Offenbach, Island of Tulipatan; G & S, Sorcerer

[jserraglio]

I heard this double bill yesterday performed by the Ohio Light Opera, Wooster. The Freedlander Theatre, on the Wooster College campus, is a marvellous venue. Words and music were crystal clear, without any amplification.

Offenbach's The Island of Tulipatan, unknown to me before, turned out to be a minor comic masterpiece. Has it ever been recorded? If not it should be.

The Sorcerer, a lesser G. & S. operetta, was still well worth hearing and actually went over a lot better with the audience than this Plain Dealer critic's review would have you believe. I think the longueurs of the first act she complained about served their purpose well--to ridicule Victorian stuffiness. The Sorcerer may not be Iolanthe (also performed this summer by the OLO) but it certainly is no "dud."