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THE INTERNATIONAL GILBERT & SULLIVAN FESTIVAL
HIGHLIGHTS Why we need your support?
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G&S Opera TV
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Festival Friends
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Join the Cash Bonanza
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G&S Shop
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2021 Festival Programme
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All photos by Jane Stokes
D E A R F E S T I VA L F R I E N D Who could have imagined what a turbulent time was in store for us when we said goodbye at last year’s Festival? It seems like a lifetime ago. Ian Smith’s passing last November was such a sad time for family, friends, and colleagues. His limitless energy, enthusiasm, and sheer willpower is deeply missed and never more so than since we had to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Festival. During those very early days of lockdown, there were just so many “what ifs?” What if we couldn’t find alternative income for the next twelve months? What if we had to cancel our January weekend too? What if….? Those pesky “what ifs” rained thick and fast as we went through every scenario. But, like everyone else trying to run a business in theatre, entertainment, travel, and hospitality, there is no easy solution. We simply have to get through. So, thank you. Thank you to all the members of the Friends of the G&S Festival. Thank you if you were able to donate all or part of your tickets. Thank you if you were able to accept vouchers for next year’s Festival. Thank you, too, for so
many kind and supportive emails. They showed us just how much love and appreciation there is for the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival and just how vital it is that it continues in the years to come. And another round of thanks for your patience as we sort out ticket exchanges and refunds. It has been an unusually lengthy and complicated process. You have our promise that we will work tirelessly to get the Festival and the G&S Opera Company back on the road next summer. Some people have questioned our need for support and suggested we should find a different job until next year. It isn’t quite so simple. You can read about how we bring the Festival to you on page 2. In the meantime, stay healthy and well and we look forward to seeing you as soon as we can! Best wishes
THE FESTIVAL TEAM 1 LOOKING FORWARD
Why we need your support more than ever
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WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT MORE THAN EVER
For the past 26 years, The Gilbert & Sullivan Festival has provided enjoyment, friendship and fun to tens of thousands of people from around the world.
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During that time, it jumped insurmountable hurdles and even had to start almost from scratch when it left Buxton for Harrogate in 2014. But, it has never faced anything quite so sudden and potentially devestating as the present crisis. Unlike the majority of similar events and opera companies, the G&S Festival has never received any public funding and relies on ticket sales and donations to generate the necessary income. Ian and Janet Smith re-mortgaged their home, took out a hefty bank loan and ploughed much of their savings into propping up the Festival when it needed additional funds. Several years ago we started Theatrical Adventures river cruises to help fund the Festival. They have been a massive success. Our bookings in February 2020 were excellent, and we knew we would be able to repay all the Festival debts at the end of the year. Until that is, COVID-19 brought such devastation. We know travel will return, and we know we will be back with happy passengers soon. But, as a result of the cancellation of our March cruise, and having to repatriate many passengers, we will not be able to rely on any funds being available for the Festival in 2020.
YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.GSFESTIVALS.ORG
It is not possible for any company to continue for long without any income, and we are indebted to friends who have been able to donate some or all of their tickets, or exchange for vouchers to use next year. It has been an enormous benefit to our cashflow to enable us to get through this dreadful time. Now we must earn a minimum of £150,000 over the next twelve months to secure the future of the Festival and ensure that we can continue to bring outstanding productions and the very best performers to this unique and quintessentially English event.
There is substantial money already spent that is unrecoverable and there is very little hope that we can plan anything significant in the next few months to help to fill the coffers. The organisation of the G&S Festival is a rolling process, and planning for the following year begins around April or May in the year before the Festival. So, planning (and expenses) for the 2020 Festival started in April 2019 when we set the programme and started to contract the Creative Team - directors, conductors, stage managers, principals etc.
Some people have questioned our need for support. Why do you need to raise money? Why do you need donations? You won’t have to spend anything! Unfortunately, it is not quite so simple.
The Festival employs around 150 people, ranging from the cast, orchestra, creative team, costumes, and scenery designers to caterers, carpet layers, theatre builders and lighting and sound.
The Festival takes months of planning and incurs the same general overheads as any other company. It has set monthly costs – for the website, salaries, software, all manner of things that cannot just be “switched off”.
It is a huge logistical undertaking, particularly when you consider the fact that there will be approximately 2000 performers on the stage in Harrogate and thousands of visitors will pass through the theatre doors.
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The Arts Council We have been singularly unsuccessful at securing public funding during our 26 years. In March we were on the verge of submitting a substantial bid to Arts Council England when all funded projects were cancelled for the foreseeable future. All monies were (rightly) diverted to the COVID-19 Emergency Fund. So that was the end of that! Because the Festival does not get annual funding from Arts Council England (ACE) it is not eligible to access the main emergency support package of £90 million. We appealed, and they told us it was “likely” we could apply to the £50 million pot for organisations outside their annual funding regime. We made our application at the beginning of May (for £30,000) and have just been advised that we were unsuccessful. But, at least we now know where we stand, and that we simply have to raise the necessary funds to keep going ourselves. We are determined to survive this crisis and determined to be back in Buxton and Harrogate with our Festival friends next year.
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YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.GSFESTIVALS.ORG
We bid farewell to... Our dear friend Peter Johnson who passed away peacefully on 4th May 2020 aged 77. Peter was a well known figure to both Festival visitors and performers alike as one of our technicians handling both the Festival Fringe and Festival Club in Buxton and Harrogate for over twenty years. Peter co-founded RPD with Robert Brett, an audio-visual company specialising in sound and light installations and open air productions throughout the UK. He came to his first Festival in 1998 and soon became a critical member of the Festival team along with his wife Dawn and Robert. Peter loved working at the Festival and he made many life-long friends. His gentle good nature and eagerness to help others ensured respect and affection from everyone he met. Our thoughts are with Dawn and the family. We are sorry to announce the passing of another dear friend and Festival volunteer, David Lace, on 27th May – four days shy of his 77th birthday. David was a wellknown figure in Buxton and was involved in the Festival from the beginning in 1994 when he was awarded the Best Male Voice award. He continued to work with the Festival in Buxton for twenty years. David was an accountant although his main passion was always singing. He was a founder member of The Savoyards Appreciation Society (West Yorkshire) and along with Ian Smith they performed G&S around the world. He was also a prominent member of the West Riding Opera Group (Leeds) and Bradford Opera Group where he performed most of the tenor leads. He was one of the nicest, kindest people the Festival has known and we know many of our readers will be as sad as we are to hear of his passing.
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Our new streaming service - gsopera.tv We are delighted to present our new streaming service - G&S Opera TV. Your one-stop-shop for the very best Gilbert & Sullivan available on the web. This new streaming service is just the ticket for a great night in, with a fabulous selection of entertainment available on demand. We have included some of our favourite productions in our initial launch, with plenty more to come over the next few weeks. You can watch G&S Opera TV on all internetconnected devices – laptops, PCs, tablets, smartphones and smart TVs. Not only do we have high definition productions filmed over the last couple of years, but we are also digitallyremastering our archive material. Step back in time and enjoy fantastic performances from the early days of the Festival – just as if you were right there in Buxton Opera House.
How it works
We have designed G&S Opera TV to put YOU in control. With no subscription and no recurring fees – you can choose what you want, watch it where you want and own it forever. Your purchases are stored in your account that you can access from any internet-connected device, anywhere in the world. We have free content to watch too, and more will be available soon.
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We are also planning webinars and podcasts with G&S experts and stars. Too much happiness!
What have been the favourites so far? 1st Place: 2nd Place: 3rd Place: 4th Place:
The Semi-Staged Yeomen of the Guard, Original D’Oyly Carte Stars – 1994 The Gondoliers, NGSOC – 2019 The Pirates of Penzance, NGSOC – 2019 Princess Ida, NGSOC – 2009
How to get watching
If you haven’t made a purchase yet, you do not need to set up an account until you are ready to do so. Visit www.gsopera.tv. In the “All Our Shows” section of the website, you can browse the available productions. Once you find what you are looking for, click on that production and select “Get Access Now”. You will then follow the prompts to set up your account and complete your purchase. Your production will then automatically load for you to enjoy! You can sign back into your account at any time by clicking the “Existing users sign in here” button on the top right, from any internet-connected device to continue watching (or re-watch!) your purchased productions. If you need any help or would like us to set up an account for you, please email oliver@gsfestivals.org
So go and grab the best seat in your house, tune in, and escape into the wonderful world of Gilbert & Sullivan! www.gsopera.tv
I N STA N T M E R R I M E N T
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The Bookshelf Now that we are, for the most part, confined to our homes, this is the perfect opportunity to grab a new book, comfortable chair, and enjoy a jolly good read. Here are two excellent books we love right now.
Wild Card
Martin Milnes A very enjoyable read indeed. Festivalgoers will remember Martin from Buxton between 2008 and 2013. Having first sung his falsetto “Poor Wand’ring One” in the Festival Club, his one-man show The Falsetto Sings Gilbert & Sullivan sold out four years running in Buxton. A regular with the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, he played ‘Sir Bailey Barre’ in our classic production of Utopia Limited. Martin’s memoir Wild Card rib-ticklingly combines untold stories of Golden Era Broadway and Hollywood with a powerful story of a search for identity. But for G&S fans, there’s joy unbounded … all the chapters are named from G&S quotes, with several sections of the book celebrating the International G&S Festival. And G&S dialogue is interwoven into the narrative for eagle-eyed Savoyards to spot! Wild Card is available on Amazon as a paperback, e-book and audiobook (narrated – and sung! – by Martin). “Nothing could possibly be more satisfactory!” RRP: £10.99 8 LOOKING FORWARD
F O R MO RE MUS I CA L COL L E C TA B L ES VISIT WWW. GS F EST I VA LS . ORG/S H OP
Cookery à La Carte
David Steadman and Melvyn Tarran This is a fabulous tome simply bursting with gossipy snippets and stories, fantastic photographs and a plethora of intriguing information, anecdotes and biographies of members of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. And it’s choc-a-bloc with some great recipes from these giants of G&S. But it is a cookbook like no other and with over 100 unique recipes and many rare and neverseen-before photos, is a must-have for all Gilbert & Sullivan lovers. I am particularly drawn to the cocktail section – no surprise there – and my word they really did enjoy their tipples. Here is Darrell Fancourt’s “Silver Streak” Cocktail - guaranteed to put a spring in your step!
Ingredients
- Three equal parts of gin - lemon juice - Cointreau - a dash of absinthe. Born in London in 1886, Darrell Fancourt joined the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1920, giving over 10,000 performances, including his trademark role – The Mikado, for which he invented a blood-curdling laugh in preference to the original choreography. Cookery à la Carte is a unique, fascinating and celebratory book. I love it! Cost: £25. Available from www.gsfestivals.org/shop or by phone 01422 323252 9 LOOKING FORWARD
Friends of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival To those of you who are already Friends - we cannot thank you enough. Your support is crucial to the continuation and success of the Festival, and it is only through your generosity that we can plan for the future with confidence. If you are not already a member, please consider joining today and become part of the G&S family. You will get some great rewards, including access to the priority booking in November, and you can join from as little as £35 per year. Join online at www.gsfestivals.org, call: 01422 323252 or complete the enclosed booking form. Your support is vital for the Festival’s future.
Meet your Board of Trustees
The Friends of the G&S Festival charity has a Board of seven elected Trustees – Philip Barton, Heather Fitzgerald, Bernard Lockett, Susan Smethurst, Gert Venghaus. Neil Smith and Janet Smith represent the Festival. We benefit enormously from their wide range of skills and knowledge, and their support has been crucial in the past weeks. If there are any questions that you would like to raise at our next “virtual meeting” please do not hesitate to email janet@gsfestivals.org. We will find the answer! We will be sorting out how to host our annual AGM in the coming weeks. 10 LOOKING FORWARD
Heather Fitzgerald
I was born into a family completely lacking in any music, but university boyfriend, later husband, had been in G&S productions since schooldays. Running a business, it wasn’t so easy to get time off for the Buxton/Harrogate Festivals, but we eventually had four days there a few years ago. Decided to go back the following year for two weeks, thinking we would maybe have some sightseeing days, visit York or whatever, but on the second morning I was approached by Ian and asked whether I could sew.... And as they say, the rest is history.
Bernard Lockett
G&S has always been part of my life, having been brought up in a G&S mad family in post-war London and with my grandmother telling me how she as a child was taken to the original run of “Utopia Limited” in 1893 (her own parents had seen many of the original shows too). My enjoyment lasted over the years, although I never had any wish to perform myself. It was great to attend my first G&S Festival in 2007 and to be immersed in it ever since. For enthusiasts or simply lovers of musical theatre, our Festival is key to keeping the heritage and legacy of G&S alive and relevant to today’s audiences – and it’s a happy place to be too!
Susan Smethurst
My love of Gilbert and Sullivan started when I heard a group singing ‘Regular Royal Queen’ at a church concert. I joined Dagger Lane Operatic Society in Hull in 1986, and The Sorcerer was my first show. I was hooked! At the second G&S Festival, we were invited to perform The Chieftain in Buxton Opera House. We came almost every year from then on, bought a caravan so that we could come for three weeks, made lifelong friends, and some years attended every show! After many years of enjoying the Festival, volunteering led me into the costume department. I love this Festival and want it to continue for many years! 11 J O IN BY PH ON E 0 1 42 2 32 3 2 52
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Gert Venghaus
Having grown up on the Continent, I only learned about the G&S Festival in 2004, and it has been a life-transforming experience. After attending for three years, I started volunteering, and this has involved working backstage, assisting our fantastic singers and actors, setting up, front-of-house and much more and recently the honour and privilege of being a trustee. The Festival is an annual opportunity to meet a wonderful family of G&S enthusiasts from around the world. Anyone who cherishes such an experience would be well advised to become a member of the Association and enjoy the multitude of benefits, ranging from exclusive ticket sales to an incredible and most enjoyable atmosphere at the Festival.
Philip Barton
One of my earliest memories was aged 4 being taken by mother to see The Mikado (with Martin Green and Donald Adams) at Bristol Hippodrome. Having been in G&S productions at school and college, I have now performed on stage in all 14 in Stamford, Camberley and, when working in the USA, Ridgewood NJ. I was first introduced to the Festival in 1998 when Camberley’s Savoy Singers first visited and have been in every Savoynet production since 2000. I am currently production manager and treasurer of this international group and have been a trustee of the Association since 2013. Although we moved to Buxton in 2012 just prior to my retirement, this was primarily as a result of my daughter and grandchildren’s move to the High Peak a few years earlier. As a director of Vision Buxton and treasurer of the Town Team, I continue to promote the Festival’s presence in Buxton and look forward to the time when it will be fully operational in both venues.
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JO IN O NL INE AT WWW.GSFESTIVA LS. O RG/ BE -A-F RIE N D
GET READY FOR THE THEATRICAL ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME! NO SIT DEPO D! IRE REQU
Join us on Portugal’s beautiful River Douro 9-16 November 2020. When the sun catches the water, the river does indeed gleam like gold! Reserve your cabin now with no deposit. Call Oliver on 01422 323252 Cabins from for more information. £1650 NO SIT DEPO D! IRE REQU
Sail from Vienna down the magical, musical River Danube 8-15 November 2020. And we’re taking our own orchestra and renowned soloists! Reserve your cabin now with no deposit. Call Oliver on 01422 323252 Cabins from for more information. £1400
Giant Cash Bonanza
Gilbert & Sullivan
Pop the champagne! Many congratulations to our G&S Festival supporter who won £1000 in the weekly Cash Bonanza Lottery on May 1st. Fantastic. We are delighted! You can win too for only £2 per week! The lottery was created in 2002 to help raise funds for charities and good causes across the country. In 2018/19, it raised a staggering £88,000 for Buxton Opera House, and we can do the same for the Festival too. All subscriptions paid by you will be donated exclusively to the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival after deduction of money for prizes and reasonable expenses of administering the lottery. Membership fees Monthly £8.67 Quarterly £26 Six monthly £52 Annually £104 For just £2 a week, you will be entered into the weekly, monthly, and annual prize draws. Ten unique numbers will go into the weekly draw, and two unique numbers will go into the special monthly draws (these are only for supporters of the G&S Festival), and the annual £10,000 jackpot draw. How to Join Sign up online today at: www.giantcashbonanza.online/gsfestival/ and click on the ‘Join’ tab. You can also complete and return the enclosed form to: Freepost, GIANT CASH BONANZA For more information please email: admincashbonanzaclub.co.uk or call: 01484 484130.
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What can you win? Weekly Cash Prize Draw For supporters of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival and the supporters of other beneficiaries 1 x cash prize £1,000 1 x cash prize £100 4 x cash prizes £50 4 x cash prizes £25 20 x cash prizes £10 Monthly Prize Draw Only for supporters of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival G&S Opera TV - 1 free film to watch online at gsopera.tv - Up to £16.99 DVD Box Set – The Historic Collection – Value £63.00 G&S Sweatshirt – Value £25 £50 Gift voucher (G&S Festival tickets) £20 Gift voucher (G&S Festival tickets) £10 Gift voucher (G&S Festival tickets) One annual membership of the Friends of the G&S Festival Benefactor level – Value £100
Annual Prize Draw For supporters of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival and supporters of other beneficiaries 1 x jackpot prize £10,000 10 x cash prizes £500 Special Prize Draws For supporters of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival only £200 Gift voucher for the G&S Opera TV Streaming Service. This draw will be made at the end of November 2020. European River Cruise for two with fabulous G&S entertainment all the way. Twin cabin – minimum value: £3100. The cruise will sail in November 2021. All meals, excursions and tips are included. Flights and transfers to and from the airport and boat are not included. No cash alternative is available and this prize is not transferable to another person. The draw will be made at the end of July 2021.
Make sure you’re in it to win it! 15 LOOKING FORWARD
10 G&S Reasons to be CHEERFUL ! 1. How beautifully blue the sky, The glass is rising very high
The weather has been gorgeous, and let’s hope it stays like this. The sun has certainly had his hat on recently, and there is no better place on earth than the UK in summer in the sunshine!
2. Oh, isn’t your life extremely flat With nothing whatever to grumble at!
You can send a grumpy email to the G&S Festival team to complain about, well anything to be honest! We have broad shoulders, and we have received some crackers in the last month. We promise we didn’t want to cancel the Festival and the pandemic wasn’t our fault either! You know who you are………..
3. In the dusk with light behind her (or him) She (or he) could pass for fortythree
You don’t need to do your hair, make-up or nails. You can wear joggers and a baggy jumper all day. And it doesn’t matter a jot!
4. And so thou wouldst be a jester eh?
Two hundred people are on their way back from Europe on an emergency corona flight. The captain’s voice comes over the tannoy “ladies and gentlemen; the aircraft has now reached its cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. Relax and enjoy the journey. By the way, I’m working from home”.
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5. Pour, oh, pour the pirate sherry
Well no-one can see you staggering around the house. Doesn’t matter how much you pour really. Go on Frederic, top it up, we’ll think about dinner later!
6. Life’s a pudding full od pluds
Oops. Too much sherry! Have to mith thish wun I’m afraidn…
7. Oh, why am I moody and sad?
Er… because you haven’t been out of the house for three months?
8. Stouter than I used to be, Still more corpulent grow IThere will be too much of me, In the coming by and by
They say that the average Brit is piling on the pounds during lockdown. But you are one of the lucky ones who can follow Judy Savournin’s “Get Fit with G&S”. This has probably been our most-watched DVD in the past couple of months, and you can see it now at gsopera.tv!
9. And everyone will say, As you walk your flowery way
Capt Tom Moore is a remarkable man. This inspirational veteran raised a staggering £32,795,065 for the NHS by walking around his garden. What a fantastic achievement. Just a pity he wasn’t a member of the “Friends of the G&S Festival”! Joke!! See number 2 – no emails PLEASE!
10. Where a will is, there’s a way It will all end one day. We will all meet again. And the 2021 Festival will happen. Until then, just keep singing glorious Gilbert & Sullivan!
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Looking forward to 2021 . Our fingers are firmly crossed! We are looking to arrange all manner of exciting events following the “closure” of 2020!
New Year Weekend
We have reserved The Royal Hall and the Crown Hotel in Harrogate for a fabulous three-day weekend break with an outstanding programme of entertainment (January 2nd-5th). What a treat we have in store! Saturday 2nd January 2021
The weekend begins with a reception in the Crown Hotel where we will toast a new and very much better year ahead! Then, over to the Royal Hall for our spectacular New Year Gala Concert performed by the National Festival Orchestra and our superb professional singers.
Sunday 3rd January 2021
On Sunday there will be a morning talk followed by two professional Gilbert & Sullivan productions performed by the much-loved Charles Court Opera.
Monday 4th January 2021
There will be time to hit the New Year sales before our fabulous evening finale – Together Again – with stars and chorus members from the National G&S Opera Company, accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra. We can’t wait! 18 LOOKING FORWARD
F O R MO RE IN F O RMAT I ON E M A I L O LIVE R@ GSF ESTIVA LS . ORG
G&S May Weekend 7 - 9 May 2021
Our G&S weekends in May are always popular, and for 2021 we thought we would repeat our most successful trip ever and return to the beautiful English Riviera. We hope you will be able to join us. Our destination is Torquay, and one of the star attractions will be a visit Coleton Fishacre, the country home of the D’Oyly Carte family. Our home for the weekend will be the impressive Imperial Hotel, worldrenowned for its customer care and service and our visitors absolutely loved it when we stayed there in 2016. We are putting together a superb programme including G&S entertainment, talks and outings. Full information will be available soon. We look forward to seeing you there for fresh sea air, sunshine and a jolly good time! 19 LOOKING FORWARD
We might have had to cancel the Festival this summer, but you can bring it home with our fantastic range of DVDs! Unless stated, DVDs are available in PAL (for the UK and Australia) and NTSC (North America) formats. National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company - 2019 Season Performed by the acclaimed NGSOC and accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra 4 DVD Box set save £20! Show Name
Order Ref
The Pirates of Penzance POP19 The Mikado MIK19
The Yeomen of the Guard
YOG19
The Gondoliers GON19 Single purchase of any of the above is £19.99 or buy our special box set of all four DVDs for just £59.99 (order Ref: OC19) and save almost £20.
Cards Here are two new sets of cards designed exclusively for Musical Collectables. Each set has three envelopes and one of each design. Size is A5 - £4.99 per set or buy any 2 for £8.50 BLANK INSIDE SET 1 SET 2 Order Ref: CHA/CRD Order Ref: CHA/CRD
ail the ocea We s n blu e
beautifully blue the sk y How
et little b u tte r c u p Swe
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FO R MO RE PRO DU C TS VISIT WWW.GSFESTIVA LS. O RG/SHO P YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.GSFESTIVALS.ORG
The Big Box Set
With productions from the early years of our National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company archive, we are delighted to present this 12-disc, 13-show box set – covering the entire G&S canon. All filmed in Buxton Opera House. Full cast lists are available to view online at www.gsfestivals.org/shop £150 (save over £80!) – Order Ref BBS/01 Individual films: £19.99 Name Year Order Ref: The Pirates of Penzance & Cox & Box 2001 POP01 The Mikado 2001 MIK01 Princess Ida 2009 PRIN01 The Sorcerer 2005 SOR01 HMS Pinafore & Trial by Jury 2009 HMS/CB Patience 2008 PAT08 Utopia Limited 2011 UTO11 The Grand Duke 2012 TGD12 The Gondoliers 2012 GON12 Ruddigore 2004 RUD04 The Yeomen of the Guard 2011 YOG11 Iolanthe 2008 IOL08
DVDs The Story of Gilbert & Sullivan (available in PAL and NTSC) £15.00 Order Ref: SGS/53 - All-time favourite from 1953 starring Robert Morley and Peter Finch with appearances from Thomas Round and Martin Green.
The Yeomen of the Guard – 1994 Cost: £19.99 Order Ref: YOG94 Join former members of the D’Oyly Carte for this delightful, semi-staged production of The Yeomen of the Guard. Filmed in Buxton Opera House.
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The Gilbert & Sullivan For All Collection £40 Order Ref: GSFA01 Produced in the late 1970s, this range of films star Valerie Masterson, Donald Adams and Thomas Round. Eight of the operas are featured in an abridged form (approx. 45 minutes each) including an introduction by Thomas Round. Each DVD features two productions. HMS Pinafore & The Gondoliers, The Mikado & Trial by Jury, The Yeomen of the Guard & The Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe & Ruddigore.
G&S Festival Historic Collection 4 DVD Box Set Available in PAL Format only £59.99 Order Ref: HIS/001
To Wear
1. The Echoes of the Festival Principals from the D’Oyly Carte star in 2. Cox & Box and Trial by Jury 3. The Sorcerer - 1996 4. Ruddigore - 1996
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Polo T-Shirt Black and gold crest Sky blue and navy crest Navy and red crest S,M,L,XL,XXL £19.99 FO R MO RE PRO DU C TS VISIT WWW.GSFESTIVA LS. O RG/SHO P
Sweatshirt £24.99 S,M,L,XL,XXL
The Mikado – D’Oyly Carte Opera Company (only available in PAL format) £19.99 Order Ref: DOC/MIK The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in a 1960s production with Donald Adams, John Reed, Kenneth Sandford, Valerie Masterson, Philip Potter and Christene Palmer.
Get in Shape with G&S (only available in PAL) Judy Savournin’s Get Fit sessions on the Buxton bandstand are legendary and we all had tremendous fun working out - to the amazement of passersby! Filmed at the Old Vicarage in Halifax, this is the ideal way to warm up those muscles. £8.99
The Magic of Gilbert & Sullivan - Their Life and Times £19.99 Order Ref: MGS/BK This unique book includes 19 presentations from the 2018 Festival “Magic of G&S” conference.
CDs We have a wide range of CDs also available to download at www.gsfestivals.org/shop
John Reed’s Patter Songs CD A delight! Also available to download at www.gsfestivals.org/shop £7.99 Order Ref: JR/CD
The Story of Gilbert & Sullivan CD Starring Donald Adams as W S Gilbert & Thomas Round as Sir Arthur Sullivan. Also available to download at www.gsfestivals.org/shop £7.99 Order Ref: STG/CD
BOOKS
They’d none of ‘em be missed – Richard Suart and A S H Smyth £10.00 Order Ref: TNM/RS Richard Suart, our leading contemporary exponent of the G&S patter roles reveals himself to be a consummate parodist, worthy of the master. Relive the celebrities and scandals of the last 25 years with this wonderful collection of re-workings of the Little List song from The Mikado. A source of innocent merriment, indeed!
F O R MO RE MUSICA L COL L E C TA B L ES VISIT WWW. GSF EST I VA LS . ORG/S H OP
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The 27TH International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival 2021
BUXTON OPERA HOUSE 31 JULY - 7 AUGUST ROYAL HALL, HARROGATE 8 AUGUST - 22 AUGUST
We are delighted to announce the 2021 programme for Buxton Opera House and the Royal Hall, Harrogate. It is almost the same as the one planned for this summer with just a couple of alterations. We welcome Brussels Light Opera Company who will join us on the 12th August with the Pirates of Penzance. If you have not sorted out the tickets you purchased for this year’s Festival and simply want to transfer them to 2021 please email oliver@gsfestivals.org.
Buxton Opera House Matinee (2.30pm) Evening (7.30pm)
Group
31-Jul The Mikado The Mikado
NGSOC
01-Aug Pirates of Penzance Pirates of Penzance
NGSOC
02-Aug Patience
NGSOC
03-Aug The Gondoliers
Trent Opera
04-Aug HMS Pinafore Pirates of Penzance
NGSOC
05-Aug Patience
NGSOC
06-Aug HMS Pinafore
NGSOC
07-Aug Ruddigore Iolanthe Charles Court Opera
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The Royal Hall, Harrogate Matinee (2.30pm)
Evening (7.30pm)
Group
08-Aug The Mikado
HMS Pinafore
NGSOC
09-Aug
Iolanthe Peak Opera
10-Aug
The Gondoliers
Trent Opera
11-Aug Iolanthe
Ruddigore
Charles Court Opera
12-Aug Pirates of Penzance Brussels Light Opera Company 13-Aug
The Yeomen of the Guard Forbear! Theatre
14-Aug Patience
The Mikado
NGSOC
15-Aug Pirates of Penzance HMS Pinafore
NGSOC
16-Aug Ruddigore Abbots Langley G&S Society 17-Aug The Mikado Ploverleigh Savoy Players 18-Aug Patience
Pirates of Penzance
NGSOC
19-Aug Grand Duke SavoyNet Performing Group 20-Aug
Princess Ida
Buss Pass Opera
21-Aug HMS Pinafore Patience NGSOC 22-Aug The Mikado
Pirates of Penzance
NGSOC
Accommodation Packages Our accommodation packages for 2021 will be available soon. If you have booked a package for 2020 and simply want to re-book for 2021, please email oliver@gsfestivals.org to guarantee no price increase. 25 LOOKING FORWARD
New Webinar Series COMING SOON! Find out more about your favourite operas with our fantastic new “Getting to Know…” webinar series starting on G&S Opera TV soon. Stephen Turnbull - Festival favourite, G&S expert extraordinaire and Secretary of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society will present our very first series, and we can’t wait! Stephen is a regular (and one of our most popular) lecturers at the morning fringe events at the Festival, and we are thrilled that he is working with us on our first range of educational webinars. Stephen has a treasure chest of fascinating information about the operas and will include rare musical illustrations and lots of captivating snippets. The series will start at the end of June, and details will be posted on social media and circulated to our email list. If you want to make sure you receive full information, please email oliver@gsfestivals.org Stephen will kick off the series with the “fab four” – HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, Patience and The Mikado so make sure you tune in.
New Downloads!
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You can now download G&S Opera Company and D’Oyly Carte soundtracks straight to your computer. Just go to gsfestivals.org/shop to find out more. YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.GSFESTIVALS.ORG
The Moselle
17 - 24 March 2021 The Moselle was new to us in 2019 and it turned out to be one of the best rivers we’ve ever sailed. Magnificent scenery, steep vine-filled banks, picturesque towns and a fascinating history. And of course our unique brand of musical entertainment for which we’ve become famous. We had no hesitation in offering a repeat visit next year on The Elegant Lady which starts and ends in Cologne. We will visit Koblenz, Cochem, Trier, Remich, Bernkastel and Rudesheim. Reserve your cabin now with no deposit. Call Oliver on 01422 323252 for more information. www.theatricaladventures.com
NO DEPO REQU SIT IRED !
A Point of View Janet Smith It is tough to go cap in hand to your customers and ask them to donate their hard-earned cash to an event that is staged once a year for around three weeks. I have always felt uncomfortable asking for donations for the Festival, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why we have never really, as an arts organisation, managed to reach our true potential in this area. We have tried, over the years, to launch this fund-raising campaign or that fund-raising campaign, but they never really worked and to be honest, we never followed them through. Usually, they had a bit of a John Wellington Wells flourish and fizzled out. Looking back, I don’t think our hearts were ever really in the “please sir, can I have some more” camp. We preferred to make money for the Festival by selling more tickets or selling more cabins on a cruise or organising a weekend away. That way, at least, we felt we had earned it. And if things got genuinely terrible, my (muchmissed and in the scheme of things, probably quite mad!) late husband Ian, would just reach into our savings and top the coffers up, until that particular river ran a tad dry!
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COVID-19 took the world by surprise. It was sudden, unexpected and devastating. But to go from having two successful, healthy and viable companies to almost total annihilation in the space of a week does focus the mind and cause a certain amount of serious questioning. And
there is no certain future. That is probably what makes it all so tricky. No amount of planning or great event ideas will do it. Because we can’t stage them. Simple. In our lives before the Festival, Ian, Neil and I worked in the business to business sector, organising conferences, exhibitions, running trade associations and publishing technical magazines - a very different animal to an arts organisation. We had to balance the books. Or we would go bust. Maybe this is why I find it hard to understand why so many opera companies, festivals and other arts-related organisations can ONLY survive with regular hand-outs of eye-watering amounts of public funding. If the funding dried up, then so would they. Do some of them really and truly need to receive so much, or could it be shared around a little more fairly and a few disproportionate budgets considerably tightened in the process. There is no doubt in my mind that Arts Council England (ACE) needs a thorough overhaul. It reminds me of an old “boys” club. If you’re in, you’re in, but if you’re out, your nose is forever pressed against the window, staring at the sweeties and just wishing! I listened to the CEO of the magnificent Globe Theatre, on the verge of bankruptcy, but unable to access ACE funding because, just like the G&S Festival, they had
managed to get along without public subsidy in the past. The COVID-19 crisis should surely have made an organisation such as ACE stop in its tracks and look to change the “rules”. The Gilbert & Sullivan Festival has an outstanding track record of delivery and has managed to take place come “hell or high water” every year since 1994. The Globe Theatre is a shining example of a viable and fantastic cultural asset. Surely something somewhere needs to change before England loses some of its outstanding lifeenhancing gems forever. There is no immediate magic potion. No fairy queen is going to wave her magic wand and make everything okay again. However, we have to keep the Festival afloat over the next twelve months. There are many ways you can help us, and benefit too. Join the Cash Bonanza Lottery - the odds and the prizes are fantastic! Join the “Friends of the Festival”. Sign up to G&S Opera TV. Buy our fantastic DVDs and other products. And in the meantime, we can only hope against hope that life settles down soon and we can all have the happy ending that would do W S Gilbert proud. The comments above are personal and are not representative of the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival
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e m i t g n i r Sp Paris
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NO DEPO REQU SIT IRED !
25th - 31st March 2021
Imagine….. Paris in the Spring! Imagine…… cruising leisurely down the beautiful River Seine! Our first cruise through France promises something for everyone: history, culture, wine and of course our unique musical programme that makes Theatrical Adventures so very different. Our home is the five star MS Seine Princess which will be moored next to the Eiffel Tower and allow us to explore Paris for two days before setting off for four nights cruising the Seine. We will visit the Chateau Martainville (Les Andelys), Hornfleur, and Rouen. Parisian trips will include the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre. Springtime in Paris – with friends, music and wine - what a delight!
Reserve your cabin now with no deposit. Call Oliver on 01422 323252 for more information. www.theatricaladventures.com