‘Princess Ida,’ a brilliant satire

Play review


I AM WOMAN—’Princess Idatakes  on  the  never-ending battle of the sexes.

I AM WOMAN—’Princess Idatakes on the never-ending battle of the sexes.

“Princess Ida,” the latest in the series of classic operettas presented by the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertory Company, is also one of the most undeservedly obscure.

A brilliant comedy-satire that takes on staunch feminism, Darwin, and the battle of the sexes, the original production was staged in London during the hot summer of 1884. The heat was part of the reason it wasn’t as successful as some of its predecessors, including “The Pirates of Penzance” and “H.M.S. Pinafore.”

And though it hasn’t been seen in Ventura County since 1994, the operetta is performed regularly by both professional and amateur companies.

The story line is not quite as convoluted as other G&S operettas, but many of the usual hallmarks are evident: the winsome heroine who has a fickle relationship with a longtime suitor; a bevy of beautiful, if vacuous, maidens; a dignified authority figure; characters in disguise; and an O. Henry ending that neatly pairs off all the principals.

Based on Tennyson’s narrative poem “The Princess,” the story concerns female chauvinist Princess Ida (Tara McGrath), who runs a women’s college, and Prince Hilarion (Gary Saxer), to whom she was betrothed when they were infants.

They haven’t seen each other since then, and Hilarion’s father, King Hildebrand (John McCool Bowers), threatens war i f Ida’s father, King Gama (Terry Fishman), doesn’t produce her upon his forthcoming visit to Hildebrand’s palace. The plot gets nutty when Hilarion and his two courtiers, Cyril (Paul Panico) and Florian (Robert Weibezahl), sneak into Ida’s university and disguise themselves as female students (“I Am a Maiden”).

The role of Ida is more operatic than the roles of Gilbert and Sullivan’s other heroines, and McGrath is more than up to the task, exhibiting a beautiful voice in her solos, “Minerva!” and “I Built Upon the Rock.”

Saxer, as usual, is a delight, and when he and his cohorts adopt falsetto voices to go with their ladies’ academic robes, it resembles a scene out of a Monty Python sketch. Saxer especially revels in his alter-gender, grinning and flirting in the ludicrous situation.

John McCool Bowers is a properly stentorian Hildebrand and Terry Fishman (in his first major singing role) does a good job keeping up with Gilbert’s patter lyrics on his showpiece, “Nothing Whatever to Grumble At.”

Three female supporting roles feature standout performances. Theresa Secor, as Lady Blanche, a professor at the university and Ida’s second-in-command, is usually part of the ladies’ ensemble in G&S shows, but she’s given prominent opportunity to display some terrific comic acting to go along with a fine contralto voice.

Lady Blanche’s daughter, Melissa, is played by Molly Siskin, one of our favorites in the troupe, whose radiance and dazzling voice always brighten the stage.

Tamarah Ashton plays Lady Psyche, the professor of humanities who protects the trio of male invaders when she discovers one of them, Florian, is her brother.

In the end, the cross-dressing trio defeats King Gama’s three boorish sons (John Dixon, Michael Dixon and Alexander Matute) in battle. The ladies’ hostility toward men is defused after King Hildebrand asks Ida, if they continue their misandry, “How is this posterity to be provided?” They decide to give mankind one more chance, and all’s well that ends well.

The score contains some of Arthur Sullivan’s richest melodies, including the delightful “Expressive Glances” and the exquisite quartet “The World Is but a Broken Toy,” featuring McGrath, Saxer, Panico, and Weibezahl.

Zach Spencer leads the economical but musically sound fourpiece orchestra, and John and Rebecca Pillsbury do their usual stellar job of producing and directing, respectively (although we always miss John when he isn’t on stage).

“Princess Ida” plays through March 28 at the Theatre on the Hill at the Hillcrest Center. For tickets, call (805) 381-1246 or visit www.vcgsrc.org.

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