Several performing arts organizations put on half hour presentations at the symphony open house, including Opera Theatre of St. Louis. The season is in May and June, and first up next year is Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. Robert Mellon, seen here, will sing Major General Stanley, including the famous patter song I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General. The frantic pace is notoriously difficult. Mellon led the audience through a series of exercises, learning how to sing it faster and faster.
Next up, Act Two Theatre from suburban St. Peters, with a bizarre remake of Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial By Jury.
It's a gentle satire based upon a suit for breach of promise to marry, an old English cause of action, as us legal types say. Except here the judge is Elvis, and he's not a real judge, he's a TV judge-show judge. The innocent young plaintiff wears a simple, pure white dress and a shocking pink sash with PLAINTIFF written across it. Arthur Sullivan witty melodies are present, but so is a quote from Also Sprach Zarathustra and, I think, a bit of Leonard Bernstein's Glitter and Be Gay, and probably some things I didn't catch. The bailiff looked like a Southern bubba but with a bit of a New York accent. The jury (remember the kind of suit) is all female. And between numbers some guy ran in front of the stage holding a big sign that said applause. Wacky.
