The result is a tip-top, hilarious performance, lavish in every way, with a plot just sensible enough to allow the musical madness and theatrical spectacle of Gilbert and Sullivan to play out.
A lively theater troupe in a German duchy has planned a coup to usurp the much-despised Grand Duke (Stephen Grover). When the troupe's leading comedian, Ludwig (Matthew Roehrig), accidentally reveals the plot to the Grand Duke's private detective, the solution is found through a duel involving a deck of playing cards.
The plot continues to meander like a labyrinth, employing deaths, serial marriages and much role-playing as the troupe assumes its greatest part ever, the Grand Duke and Duchess and the court of Pfennig Halbpfennig.
At some point the plot becomes so absurd with can-can ambushes, a Monte Carlo roulette casino and a giant bottle of wine that it is difficult to stop laughing long enough to hear what is coming next.
Stephen Grover, a VLO newcomer, portrays with an impish appeal the young Grand Duke, a man who revels in economy. His betrothed, the aging and equally miserly Baroness von Krakenfeldt (Mary Jane Schulze) is a vision in pink - a woman who draws a beloved bottle of wine to her bosom and then orders water. Together they're comic scene stealers.
Although a Gilbert and Sullivan show by necessity calls for over-dramatization, "The Grand Duke" makes it especially permissible, as it spoofs the idea of actors and nobles consciously playing their roles. This is done well by principal Laura Garner as Julia Jellicoe, a Leading Lady by profession who tirelessly primes herself for the role of the Grand Duchess. Garner is also a crystal soprano (a talent shared by all the female principals), but makes her mark in a memorable scene of feigned adoration, jealousy and murder.
"The Grand Duke" is underscored by the large German court set designed by Chris Riddle and colorful period costumes by Richard Gregory. According to the playbill, the ratio of costumers to actors is about 1:1. Concertmistress Diana Peelle directs a finely tuned orchestra and music director Juli Holmes has skillfully wielded the talents of a large chorus.
Watching "The Grand Duke" is an experience akin to having a slice of layer cake with butter-cream frosting while sitting next to the funniest person you've ever met. The opera must also be consumed for the appearance of the Duke's chamberlains, a collection of seven old men who appear lined up in ridiculously somber costumes. Their faces are so gravely drawn and their postures so austere that next to the colorful mayhem of their surroundings, they become absolutely hilarious.
With perfect restraint they upstage themselves at the end of the second act by re-appearing as a bunch of recycled nobles in disparate costumes. I could not stop laughing.
Valley Light Opera's "The Grand Duke" continues its run at the Amherst Regional High School Auditorium Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14, or $10 seniors and students. They are available at the Amherst Leisure Services office in the Bangs Center, World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield, Beyond Words Bookshop in Northampton, at the Jones Library Children's Room and by telephone at 256-4065.
© 2001, Daily Hampshire Gazette/GazetteNET, Northampton, MA. Reprinted by permission.