#gilbert-and-sullivan

#gilbert-and-sullivan

Although the works of Gilbert and Sullivan have gained a reputation for being chummy, collegiate and a little pompous, For He is an Englishman is in fact a bitingly satirical piece of faux-patriotism. Although it sounds like something to be bellowed by tipsy Last Night of the Proms poshos, the song speaks to the kind of blind nationalism that bases exceptionalism purely on the location of one's birth.

When I was at prep school in the 1960s, a series of old military buffers came to give a lecture to my motley group of school friends about how we were predestined to run the British Empire; this was always an unlikely prospect since our colonial cousins were jumping ship at an alarming speed. Part of this imperial training process involved putting us young boys in dresses and bonnets and full stage slap to perform Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

No, that isn't the wrong clip. It really is the opening salvo of Sir Arthur Sullivan's overture to Yeoman of the Guard or, The Merryman and His Maid. Fifteen-ish bars from an atypical full-bodied overture that leads to a grand Sullivan musical score unlike any in previous operettas. In fact, nothing is what you might expect. What you will enjoy is the same brilliant Sir William S. Gilbert wordsmithing spewing forth complicated adventures of conniving and flawed, confused and wacky, love-sick and needy humans;

The exclamation mark in 'The Penzance Musical' reveals its attempt to be a lively, comedic adaptation, often sacrificing nuance for broad humor and spectacle.