We’ve had opera;
we’ve had blues; we’ve had rock, folk, disco, pop, country and what-not. Time
for Gilbert and Sullivan.
My favorite
collaboration by them is The Mikado; strictly for the songs. Yeah, “Pour
Wand’ring One” from The Pirates of Penzance is lots of fun, but from “If you
want to know where we are” to “For he’s gone and married Yum-Yum”, I love every
single piece.
And I am known for
muttering “I’ve got a little list” as the occasion requires. It’s a great
resource, Mikado.
It has a couple of
trios; I’m giving you “Three little maids from school”. In this case, the three
little maids are Lesley Garrett, Patricia Hodge and Lily Savage. (Video quality
isn’t great, but you get my drift.)
Okay—I suppose if you
want to get technical, Lily Savage—being Paul O’Grady—might not count as a woman’s voice; but 1) I wouldn’t be the
one arguing the point with a Scouser; 2) I like the way Savage blends with
Hodge and Garrett (and not much liking Garrett, I really appreciate the
counterpoint); and 3) They’re my Voices—why
can’t at least one of them be a drag queen?
They do pretty well
with the fan work, too.
If you’re some sort
of tight-butted purist, you can watch the bit from Mike
Leigh’s brilliant Topsy-Turvy. I love
that movie, too, not least for the joy of realizing that all the actors are
actually singing their parts. Plus, Jim Broadbent is stupendously good.
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