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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
The Madison Savoyards have made a few forays into video presentations of their productions. "Patience," which is also available on Amazon.com, is (in my opinion, anyway) not their best offering and may have put some people off as a result. I am here to state "The Sorcerer/Cox and Box" DVD by the Madison Savoyards is worth adding to one's G&S collection. "Cox and Box," written by Arthur Sullivan and F.C. Burnand, is presented here--for the most part--in its "D'Oyly Carte" version. That is, the music and dialog have been trimmed so the piece could be used as a curtain-raiser. This production made one additional cut as well as one addition (a rather odd directorial decision to my mind): "My Master is Punctual," Cox's joyful ode to getting an unexpected day off, is cut while the repeated section of the finale which the D'Oyly Carte company cut is restored. Of the two modifications, I'd prefer restoring the former and cutting the latter. Nevertheless, this production is well sung and acted. Since the 1982 Brent Walker series for the BBC doesn't include the "Trial by Jury/Cox and Box" episode, this production is the only one on DVD I know of.
"The Sorcerer" succeeds overall, too. As with "Cox and Box" there are a few directorial decisions regarding cast and stage business which left me baffled. Since Joseph Papp's "Pirates," everyone wants to play G&S as a madcap farce. Although I'm not a strict traditionalist, I prefer my slapstick to be funny. The singing is carried off very well by the entire cast. Some of the acting, however, left me wanting. Dr. Daly, the real comic role of the show, missed many opportunities to shine and contents himself with getting a laugh from the audience with a loud sigh. Alexis' caricature posing as the dashing hero works very well. In fact, it seems to suit the character perfectly. John Wellington Wells, the title character of the piece, was played with much more menace than called for. The script depicts him as a conscientious store clerk who deals in devilry. This production makes him more a wholesale fiend and misses much of the fun Gilbert intended. In fact, J.W. Well's introductory patter song is overshadowed by needless stage business meant to emphasize his morbid occupation. Noteworthy moments include "Welcome Joy, Adieu to Sadness" in Act I and "I Rejoice That It's Decided" in Act II.
The sound quality and video work are good. As with "Patience," this production uses a single camera angle throughout. This causes some problems when the action is spread out across the stage. Overall, though, the video is not jumpy or full of cut away shots. The orchestra plays very well (the violins catch a few crabs in the overture) and does not overpower the singers. While I prefer the BBC version (it's one of the few shows in the series they got right), this show will have a permanent home on my G&S shelf.
"The Sorcerer" succeeds overall, too. As with "Cox and Box" there are a few directorial decisions regarding cast and stage business which left me baffled. Since Joseph Papp's "Pirates," everyone wants to play G&S as a madcap farce. Although I'm not a strict traditionalist, I prefer my slapstick to be funny. The singing is carried off very well by the entire cast. Some of the acting, however, left me wanting. Dr. Daly, the real comic role of the show, missed many opportunities to shine and contents himself with getting a laugh from the audience with a loud sigh. Alexis' caricature posing as the dashing hero works very well. In fact, it seems to suit the character perfectly. John Wellington Wells, the title character of the piece, was played with much more menace than called for. The script depicts him as a conscientious store clerk who deals in devilry. This production makes him more a wholesale fiend and misses much of the fun Gilbert intended. In fact, J.W. Well's introductory patter song is overshadowed by needless stage business meant to emphasize his morbid occupation. Noteworthy moments include "Welcome Joy, Adieu to Sadness" in Act I and "I Rejoice That It's Decided" in Act II.
The sound quality and video work are good. As with "Patience," this production uses a single camera angle throughout. This causes some problems when the action is spread out across the stage. Overall, though, the video is not jumpy or full of cut away shots. The orchestra plays very well (the violins catch a few crabs in the overture) and does not overpower the singers. While I prefer the BBC version (it's one of the few shows in the series they got right), this show will have a permanent home on my G&S shelf.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
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I was disappointed with Cox & Box and the Sorcerer on this DVD. The Madison Savoyards, I assume, are an amateur group or at least their production is at the amateur level. You need to turn the sound up to the highest level to be able to hear the voices. The diction of the words does not come across, so you will need to have the text in your hand to be able to follow the production. I found the Cox & Box particularly hard to follow. I even went to the extent of downloading the libretto off the internet, but then I found that they had cut out sections of the original text so I had to keep flitting around the text to know what they were saying and singing. I have purchased other operettas by the Madison Savoyards and they are all hard to follow. They use only one camera and so we do not get any closeups of the faces. I am a G&S fanatic and bought this to complete my collection of G&S DVDs. Unless you need to see every version of G&S, I don't think you'll find this version all that entertaining. I feel that the Madison Savoyards are out of their league as far as trying to sell copies of their show. They should be reserved for cast members, not the general public. To really appreciate the Madison Savoyards, I think you need to actually be there in the audience.
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