This preview of Light Opera of Portland’s upcoming production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Yeomen of the Guard must begin with these 35 seconds of music:

No, that isn’t the wrong clip. It really is the opening salvo of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s overture to Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid. Fifteen-ish bars from an atypical full-bodied overture that leads to a grand Sullivan musical score unlike any in previous operettas. In fact, nothing is what you might expect. In Light Opera’s Oct. 10-26 production at downtown Portland’s Brunish Theatre you will encounter no fairies (Iolanthe), no picture frames that swing open (Ruddigore), no Penzance-ian pirates swinging from the yardarms. What you will enjoy is the same brilliant Sir William S. Gilbert wordsmithing spewing forth complicated adventures of conniving and flawed, confused and wacky, love-sick and needy humans; sixteenth-century Londoners who will make you scratch your head, laugh and even cry.

“Yeomen subverts expectations,” confirmed LOoP Artistic Director and actor Laurence Cox in a recent phone conversation with OAW. “Those topsy-turvy moments were left behind in Ruddigore,” said Cox, referring to Gilbert and Sullivan’s tenth operetta that immediately preceded Yeomen. In fact, it was events around Ruddigore which served as a flash point for a real-life bit of drama between the two creative men. Though it was not Gilbert and Sullivan’s first disagreement over plot and style – the run-up to Mikado was very contentious – this was a significant kerfuffle. Some real-life twists and turns had to take place before the British public got their newest G&S.

Serious business 

“We see here the two men expressing a desire to be taken seriously,” said Cox. By the mid 1880s “G&S” was a successful business in partnership with Richard D’Oyly Carte and both men had plenty of serious income (although Sullivan is reported to have had more serious outgo). But perhaps that success was one of the reason Sullivan thought it time for his “break out” as a composer of serious music: symphonies, cantatas and grand opera. When Queen Victoria knighted the composer in 1883 she reportedly said, “You ought to write a grand opera, Sir Arthur; you would do it so well.” Music was prized in Queen Victoria’s household. Both she and Prince Albert favored the music of German composer Felix Mendelssohn, whose English version of Elijah had won British hearts. But the German composer died at age 38 in 1847 and now “the British public was yearning for a British Mendelssohn,” said Cox.  

There might be a handful of you readers out there who would argue that Sullivan had already “broken out” with several well-received large-scale choral works including The Prodigal Son and The Golden Legend, which was offered in Portland in 1909 by a chorus of 350 church choir singers at The Old Armory. And he had composed a nice handful of incidental works for plays, much like Mendelssohn. But from the early 1870s he was at the disposal of the partnership with available time for other compositions – yes, there were quite a few – mostly while a G&S operetta was running. And Sullivan was not in good health; by the mid-1880s he was, in his early forties, plagued by kidney stones. Plagued by critics who called his G&S work lightweight, beneath his talent and trivial he told Gilbert that he had tired of topsy-turvy plots.

The other half

W. S. Gilbert also hoped his dramatic writings would define his legacy. In 1886 he penned a delightful tongue-in-cheek (or is it?) essay, I Expostulate, about his life as a dramatist. Still, he expressed great distress over the potential disillusionment of the creative relationship. In late 1887 Gilbert finally came up with a plot of substance and drama that would lure Sullivan back to the operetta stage. After hearing Gilbert’s new storyline, Sullivan wrote in his diary “Pretty story, no topsy turvydom, very human, & funny also” (Wikipedia). Yeomen of the Guard, a “break out” G&S work that leans toward grand opera, opened at the Savoy ten months later and ran for 423 performances.

You won’t lose the plot

Fear not: Yeomen is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta through and through. Within the first few minutes you will be thrust into the initial “who and why” inside the ancient fortress and complex of buildings known as The Tower of London. So let’s cross the Middle Drawbridge and have at it. Ready, steady (take a breath), go.

Young Phoebe is in love with Tower prisoner Colonel Fairfax who has been unjustly sentenced to be beheaded for sorcery; this annoys Wilfred, head jailor of the Tower who is in love with Phoebe. Enter Phoebe’s father, Sergeant Meryll, who was once saved in battle by Fairfax and does not want the Colonel to die; meanwhile, Phoebe’s brother Leopold, also a Fairfax fan, has just been appointed as a Tower Warden. Spit, spot the three hatch a plot to break Fairfax out of prison. 

Exhale and listen as Yeomen immediately breaks with G&S tradition by opening Act 1 with a solo, “When a Maiden Loves,” sung by Phoebe.

Sounds like a straightforward storyline, right? Wrong. There are schemes ahead, major characters to meet, disguises and deceptions with more twists and turns than a Victorian sausage plait. Just what we have come to expect from Gilbert and Sullivan, right? Yes! And no. What you expect is that some ruckus will be caused by a clueless bumble, uniformed guards will enter and stumble, pleasant Tower folk will hop-skip away till clearer heads enter to save the day. Nope, not gonna happen. Hmmm. Then who is going to bring the funny? Ah, in this production much of that will be placed in the hands of actor Cox, who portrays the titular Merryman: Jack Point.

When Jack and and his partner in merriment Elsie enter they are unaware that their lives will be swept up in the Tower chaos. The scent of the “blood of the Tower” is in the air and the crowd is demanding entertainment. Jack and Elsie launch into the cumulative ditty, “I have a song to sing, O” which reveals to the audience that Jack is more than a carefree jester. 

Renowned G&S actor Martyn Green in his Treasury of Gilbert and Sullivan wrote, “As Gilbert held up the mirror to the foibles of human nature for us to laugh at, I feel that he would have been equally ready for the mirror to be held up to the foibles of Gilbert for him to chuckle over.” Laurence Cox finds Green’s observation compelling in regard to his Jack Point character. 

“I am,” said Cox, “more and more inclined to agree with G&S scholars that Jack Point is Gilbert’s ‘self-insert’ character.” Case in point (prithee forgive my Gilbertian pun) is a song in which Lieutenant of the Tower Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley of course) tells Point he has a vacancy for the post of Jester and Point launches into an impromptu audition saying:

“I’ve jibe and joke
And quip and crank
For lowly folk
And men of rank
I ply my craft
And know no fear
But aim my shaft
At prince or peer”

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What follows this self-reveal is a volley of quips and puns and riddles ending with what Point calls his “best conundrum”: Why is a cook’s brainpan like an overwound clock?  (See Postlude below).

Cox reflected on another aspect of the Merryman: he lives in fear he might lose his beloved Elsie. “In Yeoman, we might be witnessing,” suggested Cox, “a W. S. Gilbert who was absolutely in terror of losing the partnership with Sullivan.”

In this wonderful clip from the 1978 Yeomen film starring Tommy Steele (for whom this author has had a fan-crush since for-e-ver) you get a look at the two faces of the Merryman Point, with Elsie, Fairfax, and Phoebe, singing “When a Wooer goes a Wooing.” 

Yeoman takes one on such a journey it would be a shame to give away any more of the juicy bits. But if you are interested in reading a plot synopsis or entire libretto, downloading the entire vocal score or hearing a 1928 D’Oyly Carte recording the place to go is the Gilbert And Sullivan Archive right here.

There are several more standout Yeomen selections that might prompt you to grab some tickets for this show in the next three weekends beginning October 10. And those songs, and some extra insights about the operetta, opened KQAC All Classical’s “Thursdays at 3″ on October 2. OAW captured some photos (below) at that broadcast which is available in the T@3 archive. Listen to that broadcast here to hear the LOoP cast sing these wonderful songs:

• “A Man Who Would Woo a Fair Maid” (Jack gets tips on wooing from Phoebe, Fairfax and Elsie)

• “Tis Done! I am a Bride” (Elsie contemplates her strange marriage to Fairfax)

• “Strange Adventure” (Dame Carruthers, Merryl, Kate and Fairfax reflect upon the swirl of confusion) 

• “O, a private buffoon is a lighthearted loon” (Jack Point patters on the finer points of being a Merryman)

Yes, some of your favorites are back on stage for LOoP’s 10th season. This is the joy of local community theater. Visit the LOoP website to see the entire cast and crew (some taking on both roles) who bring these wonderful productions to life. Music Director Josh Pounder returns and will be honoring Sullivan’s music by placing the orchestra right on stage in the wonderfully intimate Brunish Theatre. 

We’ll end this preview of Light Opera of Portland’s upcoming Yeomen of the Guard with another quote by the aforementioned Martyn Green:

“It is grossly unfair to analyze any plot of Gilbert’s because not one of them will bear analysis, and to probe too deeply can ruin the pleasure of illogicality.”

(Treasury of Gilbert and Sullivan)

Enjoy the pleasure of Gilbertian illogicality and some marvelous music by Sullivan with Light Opera of Portland’s premiere performance of “Yeomen of the Guard.” Yeoman opens with a Friday night performance on October 10 and runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday through October 26.  Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm; Sunday matinees at 2 pm. And they are all at P5’s Brunish Theatre in the Antoinette Hatfield Hall. Tickets, bios and more information are here.

Postlude

The riddle? Sir William said he would leave the answer to the riddle in his will. He did not. Blast!

Sir Arthur did honor Queen Victoria’s suggestion to write an opera. Ivanhoe was premiered in D’Oyly Carte’s new Royal English Opera House and broke the record for grand opera at 155 performances.

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Light Opera of Portland’s production of The Yeomen of the Guard plays Oct. 10-26 in downtown Portland’s Brunish Theatre. Ticket and schedule information here.