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The Gilbert and Sullivan Newsletter Archive
GILBERTIAN GOSSIP
No 14 — August 1979
Edited by Michael Walters
IOLANTHE, Bradford G & S Society, Alhambra Theatre (no date).
This society's distinguished list of producers includes Ralph Mason, Leslie Rands, Leonard Osborn, Mary Sanson, C. William Morgan and (in 1950) Leo Sheffield, but the present incumbent, Rex Squires, gave us a curate's egg of a show which in places (such as the Act 1 finale where he drilled the fairies like soldiers to great effect) was almost inspired, but in others very unimaginative and clumsy (e.g. everybody, peers included, in Act 1 entered via a flight of steps centre stage, and a lot of the stage was cluttered up with anaemic-looking cardboard trees). This aside, however, a good all-round performance with all principals except Leila (very lacklustre) and Willis (a weak, high-pitched little voice - he made nothing of the part and gabbled his few lines) turning in a good performance. A lot of the Trio was lifted straight from DOC and the Toll/Mount dialogue in Act 2 was grossly underplayed. Mountararat had obviously learned his lines from the 1961 DOC recording - he even tried to copy Donald Adams' inflections. Nevertheless every enjoyable, and backed by a small but very good and discrete orchestra. STEPHEN TURNBULL
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