New! Mikado DVD reviewed in Fanfare
New! Tickets on sale for The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard - July 17-26 2009
Directed by Joan Brooks with Music Director Michael Alexander, the 2009 Production of the Madison Savoyards is The Yeomen of the Guard. Tickets are now on sale for the six performances:
Friday, July 17 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 18 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 19 - 3:00 p.m.
Friday, July 24 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 25 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 26 - 3:00 p.m.
Ticket Prices: Adults - $30; Seniors - $28; Students - $15; Children (under 13) - $5;
Premium Seats - $40 (first three rows: center 10 seats main floor; first row center balcony)
Economy Seats - $20 (balcony sides) Sales Tax included. All seats reserved.
Tickets are available from the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office or on line via this link.
The University Club and its members Gerald Thain and Helen Baldwin invite you to dinner on Friday July 17 or Friday July 24, before The Yeomen of the Guard. G&S fans gather at 5:15 PM for talk and a drink, followed by dinner at 5:45. Evan Richards, Savoyards Dramaturge, will enliven the dessert course with commentary about this most operatic of the G & S works.
Dinner only - $35.00
Reserve your place and choice of entrees by calling the University Club at (608) 262-5023. The three-course dinner price is $35.00 including service and tax. You may select either tenderloin of beef or a scallop and shrimp kabob on July17 or choose either rack of pork or halibut on July 24. Credit cards are not accepted.
Dinner and Yeomen Ticket Package - $60.00 (limited to 26 each Friday)
We have 26 orchestra tickets available for each Friday. The dinner with ticket package price is $60.00. To reserve your ticket package, call or e-mail Helen Baldwin <helenbaldwin1@mac.com> 238-2951 or Gerald Thain <gjthain@wisc.edu> 262-3446.
Enjoy an evening of conversation with fellow G&S fans, a fine dinner, and a short walk to Music Hall for the performance. Plentiful parking is available nearby before dinner so park once, relax, and enjoy the evening.
John Barker's observations about The Yeomen of the Guard and Music Director Michael Alexander's comments are now available via the links and as a video podcast. Subscribe to our podcasts via this link. Madison Savoyards' photographer has captured the spirit of Winter Jollity in a collection of 76 photographs.
Isthmus Reviews the Year in the Arts
"Madison Savoyards extended its level of quality with a stylish and superbly cast production of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado" (John Barker, Isthmus, December 26, 2008, page 12) Other reviews Wisconsin State Journal - Capital Times - Isthmus
The Mikado DVD now available!!
Order your copy now - Fanfare (May/June 2009 issue) review of The Mikado DVD
The DVD contains the complete performance from the Overture to the last curtain calls. The video is in 16x9 format that will display as letterbox on standard 4x3 monitors. However, if your TV is a newer wide format model, the video will fill the screen. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. We used a new, high definition, video camera for this production and we think this is our best DVD to date. We hope you enjoy it.
Mark your calendars: Madison Savoyards and Madison Theatre Guild co-production in January 2010 - Tarantara! Tarantara!
Tarantara! Tantara!
By Ian Taylor
Directed by Joan Brooks (Stage Director - The Yeomen of the Guard, July 2009)
Produced by the Madison Theatre Guild and the Madison Savoyards
The story of the famous Gilbert & Sullivan partnership; the meeting, the association with D’Oyly Carte, the mounting success, the divergences of temperament, the conflicting ambitions and the trouble caused by Gilbert's obsession with his lozenge story. Sullivan’s lavish social life and its disruptive consequences, his ill-health, the famous tragi-comic quarrel over a new carpet for the theatre—these and many other episodes are covered. Musical excerpts from the operas are threaded into the story. The entire cast (including Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan) participates in these interludes. Performances: January 22-30, 2010
The Mikado - 2008
Pictures from the 2008 production: The Mikado (photos by Marie Shulte, Madison Savoyards photographer)
2008 Mikado Reviews: Wisconsin State Journal - Capital Times - Isthmus - Feature story
The DVD of the 2008 production of The Mikado was released in November. The video is in 16x9 format and the audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The running time is 2 hours and 21 minutes. (Below: A preview of The Mikado DVD and three musical selections.) New: click this link to subscribe to Madison Savoyards podcasts! We also have a page of imbedded YouTube videos here. New! View the videos in HD!
Fanfare reviews 2007 DVD and CDs of The Sorcerer and Cox & Box
"Gilbert’s droll wit needs a knowing cast to put it across; I think he would be pleased at how well the Savoyard’s handle the dialogue. ... Ilona Pinzke plays Mrs. Partridge to a T. In spite of her proper Victorian decorum, she’s as subtle as a Mack truck trying to get the Vicar to marry her daughter, Constance (Jessica Warmington), who blushingly hides her affections like a neon sign. ... The singing voices are outstanding for a community theater, and several are of professional caliber. ... There has been improvement to the sound by adding microphones; only occasionally does a cast member walk off-mike and become somewhat remote. Still, nearly all of the words, both sung and spoken, are captured and understood. ... These productions, like last year’s Patience, were filmed using only one camera. The viewer has the sense of being in the theater and having a good seat in the balcony. ... but the Madison show is the real thing. It’s live on stage, as Gilbert and Sullivan intended. Hearing the enthusiastic laughter and applause makes you feel part of the event and shows how people who love what they’re doing put on a good show. One young lady appears with her arm in a cast, but, hey, the show must go on! ... here is spontaneity with Madison and the appreciative audience brings the Madison performance to life—reminding us of what a witty libretto Gilbert wrote." The complete review
Join Email List