as if GIlbert thought "Oh, I said it so well in Mikado, I'll just use it again." Therefore Utopia has ladies who "each a little bit afraid is," an army which "in serried ranks assembles," Princess Zara flatteringly quotes the Major-General with "The west wind whispers when he woos the poplars," someone says "That is the idea I intended to convey," to which our director has added the word "Officially," for extra imagined yuks. The "everybody believes an affidavit" joke from Mikado which was repeated and developed in Ruddigore is heard here once again. King Paramount is in touch by mail with the Mikado of Japan, as he is an expert on appropriate punishments for particular crimes. Ha, ha. CAPTAIN COROCORAN appears. He now holds Sir Joseph's rank of K.C.B. (Knight Commander of the Bath) and sings about his naval expertise and how he never runs his ship ashore. The chorus is skeptical, leading to an abashed confession from Corcoran and a familiar refrain from "Pinafore."

There is a lot of this type of thing in Utopia and every one of them zaps you like the electric vibrator attached to the bottom of your movie theater seat which is activated during the "TINGLER HAS ESCAPED!!! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" scene in "The Tingler." There is also the matter of there being too many dud songs which go on for three verses at least. And way too many pages of dialogue. Used to be, in Pinafore and Pirates, you'd get a half page or occasionally a full page of quick exchanges before getting on to a song which more often than not moved the plot along. In Utopia time is spent talking and a song sung setting up a premise which is thereafter forgotten. A good deal of the boring banter in NYGASP's Utopia has been mercifully abbreviated and I promise you will not miss a thing. Unfortunately a good deal of talk is necessary to attempt to make understandable the incredibly lame plot - which I refuse to put any energy in to summarising. Go to Wikipedia, if you dare.

So here is who is playing whom, Sunday, November 21, 5PM at Symphony Space:

King Paramount – David Wannen

Scaphio – Stephen Quint

Phantis – Stephen O’Brien

Tarara – James Mills

Captain Fitzbattleaxe – Cameron Smith

Mr. Goldbury – Richard Holmes

Lord Dramaleigh – Michael Galante

Sir Bailey Barre – Michael Connolly

Mr. Blushington – David Macaluso

Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, K.C.B. – Quinto Ott

Princess Zara – Laurelyn Watson Chase

Princess Nekaya – Sarah Smith

Princess Kalyba – Amy Helfer

Lady Sophy – Erika Person

 

Sopranos: Rebecca O’Sullivan, Jenny Millsap (Melene), Lauren Wenegrat, Brooke Collins (Phylla), Susan Case

Altos: Angela Smith, Katie Hall (Salata), Vicky Devany, Sarah Best, Elizabeth Cernadas, Carol Davis, Andrea Stryker-Rodda

Tenors: Alan Hill, Tom Donelan, Chris-Ian Sanchez, James LaRosa, Daniel Lockwood

Basses: Louis Dall’Ava, Ted Bouton, Chris White, David Auxier, Lance Olds (Calynx), Andrew Taines

Parade of G&S Characters in costume: everyone in the ensemble is involved

 

One night only, and tickets are moving pretty briskly, considering it's the beginning of November. Get 'em online at the Symphony Space site or call their box office (212-864-5400) or "Join the NYGASP email list at NYGASP.org to RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT or call 212-769-1000 for more information." It is my personal considered opinion that you should seize this rare opportunity. Utopia, Limited won't be your new favorite, but can you be a G&S fan and miss it? So what if you look at your watch a couple of times, and the music and the words don't always fit together? This is a fully-staged production, costumes and all, girls in grass skirts. The orchestra will be onstage right, due to Symphony Space's new edict that the first couple rows of seats can't be removed to accommodate the orchestra, as it has for decades. But I don't imagine that will interfere with the debatable delights of Utopia, Limited.

By the way we're not at City Center this year due to rennovations.

 

We are also doing Yeomen of the Guard! Again one performance only, after a ton of work. December 5, 5PM, Symphony Space, etc. By the way, if you're dubious about Symphony Space because you haven't been to 95th and Broadway in years, you should dust off the chicken shit, spruce yourself up, and check it out. At least go online and look at the neighborhood. There are lots of restaurants, the subway station has been completely overhauled, there's a big Petco you can take the kids into in case you need to waste time, and the hordes of prostitutes who used to roam the area have either gone away or considerably upgraded their look.

The Yeomen cast...

Lieutenant – Keith Jurosko

Colonel Fairfax – Dan Greenwood

Sgt. Meryll – Richard Holmes

Leonard Meryll – Paul Betz

Jack Point – Stephen Quint

Wilfred – David Wannen

Elsie – Laurelyn Watson Chase

Phoebe – Erika Person

Dame Carruthers – Angela Smith

Sopranos: Sarah Hutchison (Kate), Rebecca O’Sullivan, Susan Case, Jenny Millsap, Lauren Wenegrat

Altos: Katie Hall, Monique Pelletier, Amy Helfer, Vicky Devany

Yeomen: Dan Lockwood (1^st Yeoman), Tom Donelan, Alan Hill, Michael Galante, Louis Dall’Ava, Ted Bouton (2^nd Yeoman), Quinto Ott, Men Townspeople: Michael Connolly (priest), James Mills, David Macaluso, Lance Olds, Bill Whitefield, Lucian Russell (headsman)

 

Comments

[Brian]

Thanks for the casting scoop! Utopia is the operetta I've been least inclined to listen to over the years (well... maybe Sorcerer as well) but as I've mentioned to you, my daughter has been listening to it incessantly in preparation for the performance, and forced repeated listenings have demonstrated to me that Sullivan has provided tuneful gems even here. Also, say what you will about the plot of The Grand Duke, I think that Sullivan held up his end of the bargain, and I find a lot of memorable melodiousness throughout that score as well. So, just don't listen to the words...

[mrbigsteve]

We rehearsed the Act One finale (ENDLESS!) tonight and Laurelyn alone will be worth the (rather high) price of admission.

[Sam]

Oh I can't let that pass: Grand Duke rules, Utopia drools!

[mrbigsteve]

Pooh, pooh, sir. I scoff. On the other hand, I haven't heard Grand Duke in at least 10 years.

[dollar stores]

Thanks for the excellent tutorial. Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I gave it a thumbs up at Bumbzee and I digg it.I gave it a thumbs up at Bumbzee and I digg it.

[Nike Jordan]

Fear not that the life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning. Do you think so?