NYGASP: Trial by Jury and G&S à la Carte!

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP), America's foremost Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble, is presenting its G&S Fest 2008, with performances of, in January, The Pirates of Penzance, Princess Ida, and The Mikado.

Last night I saw their one-night showing of Trial By Jury paired with a revue called G&S à la Carte!. Trial by Jury was Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, and it's a funny, though not very deep, trifle. It's only one quick act, taking place in a courtroom, where the lovely Angelina (Laurelyn Watson Chase) is suing the philandering Edwin (Patrick Hogan) for breech of promise of marriage. The Learned Judge (Stephen Quint) has designs on Angelina himself, while the draconian Usher (David Wannen) tries to keep silence in the court. Meanwhile, there are court onlookers, a Jury, and a chorus of bridesmaids cluttering up the place. As a friend said, it's very difficult to mess the show up, it's a well-oiled machine. The NYGASP cast is delightful- in addition to those mentioned above, Richard Holmes as Council for the Plaintiff and Ted Bouton are also quite enjoyable. This version is a more modern-dress version than usual, with everyone in a vaguely 1940s style, and a press photographer (Paul Sigrist) running around documenting everything.

The second half of the evening was G&S à la Carte!, a "Topsy-Turvy, Historically Inaccurate Musical Soirée", written by company member David Auxier. It was rather in the mode of the Sondheim revue Putting it Together, taking familiar numbers from G&S shows and placing them in a new context. The show takes place at a cast party just after the first premiere of Trial by Jury, and features Richard D'Oyly Carte (Richard Alan Holmes), his wife Helen Lenoir (Erika Person), Arthur Sullivan (Stephen Quint), and W.S. Gilbert (Keith Jurosko). The four sit and trade amusing barbs till a becardiganed audience member named Walter (an uncredited and scene-stealing Mr. Auxier) barges in to point out the historical inaccuracies- (D'Oyly Carte didn't have his own opera company yet, nor had he even met his wife at this point, etc...)- till Gilbert quite rightfully points out that facts and history have little place in operetta. The scene is then set for a battle of wills as Sullivan and Gilbert argue over billing and whether the music or the words are supreme. They discuss their upcoming project "Singing sailors, I'm afraid...", and in an amusing conceit, Sullivan sets "Gaily tripping" from Pinafore to the tune of "Climbing over Rocky Mountain" (from Pirates (and Thespis)), as well as to "Three Little Maids" from The Mikado before settling on the "correct" tune; he is ably assisted by the female party guests. Various other songs from the G&S canon are presented (by the main cast and the guests), some more deftly introduced than others. Highlights were David Macaluso and Laurelyn Watson Chase singing "Prithee Pretty Maiden" from Patience (as a precognitive reminiscence of how D'Oyly Carte had / will have wooed Lenoir); and Auxier taking the stage with The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe.
The only real trouble with the show is the disparity between the frothy book and the generally ballad-and-pomp-heavy musical selections (much as everyone loves "Loudly Let the Trumpets Bray", it's a very long song that stops the action dead), making the music at times seem incongruous. But overall, it's an amusing piece, full of meta-commentary and in-jokes for those who love Gilbert & Sullivan as much as NYGASP clearly does.