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Gilbert and Sullivan Festival confirms 2021 performances at Harrogate Royal Hall

The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company in the dress rehearsal for The Pirates Of Penzance in July 2018. Picture: Jane Stokes

THIS summer’s 27th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate has been scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic, but the festival organisers have put next summer’s festival line-up in place already.

As is custom, the 2021 festival will run at two locations, the original home of Buxton Opera House from July 31 to August 7 and Harrogate Royal Hall from August 8 to 22.

Taking part will be three professional companies, the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, Charles Court Opera and Forbear! Theatre, and amateur performers from Abbots Langley G&S Society, Brussels Light Opera, Bus Pass Opera, Peak Opera, Ploverleigh Savoy Players, SavoyNet Performing Group and Trent Opera.    

Harrogate dates for the 2021 diary are:

August 8, The Mikado, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; H.M.S. Pinafore, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

August 9, Iolanthe, Peak Opera, 7.30pm.

August 10, The Gondoliers, Trent Opera, 7.30pm.

August 11, Iolanthe, Charles Court Opera, 2.30pm; Ruddigore, Charles Court Opera, 7.30pm.

August 12, The Pirates Of Penzance, Brussels Light Opera, 7.30pm.

August 13, The Yeomen Of The Guard,  Forbear! Theatre, 7.30pm.

August 14, Patience, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; The Mikado, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

August 15, The Pirates Of Penzance, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; H.M.S. Pinafore, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

August 16, Ruddigore, Abbots Langley G&S Society, 7.30pm.

August 17, The Mikado, Ploverleigh Savoy Players, 7.30pm.

August 18, Patience, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; The Pirates Of Penzance, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

August 19, The Grand Duke, SavoyNet Performing Group, 7.30pm.

August 20, Princess Ida, Bus Pass Opera, 7.30pm.

August 21, H.M.S. Pinafore, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; Patience, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

August 22, The Mikado, National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 2.30pm; The Pirates Of Penzance,  National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, 7.30pm.

A night at the light opera: The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival at the Royal Hall, Harrogate, in a past year

This summer’s festival run in Harrogate from August 9 to 23 would have featured five new National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company productions: The Pirates Of Penzance and The Sorcerer, directed by Richard Gauntlett; rising star Rachel Middle’s HMS Pinafore; Simon Butteriss’s Patience and Alan Borthwick’s The Emerald Isle (or The Caves Of Carrig-Cleena), a work staged only rarely.

Further highlights were to have been Charles Court Opera’s smart, stylish new take on The Mikado, directed by John Savournin, and their new production of Iolanthe, plus Rachel Middle’s production of The Yeomen Of The Guard for Forbear! Theatre.

After the cancellation of the 2020 festival, the organisers have launched a streaming service at gsopera.tv to show “the very best of the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company and festival productions at home and abroad since 1994, plus many other G&S classics”.

“There’s something for everyone and our content will be constantly updated with new, exciting films for you to enjoy from the best seat in your house,” says festival trustee Bernard Lockett. “There’s free content to watch there too.

“You can watch gsopera.tv on your tablet, laptop, smart TV, smartphone or PC: anywhere with the internet. It’s easy to use and your purchases can be accessed on all your internet devices forever.

“Keep an eye out for our new weekly podcasts and webinars starring your festival favourites and Gilbert and Sullivan experts. They are coming soon and we can’t wait to share them with you. We are also selecting some outstanding films for an eagerly awaited virtual festival in August, so this year you can simply stay safely at home and enjoy being entertained.

“Gsopera.tv lets you re-live treasured memories and enjoy those magical performances that have made the Gilbert and Sullivan Festival such an amazing and unique event.”

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International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival launches opera TV streaming service after August event’s cancellation

A night at the light opera: The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival at the Royal Hall, Harrogate, in a past year

THIS summer’s 27th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival at the Royal Hall, Harrogate, may have been cancelled, but the show must go on…online.

In response to the Covid-19 strictures, the festival is launching a new streaming service of past productions at www.gsopera.tv.

“We shall be streaming the very best of our National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company and G&S Festival productions at home and abroad since 1994, plus many other G&S classics,” says festival trustee Bernard Lockett.

“Unfortunately, there’s no International G&S Festival in 2020 because of Covid-19, but here, as is said in The Mikado, is our ‘substitute’: www.gsopera.tv. Full programme details will be available later.”

What delights lie in store, Bernard? “There’s something for everyone, and our content will be constantly updated with new, exciting films for you to enjoy from the best seat in your house. Sign in now on gsopera.tv and there’s even a ten per cent discount until May 14. There’s free content to watch there too,” he says.

“You can watch gsopera.tv on your tablet, laptop, smart TV, smartphone or PC – anywhere with the internet. It’s easy to use and your purchases can be accessed on all your internet-connected devices forever.”

What else? “Keep an eye out for our new weekly podcasts and webinars starring your festival favourites and Gilbert & Sullivan experts,” says Bernard. “They are coming soon and we can’t wait to share them with you.

“We’re selecting some outstanding films for an eagerly awaited virtual festival in August, so this year you can simply stay safely at home and enjoy being entertained. Our streaming service will let you re-live treasured memories and enjoy those magical performances that have made the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival such an amazing and unique event.”

Bernard also confirmed the G&S Festival will be “back in earnest” in 2021 at two locations: the festival’s original home of Buxton Opera House, from July 31 to August 7, and the Royal Hall, Harrogate, from August 8 to 22.

This summer’s festival run in Harrogate from August 9 to 23 would have featured five new National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company productions: The Pirates Of Penzance and The Sorcerer, directed by Richard Gauntlett; rising star Rachel Middle’s HMS Pinafore; Simon Butteriss’s Patience and Alan Borthwick’s The Emerald Isle (or The Caves Of Carrig-Cleena), a work staged only rarely.

Further highlights were to have been Charles Court Opera’s smart, stylish new take on The Mikado, directed by John Savournin, and their new production of Iolanthe, plus Rachel Middle’s production of The Yeomen Of The Guard for Forbear! Theatre.

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Red Hot Chilli Pipers rearrange postponed Harrogate Royal Hall concert for next April

Pipe down: Red Hot Chilli Pipers are postponing their 2020 spring tour

BAGPIPE band Red Hot Chilli Pipers are postponing their April and May tour under the Coronavirus shutdown, but don’t be too deflated. The Celtic rock band’s dates are being rearranged for next spring.

The 2020 tour would have opened at the Royal Hall, Harrogate, on April 24, a show now re-scheduled for April 10 2021.

Tickets remain valid for the new date, but anyone unable to attend the revised gig – although who can predict anything in their diary for a year’s time?! – should claim a refund from the original point of purchase by Friday, April 10.

Piping up again: Red Hot Chllli Pipers, re-booked to play Harrogate in spring 2021

Formed in Scotland in 2002, Red Hot Chilli Pipers made a cameo appearance at the T In The Park festival with The Darkness in 2004 and won the BBC talent show When Will I Be Famous? in 2007.

Bringing together musicians, dancers and singers from Scotland and further afield, many holding world championship titles, they specialise in “Bagrock”, a groundbreaking fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock/pop anthems.

In 2014, the Pipers released the Live At The Lake DVD and CD, recorded at the Milwaukee Irish Fest, their American spiritual home by the shores of Lake Michigan, when they brought 16 musicians and dancers across the Atlantic.

The set that night took in Insomnia, Gimme All Your Lovin’, Thunderstruck, Everybody Dance Now, Amazing Grace, Fix You, Chasing Cars, Wake Me Up, Don’t Stop Believin’ and We Will Rock You.

Pipe dream team : Tom Walker linking up with Red Hot Chilli Pipers for Leave A Light On

In February 2019, the Pipers and Tom Walker released a new version of his 2018 hit Leave A Light On in aid of Nordoff Robbins, the music therapy charity. Earlier Walker and the band performed at Murrayfield before the Scotland versus Italy Six Nations rugby match.

In a new departure for the Pipers, last June’s studio album of new songs and covers, Fresh Air, featured lead vocals on many tracks, such as Walker on Leave The Light On and Chris Judge on the American band Walk The Moon’s Shut Up And Dance and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Next on the horizon in Yorkshire for Red Hot Chilli Pipers is a July 11 appearance at Pocklington Arts Centre’s Platform Festival at the Old Station, Pocklington. Watch this space for news of whether the festival will go ahead or not as the Coronavirus pandemic’s progress unfurls.