New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (often known as NYGASP) is a professional
Beginning in New York City in 1974 by performing the Savoy operas with piano accompaniment, the company hired its first orchestra in 1979 for its seasons at Symphony Space theatre in New York. The company was fully professional by the 1980s and began touring, presenting its full-scale productions at such venues as Wolf Trap in Virginia, as well as its New York seasons. In 2002, NYGASP first rented the 2,750-seat New York City Center, where it performed most of its annual New York seasons until 2013. It has also performed at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival several times. NYGASP also performs at schools and offers smaller touring groups and cabaret performances.
History
Early years
Albert Bergeret founded the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players in 1974, together with his wife, Gail Wofford (they married in 1978) and a few others. Bergeret, Wofford and most of the other founders were alumni of the Barnard Gilbert and Sullivan Society, a New York City college theatre group that presented the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan at Columbia University from 1948 to 1991.[1][2][3]
The nascent group's first performance was in Straus Park, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on July 14, 1974 as part of a street fair. In the early years of the company, singers were drawn from Columbia University and from the semi-pro New York theatre community, including Vincent La Selva's opera workshop, and sang without compensation. Originally called "West Side Gilbert & Sullivan Players", the group originally performed scenes from Gilbert and Sullivan operas with a sound system and a cast of nine people in outdoor performances and in nursing homes and hospitals around New York City, with borrowed costumes, set pieces and an electric piano from the New York Grand Opera, the Bloomingdale School of Music and other supporters. Their first indoor home was at the theatre in the B’nai Jeshurun Community Center. Bergeret designed and built the sets and acted as stage and musical director. In 1975, the company incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under the current name.[4]
At the beginning of 1976, the company began to offer runs in repertory on Sundays, the only day the theater was available, since the New York School of Opera used the space on other days. After several Sunday performances of
Bergeret was ambitious, and he wanted his company to grow and become fully professional. In May 1979, NYGASP hired its first 25-piece orchestra and began to pay performance fees to principal singers as the level of professionalism of its cast continued to increase. NYGASP scored a publicity coup on October 28, 1979, when pictures of the cast performing excerpts from Pinafore on the
The 1980s and 1990s
The 1981 season opened with NYGASP's celebration of the Patience centenary in April 1981 (hosted by Asimov). In the fall of 1981, NYGASP began touring its productions along the U.S. East Coast in addition to its short New York seasons. By the early 1980s, NYGASP paid performance fees not only to principal singers, but also to choristers. The company was able to attract an increased level of contributions, including annual grants from the New York State Council on the Arts. By the mid-1980s, NYGASP had attracted an independent Board of Directors to assist with fund raising and risk management.[6]
NYGASP has imported various guest stars over the years to appeal to a larger audience. In 1984, NYGASP hired
NYGASP averaged four productions a year at Symphony Space during the 1980s and 1990s, each playing for about a week. In 1985, the orchestra was unionized, and in 1989 the company entered into an agreement with the
21st century
In 2001, Symphony Space closed for renovations. NYGASP rented New York City Center, a 2,750-seat theatre in midtown Manhattan, for its 2002 season.[12] During a three-week run of Pirates, H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Mikado, the company enjoyed good box office results and continued to perform at City Center most seasons thereafter until 2013. Moving to this large house increased NYGASP's level of recognition and its annual budget to nearly 1.5 million dollars.[13][14] Since 2014, the company has used other venues for its New York seasons.[2][15][16] Bergeret still serves as NYGASP's Artistic Director and General Manager, and Wofford continues to supervise the costumes and helps to run the company, along with other members of the NYGASP team, including executive director David Wannen (since 2006) and associate director and choreographer David Auxier (since 2008).[17] In 2022, Bergeret received a Legend of Off Broadway award at the Off Broadway Alliance Awards, for "extraordinary contributions over many years".[18]
For their recent New York seasons, NYGASP has generally programmed about three G&S operas, one or two of which are drawn from the "Big Three" (Pinafore, Pirates or Mikado) and at least one of which is one of the less often seen
NYGASP uses a number of different directors and conductors from time to time, but most of the productions are still directed and conducted by Bergeret.[16] Notable singers who have recently performed with the company include Broadway soprano Kimilee Bryant and tenors Keith Jameson (ENO; NYCO) and Brandon Jovanovich (San Francisco Opera; NYCO), who have gone on to substantial opera careers. In reviewing the company's Pinafore in 2008, The New York Times wrote, "From a staging perspective, there is nothing remotely subtle about Mr. Bergeret’s approach. Spoken dialogue is emphatically underlined with endless mugging and exaggerated gestures. ... Still, all hands treat the music with style and respect. Mr. Bergeret drew playing of bouncy refinement from the orchestra. The principals were uniformly good."[23] In a 2010 review of Ruddigore, the Financial Times praised the company's "roster of principals, mostly youthful, who treat the music with lilting grace, rhythmic bravado and patter virtuosity, as needed".[24] A 2012 review called the company's Pirates "a spectacularly entertaining show that channels decades of great theatrics, a little modern humor, and a perfectly picturesque staging."[25][26]
NYGASP continues to tour on the East Coast, in the
NYGASP usually presents a New Year's Eve gala and sometimes other special events, featuring pastiches or lesser-known Sullivan music or company members' favorite songs in concert, and there is sometimes a segment where spontaneous audience requests are played, with orchestra, and with singers chosen on the spot by the conductor.
The company celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2014 with a New York season at the
School and outreach programs
Each season, NYGASP offers a few full-scale performances of its main stage productions to NYC public school groups free of charge (paid for by corporate sponsors). It also presents its "Family Overtures" series of pre-show introductions for multi-generational audiences.[38] In addition, Bergeret and small groups of performers from NYGASP travel to private schools in New York City to give concert-classes about the music and satire of Gilbert and Sullivan and other aspects of presenting G&S. The company also presents nearly full-scale or shortened versions of the shows at various schools throughout the school year, and sometimes invites school groups to see their shows for free or at reduced prices.[39]
NYGASP has an arrangement with the school district in Syosset, New York, in which, each spring, a shortened version of one of a G&S opera is presented at a school, with piano accompaniment, using NYGASP principals, and giving an opportunity to 40-60 6th grade students to act as the chorus.[38] The music teachers teach the students their vocal parts, and then Bergeret and a NYGASP accompanist teach the students the staging and choreography of the show and refine the choral music. The children rehearse for a full day with the NYGASP principals and have the opportunity to ask any questions that may occur to them. Two performances are given by the students at their school. In addition, introductory programs are given in advance to each of the 5th and 6th grade classes in the school district, to acquaint the students with some of the material and any special concepts they may need to understand (such as "apprenticeship" in The Pirates of Penzance or the British class structure in H.M.S. Pinafore). Sometimes the children also travel to New York City to see a full-scale NYGASP production.
See also
Notes
- ^ Smith, Dinitia. "Decades of Polishing Up the Handle", The New York Times, December 31, 2005, p. 9
- ^ a b Stewart, Zachary. "What Does Justin Bieber Have to Do With Gilbert & Sullivan?", TheatreMania.com, December 13, 2013
- ^ "Barnard Gilbert and Sullivan Society to Give Two Operettas", Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. C, No. 97, April 18, 1956
- ^ a b NYGASP Theatre Program, "Prime Time G&S: 20th Anniversary Celebration", April 24, 1994, Symphony Space, New York City
- ^ Recent and archived reviews of the company's performances
- ^ Current members of the NYGASP Board of Directors
- ^ Holden, Stephen. "Operetta: Gilbert and Sullivan's Ida", The New York Times, January 1, 1984
- ^ Kozinn, Allan. "A Pirates of Penzance With Some Opulence", The New York Times, December 22, 1988
- ^ Morrison, Michael A. "A Topsy-Turvy World", Theatre Mania, December 2001, accessed December 3, 2012
- ^ Oestreich, James R. "Giving The Mikado a Steve Allen Treatment", The New York Times, January 7, 1995, accessed December 3, 2012
- ^ Holden, Stephen. "Reviews/Music; Gilbert and Sullivan Yield to Gershwin and Ryskind", The New York Times, April 3, 1990, accessed December 26, 2013
- ^ Griffiths, Paul. "Operetta Review; Softhearted Pirates and One Sappy Guy", The New York Times, January 15, 2002, accessed July 22, 2016; and Kennerley, David. "Fairies Gone Wild, Fa-la", Gay City News, Vol. 3, issue 303, January 15–21, 2004, accessed July 22, 2015
- ^ Gluck, Victor. The Mikado, TheatreScene.net, January 7, 2013
- ^ a b Smith, Steve. "When Yeomen Seek Yeowomen", The New York Times, January 21, 2013
- ^ Smith, Steve. "A Satire With Targets Not So Well Remembered", The New York Times, 5 January 2014
- ^ a b c Schweitzer, Vivien. "Naughty in Spite of Himself", The New York Times, November 2, 2014, accessed July 19, 2016; and Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da. "Is The Mikado Too Politically Incorrect to Be Fixed? Maybe Not.", December 30, 2016
- ^ Rice, David M. "New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players – Iolanthe – conducted & directed by Albert Bergeret", Classical Source, November 8, 2015. Wannen and Auxier have also acted on stage with the company since 2003 and 1992, respectively.
- ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Harmony, Assassins & More Win 2022 Off Broadway Alliance Awards", BroadwayWorld.com, May 24, 2022
- ^ Dale, Michael. "The Rose of Persia: Sullivan Without Gilbert", BroadwayWorld.com, 14 January 2007
- ^ Smith, Steve. "Gilbert and Sullivan Made Jokes About Costco and Smartphones? Who Knew?", The New York Times, December 3, 2012
- ^ Ciletti, Elena. "Pirates at The Smith was effervescent". Finger Lakes Times, April 11, 2011
- ^ Review of NYGASP's Mikado. The New York Times, 2007
- ^ Smith, Steve. "All Hands on Deck for Absurd Relevance", The New York Times, June 9, 2008
- ^ Bernheimer, Martin. "Ruddigore, New York G&S Players", Financial Times, January 18, 2010
- ^ Laxson, Erica. "The Pirates of Penzance at Wolf Trap", DCMetroTheaterArts.com, June 30, 2012
- ^ Schweitzer, Vivien. "Those Brash Buccaneers, Pattering at Top Speed", The New York Times, 5 January 2014
- ^ Burns, Ellen. "NYGASP's The Pirates of Penzance Delightfully Invades Wolf Trap", BroadwayWorld.com, June 15, 2015; and Peña, Susan L. "Pirates of Penzance judged perfect, perfect, perfect", Reading Eagle, March 2, 2009
- ^ Sobelsohn, David. "H.M.S. Pinafore - W.S. Gilbert/Arthur Sullivan", CultureVulture.net, June 11, 2005
- ^ Stewart, Zachary. "New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players Return for H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance", TheaterMania.com, October 5, 2021
- ^ Moore, Oscar E. "Gilbert & Sullivan with a twist at the Triad", TalkEntertainment.com, January 12, 2009, accessed September 29, 2011
- ^ Kelley, Daniel. "I've Got a Little Twist", nytheatre.com, January 8, 2009, accessed September 29, 2011
- ^ "Bistro Award Hall of Fame" (2010), Bistroawards.com, accessed September 29, 2010
- ^ "NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players to Sail Across the Pond for Harrogate's 2014 International G&S Festival, Aug 5-10", BroadwayWorld.com, June 25, 2014
- ^ Chalmers, Graham. "G&S festival at Harrogate: organiser’s lot is a happy one", Harrogate Advertiser, August 23, 2014
- ^ Nguyen, Michael D. "New York City Production of 'The Mikado' Canceled Following Accusations of Racism", NBC News, September 18, 2015
- ^ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da. "Is The Mikado Too Politically Incorrect to Be Fixed? Maybe Not.", December 30, 2016; and "New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players Reveals Concepts for Reimagined The Mikado; Kelvin Moon Loh Joins Creative Team!", BroadwayWorld.com, October 6, 2016
- Crain's New York Business, November 12, 2018
- ^ a b Hochswender, Woody. "City Center: G & S Fest 2008", PlayBillArts.com, June 8, 2008
- ^ Hochswender, Woody. "High Standards and Hijinks". Playbillarts.com, November 30, 2007, accessed 4 August 2010
References
External links
- NYGASP website
- Broadwayworld.com review of NYGASP's Pirates from January 18, 2005
- Article about the local 802 musician's union negotiations with NYGASP
- NY Times review of NYGASP's Mikado, January 8, 2007
- NY Post review of NYGASP's Yeomen, January 8, 2007
- NY Magazine feature, January 23, 2006 issue
- Profile of the company and review of Princess Ida starring Frank Gorshin (2000)
- Review of the company's Mikado (2006)