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Stage Review: Savoyards march out lively 'Yeomen of Guard'
Saturday, May 15, 1999 By Walter Evert
Right off the bat, "The Yeomen of the Guard, or, The Merryman and His Maid" has all the great Gilbert & Sullivan trademarks: elaborate ado about the very improbable, fueled by misunderstandings, eccentric characters, fast action and zany complications.
It's wonderful stuff, but if you're new to it, you might want to read the synopsis in the program first. Or, you might just want to drift along with the tuneful, witty and charming chaos on stage, like a true Savoyard -- devotees whose name comes from the Savoy Theatre in London, where the works were first performed. By no coincidence, it is The Pittsburgh Savoyards -- now, incredibly, in their 60th season -- who bring "The Yeomen of the Guard" to us.
Improbable complications not-withstanding, "Yeoman" also has a melancholy that sets it apart from the standard Gilbert & Sullivan frolic, edging it ever so slightly toward opera.
Although the costumes are vaguely 19th century, the action takes place in the 16th.
A war hero, Colonel Fairfax (Stuart Werner) has been condemned to death for sorcery on the false testimony of relatives who will inherit his wealth if Fairfax dies unmarried. But Phoebe Meryll (Zanna Fredland), daughter to the Sergeant of the Yeomen of the Guard (Bill Bluemle), falls in love with Fairfax -- to the chagrin of his jailer and assistant tormentor, Wilfred Shadbolt (Corey Nile Wingard), who has been Phoebe's suitor.
While Sgt. Meryll works to free Fairfax by disguising him as his son, Fairfax persuades Tower Lt. Sir Richard Cholmondeley (Jack Mostow) to find a woman Fairfax can marry before his execution -- to inherit Fairfax's wealth and frustrate the plotters.
At this point, two itinerant players wander into town, Elsie Maynard (Kimberly Anne Weston) and jester Jack Point (Michael Greenstein), and the whole mix is shaken up again. Will Elsie catch Fairfax's eye? Will juggler Jack find love in this new arena? Or -- what?
The only thing that's fair to say is that, after all the Sturm und Drang, the ending may not be what you expect.
Musically, as a sometime failed violinist and flautist, I will just say that everyone's singing sounded fine. My notebook scribbles say that Weston had "power and purity through the whole range" and that Fredland impressed with "great lyricism." Greenstein did a fine Jack Point, even to demonstrating the juggler's art.
Guy Russo seems to do a masterful job as musical director and conductor. On the whole production, I have only two quibbles:
1.) Although the second act takes place in the evening, I was annoyed by a stage so darkened as to leach the color out of everything;
2.) Like other older Savoyard fans, I do miss Eleanor Glockner, who starred in the contralto roles 20 years ago before going on to a Broadway career.
No Savoyard will regret a backward look like that, because what are Gilbert & Sullivan about if not the melody, wit and charm of the past?
Walter Evert is a free-lance drama critic for the Post-Gazette.
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Where: Pittsburgh Savoyards at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library Music Hall, 300 Beechwood Ave., Carnegie.