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GILBERT and Sullivan fans will be gearing up for their annual treat at the Arts Theatre as the Cambridge Operatic Society returns with The Gondoliers. The comic opera opened in 1889 at the Savoy Theatre and went on to become one of the longest-running shows of its day. It was to be Gilbert and Sullivan's last great success together. Soon afterwards they went their separate ways, ending one of musical theatre's most fruitful and celebrated partnerships.
The action takes place in Venice and the fictional Spanish island of Barataria, where two dashing gondolier brothers have chosen a wife each. They soon learn that one of them is the heir to a kingdom and was married off to the daughter of a duke as a child, but they have no idea which one. In true Gilbert and Sullivan style, the plot twists and turns, offering scope for comic set pieces and musical numbers.
The annual show is one of the largest amateur stage productions in the city, and the company has been putting it on for 95 years.
Patrick O'Brien, who plays the Duke of Plaza Toro, says: "I have been going to see Gilbert and Sullivan since I was 12 years old - that's 50 years. The first time was when my sister was playing Yum Yum in The Mikado so I thought it was wonderful.
"It's part of English culture I think and a lot of the references in it still ring true today - especially the bits about silly bureaucracy and politics."
The cast features many passionate singers and actors from the local area. Some have been performing for many years and others are still finding their feet.
Gavin Jarvis, who plays the central character of Marco, loves to get involved in local opera productions and spends much of his spare time training and rehearsing.
"I've been having singing lessons for about five years and the first Gilbert and Sullivan show I was in with this group was two years ago," he says. "Singing tenor is amazing, there's no other part as far as I'm concerned. I'm just fascinated by the operatic voice - the nature of the control you need and the projection. This is a light operetta which is great for amateur groups, it's quite do-able.
"There are some nerves but they give you an edge I think. The level of performance always tends to go up when you're doing it for real."
Although many of the cast have performed before, none of them are professionals, so Gavin isn't the only one who feels the nerves in the days before the first night.
Liz Brinsdon, who plays Casilda, admits: "Usually on the first night I do get nerves, especially when there's certain people I know in the audience. I suppose it's because you are worried what they think of you and you know they'll be watching you more than anyone else. If I'm buying tickets for friends or family I always make sure I don't look at where their seats are - I don't want to be distracted if I see them in the audience."
Geoff Reed, who also runs Swaffham Bulbeck Summer Theatre, first performed in a G&S operetta in Zambia in 1970 when a girlfriend persuaded him to join the chorus after he'd had couple of drinks. And Nina Jellicoe, who plays The Duchess, first performed in one when she lived in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in 1982.
"My husband was an engineer over there and I was teaching so I joined the local ex-pat operatic society," she recalls. "We had to be very secretive because you aren't allowed large gatherings of people out there and we had to put it on in one of the big American airbases - it was all very hush-hush.
"Just before we left we heard that one of the performances had been raided and they couldn't do them any more."
The Gondoliers runs at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, from Monday until Saturday, December 1. It's on at 7.45pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Tickets are £10-£20.
Published: Cambridge Evening News 25/11/2007 11:31:23