The Official

Newsletter of the

Victoria Gilbert

& Sullivan Society

Volume 27 March 2016

2  Stage Whispers Official Newsletter of the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society

Adrian Sly – President’s MessageWe have a lot going on!!The GONDOLIERS is well underway – rehearsals are coming along nicely, the set is gradually “appearing”, our posters are being put up everywhere, our publicity is showing up in various print media, our programme is coming together, tickets are on sale at both theatres and our society is a hive of

activity. This is a very exciting time of year! We have an amazingly strong company this year and the show is sure to be a resounding success.Preparations are also well along for our Fall Show. We are going to perform TRIAL BY JURY as a co-production with Ballet Etoile who are going to dance PINEAPPLE POLL, which as most of you know, is a ballet set to Sir Arthur Sullivan’s music from the G&S operas. We are very pleased to announce that Steven Benson is to be our Music Director and Elizabeth Sly will be our Stage Director. We are still looking for a Producer – in the meantime we have a “triumvirate” producer in Linda Troke, Elizabeth and Adrian Sly. This is not all that is happening however as we are getting along in our planning for our next main show in the spring of 2017 – PRINCESS IDA. Our Producer is in place – Linda Troke and we are waiting to hear if our chosen Music and Stage Directors are with us!! We have a lot going on!! Phew!!

The Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society Award for Musical Theatre is awarded to a Year 1 student from CCPA (Canadian College of Performing Arts) who has shown outstanding achievement in Musical Theatre.

This year’s recipient is Dutchess Cayetano, a 19-year-old artist from Winnipeg who landed her first professional theatre gig at the age 14 with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Rainbow Stage) as part of the children’s choir. Adrian presented our award to Dutchess who was very pleased to receive it. She said that she would come to one of our rehearsals to say thank you in person. The presentation evening was great fun. The room at CCPA was set up as a dinner theatre and the students put on an excellent show. There are some very talented people at the college, both in the teaching staff and the students and it is a pleasure to be associated with them and to provide a small bursary for a deserving student every year. Ours is one of many bursaries that the students welcome towards their tuition.Pictured is Adrian Sly presenting the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society bursary for 2015 to Dutchess Caytano at the Canadian College of Performing Arts together with the two College Principals.

VGAS Award Recipient - Dutchess Cayetano

March 2016 Stage Whispers  3

In Memory ...

It is with great sadness that we have to report the loss of two of our very respected members this year, Kathleen West and Brian Andrew.

Kathleen was our most bona fide member as she sang the works of Gilbert and Sullivan professionally with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in England for four years. She sang the role of The Plaintiff regularly in Trial by Jury and was understudy for the soprano soloist in Yeomen of the Guard, HMS Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance and Princess Ida and went on many times at a moments notice. On one occasion she was sent on to sing Elsie Maynard in a production of Yeomen in her chorus costume as she didn’t have time to go and change!!

Not only was Kathleen a consummate performer and singer, she was also a very accomplished piano player and accompanist. She was very intuitive as an accompanist and would often cover for a singer, who was not sure of their music, without them even realizing she had done so!!

Since moving to Victoria in 1995 she became a great supporter of our society and appeared in many principal parts as our contralto lead. I fondly remember her playing the Duchess of Plaza-Toro the last time we staged The Gondoliers in 2006. I had the distinct pleasure of playing Sir Despard Murgatroyd to her Mad Margaret in our Ruddigore of 1999.

Kathleen was always cheerful and positive and full of ideas. Many times it was her ideas that we turned into our fall shows, which we have performed over the years to make money, so that we could continue mounting full shows every year. She worked tirelessly for our society, often without being paid to play.

She was “one of a kind” that we shall never see again. The old adage “never go onstage with children or animals”, I have always included Kathleen too. She was a magnetic performer with an impish sense of humour. She made you work harder when she appeared on stage!!

So, to our great friend Kathleen West we bid you goodbye and thank you for everything. We will always miss you.

We also had to bid farewell to another of our friends, Brian Andrew.

Brian sang with us for several shows – Iolanthe 2007, Patience 2008, Pirates 2009 and Ruddigore 2013 and sang in our concert versions of Mikado in 2009, Pinafore 2012 and Pirates 2013.

Brian decided to try his hand at real estate and we could never persuade him to tread the boards with us again. A job as a real estate agent means that you have to be always available at a moment’s notice. I was secretly hoping that he would not like real estate too much and come back to the G&S family, but he flourished in it and I can see why. He was a very friendly and sincere person – one of the nicest people you could hope to meet – and it is tragic that his life was cut short so soon.

It was rather a nice thing to open the morning paper one day and see Brian and Kathleen’s smiling faces in the same obituary column, so no doubt they are up there in heaven reminiscing about their days singing in the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

May you both Rest in Peace

... from your friend Adrian Sly

4  Stage Whispers Official Newsletter of the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society

Elizabeth Sly – Producer’s Report – The GondoliersThe show is coming along nicely and we are about to begin full runs of the show in the next few weeks. We have a very strong cast and an exceptional principal line up. Six young ballet dancers contribute another dimension to the production, and some creative and effective surprises are great additions.

We are very excited this year to have as our Honorary Patron, Her Honour the Honorable Judith Guichon, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, who will be attending the opening night with her husband at the Charlie White Theatre. There is a protocol provided by the Lieutenant Governor’s office to be followed and everyone will be apprised of the procedure prior to the night.Costumes are coming along well and Norma is doing a wonderful job as usual making us all look our best. Ongoing set construction will begin in our new space the first day of March and the building crew and painters are ready

to go. We could do with some more volunteers to help with painting, so please contact Elizabeth Sly if you are able to assist. We could also use another volunteer to help with props during our rehearsal period. If there is anyone interested, please contact Elizabeth. We would encourage all members to investigate sponsors for the show and also let your favourite businesses know that we encourage them placing an ad in the program. This all helps to offset the mounting costs of the production.Some publicity photos have been taken that will go on social media and in the press. This is going to be the best show ever, so please encourage your friends and family to come on out and support us. You are truly appreciated.

President – Adrian Sly Vice President – Linda Troke

Treasurer – Don Lambton Secretary – Allison Chandler

Special Projects – Jess Bambrough Web master – Jennifer Hoener

Community Liason – Inge Illman Social Media – Shireen McNeilage

Cast Liason – De Roger Publicity – Ilda Turcotte

Our 2015-2016 Board of Directors

March 2016 Stage Whispers  5

Ilda Turcotte – AdvertisingThe Victoria Gilbert and Sullivan Society is well known for its quality musical theatre, increasing its audiences for each production on southern Vancouver Island.

In April 2016 we are proudly presenting The Gondoliers, a highly entertaining work of W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. We would like to offer you the opportunity to advertise in our program.

There are five performances of The Gondoliers; three at the Charlie White Theatre, Sidney and two performances at the McPherson Playhouse, Victoria. This amounts to your advertisement being seen by an audience of over 1600.

Ad specifications: trim size: 5.5” x 8.5”, page print area: 4.5” x 8”.

Colours: black & white (full colour only on back cover)• .ai Adobe Illustrator files with all fonts

converted to outline, version CS4 or older• high-resolution printable .pdf• 300 dpi .tif or .jpg files

Scanning of any hard-copy artwork may result in poor quality in the final printed ad and will incur an additional charge of $30.00.

Ad Sizes: Cost 1/8 page Business Card size .....................................................................$65.00 1/4 page vertical ............................... 2.125" w x 3.5 ..............................$100.00 1/4 page horizontal .......................... 4.5" w x 1.625” .............................$100.00 1/2 page vertical ............................... 2.125" w x 7.5” ............................$195.00 1/2 page horizontal .......................... 4.5" w x 3.5” .................................$195.00 full page ............................................ 4.5" w x 7.5” .................................$425.00 back page, full colour ....................... 4.5" w x 7.5” .................................$500.00

Booking deadline: March 4th and artwork deadline: March 17th.

Too busy to prepare an ad? We offer the service to provide the creative through final artwork for your ad, for $95. To discuss, please call 778.678.1949 and ask for Linda.

Thank you for your support

Sample of G&S Programme

6  Stage Whispers Official Newsletter of the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society

Upcoming Productions 2016

VICTORIA GILBERT & SULLIVAN SOCIETY

PRESENTS

Trial by Jury

OAK BAY HIGH SCHOOL THEATREOCTOBER 15 AT 2 & 8PM

OCTOBER 16 AT 2PM

BALLET ÉTOILLE

PRESENTS

Pineapple Poll is a Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired comic ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with arranger Sir Charles Mackerras. Pineapple Poll is based on “The Bumboat Woman’s Story”, one of W. S. Gilbert’s Bab Ballads, written in 1870. The Gilbert and Sullivan opera H.M.S. Pinafore was also based, in part, on this story. For the ballet, Cranko expanded the story of the Bab Ballad and added a happy ending. The piece premiered in 1951 at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and was given many revivals internationally during the following decades.

PineapplePoll

Tickets available at ?????Cost $25

Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise. The story concerns a "breach of promise of marriage" lawsuit in which the judge and legal system are the objects of lighthearted satire. Gilbert based the libretto of Trial by Jury on an operetta parody that he had written in 1868.

Expressions of Interest to be sent to Linda Troke - lindyloowho@gmail.com

March 2016 Stage Whispers  7

Island Theatre

Here are the ways you can now buy tickets: • On-line at www.ticketrocket.co• By phone at 250-590-6291• In person at the Ticket Rocket box office 2 – 1609 Blanshard Street (at Fisgard) Tues – Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sat 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tickets are also available at the door

Tickets: $16

presents a comedy/thriller

CliffhangerEVENING Performances

at 7:30 p.m. onMarch 9, 10, 11, 12,

16, 17, 18 & 19

MATINEE Performances at 2:00 p.m. on

March 12, 13, 19 & 20“Cliffhanger” is presented by special arrangement with

DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC., NEW YORK

by James Yaffeedirected by Penelope Harwood

ST. LUKE’S HALL • 3821 CEDAR HILL X ROAD AT CEDAR HILL ROAD, VICTORIA2 5 0 8 8 4 - 5 4 8 4 • w w w . s t l u k e s p l a y e r s . o r g

New and convenient way to buy tickets with Ticket Rocket

OPENING SHOW IS2 FOR 1

8  Stage Whispers Official Newsletter of the Victoria Gilbert & Sullivan Society

A VOS Production at the McPherson PlayhouseMay 6-15, 2016

250-381-1021 or vos.bc.cafor further info

Silliness, c

omplete sillin

ess,

but oh, wh

at fun!

Island Theatre

March 2016 Stage Whispers  9

Island Theatre

You are invited to sing in the choir for this production!

REHEARSALS:Wednesdays, starting July 6 from 7-9pm @ St. Andrew’s Church on Douglas St. (location to be confirmed) All rehearsals not compulsory - but appreciated! Please pass this information on to other choristers who might be interested. Looking for a choir of 200 people. Email: hilaryc@shaw.ca

Rehearsals August 10th/11th @ Alix Goolden Hall (with orchestra)*Dress Rehearsal Monday, August 15th at Alix Goolden Hall

All rehearsals start at 7pm.Soloists: TBATICKET PRICES $20. Tickets will be available in July through chorus members and through Larsen Music (1833 Cook St).

*If a score is needed, please purchase your own copy of Kalmus Edition available on order from Larsen Music $11.99 (US) + GST (Approx $15 Canadian). Contact Ann at Larsen Music (ann@larsenmusic.ca)to order your copy. Sorry, loaner scores unavailable.

Brahm’s German Requiem (Sung in German)

August 17, 2016, 8pmTickets $20

Alix Goolden Hall, conducted by Hilary Coupland celebrating her 70th Birthday.