Join Thos and Michael Rice from OperaNow! as they discuss the early careers of those godfathers of musical theatre, WS Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan – from Thespis to The Pirates of Penzance…

MusicalTalk Question Time Again! In the episode, I described the musicals of Gilbert and Sullivan as a "Marmite commodity", in that a lot of people either love or hate them - but of course the truth is that, whilst everyone has heard of G&S, there are in fact lots of people who don't really know the canon of works at all. So what I want to know is this: irrespective of whether you love, hate or don't really know the works, what do you think of when you think of Gilbert and Sullivan?

Thos

what do you think of when you think of Gilbert and Sullivan?

Easy, Thos...I think of VERY British theatre (a good thing, always!), brilliant lyrics and (sometimes) less-than-brilliant librettos, and some glorious music. Unfortunately, I also think of ineptly staged and acted productions, amateur and professional.

Great episode, by the way, Thos. Looking forward to part deux.

I am reminded of when I was involved in a primary school production of HMS Pinafore when I was about 10. I remember loving the songs, and my friend James always adding the word "card" to the lyric "and is grateful to his credit (card)" (from the song For He is an English Man) in rehearsals.

i was brought up wih g and s we had the mikado and pirates on tape and would listen and sing through the whole thing on long car drives to see family. i remember at the ag of three making my teddies dance in the back of the car to 'the cat like tread' it was so much fun.

my friend emily was in the g and s society at nottingham university i went to see their shows and they were very good. we are both ina local production of pirates and loving it. so g and s and living on as we are 22 and 21 and we love it!!!!

I love Gilbert and Sullivan! Their names make me think of when I first encountered their works in the local amateur theatre group's productions of Iolanthe, The Gondoliers and Princess Ida. And, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit after Michael's drubbing, I think of the Stratford Festival videos of The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance, because they were what really launched my teenage G&S obsession, which then extended to D'Oyly Carte and other opera company recordings.

I guess it's slightly odd that I enjoy (or at least enjoyed--haven't seen them in a while) the Stratford productions but couldn't stand the cheesiness of the Pirates movie with Kevin Kline.

Sadly, none of the fifteen amateur shows (musicals and operas) with which I've been involved have been G&S.

Thanks for these episodes!

I think of..."I've Got a Little List" and "The Major-General's Song" (not sure if those are the correct titles, but I'm sure you know what I mean). Also productions which are very clever if you listen very closely, but which generally speaking bore me out of my skull.

I had a drama teacher who inserted the Major-General's song into a production of the Wizard of Oz (junior high, so 7th-9th graders) because we had too many good singers and not enough singing parts. I can't remember which character sung it, though! That production was notable for me in that we didn't have a bass player in the pit, but we did have too many piano players, so I ended up playing the bass line on an electric keyboard. That is exactly as dull as it sounds.