The Sixth Season (2007)

A selection of pre-production photos is available on this website. Please follow this link to view them.

A selection of production photos is available on this website. Please follow this link to view them.

The Mikado is keen to marry off the fearsome Katisha to his son, Nanki-Poo, who has disappeared from the imperial court, disguised as a travelling musician, specifically to escape her clutches. The poor little tailor, Ko-Ko, who has been appointed Lord High Executioner of Titipu, is required to carry out executions at a steady rate in order to preserve Titipu's status as a city. To make it seem that he really is performing his duties, he rashly claims to have executed Nanki-Poo. Not knowing the truth of Nanki-Poo's status, this means he has some really serious explaining to do when confronted by the Emperor.

Roger Wilson

the Mikado

Stephen Smith

Nanki-Poo

Peter Chin

Pooh-Bah

Dave Solomon

Ko-Ko

Michael Gray

Pish-Tush

Fiona Henry

Yum-Yum

Sarah Oliver

Pitti-Sing

Sophie Uden

Peep-Bo

Claire Barton

Katisha

School-girls:

• Barbara Bloemsaat
• Malia Ellison
• Larna Jensen
• Kerry Kirk
• Jocelyn Le Petit
• Lynley Masters
• Louise Monson
• Sarah Paterson
• Rebecca Sarkies
• Alex Skinner
• Jenny Stein
• Katherine Theodoulou Thomson
• Heidi Thompson
• Amanda Waugh

Nobles, Guards, and Coolies:

• Nick Beckwith
• Russell Clark
• Chris Featonby
• Karl Gorringe
• Colin Hastings
• Chris Hyman
• Martin Kidd
• Felix Lam
• Conor McLoughlin
• Stephen Murphy
• Karl Power
• Campbell Thomson
• Daniel Wilson
• Warwick Worth

Roger Wilson's first forays onto the musical stage were in and at John McGlashan College as, respectively, an overlarge Major-General and Ko-Ko. Forty-something years on, he has returned to play a more appropriately-sized Pirate King and now the Mikado in the same two operas for the .

After graduating from the University of Otago, he studied and began his professional career in Switzerland and Germany in the 1970s. Now resident in Wellington, he is one of the country's most experienced singers, with a repertoire of over 60 operatic roles large and small and more than 140 concert works - last year he performed his 44th . He also is known as a recitalist, broadcaster and recording artist, recent CDs being , Lilburn's and Schumann's recorded on the composer's wedding anniversary. In 2006 he was Le Dancaire in the University of Otago's .

He is pleased that his playing of the Mikado will ensure that he will have portrayed more monarchs than priests.

Stephen Smith performed the role of Hilarion in the Trust's production of last year and so impressed that we have invited him back to perform Nanki-Poo in .

He graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1999. The following year he debuted as Rodolfo in Eastern Metropolitan Opera's production of . In 2003 Stephen performed as Martin in Copland's for Operalive, Rinaldo in Galuppi's for Stopera, Don Jose in in concert for The Essendon Choral Society, as well as Alfredo (), Nadir (), and Tamino () for Melbourne Opera. For his achievements, Stephen was awarded the Dame Joan Hammond Opera Award for 2003 at the 2004 Greenroom Awards. Since then Stephen has also performed as Ferrando (), Duca (), and Alfredo (), all for Melbourne Opera. As well as being a finalist in the 2005 Herald Sun Aria, Stephen was awarded the 2005 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Award, and completed further vocal studies with the Teatro Communale in Florence, Italy. In 2006 he made his OzOpera debut as Don Jose in in a Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales regional tour and he will resume that tour in Victoria, Western Australia, and Northern Territory later in 2007.

Currently he is performing the role of Pinkerton in for Melbourne Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne and he will cover Captain in by Richard Mills for Opera Queensland/Victorian Opera in July. Oratorios performed in 2006 include (Handel), (CPE Bach), (JS Bach) and (JS Bach), all in Melbourne. For light relief, he has also managed to keep up his membership of The Three Waiters, a Corporate operatic comedy act.

Just prior to performing Nanki-Poo for us, Stephen will play the role of Douglas in John Drummond's new opera for Opera Otago.

Lorraine Isaacs interviewed Alan Spencer by cell phone mid-evening (NZ), mid-morning (UK): 21 March 2007.

LI: Tell me about your background in the music theatre field.

AS: I studied dance in London and then went on to get a Teachers' Diploma in Laban from Trent Park College. From there I went to the Royal Academy of Music where I studied voice part-time under Roy Henderson who also trained Kathleen Ferrier. I was successful in an audition for the Welsh National Opera as a chorister and used my dancing skills to choreograph pantomime and musical theatre in the provinces. I joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera in the chorus and toured eleven Gilbert and Sullivan shows. One interesting thing was that I formed my own dance group within the D'Oyly Carte and this was a first for any opera company. We toured cities in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - everywhere that Gilbert and Sullivan is loved. I was the choreographer for the D'Oyly Carte until their last season in 1981. The choreography I'll use for the Dunedin Really Authentic Gilbert and Sullivan Performance Trust (RAGSPT)'s production of will be that of my D'Oyly Carte production.

I also performed or directed other musical theatre: , , , , pantomimes, and lots of others. And I ventured into operetta with until eventually I became a professor in the Trinity College of Music, directing many operas from Wagner to Rossini.

Because of my association with the D'Oyly Carte, lots of amateur and professional companies asked me to direct Gilbert and Sullivan. But I directed other musicals as well, including , - in fact all the major musicals - as well as ballet, theatre and dance.

LI: What was your most challenging Gilbert and Sullivan experience?

AS: Undoubtedly directing for the Buxton Gilbert and Sullivan International Festival. The time constraints are enormous: each opera is rehearsed and staged in five days including one day in the theatre and then opening that night. I start work at four in the morning and don't finish until ten at night - quite exhausting! But I do it every year and it's fun.

It's also a challenge to direct Gilbert and Sullivan non-traditionally after my long association with the traditional operas of D'Oyly Carte: I have to think outside the square. I recently directed a complete update of with full camouflage gear, tanks, jeeps and battle scenes for the Plymouth Theatre Royal - now that was a challenge!

LI: What are your favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operas?

AS: is up there and I also love musically. But one of my favourites is for which I've done about twenty versions with two principal sets. I love the exotic location and it's an opera that I've had the most success with at Buxton.

But my all-time favourite is . It's like an old friend because it gave me my first big break in choreographing musical theatre. It's very comfortable, very tuneful, well written and well structured, with wonderful comedy roles. It's also the most popular of all the Gilbert and Sullivan. I'm really looking forward to stage directing it in Dunedin.

LI: What do you like about directing Gilbert and Sullivan operas?

AS: I like bringing new things to a traditional approach. Modern theatre audiences need a stimulating and exciting production and I can give this to them by the way I move and choreograph the show. I enjoy the greater scope of designing my own set - I go for structural simplicity and clear, structured direction: we need drama, but I keep it still and let the music talk. I believe in the compilation and building of the lyrics and dialogue with the stage movement. It's the simplicity of style which I enjoy most.

LI: What are you looking forward to in this production of ?

AS: Meeting up with old friends with whom I worked on and in 2003, especially Michael Andrewes (Musical Director) and Hilary Norris (Associate Director). It was a great experience last time - such a buzz when the production is "up there". And I'm particularly looking forward to recreating my famous Buxton production: it has not been done outside the United Kingdom before. The set is simple and most of the effects are done with lighting. When I went to Japan with , I was impressed by the wonderful bridges in the Japanese gardens which I visited. So Act I of my has a semi-circular Japanese bridge with a staircase leading up to and down from the pagoda at the height of the bridge - it's visually exciting to the audience. Then in Act II we use the same stairs with a willow tree replacing the pagoda, and lots of rocks around, like a Japanese sand garden. There will be back projection so that individuals can be isolated, beautiful costumes, dramatic colours and beams of light: no "fluffy" scenery for me! It will be a to remember.

LI: What have you been busy with recently?

AS: I did a production of for the Theatre Royal in Bath, set in the 1930s. The Queen of the Fairies was like Rita Hayworth, Phyllis was like Marilyn Munroe and all the fairies were tapdancing follies! And for a contrast I directed in Bath.

LI: What's in store for you after your Dunedin ?

AS: I've got , then again at the Buxton Festival, followed by in Plymouth and in Bath. But at the moment my mind is concentrating on the Dunedin . I found the auditioning process interesting: the first auditions I've done from the other side of the world by video. It will be good to concentrate on just one production for a few weeks - leaving behind in the United Kingdom the other four and, oh yes, my cell phone! Who knows? I might even manage a long weekend in my house in Spain.

Firstly, I should like to convey my pleasure at again being invited to participate in this exciting and ambitious project. I am honoured to direct , the eighth opera in the complete series of Savoy Operas being presented by the Really Authentic Gilbert and Sullivan Performance Trust.

, first staged in 1885, has been the most popular of the repertoire. It has of course been presented in many guises. Indeed, I have participated, both as performer and director/choreographer, in many productions over many years! I have based this production on my accaimed staging for the professional Opera Company at the Buxton International Festival 2001.

The setting is traditional, on a semi-circular Japanese bridge and pagoda, presenting a clearer, easy transition into Ko-Ko's garden for Act 2. However, the basic conception is stylistic, aiming for a simple contemporary approach. This enables me to highlight every single performer by displaying the lavishly authentic costuming individually.

My demands are high, especially in the requirements for movement skills. My musical theatre background dictates that I offer the modern theatre audience a fast-moving product. The work ethic of the company has been fautless in aiming to achieve this objective. There have been a few sore muscles, but we find 'humour in all things'. Indeed the whole rehearsal atmosphere, although industrious, has been hugely enjoyable.

This production benefits from a very talented Principal line-up (casting by video was certainly a first for me!) Gilbert's libretto is obviously old-fashioned in compilation, but beautiful in its rhythmic structure. 'Telling the story' is all important, not an easy task with the tools available to the modern performer. But I have found the players to be inventive and enthusiastic, for although this production is not totally new, it will be unique in that all companies vary in their talents and strengths and we gear the product to incorporate these. I think all departments have found my conception of challenging. I require a kaleidoscope of colours and imagery, drilled choregraphy and clear story-telling.

Here I should like to take the opportunity to thank Hilary Norris as Associate. I seldom work with artists of this calibre in this capacity. She has great skills which I am fortunate to have been made accessible to me. Also to Lee Griffiths and her production team who have worked tirelessly in my pursuit of excellence.

However, all my demands and aspirations would be worthless without the realisation of Sullivan's score. As Musical Director, Michael Andrewes has excelled. Once again he has reached 'a height that few can scale'.

My only regret is that I cannot thank everybody individually for their contribution. But I haven't 'got a little list', mine is endless.

Sit back and enjoy one of the all-time theatre greats - .

Alan Spencer

The music of exudes gaiety and joy, reflecting the relief Sullivan evidently felt when Gilbert hit upon a theme for his new opera which had human interest, devoid of the magic potions and topsy-turvydom which the composer had grown so weary of. From start to finish, the music enhances character and text in a manner only a composer at the height of his powers could achieve. The chorus is given richly-layered melodic and harmonic lines to sing which beautifully echo the mood of the moment. The finale to Act I is probably the most satisfying in all the operas as a result of the focus that Sullivan brings to each advance in the story-line, the frame of mind of each character in the spot-light and the dramatic tensions which are constantly at play.

No other opera in the canon has provided us with so many memorable songs that have entered into the collective musical-theatre consciousness. Every musical number fits its situation like a glove: the enchanting ballad for Nanki-Poo, , alternately dreamy, patriotic or martial; the delicately close-harmonied ensemble for the girls, , and the quintet which follows it; Yum-Yum's ravishing solo, ; the gently poignant little folk song for Ko-Ko, , which has wafted many a child (including my own) off to sleep; the hugely comic duet for the scrawny Ko-Ko and the hulking Katisha, ; the jaunty duet for the happy Nanki-Poo and the dismayed Ko-Ko, ; the Mikado's song, rivetingly macabre, which has entrenched in the English language the concept of letting the punishment fit the crime. So many highlights. So many tunes to whistle as we leave the theatre.

Sullivan's deft turn of the pen is evident on every page. As Charles Willeby put it in 1893, "There is no one who knows better how to accomplish much with little than Sullivan." He borrowed an authentic Japanese war song as the basis for the entrance of the Mikado but he linked with it some hugely challenging original passages for the violins at its first outing in the overture and, a little later, when he associated these same passages with the virile initial bars of the opening chorus for the gentlemen of Japan*. Woodwind colour is evident throughout, from the character it adds to the delicate ensembles for the women to the comicly grim fictitious stories told by the happless trio of conspirators as they attempt to get themselves out of a sticky situation when challenged by the Mikado. The little bassoon chuckle in passes us by in a flash. So does the inspired quote from a Bach fugue when the Mikado refers to "Bach interwoven with Spohr and Beethoven". Sullivan's mastery of counterpoint and the overlaying of different tunes and rhythms is nowhere more evident than in the male trio, , climaxed by Gilbert's unsurpassed alliterative ensemble about "a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block". The high drama of Katisha's Act I changes of mood is matched at every moment in the chorus tones and the orchestral texture, but the dominant feature of the score is its brightness and tunefulness.

In our efforts throughout this series of operas to be authentic to Gilbert and Sullivan's original intentions, we have sometimes incorporated into our performances lost or deleted textual or musical passages, but very little such action is called for in , which we are performing very largely in its settled state, which has endured from soon after its premiere. Enthusiasts may notice one change to usual performance practice by our incorporation of the character of Pish-Tush into what is usually performed as an Act 1 quartet for the three little maids and women's chorus plus Pooh-Bah. Gilbert originally had Pish-Tush in this scene and we have brought him back to add vocal richness to Pooh-Bah's low bass patter line which it is otherwise hard to project.

Michael Andrewes

* The Japanese words of Gilbert's text for the entry of the Mikado ("Miya Sama ...") translate as:

Oh, my Prince, oh, my Prince, what is that fluttering in the wind before your Imperial charger?
Know ye not it is the imperial banner of silk brocade, the signal for the chastisement of rebels?

On Saturday 9 June 2007, from 6.00pm to 7.30pm, a Gala Function for members, cast complimentaries, and all first-night ticket-holders will be held in the Skeggs Gallery, Municipal Chambers (entry from the Octagon), prior to the performance of . Please note carefully that the opera will start at 8.00pm.

British Stage Director, Alan Spencer, will speak about his production of . The function will have a Japanese flavour and light refreshments will be served.

If you wish to attend this function, you will need to obtain your ticket separately in advance (telephone Kay 03 455 2529 after 5.00pm or leave a message). The cost is $15.00 per person. Cheques in payment should be made out to and sent to the Trust at PO Box 5058, Dunedin, after which tickets will be forwarded to you.