Fairies & Lords Share Some Magic at Iolanthe Outing
Following last year’s hugely successful Whatsonstage.com Outing to The Pirates of Penzance many of the same faces arrived at Wilton’s Music Hall last night to enjoy another all-male production of a Gilbert and Sullivan Opera, this time Iolanthe. Among the 160 theatregoers were many new faces as well, keen to see not only a new venue (with all its historic connections) but also a dynamic company.
A romp with fairies and members of the House Of Lords this is a wonderful fairytale – a topsy turvy love story that borders on the ridiculous but is universally regarded as one of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s most beautiful scores – a high water mark in terms of music, wit, cleverness, and color – all of which are brought stunningly to bear thanks to Sasha Reagan’s skillful direction. The company are clearly having a whale of a time and do a wonderful job as they literally prance about in slightly off-the-wall-but-perfectly-in-keeping-with-the-piece costumes, the members in dressing gowns and the fairies with all manner of shawls, ribbons and bunting as wings. Indeed this production is unashamedly joyous and one can almost imagine it’s exactly as G&S themselves would have wanted it.It doesn’t take itself too seriously, the cast are having a good time but with their effortless singing and perfectly managed choreography you know they must be working hard!
We were lucky enough to be joined by the cast following this production for an informal meet and greet. Conversations ranged from how the actors keep their voices so limbre, how they came to be involved in this production, working with the company and on this piece in particular and where the costume designer is on holiday (the Amazon).
Please do feel free to email your comments and thoughts about the play, as well as any photos you have of the event and the evening through to feedback@whatsonstage.com, we love to hear from you.
Thanks for joining us for this event, and do check the homepage to keep up to date on all of our upcoming Outings.
