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Oh Joy, Oh Rapture Unforeseen!
Jun. 20th, 2008 11:24 pmI can't really say it was unforeseen, because I expected to enjoy seeing the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players production of H.M.S. Pinafore tonight at Wolf Trap. Usually touring companies are doing Pirates of Penzance on the one night I can go, so I'd never actually seen a live production of Pinafore before. They're doing The Gondoliers (which is my second favorite, behind Iolanthe) tomorrow night, but that didn't work with my schedule.
I hadn't been to Wolf Trap before, either, though I'd thought about it several times. The problem is, of course, that the shows I want to see rarely coincide with my schedule. It's really not very far from where I live so I expect I will be more inclined to go again. It was probably a mistake, however, to drive rather than use the metro shuttle bus, given how long it took to get out of the parking lot after the show. On the other hand, the shuttle bus presumably gets stuck in the same traffic. And there was no traffic once I got out of the park, since I used the back way to Route 123. (One advantage of living in Vienna is that there are a surprising number of back ways to get places.)
Anyway, it was a warm and pleasant evening and the theatre (Filene Center) is lovely. But the performance is what really matters - and that, too, was lovely. Colm Fitzmaurice, who played Ralph Rackstraw, has a phenomenal voice and was well matched by Laurelyn Watson Chase as Josephine. Stephen Quint hammed it up appropriately as Sir Joseph, especially in "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore." Angela Smith, as Little Buttercup, seemed to have a problem with the microphone, as she popped her p's, but was otherwise fine. The only performer I thought was weak was Victoria Devany as Cousin Hebe. There was nothing wrong with her singing or her physical comedy, but her speaking voice was inconsistent.
All in all, it was a fun evening. I will pay for it tomorrow, as I have to be up way too early to catch a plane. I expect to sleep all the way to Denver.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening
I hadn't been to Wolf Trap before, either, though I'd thought about it several times. The problem is, of course, that the shows I want to see rarely coincide with my schedule. It's really not very far from where I live so I expect I will be more inclined to go again. It was probably a mistake, however, to drive rather than use the metro shuttle bus, given how long it took to get out of the parking lot after the show. On the other hand, the shuttle bus presumably gets stuck in the same traffic. And there was no traffic once I got out of the park, since I used the back way to Route 123. (One advantage of living in Vienna is that there are a surprising number of back ways to get places.)
Anyway, it was a warm and pleasant evening and the theatre (Filene Center) is lovely. But the performance is what really matters - and that, too, was lovely. Colm Fitzmaurice, who played Ralph Rackstraw, has a phenomenal voice and was well matched by Laurelyn Watson Chase as Josephine. Stephen Quint hammed it up appropriately as Sir Joseph, especially in "Never Mind the Why and Wherefore." Angela Smith, as Little Buttercup, seemed to have a problem with the microphone, as she popped her p's, but was otherwise fine. The only performer I thought was weak was Victoria Devany as Cousin Hebe. There was nothing wrong with her singing or her physical comedy, but her speaking voice was inconsistent.
All in all, it was a fun evening. I will pay for it tomorrow, as I have to be up way too early to catch a plane. I expect to sleep all the way to Denver.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening
