Word: gilbert
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...pick and choose from modernity without losing their soul. In 1971, instead of participating in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Gwich'in Indians chose to retain their Delaware-size (1.8 million acres) reservation extending south from the Arctic refuge. Today they have little cash, but Trimble Gilbert, their newly elected chief, believes that history has vindicated their choice. "Money is not really good for native peoples," he says. "Here you don't see drugs and alcohol, or suicide and ^ murder. Here people walk around proud that we have our land...
Like Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, Princess Ida's unweildy structure seems virtually incapable of getting off the ground. But a series of outstanding secondary characters provides the Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players' production with much needed levity and sparkle. The show is no Concorde, but it does manage...
...begin with, Princess Ida is not one of Gilbert and Sullivan's better efforts. Centered around Ida's decision to spurn men and found a women's university, the script is too long, and the main characters are unlikable. The score, which Sullivan used to indulge his Wagnerian pretenses, lacks any memorable tunes. Gilbert and Sulivan devotees won't be completely disappointed, though, because Princess Ida contains all of the elements the pair is famous for. Patter songs, topical jokes and absurd characters abound, and the part undergraduate, part professional cast makes the most of what they are given...
...hunchbacked King Gama (Kenneth Bamberger) steals the spotlight in the prologue when he limps on stage to explain that Ida has run out on her engagement to Prince Hilarion. His amusing gestures and grimaces demonstrate why he has been the mainstay of several Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players' shows. Bamberger most recently starred as King Pooh-Ba in the fall production of The Mikado...
Into this all-female environment (in Princess Ida a hen, instead of a rooster, crows in the morning) comes Hilarion (Jose Alberto Calvo). Sadly, it becomes clear that Hilarion deserves Ida. While his rich voice is well suited to Sullivan's opera-style music, Calvo mangles Gilbert's complex lyrics beyond recognition. His voice sounds nice, but it would be nice to know what he is saying...