No 45 Autumn 1997 Edited by Michael Walters
I regarded it as rather fortuitous that I was to be visiting my girlfriend's parents, who live near Hull, when Dagger Lane Operatic Society were presenting their production of The Chieftain. It was the revised version prepared by David Eden and Martin Yates for Generally G&S; a new libretto with a different plot, but with music and lyrics basically unaltered. It received a very good review in the Arthur Sullivan Society newsletter, although, when I heard a tape of a performance, I found the music excellent but the libretto unmemorable. Events, however, proved to be rather disappointing. I attended that Saturday matinee along with, regrettably, only about 20-30 other people in an auditorium which would hold a couple of hundred. I have tried to take this into account in my assessment of the piece; a good performance is highly unlikely when there are more people on stage than in the audience! As well as the awkwardness in the relationship between cast and audience that invariably results, the cast seemed to be, understandably, holding back their voices for the evening performance. All of this added up to a rather 'flat' production, not helped by the indifferent sets and fussy, intrusive lighting.
The sprightly overture got things off to a good start. I presume that no 'official' overture exists, as this was prepared by the musical director Julian Savory, an enthusiastic conductor of a very good amateur orchestra. The orchestra were the main pleasure of the show for me, and it was great to hear a well-performed version of this neglected score. There was a dumb show during the overture which showed the events leading up to the show: the kidnapping of Peter and Dolly Grigg's baby son William (along with his nurse Rita). I am not sure about having acting during the overture; I do tend to feel that if an overture cannot be enjoyed as music then it should be cut rather than 'jazzed-up' and over-loaded with distractions.
The opening did not bode well; it is a messy song and it is very difficult to work out what is going on, especially with everyone singing quieter than normal. The first scene dragged, mainly due to the poor performance of Judy Westoby as Inez. She had very little of the stage presence needed for this colourful central character; she seemed to be either watching the conductor while singing or her feet while dancing. I was surprised to find out how much stage experience she'd had - it certainly didn't show, and she presented something of a vacuum in the middle of the story. She couldn't detract from the excellence of her song 'My parents were of great gentility' though - it is a fine pseudo-Spanish habanera, that reminded me of 'I am easily assimilated' in Bernstein's Candide. Her sidekicks Sancho (Ron Powell) and Jose (Gordon Smethurst) were a pair of opposites - Sancho was poor, both as a singer and an actor, while Jose was the opposite - a genial stage personality, good diction and the best dancer on stage. His was also the only convincing Spanish accent. A word about accents. The Spanish characters all adopted one of a rather bewildering array of bad Spanish(ish) accents. This not only made them hard to understand but also too often dominated the performances; the actors were so busy concentrating on their accents that they had nothing left for their acting - it takes an excellent performer, in my experience, to produce both a good accent and good performance. I would have preferred the approach used in The Gondoliers and The Mikado - i.e. sod the setting, let's all speak the Queen's English! I enjoyed the performance of Rita the nursemaid by Helen Bennet. Her soprano voice was pleasant, and her thick Hull accent quite charming. Her suitor Vasquez (Eric Klinck) was acceptable though unexceptional, his singing marred by a tendency to face upstage during his solos. Their voices blended well in their duets, although their romantic scenes were unconvincing; the fault here lay in the libretto rather than their performances.
The arrival of Peter Grigg, played by Chris Riches, livened things up a bit. His opening song is very enjoyable, rather reminiscent of 'My master is punctual' from Cox & Box. It was a good performance, too - characterful and well-sung, with excellent diction in his patter singing. My only complaint was that the unsteady gait with which he invested the character (he moved rather like a sea-sick Norman Wisdom) tended to irritate after a while. He provided the momentum for the plot in Act One, being crowned Chieftain of the brigands with 'the sacred hat' and being selected as Inez's next husband during the Finale. The Act closes with a delightful drinking number 'The gay hussar', which sends you off to the interval happily whistling. The thread of the story was lost in Act Two, and the opening consisted of a string of songs with no dramatic use and not of a high enough quality (aside from the excellent 'Franglais' duet 'Ah, oui, j'etais une pensionnaire') to command much interest. Things improved somewhat with the entrance of Willoughby Wiggins, Thomas Cook rep (John Wilks - the best singer in the cast), and Mrs. Grigg (Diane Boanas) looking for Peter Grigg and son. After their introductory songs, they are involved in a couple of rather complicated ensembles which were next to impossible to follow because of poor diction. The remainder of the act is salvaged by a couple of very good songs ('La Criada?' by Wiggins and the quintet 'There's no one I'm certain') before the plot is wound up by the revelation that Wiggins is really the missing Chieftain. This is poorly handled, and doesn't get the response that similar dramatic disclosures receive in the Savoy Operas.
The direction, by Wendy Arrowsmith, was reasonable if rather sloppy in terms of characterisation. The choreography certainly generated a lot of movement, but much of it was very distracting and inappropriate. And having the whole chorus stamping their feet in the manner of a flamenco while someone is singing a solo is not a good idea. As you may have gathered, I was singularly unimpressed by the libretto for The Chieftain. The programme and the SASS booklet go on at lengths about how dreadful the original libretto was; having recently read it, I feel that they are doing it a disservice. By no means a great piece of writing, it is acceptable enough, especially if it is shortened - certainly better than the one I heard, with significantly more development in the second act. I can never see what is so wrong with Burnand's much-maligned puns, either - most audiences I have come across seem to love them! The new libretto is style-less, has very weak jokes, sketchy characterisation and a poor narrative drive - merely a framework upon which to hang the music. Promoting it as a 'solution' to the 'problem' of The Chieftain does the show no favours. I would almost always advocate an edited original over a re-write, as the latter gives an incomplete feeling at the end of the evening - I felt unsure that I'd actually seen The Chieftain at all, in the same way that a concert performance isn't quite the 'real thing'.
As regards the music, there was much to enjoy. I've highlighted the many numbers which stood out for me, and I'm certainly going to squeeze some into the next G&S burlesque that I write. There is a jolly, bouncy, youthful quality to much of the score, which, overall, I found more enjoyable than Haddon Hall and The Emerald Isle, but not up to the high standard of The Rose of Persia. The relentless cheerfulness does get a little wearing, however; the songs are rather superficial and lacking in real emotion, with lyrics that are rather repetitive, banal and lacking in point - they don't seem to go anywhere.
Overall, it was an interesting and educational experience. The Chieftain is not, I'm afraid, a viable show in the form that I saw it - it certainly ranks well below any of the collaborations with Gilbert. A pleasant, but un-involving experience. I was glad to see and hear it in its entirety as I can't imagine the opportunity presenting itself again. Certainly the music should not be forgotten even if, as an evening's entertainment, I really could not recommend it to any society. It's a good place to look for concert items, though. Once you've saturated yourself with the G&S canon, you can find yourself desperately looking around for other works that will give you the same thrill as you get when first hearing a Savoy Opera. Cox & Box, a wonderful show, suggested that Burnand and Sullivan might be a magical combination. Sadly, without Maddison Morton's input, they're not. A score with wonderful moments, but definitely not a neglected masterpiece.
FRASER CHARLTON
Web page created 25 July 1998