"The Gondoliers" by Gilbert & Sullivan.

Christchurch Gilbert & Sullivan Society - Shepshed.

Iveshead Theatre, Shepshed.

The twelfth collaboration between Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert, "The Gondoliers", lesser known as "The King Of Barataria" tells the story of two Venetian gondoliers, Giuseppe and Marco, who are informed that, due to an error of identity when they were young boys, one of them is the heir to the throne of Barataria.

They are delighted with the situation and agree to share the responsibilities of governing their new kingdom until it can be ascertained which of them is which, but matters are complicated when the Duke and Duchess of Plaza Toro reveal that their beautiful daughter, Casilda, was married to the future king as an infant. The problem? Giuseppe and Marco are both newly married to the contadine Tessa and Gianetta, and Casilda is in love with her father’s attendant, Luiz. 

Alex Conway, who makes his Christchurch G&S, is Marco Palmieri, a handsome and charming Venetian gondolier.  All of the girls are in love with him and his best friend and fellow gondolier, Giuseppe, and are anxious for them both to choose brides; in the first act, Marco selects and marries Gianetta. Alex has an excellent voice and is very relatable and great fun to watch.

Richard Craggs is Giuseppe Palmieri, the second of the operetta's handsome and charming Venetian gondoliers. In the first act, Giuseppe chooses to marry Tessa.  There's a lovely playful chemistry with Alex and Richard, which makes this bonkers adaptation even more fun.

Alison Matthews-Savage is Gianetta. Like all the other Venetian farm girls, Gianetta is smitten with the handsome Marco and Giuseppe, and is vying for one of their hands in marriage.  To her delight, Marco picks her stating that she is “Just the very girl I wanted!”, and the two are married. Anyone who has seen Ali before will testify what a gorgeous voice she has, and is perfect for so many of these comedy pieces. I hardly recognised her with the wig that she wears.

Tessa is played by Rosie Smith. Like all the other Venetian farm girls, Tessa is smitten with both Marco and Giuseppe. To her delight, Giuseppe picks her, and the two are married immediately. Rosie makes her principal role debut as Tessa.

Andy Savage is The Duke of Plaza-Toro, a haughty and proud aristocrat, but also a broke one.  As an infant, his daughter Casilda was married to the heir to the throne of Barataria, and at the time of the show, upon the death of the King, the Duke is eager to follow up with this. Another fun, larger than life, G&S role for Andy to perform.

The Duchess Of Plaza-Toro is a brilliantly glamorous role, and what a glitzy outfit she gets to wear, and along with some fun choreography, Laura Gregory looked as if she was having the time of her life on stage.

Casilda is played by Alix Ashurst. The beautiful twenty-one-year-old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Plaza Toro, Casilda is innocent and ingénue-esque.  She is secretly in love with Luiz, her father’s attendant, but is informed by her parents that she was married as a baby to the infant future King. Here is another person I didn't recognise until I took a look at the programme in the interval, even though a couple of weeks' ago I was sat opposite Alix. Picture Nina, from "Coronation Street", the Goth assistant who used to work in Roy's Rolls, crossed with Amy Winehouse and that is what Casilda looks like. She has all the modern vernacular to go along with the modern look, and top that off with a great voice, and that is Casilda.

Luiz is the Duke’s attendant and drummer.  His mother was the nurse, Inez, to whom the son of the King of Barataria was entrusted.  He is madly in love with his master’s daughter, Casilda, and is devastated to learn that she is married to the heir to the Baratarian throne, and is played by Lee Bowley. This is Lee's first Gilbert & Sullivan show. Apparently, according to the programme, Lee has been away from the stage for more than two decades! The man must have been performing as a very young actor as he has youthful looks on his side, as well as a really youthful disposition on stage. Great costume for Luiz, which matches the modernised Calista costume.

Howard Pritchett is Don Alhambra Del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, it was Don Alhambra who went to Venice to seek the heir to the throne of Barataria.  He is also the one who stole the infant prince away to be brought up in Catholic Venice.  He makes it his business to know everything about everyone. Howard's voice is made for G&S and operetta, so rich and deep. The costume department have really pulled out all the stops for this production and the snazzy suit and hat that Howard gets to wear is fantastic and flash.

Kate King is Inez, the former nurse of the son of the king of Barataria; she is now a brigand’s wife and lives far off in the mountains near Cordova. Kate has been involved in many various roles with Christchurch G&S, behind the scenes, in the orchestra pit, and for this production on stage in another role that disguises her with some brilliant costume and wig work. Inez arrives at the end of the show to confirm who will be the King and to marry Casilda. The image for Inez is almost hippy-like.

Rachel Fitzpatrick is Fiametta. Like all the other Venetian farm girls, Fiametta is smitten with the handsome Marco and Giuseppe, and at the start of the show is vying for one of their hands in marriage.  She ultimately ends up with one of the other gondoliers.

Harriet Myers is Vittoria who is also smitten with both Marco and Giuseppe.  She also ends up with one of the other gondoliers.

Giulia, played by Valerie Hart, is yet another who is smitten with Marco and Giuseppe. 

Carrie Bareham is Rosalia, another of the show's four Waitresses.

Ed Atkin is Antonio, a Venetian gondolier who marries one of the Contadine (after Marco and Giuseppe have had their pick, at the ladies’ demand).  When Marco and Giuseppe find out that one of them is the King of Barataria, they bring their gondolier friends along. 

Francesco is a Venetian gondolier who marries one of the Contadine, and is played by Richard Tomlinson.

Giorgio, another of the Venetian gondoliers, is played by Adrian Dobson, who also directs this wonderfully zany and bonkers operetta.

Annibale is one of the other Venetian gondoliers and played by Alan Hobson.

The Ensemble is made up of Brigitte Ainsworth, Lynne Atkin, Mary Barber, Rachel Cousen, Eliza Craggs, Jane Dobson, Christine Hibbard, Amy North, Helen Oliver, Sally Portsmouth, Helen Smith, Sue Smith, Carol Weller, Dave Adlam, Paul Ainsworth, Ray Connelly, John Cousen, Brian Fletcher, Matthew Hammersley and Mike Jones.

Directed by Adrian Dobson, assisted by Angie Kilpin. I have mentioned that this show is very different to how Gilbert & Sullivan may have originally envisaged it. Like Shakespeare's works, a clever Director can bring a whole new look to a piece of theatre, and Adrian and Angie have certainly brought out the comedy in this work. The show is absolutely bonkers, in a good way. It has brought the operetta into modern times with many references to social media, the use of mobile phones, selfies, tablets, speed dating and modern language all thrown in and a really modern costume style and set design.

Musical Director is Meng Khaw. Gilbert & Sullivan wrote some absolute operetta bangers and this fifteen strong orchestra, under the guidance and Direction from Meng, sounded absolutely marvellous. There are some great "patter songs", the trademark of G&S, which mean that the performers really have to show a skilled breath control to get all of the words in, almost like 1990's rap. The timing with the singers also has to be spot on, showing that performing G&S is not as easy what people may think, but under a skilled MD like Meng, the magic materialises on stage. Oh! and the Italian in the musical is belissima.

Choreographed by Amy North is another area which deserves big words. The positioning and choreography for such a big ensemble and cast has to be incredible well thought out, especially with the stage size being full of people. 

Set Designers are Adrian Dobson and Gordon Kilpin. This is a great set design incorporating a Gondola which glides on stage from under a Venetian bridge, a swimming pool, bar area and other settings, all looking fabulous.

Costumes and Props are by Vintage Years, Lee Bowley and members of the cast. The costumes are all of a modern design, with the costumes for the two Gondoliers at one stage almost reminiscent of "Baywatch". From stylish and jazzy to T Shirts and shorts, with plenty of Hawaiian shirts being worn on stage, all of which bringing the sun into the auditorium. The wigs used in the show are brilliant and combined with the costumes and make up really transform this bunch of actors to an almost unrecognisable state.

Gordon Kilpin is Stage, Set and Safety Manager. The stage management part of this show is enough to keep anyone busy, but Gordon has a wealth of stage management crew with Louise Knowles, Luen Banks, Dave Jackson and Mark Smith, all responsible for keeping everything on stage running smoothly. 

And finally, I must state that the Front Of House staff are all absolutely amazing and accommodating, as well as so friendly. 

For anyone who may think that Gilbert & Sullivan may be a bit dated, or a bit stuffy, go see this show because Christchurch Gilbert & Sullivan Society will seriously change your outlook on this pair. The music is clever and fun and delivered brilliantly. They allow for a couple of modern updates to their work, let's face it Barrack Obama was never mentioned in any G&S song until this one, and in the hands of this cast, eyes are not the only things that sparkle on stage. And while this is not really a spoiler, especially if you have not seen this musical before, like myself, there's a wonderful twist at the end!

"The Gondoliers" is at Iveshead Theatre, Shepshed until Saturday 14 November.

Production photography is thanks to Stevie Ashurst.