The Gondoliers

A missing king, a self-serving duke and a love that transcends station - York Opera once again brings the joy of Gilbert & Sullivan to York Theatre Royal with the duo’s last great triumph.

Act 1 - The Piazzetta in Venice

A group of working women, contadine in Italian, is preparing to meet two gondoliers - the popular brothers Marco and Giuseppe Palmieri, who are coming to choose their brides from among them. They thus spurn the attentions of the other gondoliers until after the choice of brides has been made - in a playful fashion that proves not to be entirely at random. The resulting pairs - Tessa, Gianetta, and the two Palmieri brothers - leave to be married.

The Duke and Duches of Plaza-Toro then arrive with their attendant, Luiz, and their daughter, Casilda, who is presented to Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain. Casilda is secretly in love with Luiz but is told by her father that as a child she was married to the infant son of the King of Barataria, a balmy island kingdom set in a southern sea. Unfortunately the monarch later incurred the Grand Inquisitor’s displeasure by turning Methodist. So Don Alhambra stole his son, the infant prince, and gave him secretly into the care of a Venetian gondolier, Palmieri senior, who brought him up with his own young son. Now that Barataria’s king is dead, Don Alhambra has come to Venice to discover his heir. Sadly, the old gondolier, Palmieri, has also died, without ever identifying which of the two infants in his care is his own son and which is the true prince, the heir to Barataria’s throne.

Since one of them must be the king, though they know not which, the Palmieri brothers come up with a cunning solution. They will reign jointly over Barataria until the truth can be discovered from the former prince’s foster mother, who is reputed to still be alive. There remains one further problem for the new joint monarchs and the other gondoliers, who are all heading off to Barataria. At the court there, women are not allowed. So they set off without them.

Act 2 - A Pavillion in the Palace of Barataria

Three months later the all-male court of Barataria is found to be being run on strictly republican lines. All members of the court are amazingly equal. In fact the two joint monarchs are found to be doing all the work. Suddenly the women appear, along with the monarchs’ wive, all desperate to see their men again.

In the midst of the ensuing lively celebration, Don Alhambra also appears to tell Marco and Giuseppe that one of them - the true King of Barataria - has in fact been married to Casilda since their childhoods. Hence, whichever he is, he is now a bigamist. Gianetta and Tessa are naturally horrified. The identity of the true king is known only to his foster-mother and former nurse, Inez, who has now been “found” by Don Alhambra and tortured on his instruction. Casilda and Luiz then make their hidden love known to everyone present. Finally bitter old Inez is brought forward to reveal who is the stolen prince and hence the true King of Barataria. Her astounding revelation solves everyone’s problems at a stroke. The gondoliers and contadine make ready for a joyful return to Venice.

The Duke of Plaza-Toro

John Soper

Luiz

Michael Foster

Marco Palmieri

Alex Davison

Giuseppe Palmieri

Ben Noble

The Duchess of Plaza Toro

Rebecca Smith

Casilda

Alexandra Mather

Gianetta

Alice Dix

Tessa

Annabel van Griethuysen

Inez

Irene Hollett

Antonio

Owen Williams

Francesco

Paul Richardson

Giorgio

Pierre-Alain van Griethuysen

Flametta

Victoria Beale

Vittoria

Elizabeth Vile

Giulia

Hannah Watson

Gondoliers

Will Gausden

Clive Goodhead

Alex Holland

Clive Marshall

Bill Read

Tim Selman

Peter Wells

Conatdine

Janet Barrow

Miriam Betts

Lyn Bingham

Trisha Campbell

Chloe Crowder

Wendy Jackson

Sue Lindley

Cathy Moore

Pat Mortimer

Jane Reed

Jennifer Read

Amanda Shackleton

Lorna Sheppard

Joan Sinanan

Maggie Soper

Julie Speedie

Gillian Tiplady

Robin Walton

Jane Woolgar

Musical Director

Alasdair Jamieson

Stage Director

Pauline Marshall

Choreographer for the Cachucha

Jane Woolgar

Glen Jackson

Assistant MD

Steve Griffiths

Set Design

John Soper

Set Contruction

Bill Ankers

Tony Burton

John Soper

Clive Marshall

Set Assistants

Steve Bingham

Pierre-Alain van Griethuysen

Annabel van Griethuysen

James Wood

Paul Richardson

Stage Manager

Carolyn Roper

Costume design and Coordination

Maggie Soper

Properties

Patricia Easton

Sue Goodhead

Lighting Design

Eric Lund

Publicity Design

John Soper

Publicity Team

Michael Foster

Irene Hollett

Pauline Marshall

Richard Shouksmith

Joan Sinanan

John Soper

Publicity Photographs

John Saunders

Rehearsal and Programme Photographs

Tony Burton

Programme Design

Jennifer Jones

Programme Coordination

Clive Goodhead

Website

Jennifer Jones

James Wood

Social Media

Michael Foster

Hannah Watson

Elizabeth Vile

Makeup

Pat Mortimer

Repetiteurs

James Sanderson

Tim Tozer

Tim Selman

Frances Brock

Pauline Marshall

Alisdair Jamieson

Horn

Janus Wadsworth

Mark Sykes

Trumpet

Connor McLean

Oliver Abbey

Trombone

Anna Marshall

Derek Chivers

Jonathan Hailstone

Timani and Percussion

Sally Hill

REVIEW: York Opera in The Gondoliers, Theatre Royal, York

York Evening Press | Martin Dreyer | 23rd October 2019

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