The Gondoliers, Bournemouth Gilbert & Sullivan Operatic Society, Lighthouse, Poole
In this glorious, brilliantly-lit production both Venice and Barataria are teeming with life, as tumblers, prostitutes, thieves, muggers and undertakers mingle with the contadine and gondoliers as they sing and dance in spirited fashion - so spirited, in fact, that the lovingly prepared laid-down bouquets for Marco and Giuseppe (Bruce Vyner and Tom Arnold-Haynes) are all but trampled to pieces.
Their brides, selected by impartial fate, are just the ones they would run a mile from - myopic Gianetta (Charlotte Deverill) and huge, north-country accented Tessa (an almost show-stealing Cathy Murray).
And the Duke (John Gerken) and Duchess (Cherrill Ashford) are dead ringers for the Les Miserables' Thenardiers. Jemma Truss as their daughter, Casilda, sings and acts beautifully.
Oh, and about those undertakers. The Mephistophelean-like Don Alhambra (Robin Lavies) travels around in a coffin, but even this harbinger of doom cannot suppress such bubbling, manzanilla-induced joyousness.
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