OGASP shows Iolanthe

Alison Ostergaard (OC '97) has been busy. Last weekend, three performances of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti went up in Wilder Main; this weekend it will house three showings of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe (pronounced eye-oh-LAN-theee). Ostergaard directed both.

The Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan Players (OGASP) have pulled together a variety of students to perform, with great success, this challenging operetta. The score contains ridiculous and ridiculously difficult patter songs Stephen Sondheim himself would be proud of and beautiful ballads and arias for opera fans to love. The plot is not quite as complex as is traditional in Gilbert and Sullivan shows, but it still gives the audience the delightful romantic and legal entanglements that G&S are best known for.

One of Iolanthe 's flaws as a dramatic work is the recycling of other, better known Gilbert and Sullivan characters. For example, while played artfully by the very talented double-degree sophomore Renato Estacio, Strephan - the tale's romantic hero - is basically a rehashed Nanki-Poo (The Mikado) or Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore).

Unfortunately, the pitfalls that plague his romance with the shepherdess Phyllis (outstanding voice major, senior Rebecca Patrick) are in some ways less interesting than those that befall Nanki-Poo and Rackstraw. This production sometimes grows amateurish, particularly the acting in ensemble scenes, and the orchestra has a few intonation issues. Despite these problems, Iolanthe is an entrancing, highly entertaining work, and OGASP performs it with great spirit and energy.

Musical Director Timothy Heavner said, "Of all the G&S shows I've done, this is my favorite. It's the cleverest show and the most adventurous." While The Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore, the two most famous works by the duo, involve pirates and the British Navy, Iolanthe is more fantastic from the start; more than half of the cast members play fairies.

As is typical of Gilbert and Sullivan shows, Iolanthe contains a fair amount of subtle humor, mostly pertaining to the British government. College first-year Lavell Blackwell is especially impressive in the role of Lord Tolloller when he instructs Phyllis to "spurn not the nobly born." Particularly amusing is the interaction between Lord Mountararat (first-year Aaron Bonner-Jackson) and Tolloller (Blackwell). The pair act with more experience than would be expected from first-year college students.

I feel very strongly that this organization, as well as the material, is very important to the campus," director Ostergaard said. "It has the ability to bring together different types of people." It does indeed, and in bringing together those different people, it gives many the chance to demonstrate considerable talent that might otherwise go unnoticed in the presence of so many talented conservatory students.

First-year double degree student Lauren Harrison is enjoyable as the title character and second-year double degree student Jonathan Stinson is excellent as the loftily pompous Lord Chancellor, college senior Emily Harville performs regally in the role of the Queen of the Fairies, and college sophomore Seth Powers, an impressive bass-baritone, is not to be missed in the relatively small role of Private Willis.

Iolanthe shows tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Wilder Main. Tickets are $3 in advance and $4 at the door.