HMS Pinafore and The Yeomen of the Guard
	Sunday, 10th June 2012, 7:30 pm
	The Middleton Arena, Middleton
	(map)
	Donald Maxwell – Bass and Narrator

This concert, OCS’s third G&S double bill, was once again nearly a sell-out.   It was also very successful.  Donald Maxwell narrated in his usual entertaining style and also sang the principal bass roles of Wilfred and Captain Corcoran.  Within the limitations of a concert performance, the soloists acted their parts with gusto with some thespian support from members of the choir.  The hall was festooned with Union Jacks to celebrate the performance of these two very British works in Jubilee Week.  The National Festival Orchestra provided faultless accompaniment and Nigel Wilkinson  held it all together from the rostrum

HMS Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan’s first international success, poking fun at the English class system and the starchiness of the Royal Navy, whose supreme chief at that time was the stationer, W.H. Smith.  It bubbles with saucy humour and catchy tunes.

The Yeomen of the Guard, set in the Tower of London, is one of the last of the Savoy operas.  It is the most serious in tone with a less than happy ending, but it has many lighter moments and some great music.

Sarah Helsby-Hughes	Soprano (Elsie and Josephine)
Kathleen Wilkinson	Mezzo (Phoebe and Cousin Hebe)
Sylvia Clarke	Conrralto (Dame Carruthers and Buttercup)
Stephen Anthony Brown	Tenor (Fairfax and Ralph)
Philip Hindle	Tenor (Point and Sir Joseph)
Stuart Orme	Baritone (Lieutenant and Dick Deadeye)
Orchestra	National Festival Orchestra
Conductor	Nigel Wilkinson

Tickets at £12 (schoolchildren £1) were available from:

– Our ticket secretary on 01457 875 221

– The Arena Box Office on 0844 855 4020