A recent dress rehearsal of The Mikado
Three Gilbert & Sullivan companies unite for milestone performance
By Martin C. Barry
Like the Three Tenors, who were once friendly rivals but eventually decided to join forces, Montreal's three leading Gilbert & Sullivan performance companies will be marking a historic first this Friday when they perform as a team.
The Montreal West Operatic Society, the Lakeshore Light Opera and McGill's Savoy Society are getting together for the first time to present a joint concert, 'Hail! Unity,' to promote their productions taking place in the coming year.
Conceived with the purpose of bringing the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas to a wider audience and to promote their works as family entertainment, the concert is being held on Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. at St. George's Church in downtown Montreal.
The concert will feature excerpts in choral form from The Mikado (Savoy Society), Ruddigore (Lakeshore Light Opera) and H.M.S. Pinafore (Montreal West Operatic Society) being presented by the companies in 2008. Funds raised at the concert will be divided equally among each society for contribution to charities of their choosing.
"What is interesting is that in Montreal there are three groups that are performing musicals written by two men in the Victorian era in the 1890s and there's still a real demand for this kind of music today," says Philip Magder, who's been a Lakeshore Light Opera member for the past four years. For the first time in the history of Gilbert & Sullivan performances in Montreal, about 120 members of the three companies will be united on stage to sing Hail Poetry from Pirates of Penzance.
McGill's Savoy Society has been bringing Gilbert & Sullivan to the community since 1963, when the expiry of William Gilbert's copyrights on his Savoy Operas made them more accessible. The company's productions are made possible through the voluntary efforts of students and non-students both onstage and behind the scenes.
The Lakeshore Light Opera saw its beginnings in 1955 when the Men's Club of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Lachine decided to present Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Trial by Jury.' For more than 30 years, the proceeds of their productions have been donated to the Lakeshore General Hospital.
The Montreal West Operatic Society was founded in 1939 by a group of the town's residents. Notable events staged annually by the company include singing Christmas carols in the streets of Montreal West and visits to the historic Haskell Opera House, which straddles the border between Vermont and Quebec.
Tickets for this Friday's performance are available by calling the Lakeshore Light Opera box office at 514-804-4900, or at the door. Tickets are $15, $8 for students and seniors.
Steven Guilbeault - 
