Savoyards to give Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Princess Ida’ a bright refresh

By George Basler

During their creative partnership, W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan took satirical potshots at the British class system, the monarchy and the stuffy norms of upper crust society.

In Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, they took a more conservative tone by satirizing early British feminism, Darwinian evolution and higher education for the female sex. All were hot topics in the Victorian Era.

The Summer Savoyards will mark their 64^th season by presenting this rarely produced comic operetta July 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and July 21 at 3 p.m. at Binghamton University’s Anderson Center for the Performing Arts.

The production is “a bright refresh” of the operetta, first performed in 1884, a release from the company states.

Based on a narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the operetta concerns a princess who establishes a women’s university and teaches women are superior to men and should rule in their stead. The prince to whom she was married in infancy, and his two friends, take things into their own hands to sneak into the university and collect his bride. The “battle of the sexes” nearly escalates to an actual war.

Princess Ida is one of the strongest female characters in the Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire, said Mark Roth, who is directing the Savoyard production. At the same time, the operetta contains “a lot of bashing of the sexes,” he noted. Satiric targets include militaristic men, dim-witted peers, pompous academics and fickle women.

“Both men and women are lampooned a bit,” Roth said, adding: “The theme for me is that people can’t escape the need for love.”

Princess Ida is something of an oddity in the G&S repertoire. It’s their only three-act operetta and features dialogue in blank verse. Its patter song is the shortest one the duo ever wrote.

Sullivan’s music takes center stage. In the opinion of critics Princess Ida contains some of the composer’s finest compositions. Especially loved is a sequence of songs in Act II known as “the string of pearls.”

“There are some gorgeous songs, and some delightfully merry songs,” Roth said, noting he’s treating the material as if it’s a musical comedy. “My goal is to bring something a little newer than people might expect from a Gilbert & Sullivan production,” he said. This includes a touch of bawdiness, he added, with a laugh.

Once a summer recreation for college students, the Savoyards have evolved into a multi-generational, family-friendly endeavor. As is the case with their previous productions, the 30-member Princess Ida cast features a blend of newcomers and company veterans ranging in age from barely teens to the late seventies.

A full orchestra, conducted by Matthew Vavalle, will accompany the performers. Roth, Vavalle and Music Director Kelly Roggenkamp all have also performed onstage with the Savoyards.

Jana Kucera, whose is playing the title role, has been involved in Savoyards productions for about two decades and has never tired of performing Gilbert & Sullivan. She will sing two arias as Princess Ida

Kucera described her character as someone staunch and steadfast in her beliefs. The princess is working to create an idealistic place in which to live, and that’s “very relevant right now,” Kucera said.

At the same time, Princess Ida makes fun of everyone, she added.  “I love Gilbert & Sullivan,” Kucera said. “I like how they combine musical theater and opera, and I like the comedy.”

 IF YOU GO: The Summer Savoyards will present the operetta Princess Ida, of Castle Adamant July 19-21 in the Anderson Center Chamber Hall at Binghamton University. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday performance is at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are $28 (65 and older/12 and under $25: groups of 10 or more, $23). Tickets are available through the  Anderson Center box office, 607-777-2787, or at www.summersavoyards.org