Review of “Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress”

 

The Cast of Utopia, Limited" Credit: Courtesy Photo

          T’would be a regret if Pittsburgh’s long-lived Gilbert & Sullivan troupe, the Pittsburgh Savoyards, didn’t perform all 14 works of operetta’s most renowned musical duo.

Now, included in its 88^th season (speak of longevity), the Savoyards are presenting “Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress” at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie.

According to house manager Lara Rogers, this latest offering is only the second time the Savoyards have brought Utopia to the stage, the last being 12 years ago.

Several factors have made Utopia a rarity, the first being it’s expensive to produce with its call of two sets of costumes, one for everyday folk and another for a more formal setting. The plot is somewhat intricate, some of the issues arcane, plus it calls for a large cast.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the orchestral accompaniment under the baton of music director, Guy Russo, seems to get better at each of my subsequent sittings. The overture was bright and sprightly, opening the way for the satirical comedy that G&S are so famous for. This time the duo skewers imperialism and English institutions, customs and social mores.

The narrative takes place on a fictitious island (director Robert Hockenberry chose Atlantis as a reference). Judging from the palm trees set against a soft pastel atmosphere with predominately pinkish hues, Utopia is at least semi-tropical.

A cursory count of heads at the beginning of the musical totaled twenty-one singers/actors on stage as Phylla, a Utopian maiden (Brienne Sharo) and company sing “In lazy languor motionless,” a tune you’d expect on a tropical or near tropical island.

Alex Polichiccio as Phobos, Logan Newman as Paramount and Sean Lenhart as Leander 

The island’s form of government is not as sunny and comfortable as its weather. It has a king, an autocrat named Paramount (Corey Nile Wingard) who’s power is limited by two Judges of the Supreme Court Leander (Sean Lenhart) and Phobus (Alex Polichiccio). When they suspect mischief-making of the part of the king, they have the ability to order Thanatos, the public exploder (Eric Schaffer) to blow the king to bits with dynamite. It’s a unique form of government, indeed.

The king is an obvious Anglophile. He sent his daughter, Princess Zara (Alessandra Gabbianelli) to England’s Girton College in the hope that she will assist him in his plan to improve his country in the ways of civility and sophistication.

When Zara returns home, she’s accompanied by an English entourage of six men (The Flowers of Progress), including her secret romance, Captain Fitzbattleaxe (Zhen Yu Ding). The two actors have two of the production’s finest voices and are especially radiant in the lively ditty “Oh, Admirable Art” and “Words of Love Too Loudly Spoken.”

The king, too, has his amorous connection, this time directed to Lady Sophy, an English governess, (Bridget Johnston), who gets my vote for some of the evening’s best characterizations. All prim and proper, she’s bothered when she reads in the kingdom’s newspaper, “The Palace Peeper,” gossip of the king’s misadventures.

As “modernization” takes place and the kingdom tries to become a facsimile of England, the island adopts one of that country’s latest laws, the Companies Act of 1862, and becomes a “limited liability corporation.” Even the citizens become such entities and are content with the customs and ways of the mother country. As a result, the King and Flowers of Progress burst into song “Society Has Quite Forsaken All Her Wicked Ways,” which involves some closely synchronized work on tambourines as part of the performance.

The King and Flowers of Progress Credit: Courtesy Photo

The only ones that seem disaffected are Leander and Phobos, who point out the flaws inherent in the new system and start plotting with the Public Exploder to overthrow the recent changes.

If you’re looking for a patter song in the libretto, Utopia doesn’t have one in the usual G&S sense. Rather it includes multiple songs done in the patter style. These include "In every mental lore," sung by Leander an Phobos, "Let all your doubts take wing,"(Leander and Phobos again) and "It's understood, I think” (Zara, Fitzbattleaxe, Leander and Phobos).

It would be an oversight not to mention the king’s two younger daughters, Theta (Kathleen Carney) and Leta (Erin McElhenny), two peas in a pod sartorially speaking who add comic touches to the overall dramatic canvas. Then there’s Lord Dramaleigh (Will Benedum), Sir Bailey Barre (Cecil Treleven), Mr. Blushington (Chris Bartko) and Captain Corcoran (Dan Gudenburr) with their skill at creating distinct characters.

When the people eventually call for the reversal of the recently enacted changes, it’s Zara who comes up with a solution, ironically by invoking an element taken directly from British civilization.

Note; Several of the roles mentioned here are double cast, meaning the actors cited in the review may not perform on the day of your choosing.

In the end, loose ends are tied up, the conniving are punished, romances are rekindled and Zara and company burst into the patriotic anthem, “There’s a Little Group of Isles Beyond the Waves.” It’s just what you’d expect from a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

Singing a Rousing Tune Courtesy Photo

It’s enough to get me thinking ahead to March, when the Savoyards stage G&S’s final work, “The Grand King.”

The Pittsburgh Savoyards perform G&S’s “Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress” at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, now through October 19. A livestream performance is also scheduled for Saturday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, go to https://pittsburghsavoyards.org/tickets/,