No 6 -- April 1977 Edited by Michael Walters
COTSWOLD SAVOYARDS, Utopia Limited, November 13th 1976, Playhouse Theatre, Cheltenham.
Utopia is not a foolproof opera. It presents almost insurmountable problems in performance and I have yet to see a production that completely "came off". The most important problem is an over-long and slowly moving first act, which can run for nearly an hour and a half. Imperial College's production, which was uncut with a lengthy overture written by Max Taylor, was too long, and this, in spite of the fact that it whipped along. However, even with some cuts and a much shorter Overture, the Savoyard's production ran nearly as long, and clearly was running at too slow a pace. Much of Act 1 tended to drag. Cuts are clearly necessary, but every cut is of necessity a compromise. I would suggest, therefore, that the most obvious cut of all is the Overture. The programme indicated that James Gillespie's overture would be used, but in the event they plumped for the original Sullivan prelude - and an anaemic thing it is too. The rather fey, languid start to the opera is not helped by preceding it by a fey, languid prelude. As to the cuts that were used, one regretted losing the second verse of King Paramount's opening song, though it is a traditional cut, and defensible. The cracker business was well cut, it is not funny, though I felt that rather too much of Tarara's dialogue was cut - that scene is important exposition of the plot, and the salient points did not come over. I could not see the reason for replacing by dialogue the recit. between Sophy's second act song and the duet. The cutting of Zara's final speech was presumably based on the D'Oyly Carte production. I objected to it then, and I object again now in that the cutting of it makes the joke incomprehensible - as witness the fact that nobody laughed.
Utopia Limited is a satire on British colonialism; in this production the satire seemed to be basically played down, and I fear that the Society are still suffering from an Offenbachian hangover, for what came over was a French-farce-cum-English romp. The latter was particularly in evidence in the scenes involving Scaphio & Phantis - who played their parts well within the framework of the style selected - but the parts were, I felt, basically misconceived - they were also quite out of harmony with the rest of the production. The Offenbachian air was enhanced by the hideous grinning-faced sun disc on the backcloth, such an object seemed totally out of place on an "English" South Sea island, and seemed as if it ought to be beaming or leering down on the cornfield in Act 1 of Orpheus in the Underworld (perhaps it did, for I did not see this, the Savoyard's last production.) There was little to complain of on the musical side. William Bell, the M.D. conducted with genial good humour and kept the large orchestra quiet, so that the occasional peculiar sound (and inevitably there were some) did not intrude.
The first act started off to a ponderously slow plod, though Gwen Hewlett gave a fine account of Phylla's solo. The much needed lift which ought to come with Tarara bursting on to the stage in a towering rage simply did not happen as Frank Wombwell chose to play the part (what was left of it) in a rather bumbling Old-Adamish sort of way (He's played Old Adam.) The grotesqueries of the Scaphio-Phantis scene irritated me, and the dances which they were given seemed to bear no relation to the things they were meant to portray. Not even the delightful duet for Nek & Kal or David Johnson's fine King seemed to be able to lift the general limpness of the evening, and it was not until the entrance of Zara & Fitzbattleaxe that the show really left the ground and began to sparkle. "Five years have flown" soared out with a richness and brilliance I have never heard equalled.
David Johnson was a heavyweight but subtle King, very intelligently sung though perhaps of slightly too forceful a personality as set against the idiotic nitwits of Scaphio & Phantis (Edward Furber & David Churchill). These characters were the most serious hole in the production - they just didn't work. This is not a criticism of the two actors, who sang very well indeed and played the parts as they were produced to perfection, making the most of the buffooneries and grotesqueries. But the characters were totally misconceived - they looked like something that had wandered in from a music hall nearby. There was absolutely no suggestion that they were wise men, there was no suggestion of menace or the evil necessary to make them believable, one could not hate them, feel sorry for them, or indeed feel anything for them except a certain irritation. One could not imagine anyone, least of all David Johnson, being afraid of them. The great trap with these roles is to treat them as Gilbert-Grossmith type comedians - which they are clearly not - as John Wolfson recently pointed out, Utopia Limited is the only opera where Gilbert created two characters who were completely evil without a single redeeming feature. There are times when I could cheerfully lift my foot and put it firmly and squarely upon Roger Hill's illustrious bottom. He has a pleasant voice, and can have a very heart-warming and winning stage personality, but there are so many occasions when he obstinately refuses to ACT. This was one of them. Lord Dramaleigh is not a large part, but it can be a delightful cameo; on this occasion I'm afraid it wasn't. Roger's performance was never less than competent, but seldom more so. Ann Cox was histrionically excellent as Lady Sophy, a surprise for me as I didn't think she had it in her. She was a prudish schoolmistress to perfection but her voice was not right for the part, being rather dry and wheezy.
Unfortunately, here my notes end, and I have difficulty in recalling the rest, one of the problems of excessive work at the time, and not getting one's thoughts properly formulated. Gordon Jones was a hesitant Corcoran, Anthony Jones a good Goldbury, Charles Davies an acceptable Sir Bailey, and John Champion a walking disaster as Blushington. However, I do not need notes to remind me of the two performances of the evening (inevitably) Pat and David Manifold. Hearing them sing together made the whole thing worth while. Particularly nostalgic, after nearly two years to hear David's creamy tones enveloping me once again. His rendering of "A tenor all singers above" was the best I've heard, he managed to do so many new things with the music. I do hope somebody taped it, because as King Paramount might have said. "It's too good to be lost." MICHAEL WALTERS
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