Sprightly 'Gondoliers' a leakproof hit

William Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan's last great collaboration, "The Gondoliers," was written as the D'Oyly Carte Company was having problems with its soloists -- some leaving, others demanding higher salaries.

MUSIC REVIEW

THE SEATTLE GILBERT & SULLIVAN SOCIETY

WHAT: "The Gondoliers"

WHERE: Bagley Wright Theatre

WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, through July 26

TICKETS: $10-$29; 206-341-9612

In exasperation, Gilbert declared he would write an opera without principal parts. As he wrote in one of the arias, "When everyone is somebodee, then no one's anybody!" As a result, those presenting "The Gondoliers" have to ensure at least 11 excellent singers, because every performer has a turn to shine.

The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society has achieved this admirably this year, with several singers -- Glenn Guhr (Giuseppe), Signe Mortensen (Gianetta), Julian Schrenzel (Luiz) Amanda Brown (Casilda), and Ryan Bede (Antonio) -- making their debuts with the company in a fresh, lively, polished production. The music is some of Sullivan's most charming and has been well-paced by music director Bernie Kwiram.

Stage director Christine Goff skates a thin line between broad humor and outright slapstick, but all the business fits easily into the quick-paced energy of this show.

She has paid as much attention to small details as to large. The chorus is no faceless crowd, but a group of individual characters, fun to watch when one can take one's eyes off the main event.

Richard Barrett (Marco), Susan Salas (Tessa), William J. Darkow (The Duke of Plaza-Toro), Alyce Rogers (his Duchess), and Dave Ross (The Grand Inquisitor), make up the rest of the major roles, with Frances Scott (Inez) in an unforgettable entry upon a mobile torture rack.

Much of the music is very sprightly, enough so that the company must have worked hard to achieve the word clarity that it did. Few of Brown's words were audible, but every one of Ross' came across clearly. However, the words are often so silly it really doesn't matter, the actions more than making up for them.

Nathan Rodda's beautiful set of Venice, with San Marco floating in the background and a bona fide canal with a moving gondola; and Ron Erickson's clever costumes, particularly those of the Duke and Duchess, are another component of this zestful, democratic production.

Free-lancer Philippa Kiraly has been writing about music in Seattle since 1991.

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