4B - Thursday, December 9, 2010
UMGASS
From Page 1B
of the principal characters in "The Sor-
cerer." "It's all basically ridiculous satire
of aspects of English life at the time ... You
get to kind of look back through that."
Surprisingly, one of the most satirical
of Gilbert and Sullivan's works is set in a
land far away from jolly old England. "The
Mikado," which premiered in 1885, paints
an exaggerated portrait of British law
and rank under the disguise of imperial
Japan. The work, which ran for 672 per-
formances, is arguably the most popular
and best known G&S operetta. It will also
be UMGASS's spring production, slated
for April 2011.
Propelling the political and social sat-
ire of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas is
W.S. Gilbert's witty dialogue and hilari-
ously impossible storylines.
"Theplots areso ludicrous,butsomehow
you believe it, and it works," said UMGASS
president Ali Kahn, a senior in the Ross
School of Business. "At the end they always
throw in this giant twist that somehow is
logical but just doesn't seem practical, and
it solves every single problem."
As an example, Kahn cited the duo's
1879 sensation "The Pirates of Penzance."
The operetta's leading man, who believes
he will be free to leave the band of pirates
he serves once he turns 21, realizes that
he was born on February 29 of a leap year.
He must therefore remain a pirate until
his actual 21st birthday, which will occur
sometime in his eighties.
"(G&S have) got this witty humor that
still appeals to modern audiences even
though (the shows) are from the late
1800s," Kahn said.
Sullivan's music also has elements of
satire, as it parodies grand opera of the
period. G&S operettas are packed with
musical jokes that reference the operas of
Wagner and Verdi. Kahn, who has stud-
ied these references, noted that Sullivan
lifted a passage from Verdi's "La Traviata"
and jokingly recycled it in a soprano aria
in "The Pirates of Penzance."
"Sullivan took (music) out of the opera
of the time or the opera right before that
and just placed it right in the score," Kahn
said. "So people in the audience would
have gotten those jokes. Now people don't
necessarily get it. But I think the music is
just so beautiful because it's a nice mix-
ture of the high opera of that period and
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4
the way music was going into operetta."
Interestingly enough, Sullivan's ambi-
tion was to write a serious operatic work
that would rank among the operas of
the composers whom he parodied. Even
Queen Victoria herself once remarked
to the composer, "You ought to write a
grand opera, Sir Arthur, you would do it
so well." Although Sullivan did compose
an opera - without the help of Gilbert - it
never gained the same recognition as the
operettas he produced with his longtime
partner.
Despite Sullivan's unfulfilled dream,
even the composer himself could not deny
the tremendous success of his joint ven-
tures with Gilbert. The partnership of
Sullivan's playful melodies and Gilbert's
incomparable wit helped the entire canon
of G&S operettas to stand the test of time.
One hundred fourteen years after their
final collaboration, Gilbert and Sulli-
van still remain household names. Their
operettas continue to be performed inter-
nationally by societies dedicated to pre-
serving the topsy-turvy world of G&S.
G&S AT THE 'U'
Founded in the late '40s, the University
of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society
is one of the most esteemed and respected
of its kind. Since its first performance, the
society has offered top-notch amateur
performances of G&S, while at the same
time educating modern audiences of this
all-too-neglected artform.
"I think it's necessary to keep Gilbert
and Sullivan going," Kahn said. "It's a
very important genre and time in history
to present to audiences. I think that if
societies like us didn't do it, (Gilbert and
Sullivan) would have a hard time finding a
home in other theater companies."
Gillett believes UMGASS is especially
important because it provides local audi-
ences a chance to see quality Gilbert and
Sullivan performances without leaving
Ann Arbor.
"This is the only company, unless you
go to Toronto or New York or Chicago or
San Francisco, that you're going to see
this level of quality of production," he
said. "For a student organization, they
produce about the most professional
production of G&S that you probably are
going to see."
At its most basic level, UMGASS is a
community of members joined by their
love for G&S, whether they are University
students, faculty or Ann Arbor residents.
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SAM WOLSON/Daily
The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society was founded in 1947 and puts on two to three shows every year.
The society offers a special niche for oper-
etta lovers who continue to participate
even after they graduate.
"It's got a ton of alumni," Kahn said.
"Over time people come up to us and say,
'I was in UMGASS in the '70s when I was
a Law student here.' And then they come
back later and they can still participate."
Kahn went on to explain that members of
UMGASS often form a supportive and close-
knit family - both figuratively and literally.
"We've got second-generation
UMGASS-ers, believe it or not," Kahn
said. "I guess at some point, there have
been one or two marriages that have
resulted. It's very much a family.
"I feel like I'm a part of the Ann Arbor
community, not just the University," Kahn
added. "I feel like the relationships I've
made are so lasting and will definitely
carry into the future after I graduate."
While UMGASS makes an effort to
pull in longtime G&S fans, the society
also tries to make the works accessible to
first-time operetta-goers. Gillett pointed
out that while they may focus on a time
and place far from our own, the univer-
sal themes and intellectual humor of G&S
will appeal to modern-day audiences and,
in particular, students.
"It's kind of lucky that Gilbert chose,
most of the time, universal subjects," Gil-
lett said. "So these aren't stories about
gods and kings - like in opera where
nobody can really relate to it."
Though the universality of G&S oper-
ettas attracts a wide audience, first-time
G&S attendees are often intimidated by
the outdated and antiquated language
that can make it difficult to follow the
story. Archaic British expressions like "at
sixes and sevens" and "yam for toko" can
throw even the most experienced audi-
ence member for a loop. UMGASS tries
to get around this barrier by providing
definitions of old-fashioned idioms and
vocabulary in the program. In addition,
supertitles are projected above the stage
during musical numbers.
"We usually try to get the singers
to enunciate really clearly, but I think
(supertitles are) an advantage for those
who are brand new to it." Gillett said.
Kahn pointed out that Gilbert and Sulli-
van may not be as foreign to college students
as one might think. In fact, pop culture is
filled with references to G&S operettas.
"I was watching a 'Family Guy' episode
the other day, and one of the songs from
'The Sorcerer' came on," Kahn said. "It's
one of those references that just appear,
and if you know what it is, it's one of those
great moments."
Kahn's run-in with G&S on primetime
television shows just how widespread and
well known Gilbert and Sullivan's works
are. While these two artists would have
most likely made names for themselves
had they worked independently, it is for- 4
tunate that they worked together to pro-
duce the some of the best-loved works of
musical theater in the English-speaking
world and beyond. When a student begins
to experience for himself or herself the
pair's perfect balance of theater and
music, it becomes evident why societies 4
like UMGASS continue to perform the
works of G&S to this day.
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SAM WOLSON/Daily
When founded, the goal of UMGASS was to perform all 13 of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. This weekend, the group will put on "The Sorcerer," composed in 1877.
DANCE
From Page 2B
for everyone to see.
"As artists, we create something mean-
ingful to us, present it and we hope for the
best," McClendon said. "The scary part
is, people are going have opinions about
what you created and they may not be the
opinions you wanted them to have, but I
wouldn't want to create something that
someone was indifferent about. I actually
want you to hate it or I want you to love it;
that's the way I would prefer that it would
be."
The seven seniors will get plenty more
reactions to their work when they show-
case their pieces for choreographers,
directors, University alumni, friends
and family at the Baryshnikov Arts Cen-
ter in New York City on May 6 and 7 in a
self-produced show, a first for the Dance
Department. The brainchild of the Class
of 2011, the show has been facilitated by
the students' hard work as well as the
help of the dance faculty and Dean of the
School of Music, Theatre & Dance Chris-
topher Kendall.
"We're kind of challenging the Dance
Department to keep up with us," Nieves
said. "Even if none of us get jobs from
there, our goals are to showcase the Uni-
versity on the East Coast, to show what
we can do. That's something you can put
on your resume, that you just got out of
college and you produced a show in New
York. How many 21-year-olds can say
that?"
Each of the seniors will carry that same
ambition with them as they graduate and
face the fickle dance world. When asked
what most of them refer to as "the ques-
tion," the seniors all seem surprisingly
assured about their futures. Nieves, Romi-
ta and Yarrington hope to move to New
York City and begin performance careers,
Crescenti is applying to a contemporary
dance school in London and auditioning
in New York and Chicago, Sheena and
Wanserski will go abroad and McClendon
will pursue his second passion, singing.
"It's a little scary because a lot of our
friends who are not in the dance world
are already getting interviews; half of my
friends already have jobs," Romita said.
"You can't apply for a job in the same way
as, say, a business major does."
"(A career in dance) takes building a
community basis. You get jobs on your
own with your tech ability and with your
presence but also with who you know,"
Crescenti said. "You go into those audi-
tions with hundreds and hundreds of
people all wanting one spot, and people
who are your age, people who are younger
than you, people who have been living in
the city for years and years and are hun-
gry and tired and want this job a thousand
times more than anyone else in the room."
No matter what happens, each BFA is
optimistic about what's in store for the
future.
"I know that it'll be fine, and I love to
dance, so in some way or another some-
thing will work out," Yarrington said.
McClendon summed up the feelings of
the closely bonded class quite succinctly:
"We're going somewhere great, and we
can feel it."
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SALAM RIDA/Dai
"Barista" is Italian for "bartender."
COFFEE
From Page 3B
own community, but every barista also
has the opportunity to connect with his
or her customers.
"The best part of my job is all the peo-
ple I get to meet and talk to. straight up,"
Roney said. "Coffee's very interesting.
I've been very interested in it for a long
time. But I think what makes me like
it more than other jobs I've had is that
face-to-face interaction with hundreds
of people every day. It's ail extrovert's
job."
In a place as unique as Cafi Ambrosia,
Bies enjoys the diversity of people that
come through the shop.
"You start learning a lot about people
who are really interesting," Bies said. "It
kind of gives you a microcosm of a com-
munity."
For Bies, that community represents a
reprieve from his academic life. Gutows-
ki also finds his job to be a healthy relief
from school, especially duringthe stress-
ful time of exams.
"It's not school, so it's also a distrac-
tion," Gutowski said. "Even when it
becomes time-consuming ... I would say
it's a fun job."
Bies, who once worked at Beanster's
in Pierpont Commons on North Campus,
finds Ambrosia to be a relaxing place to
work, with its own customer commu-
nity.
"It's totally an escape," he said. "Pro-
fessors come here, and GSIs hold office
hours here all the time. It's also where
people come to break up - two people
come in together, have a serious conver-
sation and then leave separately. It's like,
'I'm really glad we can facilitate your
breakup.'"
The ubiquity of coffee is so embodied
in campus culture that it even becomes a
part of the rise and fall of relationships.
Coffee is an integral part of many stu-
dents' daily lives, and in appreciating the
drink that runs our late-night study ses-
sions, it's best to not overlook the baris-
tas who form the lifeblood of the coffee
exchange.
The Dance BFA seniors wil take their pieces to New York City this May for a two-day showcase.