The Sorcerer

Going to Gilbert and Sullivan openings at Harvard is in some ways like watching a juggler perform. The local players have already performed marvelous feats and one wonders if they can keep it up. It is pleasant indeed to report that The Sorcerer meets the high standard previously set by the G & S Players.

The best performance is Kathryn Humphreys' Aline. Her singing is excellent, her appearance enchanting, while her acting is beyond reproach. The only complaint that can be made is that her outstanding performance makes Thomas Myers' Alexis look poor in comparison while in reality he is not that bad. He looks like an ill-at-ease student at a military academy, an appearance not suited to a part that calls for somewhat more vigor than he is able to muster. In his duets with Miss Humphreys she consistently steals the scene.

In contrast to this unevenly matched couple is Sangazure and Pointdextre as played by Elizabeth Stearns and David Stone. Both are fine actors and, although Miss Stearns' diction is a trifle unclear, their singing is good enough to make their first act duet one of the highpoints of the evening.

The sorcerer himself receives a magnificent interpretation from Benjamin Nielson. His singing, costume and makeup suit the role perfectly and with his acting there can be no cavil. His rapid-fire patter song is a genuine show-stopper. As his page, nine-year-old Nicky Deutsch is charming.

George Brown as the Vicar is particularly good in his opening ballad while his singing and acting are generally excellent. Alison Keith's Mrs. Partlett is a perfect characterization of the elderly pew-opener while Victoria Spurgeon as her daughter Constance is only competent. Stevens Garlick provides a perfect performance as the doddering, deaf old Notary.

Music director Martin Faigel has succeeded in training the chorus to the same standard of excellence set by the rest of the cast and stage director Herbert Parsons moves the cast ably about on the minute Agassiz stage. It is perhaps the tiny stage that accounts for the undistinguished nature of Nancy Ryan's choreography. Lucy Garretson's two piano reduction of the score is all that might be asked and it is adequately played by Miss Garretson and Larry Lavan.

Set designer John Beck has managed to conquer the problems of the tiny stage satisfactorily, giving an illusion of depth and width. Peter Salisbury provides his usual excellent lighting job with suitably magical effects at the first act incantation scene.

The Sorcerer has been given an outstanding production by the Gilbert and Sullivan players. One might even call it bewitching.