2014 (3) - USS Pinafore

U.S.S. Pinafore

FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY AT THE ALEXANDER THEATRE,
MONASH UNIVERSITY
11th, 17th and 18th October 2014 at 8.00 PM
11th and 18th October 2014 at 2.00 PM

PERFORMANCE in STAWELL
on 25th October 2014

Whether your naval officer is on the deck of a Man O' War or a star ship, he still longs for love in his home port. Look forward to this adaptation of an old favourite - HMS Pinafore - in a 23rd century setting.

GSOV CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA

DIRECTED BY David Lawson Smith
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY John Ferguson

Tickets: $39 full, $35 concession, $19.50 child
Groups of 20+ $35 per ticket

Child free with full-paying adult on both Saturday matinees.(October 11th and 18th at 2.00 pm) Can only be purchased by telephone through the box office.

YouTube introductory video!

Ever wonder how Gilbert and Sullivan will fare in the future? Will the Savoy Operas continue to be “a source of innocent merriment” into the centuries to come? Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Victoria take irreverent aim at this question with its forthcoming production of USS Pinafore - a futuristic take on this established classic. Gilbert’s Portsmouth has been transformed into a distant galaxy, and his “saucy ship” Pinafore is now a starship hurtling through space - but his timeless wit and and social satire remain untouched. Added to this we have Sullivan’s magical score with its original orchestration. The transition from saucy ship to saucy spaceship is not a difficult one. The obvious similarities were observed by Star Trek themselves, and included the star captain singing Pinafore to the ship’s robot! Our imaginings of a Starfleet are not so different from the 19th century Royal Navy. The libretti of Gilbert are renowned for their satire. The Victorian era experienced a rapid expansion of the middle class. They were literate, politically savvy and hungry for entertainment. Gilbert mated Sullivan’s wonderful music with lyrics that particularly targeted the aging class system. However, in contemporary Australia, where celebrity seems to have replaced our notion of upper-class, it may be difficult for younger audience to appreciate Gilbert’s satirical take and disdain for bigotry. By making our hero a different race, hopefully the injustice is still evident. All the bones of Gilbert’s text remain. I have merely exchanged ‘sea’ for ‘space’, and ‘man’ for ‘Vulcan’. Some lists have been updated to include esoteric items from popular culture. Jokes now reference plenty of space silliness.Hopefully we can attract some new audience, and give them a taste for the delightful world of Gilbert and Sullivan. Don’t miss all the fun and laughter of Gilbert and Sullivan at their best, with a fresh twist, in USS Pinafore. (Jamie Moffat and David Lawson-Smith)