Mrs Atomic Partlett's Jorum of Tea

Description

This is a small collection of bits influenced by the wonderful operas of Mr William S Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan. In no way could anyone match, or even remotely come close to, the wonderful libretti produced by Gilbert. He was the master of the understatement, the innuendo, the scurrilous and the hilarious. He was able to poke fun at the characters and events of his day and nobody was free from his pen, from Oscar Wilde to Captain Shaw, Chief of the London Fire Brigade and from Queen Victoria to WH Smith of the stationery chain.

All amateur dramatic societies like to let their hair down at the end of their performance run and an after-show party is usually on the cards when the set has been struck, and before total exhaustion sets in. The Bristol Gilbert & Sullivan Operatic Society was no exception. Partying until the early hours each time required people, already shattered, to work even harder as we raucously made our through these spoof versions of the G & S operas that had just been laid to rest.

So here are ten versions of G & S operas that bear some little resemblance to the shows that had just been performed and created raucous belly laughs, probably partly through relief that we had managed the week without serious mishap. Now my costumes are in mothballs and my wigs have all been hung out to get some fresh air, and I so much enjoy watching from the sidelines (and singing VERY quietly to myself along the way). The parodies stretch from The Snowmen of The Yard to Pilates in Penzance, with a good helping of Mick Trump O'Doo and The Flying Saucerer in between.

Feel free to use them, adapt them or be encouraged to write your own and have a rollicking good party.