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It's the last episode of our three part look at the role of melodrama in musical theatre, and today Josh joins Thos to talk about the show that explicitly takes the tropes and characters of melodrama and turns them topsy-turvy - Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, and specifically a recent production at London's home of Victorian musicals, Wilton's Music Hall. Your eyes will be fully open...
On Friday's show: We check in with Houston Public Media's Dominic Anthony Walsh about a pair of transportation developments: highlights from Thursday's METRO board meeting, and the latest on the controversial TxDOT I-45 expansion project.Also this hour: We talk with some Houston-area restaurant owners about the impact Beryl and the derecho before it have had on their businesses and the restaurant industry overall.Then, from Astros mascot Orbit's inspired reversal against booing Rangers fans at baseball's All-Star Game, to Elon Musk's announcement he's relocating two more company headquarters to Texas, this week's “non-expert” panel weighs in on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the week.And we visit a rehearsal for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston's production of Ruddigore.
For decades, Baltimore fans of operetta have had the opportunity to see and hear many Gilbert and Sullivan shows at the Young Victorian Theater Company. Known by many as “Young Vic,” the theatre company has produced 14 of the famed plays over the course of their 25-year collaboration. Ruddigore first opened in 1887 in London, England. The bawdy operetta's humor and wit comes alive through the Young Vic's production, opening Sunday afternoon. Brian Goodman, who cofounded Young Vic 50 years ago, and Catrin Davies, the company's artistic director, join Midday to talk about Ruddigore and what's next for the intrepid theatre company.Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.
Richard Roberts is an award-winning designer and educator. His body of work spans theatre, ballet, opera, musical theatre, and film, across Australia and internationally. Richard is currently Head of Design and Production at the Victorian College of the Arts. He has held positions as Head of Design at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Head of Production at The Victorian College of the Arts and Head of Design at The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Richard's designs for opera include: for Opera Australia, Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, The Magic Flute and Die Fledermaus (with West Australian Opera); for Victorian Opera, Parsifal, Cunning Little Vixen; Nixon In China, The Magic Flute, Baroque Triple Bill, The Marriage Of Figaro; The Corronation Of Poppea and Don Giovanni; for Opera Queensland, Ruddigore; and for New Zealand Opera, Seattle Opera, and Philadelphia Opera Rigoletto. For dance, Richard's designs include: for Australian Ballet, Don Quixote, Requiem, Molto Vivace and Raymonda; La Sylphide and La Fille Mal Gardee for West Australian Ballet and Queensland Ballet. For theatre, Richard's designs include: for Queensland Theatre, Othello, The Sunshine Club, Death Of A Salesman, Noises Off (with MTC), Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe and Managing Carmen (with Black Swan); for Ensemble Theatre, Black Cockatoo; for TML, Fiddler On The Roof; for Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, The Season national tour; for Melbourne Theatre Company, Last Man Standing, Solomon And Marion, Next To Normal, The Gift and Frost/Nixon, Macbeth, Dreams in an Empty City, As You Like It, Hedda Gabler, The Sapphires, All My Sons; for Sydney Theatre Company, Australia Day(with MTC), True West, Riflemind; for Black Swan, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Glengarry Glen Ross; for Belvoir, The Sapphires (with Black Swan). For screen, Richard's work includes production design for George Ogilvie's The Battlers for the Seven Network, the 12-part series Five Times Dizzy for SBS and I Own The Racecourse for Barron Films. Richard has designed the Operatic adaptation of Jane Harrison's The Visitors for Victorian Opera, currently playing The Arts Centre in Melbourne. For Opera Australia's Summer season he is Design Consultant for the Mozart Opera's Idomeneo and The Magic Flute. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au
Kevin Harper’s news and reflections ... from an Englishman in rural Australia
For An Englishman Downunder , Fiona Watson interviews Ballarat based Tenor Jason Wasley, a principle performer for the Enduring Classics concert 'A touch of Spring. Held at Ballarat Anglican Catherdal, 2:30pm on Saturday 9 September. Australian tenor Jason Wasley received a scholarship in 1991 to attend the Victorian College of the Arts Opera Studio in Melbourne. In 1993, Jason won the Herald-Sun Aria, which enabled him to further his studies in Europe. The following year he represented Australia in the finals of the Placido Domingo World Operalia Competition in Vienna. Jason then worked as an apprentice soloist with the Victorian State Opera, undertaking the roles of Sciarrone and The Gaoler in Tosca, Juan in Don Quichotte, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore. After study at Bertrand Russell Institute of Languages in Italy, Jason moved to London where he was accepted into the National Opera Studio. There, he studied and performed in the roles of Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Silvio in Pagliacci, the title role in Billy Budd, Prince Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, Sid in Albert Herring, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, the title role in Eugene Onegin, Schaunard in La bohème and Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore. He worked for the Glyndebourne Festival and Touring opera companies performing in the chorus and covering the roles of the Second Prisoner in Fidelio, Patrocle in Iphigénie en Aulide, Morales in Carmen, the title roles in Eugene Onegin, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Jason has also worked with the Welsh National Opera's education programme, which included performing Don Giovanni and Escamillio from Carmen. He sang the Boatswain in H.M.S. Pinafore for D'Oyly Carte Opera, Figaro in The Barber of Seville for British Youth Opera, Peter in Hansel and Gretel for Clonter Opera and Belcore in L'elisir d'amore for Pegasus Opera Company. He also sang Kullervo in the British premiere of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo. For Melbourne Opera, he has performed Papageno in The Magic Flute and Marullo in Rigoletto. For OzOpera, he sang Marcello in La bohème and Dancairo in Carmen. For Promac Productions he performed the roles of Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore. In 2006, he moved from baritone to tenor and sang the tenor solos in Verdi's Requiem for the Melbourne Chorale, the roles of Don José in Carmen and Cavaradossi in Tosca for Melbourne Opera, the title role in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex for Victorian Opera and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for OzOpera's national tour. Most recently, Jason Wasley has sung Alfredo in Opera Australia's touring production of La traviata, the tenor solos in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Sydney Philharmonia, Florestan in Fidelio, Max in Der Freicschütz and the title role in Rienzi for Melbourne Opera, Verdi's Requiem with Sydney University Chamber Choir and Rodrigo in Otello for State Opera of South Australia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kevin-harper1/message
Sir Arthur Sullivan became the most renowned composer of the Victorian era, with his fame spreading across Europe and America too. His output spanned many genres including oratorios, a symphony, chamber music, hymns and anthems, but it was for his collaboration with the librettist W. S. Gilbert on operetta's that he is best remembered today. He was a personal friend to royalty, and he was knighted when he was in his early forties. He also had a liking for playing cards, buying race horses and gambling, frequently loosing the substantial earnings from the stage works he'd composed. Sullivan became a pillar of the British musical establishment, so that when he died, despite wanting to be buried with his family in Brompton Cemetery, he was laid to rest in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, with an additional service at the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace. Music Featured: HMS Pinafore (Overture) HMS Pinafore (When I was a lad) O Israel Overture ‘In Memorium' Will he come? Symphony in E major, ‘Irish Symphony' (Andante espressivo) Cox and Box (excerpt) The Merry Wives of Windsor (excerpts) Lead Kindly Light HMS Pinafore (excerpts) Pirates of Penzance (excerpt) Who is like unto thee Mikado (excerpts) The Golden Legend (excerpt) Ruddigore (excerpts) The Yeomen of the Guard (excerpts) Ivanhoe (excerpt) Utopia Limited (Society has quite forsaken) The Long Day Closes Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Luke Whitlock For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kpgh And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we've featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z
Welcome to episode 101 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with Derek Ross on the basics of Georgism and its relationship to MMT. Derek's a Nova Scotia resident who's been a chorus member in theatrical productions for four decades, in shows such as "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan. He and his wife also run a bed and breakfast. He was especially helpful in providing feedback for an introductory presentation I developed early this year. Unfortunately, it never came together, but it has many valuable concepts and analogies I still use today. I met Derek in the Facebook group Intro to MMT, which is very busy and has more than 6,000 people, and for which I am a moderator. (Here's a link to PART_TWO.) Derek first discovered Georgism and later the work of Steve Keen, which ultimately led him to MMT. A main insight of Georgism is that taxing land is a much more elegant way to make a system that's both fair and more difficult to exploit. Although humans can manipulate and destroy buildings, they can't eliminate the land those buildings are on. As an example, I have a friend who's a general contractor. He tore down an old house and built a new one for his daughter. However, he left one wall in the old building standing, which prevented it from being legally considered as new construction, thereby avoiding extra fees and newer regulations. Land as defined by Georgism is not just the Earth but conceptual, like internet URLs, and the bandwidth for television, radio, and cell-phones. Taxes, or rents on that land can be paid with money, such as interest for a bank loan and taxes for living in a country. They can also be paid with not money, such as by having to provide a certain amount of labor to the king each year, or a percentage of the harvest. Going beyond Georgism, Physics makes it clear that the most fundamental resource is energy. Resources – and we – are, essentially, forms of energy. In addition, all energy requires energy to find, gather, and process it. Three examples: Food must be grown, transported, stored, cooked, served, consumed, and cleaned up from. This requires energy Gold must be dug up from one hole and then put in another, such as a box or vault, so it can be protected forever. This requires energy Labor must be fed, sheltered, clothed, educated, protected, paid, entertained, etc. This requires energy Derek has provided several resources for those interested in learning more. You can find links in the show notes. Before the heart of our conversation, however, the first half of today's episode, part one, is about the non-economic topics of music and musical theater (I'm a classically trained singer), and then solar panels and electric cars. Part two, next week, is entirely academic. If you like what you hear, then I hope you might consider becoming a monthly patron of Activist #MMT. Patrons get super-early access to almost every episode. Patrons also get the opportunity to ask my academic guests questions, and they support the development of my large and growing collection of learn MMT resources. To become a patron, you can start by going to patreon.com/activistmmt. Every little bit helps a little bit, and it all adds up to a lot. Thanks. And now, onto my conversation with Derek Ross. Enjoy. Resources People to read and follow: Tim Garrett (his website on viewing the global economy through an energy lens) and Blair Fix. Not an entirely MMT-compatible source, but a valuable book: The Economic Growth Engine: How Energy and Work Drive Material Prosperity (consider reading the introduction) Kate Raworth's book, Doughnut economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. This discusses how we have to take energy into account when we talk about the future of economics. Here's a presentation on the book by the author. Weird Al Yankovic songs: Hardware Store and Jerry Springer From Derek: "Here's a tough patter song from Ruddigore (retrofitted into Pirates), It Really Doesn't Matter. Bad recording quality but an excellent performance." Another Gilbert and Sullivan patter song: I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General from Pirates of Penzance. (Here's my #MMT parody of this song.)
Welcome to episode 101 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with Derek Ross on the basics of Georgism and its relationship to MMT. Derek's a Nova Scotia resident who's been a chorus member in theatrical productions for four decades, in shows such as "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan. He and his wife also run a bed and breakfast. He was especially helpful in providing feedback for an introductory presentation I developed early this year. Unfortunately, it never came together, but it has many valuable concepts and analogies I still use today. I met Derek in the Facebook group Intro to MMT, which is very busy and has more than 6,000 people, and for which I am a moderator. (Here's a link to PART_TWO.) Derek first discovered Georgism and later the work of Steve Keen, which ultimately led him to MMT. A main insight of Georgism is that taxing land is a much more elegant way to make a system that's both fair and more difficult to exploit. Although humans can manipulate and destroy buildings, they can't eliminate the land those buildings are on. As an example, I have a friend who's a general contractor. He tore down an old house and built a new one for his daughter. However, he left one wall in the old building standing, which prevented it from being legally considered as new construction, thereby avoiding extra fees and newer regulations. Land as defined by Georgism is not just the Earth but conceptual, like internet URLs, and the bandwidth for television, radio, and cell-phones. Taxes, or rents on that land can be paid with money, such as interest for a bank loan and taxes for living in a country. They can also be paid with not money, such as by having to provide a certain amount of labor to the king each year, or a percentage of the harvest. Going beyond Georgism, Physics makes it clear that the most fundamental resource is energy. Resources – and we – are, essentially, forms of energy. In addition, all energy requires energy to find, gather, and process it. Three examples: Food must be grown, transported, stored, cooked, served, consumed, and cleaned up from. This requires energy Gold must be dug up from one hole and then put in another, such as a box or vault, so it can be protected forever. This requires energy Labor must be fed, sheltered, clothed, educated, protected, paid, entertained, etc. This requires energy Derek has provided several resources for those interested in learning more. You can find links in the show notes. Before the heart of our conversation, however, the first half of today's episode, part one, is about the non-economic topics of music and musical theater (I'm a classically trained singer), and then solar panels and electric cars. Part two, next week, is entirely academic. If you like what you hear, then I hope you might consider becoming a monthly patron of Activist #MMT. Patrons get super-early access to almost every episode. Patrons also get the opportunity to ask my academic guests questions, and they support the development of my large and growing collection of . To become a patron, you can start by going to . Every little bit helps a little bit, and it all adds up to a lot. Thanks. And now, onto my conversation with Derek Ross. Enjoy. Resources People to read and follow: ( on viewing the global economy through an energy lens) and . Not an entirely MMT-compatible source, but a valuable book: (consider reading the introduction) Kate Raworth's book, . This discusses how we have to take energy into account when we talk about the future of economics. Here's on the book by the author. Weird Al Yankovic songs: and From Derek: "Here's a tough patter song from Ruddigore (retrofitted into Pirates), . Bad recording quality but an excellent performance." Another Gilbert and Sullivan patter song: from Pirates of Penzance. (Here's of this song.)
Some of the topics we explore this week – needing to look to part to get the part and how important 'non controllables' are to whether you land a role in acting (e.g. height, hair colour, eye colour), juggling 8 shows a week in a West End production with motherhood, the stresses and strains of failure that build up resilience, the issue of youngsters not having exposure to that in today's social media reality and how self-assurance not cockiness is the way to success. In November 2009 Kirsty won the TMA Award for Best Supporting Performance in a musical for playing Young Viv in Spend Spend Spend at the Watermill Theatre, directed by Craig Revel Horwood; the production went on to tour nationally in 2010. Other work includes The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The Three Musketeers, Arthur and George, HMS Pinafore, The Ghosts of Ruddigore and The Burglar's Opera for Opera Della Luna (Covent Garden Festival, National Tour), The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, King Cotton, Jerry Springer the Opera, Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera, The Beggar's Opera, Sweeney Todd, Nunsense and Barnum and the 25th Anniversary Production of Side By Side By Sondheim. She has also performed as a lead vocalist in concerts and cabarets throughout the UK and abroad, most recently soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and at the Leeds Castle Classical Prom.Kirsty also works as a session vocalist. She has recorded vocals for Warner Chappell, Disney, Sony and for numerous feature films including Mary Poppins Returns. For more from me and to hear about upcoming guests go toInstagram: www.instagram.com/fiona_murdenTwitter: https://twitter.com/fionamurdenFacebook: https://facebook.com/fionamurden And for my latest book (out July 7th UK) Mirror Thinking How Role Models Make Us Human go to:https://bit.ly/MirrThinkhttps://amzn.to/2yKpf4j
Vincent Carr is Associate Professor of Music in Organ at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Carr is an organist, conductor, and composer known for his versatility as a performer. He leads an eclectic musical career, with interests in sacred music, choral repertoire, chamber music, contemporary American repertoire, musical theater, global popular music, and songwriting. He served as associate organist and choirmaster at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York from 2013-2017. From 2009-2017, he served as Adjunct Professor at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. Carr earned both a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Spanish from Indiana University. At IU, he studied organ with Larry Smith, harpsichord with Elisabeth Wright, and improvisation and church music with John Schwandt and Marilyn Keiser. A graduate of the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, Carr studied organ performance there with Martin Jean, improvisation with William Porter and Jeffrey Brillhart, and choral conducting with Jeffrey Douma. He has been an award winner in several national performance and improvisation competitions and is in high demand as a clinician, lecturer, and performer. From 2006 to 2013, he served as associate organist at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the Americas. He has performed and studied throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America (including the Republic of Cuba). Carr is an Associate and Choirmaster of the American Guild of Organists. In 2013, he took a sabbatical in Europe, studying composition in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger at the Schola Cantorum de Paris through the European American Musical Alliance. In 2014, he served as musical director for a new production of Ruddigore for the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate, England. An active collaborative musician, he has performed extensively with the renowned Richard Alston Dance Company in both London and New York City. Vincecarr.comMUSIC: Impromptu Samuel Coleridge Taylor Vince Carr, Organist Recorded at Indiana UniversityMUSIC: Pavane Robert Elmore Vince Carr, Organist Recorded at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, NewarkMUSIC: Come Sunday Mahalia Jackson Organ Improvisation by Vincent Carr Recorded at Indiana UniversityMUSIC: 3 Pieces for Organ #2 Chorale Prelude: Herr Liebster Jesu George Walker Vincent Carr, OrganistMUSIC: 3 Pieces for Organ #3 Invocation George Walker Vincent Carr, Organist
In Claire Christian's new play Lysa and the Freeborn Dames, gay first-year uni student Lysa King wages war on her home town's entrenched misogyny, Lars Von Trier's brutal film Melancholia is adapted for the stage, directed by Matthew Lutton, regional singers join the stars of Opera Queensland in Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse, and passions smoulder and fists fly in the stage musical adaptation of John Waters' Cry-Baby.
In this bumper episode, Dom and Thos have a wide ranging conversation about Gilbert and Sullivan (with a dose of Offenbach thrown in) and find many conversational tributaries and diversions taking them all over the wide wide world of musical theatre and beyond - including the Ruddigore cartoon, Savoy spin offs, Fred Astaire, Allegro, Pacific Overtures, Three Men Naked from the Waist Down and Animaniacs to name but a few. They are the very models of some odd and aged generalists!
As five (count ‘em) separate productions of Ruddigore come to London and the home counties in November, Thos recalls the simply brilliant and hugely imaginative revival of the show in summer and interviews the director and cast of Gilbert and Sullivan’s perhaps most modern, cynical show...
The Independent's Ed Seckerson discusses the forthcoming year with Opera North's General Director, Richard Mantle and Music Director, Richard Farnes
Originally recorded in 2010: Director, Jo Davies and Conductor, John Wilson talk to writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson about cunning disguises, dastardly deeds, and an abundance of cracking good tunes, in Opera North's first G&S production for 20 years.