Gilbert and Sullivan

No I have not been to the Buxton Festival .

But , I am a HUGE FAN of them .

I love Ruddigore. Not sure if I've seen Topsy Turvey [may have seen part of it on the telly].

As a student in London I lived just behind Sadlers Wells theatre and saw all the G&S operas -some many times over.Always same regular Doyle Carte cast . My favourite was Iolanthe. The peers- and those well-built ladies leaping round stage singing 'we are dainty little fairies' always made me laugh

I haven't been to the Buxton G&S Festival (though I have been today to the main festival). I was brought up on G&S. When LPs arrived on the market the first ones my dad bought were The Mikado and The Gondoliers. When D'Oyley Carte came to Glasgow we always went to see one of the operas. I've also seen a number of amateur productions as well as a wonderful one at Gawsworth Hall open air theatre, of The Mikado, by a young and enthusiastic group of professionals whom I would love to see again. Unfortunately the Festival begins on the day I go on holiday and ends the weekend I come back. gsfestivals.org/content/whats

Me! The Buxton festival is just up the road for me. I go through there on my way to my DGS I ought to try it sometime. Lovely countryside in the Peak district worth a visit in itself .

I love them all.

It is all the sadder that after 20 years Buxton is to lose the festival after this year due to "a bust-up between the organisers and the High Peak Borough Council". It is apparently to move to Harrogate. Without knowing the details I suspect a massive own goal by the council as the town will be much the poorer in many respects - local hotels, restaurants, shops etc as well as culturally of course. Buxton's loss will be Harrogate's gain, but I feel that lovely town already has enough to draw in its quota of visitors.

Buxton is such a lovely little town, and will thrive without the festival (stupid bureaucrats), but why can't both towns have it?

Harrogate has Betty's Tea Rooms!!! I do wonder what the jobsworths have done to deprive Buxton't hospitality sector in this way - I bet it's the last thing they need.

It appears that the main festival is safe; only the G&S festival is moving to Harrogate which is sad for Buxton as it extended the festival season by three weeks, into August. It's all about money, of course.

Last time we went to Buxton we felt it was a bit run down [going by the 'how many charity shops on the high street' test] but we still fell in love with it. On the subject of councils and daft ideas, we went to Kedlestone Hall yesterday; classic case of 'if it's on your doorstep you never make the effort to visit a place' [I've only lived roundabouts for 40 years]. Was enthralled by the place but, could we find it easily? Brown signs telling us we were travelling away from it when we were, in fact within spitting distance. Foreign tourists that we spoke to when we eventually found the place had also nearly given up as well . Says in NT handbook 'ignore satnav directions as they don't work' which, at least, was correct.

......and Buxton is the perfect setting for Gilbert and Sullivan. Do they know what they're doing?

When I was still at school, I played the viola in the City Youth Orchestra, and we would often help out at local operatic society productions. There aren't that many viola players about, so I was in demand.

The viola parts in G&S are usually the um - tum -tum bits, and mostly easy, thought there is an obbligato in "Patience" as far as I can remember. But it does mean that I am well acquainted with most of the operettas, and still enjoy the music from time to time.

Ah, memories...

Avoiding the viola player jokes - of which there are many - mostly rather cruel... Once the deathlike grip of D'Oyly Carte had been relaxed G&S really came into their own, with wonderful original productions - like the Jonathan Miller Mikado. It's all been said, of course, but WS Gilbert (what kind of name is 'Schwenk'?) was a supreme wit and a rhymester beyond compare, and Sullivan's finest craftsmanship went into the music he came to look down on rather, as not being 'serious'.

It all makes Lloyd Webber seem rather a come-down... quite rightly.

OK, just one... Why is a viola solo like a bomb?
By the time you hear it, it's too late to do anything about it.

Love them, DH has sung in most of them. We went to see Pirates of Penzance recently, a joint Scottish Opera - D'Oyley Carte production. DH reminisced that he first sang in it at school in 1959. He then realised that was over 50 years ago and felt a bit crushed.

My dad had little books with all the libretti in them and I used to read them for fun. What a sad teenager!

Sorry - didn't mean to imply that THE Buxton Festival was moving, just the G&S festival as Anno says.

I must be the only person then...........I hate them!
My dad loved them with a passion and during my childhood I was taken to every available production.
I think I would probably appreciate them much more now if I could only get past the mental scars

Hiding now.

Ella46 I understand, with my dad it was cricket and we children used to be dragged along to a game on Sundays when we usually went swimming. I now loathe the game.

feetle

Well well well. something that I do not need to be grumpy about. G&S is fantastic. the music (some of which appears to be recycled) and the wit are fantastic.
The only complaint that I can come up with is that classic FM does not do enough G&S. In fact there is not even a biography of Sir Arthur on their website .... say boo to you classic FM!

I love the catchy songs and find it hard to stop myself joining in when I'm watching a performance. And it takes a lot of will power to stop myself bursting into song on the bus on the way home.
I will get locked up one of these days for sure.......

@Maniac - You would probably have enjoyed the Jonathan Miller Mikado - some of those 'schoolgirls' were heading for retirement age... and Pooh Bah included the office of Chief Rabbi among his many appointments...