Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe (Stratford Festival, Canada)
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List Price: $49.99
Our Price: $279.95
Your Save: $ ( % )
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Manufacturer: Acorn Media
Starring: Gilbert & Sullivan, Maureen Forrester, Brent Carver
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781569383452
Format: Box set
ISBN: 1569383456
Label: Acorn Media
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: Acorn Media
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2000-02-08
Running Time: 412
Studio: Acorn Media
Theatrical Release Date: 1982-01-01
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Related Items
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- Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre Melbourne
- Gilbert & Sullivan - The Gondoliers / David Hobson, Roger Lemke, Australian Opera
- Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Kline, Ronstadt, Smith, Routledge, Delacorte Theater (Broadway Theatre Archive)
- Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado
- Gilbert & Sullivan - The Sorcerer / Revill, Kernan, Opera World
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: sheer joy
Comment: Over thirty years ago I saw the D'Oyly Carte company perform "The Mikado" in London. Sadly, the production was old and tired and lifeless and more suited to a dusty old museum attic than the stage. The D'Oyly Carte company died soon thereafter.
A few years later I saw the Stratford Festival productions of "The Mikado" and "Pirates" recorded here. They were wonderful, and had me on my feet for well-deserved standing ovations. Yes, they took liberties with the material; they made the operettas living theatrical entertainment full of joy and laughter. Unless you think comic operettas are sacred texts, you will enjoy the fun-filled spirit of these performances.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No Accounting for Taste
Comment: I've seen, but don't own, all three of these CBC productions and they're all very imaginative and very much in the spirit of G & S. That lyrics have been contemporized (and localized), that the performances are broad, that the sets are spare and the music edited are, it seems to me, legitimate complaints for reviewers to lodge. But these are reviewers with whom I doubt I'd enjoy watching any G & S production. There's a parsimony to their vision of what can and cannot be forborne in mounting G & S. Within the bounds of faithfulness, I think much can be tolerated, and here much is attempted. These productions are, in direct descent from G & S, satirical, literate and great good fun. No, they're not D'Oyly Carte, but then that's the point, isn't it? They are a rambunctious spin on a timeless critique of stuffed-shirtism and I do believe that G & S on reading these narrow and somewhat bloodless one-star reviews would have created a new ditty to lampoon them too! In the end they're fun to hear and watch, AND THEY ARE GILBERT AND SULLIVAN!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very worthwhile
Comment: Filmed in Canada in the early 1980s, with very high production values, THE MIKADO being the most extraordinary. Much more polished than the English productions of G&S available, these are Broadway-standard mountings. I think these are essential for any G&S fans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pirates
Comment: This is by far the best version of Pirates I've seen on film, energetic and engaging.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pure Fun and Frolic
Comment: Having participated in community and semi-professional theatre groups the past 25 years, I must say that this rendition of Mikado pulls all the stops out and is truly a "feel good" production. I have seen some of the BBC renditions of Gilbert & Sullivan and feel they fall short as their particular humor can only be appreciated on the stage. The actors in Mikado are vibrant, funny and talented. I would recommend this DVD as the perfect introduction to the Gilbert & Sullivan genre.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: sheer joy
Comment: Over thirty years ago I saw the D'Oyly Carte company perform "The Mikado" in London. Sadly, the production was old and tired and lifeless and more suited to a dusty old museum attic than the stage. The D'Oyly Carte company died soon thereafter.
A few years later I saw the Stratford Festival productions of "The Mikado" and "Pirates" recorded here. They were wonderful, and had me on my feet for well-deserved standing ovations. Yes, they took liberties with the material; they made the operettas living theatrical entertainment full of joy and laughter. Unless you think comic operettas are sacred texts, you will enjoy the fun-filled spirit of these performances.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No Accounting for Taste
Comment: I've seen, but don't own, all three of these CBC productions and they're all very imaginative and very much in the spirit of G & S. That lyrics have been contemporized (and localized), that the performances are broad, that the sets are spare and the music edited are, it seems to me, legitimate complaints for reviewers to lodge. But these are reviewers with whom I doubt I'd enjoy watching any G & S production. There's a parsimony to their vision of what can and cannot be forborne in mounting G & S. Within the bounds of faithfulness, I think much can be tolerated, and here much is attempted. These productions are, in direct descent from G & S, satirical, literate and great good fun. No, they're not D'Oyly Carte, but then that's the point, isn't it? They are a rambunctious spin on a timeless critique of stuffed-shirtism and I do believe that G & S on reading these narrow and somewhat bloodless one-star reviews would have created a new ditty to lampoon them too! In the end they're fun to hear and watch, AND THEY ARE GILBERT AND SULLIVAN!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very worthwhile
Comment: Filmed in Canada in the early 1980s, with very high production values, THE MIKADO being the most extraordinary. Much more polished than the English productions of G&S available, these are Broadway-standard mountings. I think these are essential for any G&S fans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pirates
Comment: This is by far the best version of Pirates I've seen on film, energetic and engaging.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pure Fun and Frolic
Comment: Having participated in community and semi-professional theatre groups the past 25 years, I must say that this rendition of Mikado pulls all the stops out and is truly a "feel good" production. I have seen some of the BBC renditions of Gilbert & Sullivan and feel they fall short as their particular humor can only be appreciated on the stage. The actors in Mikado are vibrant, funny and talented. I would recommend this DVD as the perfect introduction to the Gilbert & Sullivan genre.
A set of three stage performances taped in the theater by Canada's Stratford Festival in the 1980s, these productions of the Gilbert & Sullivan favorites The Mikado,The Pirates of Penzance, and Iolanthe (each is also available separately) offer the virtues and pitfalls of live-performance video. The staging is on the modest side; visual and sound quality are not flawless. But the high spirits shared by actors and audience are a delight. Unfortunately, ambitious editing undercuts that sense of immediacy. Many of the singing voices have been dubbed, and applause is unnaturally deleted at some key moments. Now and then the actors turn and address the camera. The result isn't really convincing as either a stage production or a film. The Mikado alone avoids that sort of identity crisis and is by far the most satisfying of the three. Purists will flinch at the many updated lines, but modernizing isn't a bad way to approximate Gilbert's very topical humor. For U.S. viewers, though, the Canadian jokes (about Pierre Trudeau, Wayne Gretzky, or Canadian TV) won't entirely hit home. One advantage to the collection is the fun of seeing members of Stratford's company in multiple roles. There's also the occasional Canadian star: Maureen Forrester, Brent Carver. Despite mixed results, this set is a useful introduction to the pleasures of G&S and proof of how well these pieces still play before an audience--and sustain having their jokes brought into another era. --David Olivenbaum
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