Back to Business

Christmas is over and things are settling down. For some reason, I find the period between Christmas and New Year thoroughly irritating - everything is in limbo and I can't be bothered doing anything. Yesterday being a case in point - thought I would go to the gym, do some shopping, watch TV. I did all three, but with no enthusiasm whatsoever, and sat around in a massive grump.

One bright spot - I was offered a place in the Iolanthe Chorus which is big news for me. Iolanthe has so many great choruses and I have never sung so much as a note of any of them. Some people have wondered why I didn't try for a principal role. Simple - I'm not really up to it and the men's chorus needs as many strong singers as it can get. Traditionally the men's chorus is a major weakness for this G&S company. I want this to be an exception.

Anyway, back to Thespis. I watched a production from the Buxton festival over the break. Its a different edition - with a freshly composed score. I wasn't mad about it, to be frank. The attempts to sound Sullivanesque only showed how inspired the real thing is, and when we had some genuine Sullivan, it really shone out like a beacon.

The guy playing Tipseion was okay, but he was obviously instructed to play it as bad panto, and I don't think that will be James' approach. Like so much of Gilbert's work, it plays better than it reads. The Grand Duke is the supreme example of that - it looks complex on the page, but works well on stage. Ditto Thespis.

I wish I could get cracking on learning the score, but I have to be patient. And see the beginning of this missive - patience is not my forte.