Frolicking With Fairies

Iolanthe

Written by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

Directed by Jeffrey Korn

Music directed by Richard A. A. Larraga

At the Agassiz Theatre

Through this weekend

MUSICALLY speaking, the Gilbert and Sullivan Players' Iolanthe is absolutely superb. The lines are sung with crisp clarity, conscientiously conforming to orchestral chords. Even the orchestra, traditionally mediocre, delivers a very nearly perfect performance.

However, the dramatic dimension could have profited from from a generous dose of hamming-up. Though Gilbert does not provide any really smashing leads in the script (he tends to be rather too egalitarian with character development in this one), more of the players should have cut loose and been perhaps a tad self-indulgent.

The plot (surprise, surprise) revolves around the competition between a likable but apparently low-born shepherd Strephon (Arthur Fuscaldo), who happens to be a fairy from the waist up, and therefore immortal, yet insufficiently prestigious to vie with the rapacious royals for the fair Phyllis' (Laurie Myers) hand in marriage.

Indeed, the tricky peers try to scuttle Strephon's bid for Phyllis' hand by catching him cuddling his mother Iolanthe (Marybeth Ahern) who, being a fairy, still seems to be a 17-year-old girl. He certainly looked guilty of cavorting with another woman, (or worse, committing a statutory offense).

Indeed, the Lord Chancellor (Peter Hopkinson), not realizing that his wife Iolanthe is still alive, wants to marry the delectable damsel himself. However, despite his formidable legal talent, he has been unable to find a loophole to allow him to marry his own dependent. Hopkinson enunciates this point with great aplomb, in a patter song about law and nightshirt-clad in a lament about love unrequited. Palsied by precedent, the lovelorn Chancellor agrees to permit any peer to marry Phyllis.

One group that really did transcend the script was the chorus of pompous Peers. In a swirl of top hats and colorful capes, they strut and sniff hilariously, snubbing the audience with a chorus of "bow, bow, thou lower middle classes, tradesmen, masses."

Lord Tolloller (Ben Waldman) and Lord Mountararat (David Schrag) do a marvelous job of putting flamboyant foppery across the footlights in songs such as "Blue Blood," with the omnipresent swirling of hands in the air, sniffing and haughty inflection.

Although Gilbert was a bit skimpy on the lead roles, the players are very good. Marybeth Ahern sings a stunning Iolanthe, Arthur Fuscaldo is an endearing and appropriately cute Strephon, and Laurie Myers carries a charmingly coquettish Phyllis with just enough sexual verve to justify the Peers' lascivious looks.

Iolanthe is not one of Gilbert and Sullivan's more substantive plays. Still, the Gilbert and Sullivan Players' ethereal band of fairies provide a spirited evening of fun.