Austin
Gilbert & Sullivan audiences were thrilled
by the magical Summer 2010 Grand Production of The
Yeomen of the Guard -
with nine performances by a sparkling cast
and orchestra, June 10-20.
Produced by the Society only
once before in its history in 1997, this richly textured
show captivated all with
its magnificent score, rousing choruses, colorful pageantry,
and topsy-turvy humor.
Artistic Director Ralph
MacPhail, Jr. and Musical Director Jeffrey Jones-Ragona
presented an unforgettable Gilbert & Sullivan classic,
with an ever-changing emotional balance of joy and
despair, humor and pathos.
Performances were held at the Travis High School Performing
Arts Center.
The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of
Austin thanks all the performers, the Gillman Light
Opera Orchestra, sponsors, volunteers, Society
members, and enthusiastic audiences for making this
year's show such a joy.
Both Gilbert & Sullivan considered The Yeomen
of the Guard to be their favorite collaboration.
The
Yeomen opened October 3, 1888, at the Savoy Theatre
and ran for 423 performances. Possibly the most daring
of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, Yeomen ends
with at least two reluctant engagements, rather than
the usual armful of marriages.
2010
B. Iden Payne Awards Congratulations
to Michelle Haché for winning the B. Iden Payne award
for Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre for her performance
as Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard. Other
nominations from Yeomen included;
Outstanding Production of Music Theatre -The Yeomen of
the Guard, Outstanding
Director of Music Theatre -
Ralph MacPhail, Jr., Outstanding Music Director -
Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theatre -
Holton Johnson as Colonel Fairfax, Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre
- Patricia Combs as Phoebe Meryll, and Outstanding Featured
Actor in Music Theatre -
David Fontenot as Wilfred Shadbolt.
Click here for a complete
list of winners Click
here for more about the awards & list of nominees
SYNOPSIS The setting of Yeomen is laid in the Tower of London in Shakespearean
times. The plot concerns Colonel Fairfax, a gentleman, soldier and scientist,
who has been sentenced to be beheaded in an hour on a false charge of sorcery.
To avoid leaving his estate to his accuser (a cousin), and with the help of the
Lieutenant of the Tower, Fairfax secretly marries Elsie Maynard, a strolling
singer.
The bride agrees to be blindfolded during the ceremony and expects to be
a well-paid widow in an hour. With the help of the Meryll family, Fairfax
escapes, throwing
the Tower into confusion and the astonished Elsie (and her mentor, the jester
Jack Point, who loves her) into despair.
But Fairfax, disguised as Leonard
Meryll, woos Elsie, and after a number of plot complications are worked out,
she falls
in love with Fairfax and leaves Jack Point broken-hearted.
Austin
Gilbert & Sullivan audiences were thrilled
by the magical Summer 2010 Grand Production of The
Yeomen of the Guard -
with nine performances by a sparkling cast
and orchestra, June 10-20.
Artistic Director Ralph
MacPhail, Jr. and Musical Director Jeffrey Jones-Ragona
presented an unforgettable Gilbert & Sullivan classic,
with an ever-changing emotional balance of joy and
despair, humor and pathos. 
The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of
Austin thanks all the performers, the Gillman Light
Opera Orchestra, sponsors, volunteers, Society
members, and enthusiastic audiences for making this
year's show such a joy.
The
Yeomen opened October 3, 1888, at the Savoy Theatre
and ran for 423 performances. Possibly the most daring
of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, Yeomen ends
with at least two reluctant engagements, rather than
the usual armful of marriages. 
Congratulations
to Michelle Haché for winning the B. Iden Payne award
for Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre for her performance
as Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard. Other
nominations from Yeomen included;
Outstanding Production of Music Theatre -The Yeomen of
the Guard, Outstanding
Director of Music Theatre -
Ralph MacPhail, Jr., Outstanding Music Director -
Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theatre -
Holton Johnson as Colonel Fairfax, Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre
- Patricia Combs as Phoebe Meryll, and Outstanding Featured
Actor in Music Theatre -
David Fontenot as Wilfred Shadbolt.
The setting of Yeomen is laid in the Tower of London in Shakespearean
times. The plot concerns Colonel Fairfax, a gentleman, soldier and scientist,
who has been sentenced to be beheaded in an hour on a false charge of sorcery.
To avoid leaving his estate to his accuser (a cousin), and with the help of the
Lieutenant of the Tower, Fairfax secretly marries Elsie Maynard, a strolling
singer.
But Fairfax, disguised as Leonard
Meryll, woos Elsie, and after a number of plot complications are worked out,
she falls
in love with Fairfax and leaves Jack Point broken-hearted.
