Lamplighters Return to Full Productions

Next month the Lamplighters Music Theatre will mark the launch of its 70th Anniversary Season. The occasion will be particularly significant, since it will be the first time since February of 2020 that the company will return to presenting complete productions, with the full forces of leading vocalists, chorus, and orchestra. The offering that will mark this return will be Iolanthe.

This will be a timely production, not only as a post-pandemic landmark. The subtitle of Iolanthe is The Peer and the Peri; and, in current times, the text by W. S. Gilbert is likely to strike many as downright subversive. For those unfamiliar with the Victorian vocabulary, the noun “peer” is not the usual reference to one’s equal. Rather, it denotes a “peer of the realm,” who, by birth, is entitled to hold a seat in the House of Lords. A peri, on the other hand, is a supernatural being generally referred to as a fairy.

Phyllis singing to the Peers (Forbes lithograph from about 1883, from Wikipedia, public domain)

The title character is a fairy that was banished for marrying a mortal and having a child by him. At the beginning of the operetta, that child, Strephon, has become a young adult, who knows nothing about his father. He is in love with Phyllis, but he has a lot of competition … basically every member of the House of Peers! As the topsy-turvy plot unfolds, one gradually comes to realize that Gilbert is making a case that the fairies might know more about governance than any of the members of Parliament.

In that context Nicolas Aliaga Garcia has decided to stage a production that contrasts these two domains of the narrative. The first act is set in the Arcadian realm of the fairies, where they can view the affairs of mortals from a safe vantage point. The second act, which takes place outside the Palace of Westminster, is set in the “real world” of World War II.

That second act will be particularly interesting, not only for its setting but also for an opportunity to listen to music by Arthur Sullivan that is almost never encountered. This is an aria for Strephon entitled “Fold your Flapping Wings,” which ties together the three themes of the plot: love, law, and rank. There will also be an aria for Phyllis entitled “My Love for him is dead.” Only Gilbert’s words survive for this aria, and conductor David Drummond will channel Sullivan’s style to provide appropriate music.

As was the case before the pandemic, the performances will take place in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Blue Shield of California Theater, which is located at 700 Howard Street on the northwest corner of Third Street. Premium Orchestra tickets are $80, those in Center Terrace and the remainder of the Orchestra are $70, and those in the Side Terrace and Boxes are $65. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through City Box Office event pages for Saturday and Sunday afternoons, August 13 and 14, at 2 p.m. In addition, there will be a streamed simulcast of the Sunday performance. There is a separate City Box Office event page for the purchase of a digital ticket for $50.