INTRODUCING T H E
2 4 t h
HARROGATE ROYAL HALL
I N T E R N A T I O N A L 4 - 20 AUGUST 2017
Harrogate's Economic Impact report for August 2016 showed some very encouraging statistics. It reported 14,000 visitors to the town and a £5 million boost to the local economy. The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was without doubt the principal contributor to this healthy report. 57% of the thousands of Festival visitors travelled more than 100 miles to the Festival and stayed an average of more than five nights in or around Harrogate. Hotels, restaurants, pubs and the local business and retail community benefitted from hosting “The Greatest Gilbert and Sullivan Show on Earth” created and hosted by Yorkshire people and attracting growing numbers of visitors from around the world. 86% of these visitors dined out at least four times during their visit. 93% of them said they would be back in 2017 to celebrate the 24th Annual Festival. The Festival is branded "fun, friendly and for all the family" – and you are guaranteed to leave the magnificent Harrogate Royal Hall with a smile on your face, and a skip in the step. This truly is a Festival that has something for everyone.
Our own National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company headline the Festival. This is from a performance of The Gondoliers.
This professional group travelled all the way from Japan with a special performance of The Mikado
Our Youth Production of “The Pirates of Penzance”
Our Festival University Production of “Iolanthe”
The Festival features more than 2000 actual performers and backstage workers. Many travel from as far afield as Australia, North America, South Africa and across Europe. There is something for everyone in Harrogate in August each year. If you are aged between 9 and 19 you can join our famous Youth Production which offers a free week of tuition and rehearsals with a professional director and conductor – a wonderful introduction to Gilbert & Sullivan and a love of good music. If you are at university you can come with your university group and bring a full-scale production to what we call our UNIFest Competition. There are more than 40 universities in Britain alone who perform Gilbert and Sullivan regularly – and scores more around the world. They are the future and that is why we encourage their participation and their opportunity to rub shoulders with and learn from professional experts of these wonderful operas.
The Over 60s production of “The Mikado”
International Champions WWOS with “Pirates”
And don't think that because, if you are 60 or older, you are on the shelf! We have established "Bus Pass Opera” especially for the over 60s – people who have a lifetime of acting experience and who over the last three years have gained a significant following for their traditional annual performances. We have had members of Bus Pass Opera cast travel from as far afield as Australia, America, Belgium, Spain and of course from across the UK. They work together for a week prior to the actual performance – again with the guidance of a professional director and a professional conductor. And then of course we have our International Competition. This is for the world's leading semi-professional and amateur performing groups who are each allocated a maximum 14 hours in the Royal Hall. They have to “get in” to prepare all their scenery, lighting and technical needs in the morning, dress rehearse with the orchestra in the afternoon, perform at night and get everything out of the theatre no later than 11pm. It is quite a day! Performing groups have travelled from Australia, Spain, Hungary, Japan, Estonia, South Africa, Canada, Belgium, United States and Brazil – giving some indication of the performing breadth of Gilbert and Sullivan almost 150 years after their introduction.
Scene from Ruddigore from our National Opera Company
The fully professional National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company is often likened to an updated version of the original D'Oyly Carte Opera Company established by Gilbert and Sullivan themselves almost 150 years ago. It is the only British Professional Company to exclusively stage and perform Gilbert and Sullivan and offer major theatres around the UK four different shows each season. They already have commitments to perform this summer in Windsor Theatre Royal, Buxton Opera House, Harrogate Royal Hall, Malvern Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal, Chichester Festival Theatre, Norwich Theatre Royal and the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Newcastle – with other major venues in the pipeline. The Opera Company and the Festival tour their own National Festival Gilbert and Sullivan Orchestra. The full 24 piece orchestra plays Sullivan “as it should be played” and features professional musicians with vast experience from West End Musicals, Opera and Concerts and are recognised as the specialist orchestra for Gilbert & Sullivan.
The Gondoliers The Festival and the Opera Company were founded by a family of G&S enthusiasts based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. For the first 20 years the Festival was staged in the Buxton Opera House in the Peak District. It grew to such an extent that a move was inevitable and the attractive location of Harrogate and its fantastic service industry infrastructure was irresistible.
The Grand Duke
And that's not all. This year the Festival will present a free concert for residents from local care homes and dementia centres; a group of young people will present a performance of “The Geisha” an 1896 opera composed by Sydney Jones - a man with strong Harrogate connections. We also have a special production of "Trial by Jury" the first collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan. It features a case of breach of promise. This year in Harrogate we will introduce a Festival prequel - "Jilted” actually written by a lifetime Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiast featuring Sullivan music and telling the story leading up to the Trial by Jury. Another special event this year is a performance of the Gilbert play "Engaged” which was set to Sullivan's music when the copyright expired in the 1960’s. Masterclasses; musical presentations; a wide fringe programme; free lunchtime entertainment, films and the nightly Festival Club with cabaret – little wonder the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is creating such an impact in Harrogate and North Yorkshire!.
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals The Old Vicarage, All Souls Road, Halifax, HX3 6DR 01422 323 252 ian@gsfestivals.org www.gsfestivals.org
THE FESTIVAL COMPLEX
- Everything is so close
Utopia Pavilion The Royal Hall The Savoy Theatre THE UTOPIA PAVILION
THE ROYAL HALL
The Utopia Pavilion is open non-stop from 9.00am to 1am offering hot and cold food, snacks, bar, lunchtime and late evening entertainment and our souvenir shop and ticket office.
The magnificent Royal Hall features our professional performances and our international competition shows. Our morning fringe is also presented in the Royal Hall building.
THE SAVOY THEATRE Next door to the Royal Hall, the specially commissioned Savoy Theatre features matinee performances from universities and other special interest groups. You don’t need to leave the confines of the Festival.
THE ROYAL HALL PROGRAMME Fri 4
IOLANTHE
Derby G&S Company & Trent Opera (e)
HMS PINAFORE The National G&S Opera Company (m&e) Sun 6 THE MIKADO The National G&S Opera Company (m&e) Mon 7 RUDDIGORE
Fri 18
THE SORCERER WWOS (e) Wed 9 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Tue 8
Peak Opera (e)
Thu 10 THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD New London Opera Group (e)
Fri 11
ENGAGED
Alan Borthwick and Friends (e)
PRINCESS IDA The National G&S Opera Company (m&e) Sun 13 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE The National G&S Opera Company (m&e) Mon 14 THE GONDOLIERS Sat 12
HighJinks Opera (e)
Tue 15 IOLANTHE
SavoyNet Performing Group (e)
Wed 16 THE MIKADO
Charles Court Opera (e)
Thu 17 PATIENCE
Bus Pass Opera (e)
Charles Court Opera (e)
& RUDDIGORE (in Catalan)
Sat 5
Ploverleigh Savoy Players (e)
TRIAL BY JURY Egos Theatre (Spain)
THE MIKADO The National G&S Opera Company (m) THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE The National G&S Opera Company (e) Sun 20 PRINCESS IDA The National G&S Opera Company (m) HMS PINAFORE The National G&S Opera Company (e) Sat 19
THE
T H E AT R E
PART OF THE ROYAL HALL COMPLEX
ALL Matinee Performances at 2.30pm except where stated
GILBERT - NO SULLIVAN The Foundry Group Mon 7 THE GONDOLIERS York University G&S Society Tue 8 JILTED & TRIAL BY JURY Sun 6
Wed 9 THE SORCERESS University of Birmingham G&S Society Thu 10 THE MIKADO Southampton University (LOpSoc) Fri 11 “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL” PIRATES OF PENZANCE A.M. Productions Sat 12 HMS PINAFORE Festival Youth Production Sun 13 THE GEISHA Opera Anonymous (2.30pm & 7.30pm) Mon 14 A COMEDY OF ERRORS Matthew Siveter Tue 15 A PAIR OF SPARKLING EYES Nick Sales & Sarah Helsby-Hughes Wed 16 THE SORCERER King’s College, London G&S Society Thu 17 RUDDIGORE Newcastle University G&S Society Fri 18 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Hull University G&S Society Sat 19 WEST END TO BROADWAY Bus Pass Singers & friends (7.30pm)
HOW TO BOOK FOR HARROGATE JOIN OUR GLORIOUS G&S EXTRAVAGANZA PROGRAMME Tickets £18 - £40 (special student discounts) BOOK ONLINE AT www.gsfestivals.org PHONE THE BOX OFFICE at 01422 323 252
THE 2017 OPERA COMPANY TOUR The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company is delivering outstanding Gilbert and Sullivan to theatres up and down the country. In addition to them headlining the Festival in Harrogate you will be able to see them at the following venues. Box Office details are given below: THEATRE ROYAL WINDSOR www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
BUXTON OPERA HOUSE www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
MALVERN THEATRE www.malvern-theatres.co.uk
THEATRE ROYAL BATH www.theatreroyal.org.uk
THEATRE ROYAL NORWICH www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk
TYNE THEATRE & OPERA HOUSE NEWCASTLE www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk
Thursday July 20th - Saturday July 22nd BOX OFFICE: 01753 853888 Tuesday July 25th - Saturday July 29th BOX OFFICE: 01298 72 190 Tuesday August 29th - Saturday September 2nd BOX OFFICE: 01684 892 277 Tuesday September 5th - Saturday September 9th BOX OFFICE: 01225 448844 Thursday September 14th - Saturday September 16th BOX OFFICE: 01603 630000 Thursday September 28th - Saturday September 30th BOX OFFICE: 0844 2491 000