San Francisco Classical Voice

One discrepancy was not Barlow's fault — his pairing with Kate Steinkoenig actually made him stand out as a stronger singer. He made a valiant attempt to match her softer and quieter voice in their duet “Oh false one, you have deceived me!” Steinkoenig did quite well as Ruth, the maid whose mistake put Frederic in the wrong line of work and who stayed with him all his life. This role is often performed by singers with a huskier and larger voice, and Steinkoenig's is a smaller voice. Still, her rendition of “When Frederic was a little lad” was very effective.

I never felt that Barlow and Steinkoenig achieved the comic potential of their relationship. Their acting was very reserved, and this was a problem throughout much of the cast. Silliness is best brought across when pushed over the top but the gestures and expressions from most of the actors were never large enough or convincing enough to draw guffaws from the audience, and only received chuckles. In addition, many of the actors had trouble keeping the dialogue at a fast, tight pace. Some of the uncomfortable silences may have been due to a potential forgotten line. Often it was just poor comic timing.

Exceptions among the cast kept this pirate ship afloat. With this production, F. Lawrence Ewing adds Major General Stanley to his accomplished set of roles. He embodies the very spirit of Gilbert & Sullivan, understanding every nuance and comic turn. Unfortunately, in the famous patter aria “I am the very model of a modern Major General,” he had to take the tempo ridiculously fast in order to get each verse out in one breath. As might be expected, the result was impressive inasmuch as sheer spectacle is concerned, but the major percentage of diction and musicality was sacrificed in the process. Other than that one detail, Ewing's wonderful familiarity and command of the stage dwarfed most of the other characters.

As Mabel, the girl who takes a fancy to Frederic, Jennifer Ashworth stood alongside Ewing among the delights of the production. Ashworth seemed immune to any energy-sapping syndromes, as her performances are always lively and enthusiastic. She more than made up for occasional ambiguities of pitch with her splendid coloratura work in the aria “Poor wandering one!” and her beautiful singing in the second act duet with Frederic, “Ah, leave me not to pine alone and desolate.”

Josh Leichtung made a splendid Pirate King and Jay Steele was a properly bumbling Sergeant of Police. Kelly Powers as Edith, Jennifer Starkey as Kate, and Leontyne Mbele-Mbong as Isabel all made fine contributions as well.

The choruses were wonderful — both the men's and women's displayed utterly perfect diction and blend. Although the men tended to drag behind Maestro Peeples' baton and the women swung dangerously to the other extreme, their energy and enthusiasm lit up the afternoon. The only exception was the chorus of soldiers: if they had pushed the humor a little farther, they might have succeeded more as bumbling policemen. Their simple, botched dance steps should have been obvious comedy, but often it looked like they were actually having trouble with the choreography.

Of course, one must not forget that attending a Lamplighters performance is always sheer pleasure. Producer Barbara Heroux should have plenty to be proud of before this run of Penzance is over and her performers have more confidence in their roles and comic ability to make this romp even more fun and silly.