Paradise Found

WHILE PRINCESS IDA is justifiably one of Gilbert and Sullivan's least popular and least well-known operettas-neither Darwinism nor higher education for women are quite the burning issues they once were--this fall's production at the Agassiz more than compensates for its dated script. The score is delightful and the overall performance seamless.

A respectful operatic perversion of Tennyson's "Princess," the script tells of a princess who forswears the company of men to found that obvious oxymoron, a woman's university. Man is proclaimed "nature's sole mistake," and all things male are so despised that the maidens wake to the crowing of an "accomplished hen." Complications arise in this distaff paradise, however, when it is revealed that the Princess had been betrothed at the age of one to a Prince Hilarion (Paul Moreax).

The Prince, impatient to meet his wife of twenty years, disguises himself as a new undergraduate and invades Castle Adamant to claim his bride. But his suit is unsuccessful, and his father (Douglas Freeman) ends up bombarding the castle; the maidens recoil at the thought of blood and violence, and Prince Hilarion gallantly proposes (over the hisses of the audience), "Woman has failed you; try man."

Two performers absolutely capture the audience. Tucker McCrady exploits the role of Princess Ida's father, who can not bear to be happy, to the fullest. His first solo, "I Can't Think Why", demonstrates his rare ability at combining excellent acting with singing. Mark Meredith, as Syril, the Prince's companion, steals the show with his solo "Kiss Me, Kiss Me", his only fault, if it can be called one, is overshadowing the Prince.

Moreax as Prince Hilarion sings well, and hams up his lines, but suffers by comparison to both Meridith and his Princess. Margery Hellmold, in the title role, possesses the stage from the moment of her entrance--but overplays her lament after her women have betrayed her, suggesting some sort of pseudo. Wagnerian melodrama. Douglas Freeman, as Hilarion's father, and Melody Scheiner, as Ida's lieutenant, both display the necessary gravity and force of will. Lisa Zeidenberg and Debra Staniunas, in the parts of female undergraduates, add a charming note of whimsy to their surrender to the unfair sex.

Both the orchestra and the music director. Philip Lasser, deserve praise for a strong and consistent job; director Charles Berney should be commended for all but his somewhat mechanical choreography. Fatima Mahdi's costumes are charming, and Adam Kibbe's impressive sets deserved a curtain call all their own.

Princess Ida was written in 1883; four years before, a group of strong - minded Boston women founded the Harvard Annex. While that Castle Adamant no longer stands, the results of its fall and the complaints of quadded men make it clear who has the last laugh. That women and men alike are secure enough to relish Princess Ida confirms that victory.