New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: Patience at Symphony Space, January 3, 2014
The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2014
Don't know that I would call Patience my favorite Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, as did a friend of mine on Facebook – I love Ruddigore and have a huge soft spot for The Sorcerer, which I played for many happy weeks with the Long Island Gilbert & Sullivan Society. And, of course, there's The Mikado, toward which I was spoiled by seeing it first in a Houston Grand Opera revival of Jonathan Miller's production, with Eric Idle as the Lord High Executioner.
Still, Patience is the first G&S show that I saw performed live… I can't recall positively, but most likely it was the Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society, who presented it in 1980: exactly the right time for its satire to strike home, as I was hating the Aesthetic poets in my high-school English class just then. If I knew at some point that the show had its original premiere on my birthday, albeit 85 years earlier, I'd somehow forgotten that fact before returning to its charms last Friday night.
Albert Bergeret and his New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players did it full justice, as they always tend to do. I only wish there were further performances I could urge you to attend, but sadly the run ended on Sunday.
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