Dear Sir,
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I would like to congratulate the Parkes M & D Society and say how much my family and I enjoyed their most recent production, Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance”.
Penzance! It has such an exotic ring to it, as if it might be found in an exotic corner of the South Pacific or the West Indies (but is in fact disappointingly tucked away in the far South West corner of England).
Quite appropriate really, for Gilbert and Sullivan.
They were the Shaun Micallef or Paul Hogan of the late 19th Century, gently poking fun at late Victoriana England when it was taking itself a little too seriously.
Being the classics that they are, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas need to be done well and Belinda McGrath has a done a wonderful job directing this production.
It takes scores of people, in the limelight and behind the scenes, to make a tremendous production like this happen.
As such, it is dangerous to start naming individuals but special mention must be made of James Whalan’s Frederic and Renate Rothe’s Mabel. (What a magnificent vocal range!)
Greg Ballantyne owned the stage as the Pirate King and Dooley Thomson was a riot as the Police Sergeant.
(Thank heavens they weren’t on the stage together very often. The long suffering musical director clearly had his hands full keeping them both under control.)
One of the ad-libbed scenes probably went on for a little longer than necessary but allowance can be made for it being the final performance.
Then there was the band, the choreography and the sets (apart from the occasional rickety “marble” column)…..I also hope that rope was well secured to the ceiling!
However, above all, at the heart of a successful musical is a good musical director.
Neil Westcott must be commended on the excellent job he did of coordinating a large band and well over 20 cast members, all with the demanding lyrics, harmonies, competing melodies and choreography of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.
(Hmmm…..I wonder whether he has passed on his musical talent to his own children.)
The Parkes community can be proud of having such a gifted group of people as the M & D Society capable of consistently staging shows of such high calibre.
I’m already looking forward to their next production.
Yours sincerely
Alex Abbey