Photo by David Allen
San Francisco's venerable and evergreen Lamplighters are about to revive their acclaimed production of The Pirates of Penzance, but off-stage, alas, life is not all "Oh, joy! Oh, rapture!," but rather more along the lines of:
I find my duty hard to do today
My heart is filled with anguish dire,
It strikes me to the core.
Away, away !
In a startlingly candid and straightforward statement, the Lamplighters have announced:
The board and staff of Lamplighters Music Theatre have spent a lot of time over the last few months discussing business models and the long-term sustainability of a company that is dedicated, mostly, to the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.Having recently celebrated their 60th anniversary, they are are looking forward to planning a 70th anniversary and beyond, but continue to run into the problems of an aging audience, lack of education in the schools, reduced G&S awareness amongst the younger generations, increasing production costs, etc. etc.
Whoa! And then, instead of going on with a fund-raising appeal (completely understandable and in order), the Lamplighters initiated action by inviting other G&S companies from around the country to a "Gilbert & Sullivan Summit" with the goal of building a closer community, "encourage brainstorming and idea-sharing, and possibly even future collaborations."
The summit is now a reality, and during the Pirates of Penzance run at the Yerba Buena Center, Aug. 15-17, at least 15 such companies will participate.
(Linda Ronstadt, an unforgettable Mabel on stage and screen, received the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from President Obama in a White House ceremony Monday afternoon.)