Top Ten Out-Of-Context G&S Lines

[chanaleh]

When mitgsp put on a Spontaneous Iolanthe singthrough in January 2002, scwang & co. decreed that the casting was to be Attainable by Competitive Examination, and supplied a list of essay questions.

I was so eager* to sing the role of Iolanthe that I actually put a fair bit of energy into my response. And not only did I succeed, but scwang reported later that mine "was definitely the one application that had the whole EC in stitches :) ".

Anyway, so the part I was proudest of is this first bit, and it still springs to mind from time to time, and that's why I'm putting this up for posterity.

What is your favorite out-of-context G&S Line?

10. "When the balls whistle free o'er the bright blue sea..."
9. "... the tang of a tyrant tongue."
8. "Yes, Frederic, from today you rank as a full-blown member of our band."
7. "They're men with whom you give each other mate, And that's enough!"
6. "the lucid lake of liquid love" [mmmmm... liquid love... -- Ed.]
5. "Oh, my protoplasmal ancestor!"
4. "... penal servitude for life!"
3. "Blow the trumpets, bang the brasses!"
2. "A fairy Member! That would be delightful!"

However, the question has become practically academic thanks to:

1. "Be firm, be firm, my pecker!"


Why do you want to do this show?

The role of Iolanthe resonates with me particularly because (a) I have a weakness for men in wigs, and (b) though I do not generally make this known among mortals, I am myself a former fairy who was banished due to an amorous indiscretion at a tender age. Sadly, while the offspring of this star-crossed union was indeed 50% a fairy by volume -- it was the outer half, arranged concentrically. He could make himself invisible down to the myofascia, but that was of no use considering what remained exposed to view... and what happened to his outer half when his inner half died of old age, you REALLY don't want to hear about.

Given 15 square feet of foam what would you sculpt?

A scale model of the House of Parliament, so that I might pay proper fairy-style homage to it at all hours of the day and night. Because, for all our faults, we love our House of Peers. -- Oh, drat, wrong show again.

Why are sopranos always in pink? What color should tenors be in then?

Sopranos are costumed in pink because the color pink occupies a range on the visual spectrum whose wavelength acts as a harmonic complement to the upper frequencies of the female vocal range, setting up an entrainment phenomenon which decreases the perceived oscillation of the stimulus at the point of auditory processing by the listener.

In other words, it makes them hurt your ears less.

Tenors, using the same principle, ought routinely to be costumed in lavender, but this practice is rarely followed because tenors have enough issues with their masculinity as it is.

Sources: 10, 9 = Pinafore; 8 = Pirates; 7 = Princess Ida; 6 = Sorcerer; 5 = Mikado; 4, 3, 2 = Iolanthe; 1 = Trial by Jury.

*Partly in hopes that navrins would sing the Lord Chancellor, which in fact was exactly how it played out... leading to (among other cherished memories) evelio's quip as Strephon, "Wait, you're my mom, and Brian's my dad... I'm Jewish?"

Comments

[zenala.livejournal.com]

Hehehe... I still have the program to that... I can't believe we had a program for that, honestly... What was I? Fleta?

Nostalgic for the old EC

[cmouse.livejournal.com]

We had so much fun with that quiz!

[scholargipsy.livejournal.com]

This made me laugh so hard: thank you.

When I did Pirates, we were also fond of "Oh, is there not one maiden breast?", prompting the inevitable "I sure hope there are two!"

[navrins]

That's great! Invisible down to the myofascia, eh... makes frogs sound positively pleasant.

I only remember my answer to what I'd sculpt out of foam. To which the natural answer seemed to be... oh, drat, I can't do this without dragging in a real name, oh well... "Eric Tung."

(He was our resident foam-sculptor for several shows. Sorcerer shrubs and Pinafore cannons, at least.)

[saxikath]

What, no "We ought to bless her brothers' swords and piously ejaculate"?

Good stuff, though.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

*snork* I don't know that one! I only managed to pull out lines I personally already knew, with the exception of the one Mikado line that I caught on a cursory skim-through. That would totally have beaten out "penal servitude", though.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Men's Pocky! Someone brought that to Pup's party (and a couple other kinds, including Pocky G, of which Tiger Boy said "Yes, that's the Rapper Pocky").

[mrmorse.livejournal.com]

Princess Ida. The chorus music during the battle between the brothers and the trio. We changed the text last time around, and you may not have been singing that section anyway.

[goljerp]

Hmm... what does it mean that I recognized 50% of those lines, and could hum the tune of 20% (some are dialog, not songs, so that's more impressive that that sounds)?

tenors have enough issues with their masculinity as it is.
Hee. I, personally, have no issues with my masculinity... but I'm probably not a real tenor.

[flinx.livejournal.com]

*snerk*
*chuckle*
*laugh*
*falls off the chair, hits the floor, begins rolling*

That's quite an endearing list, dear. The intellectual part of my head wonders at how much language has changed in ~150 years, and the sophomoric part of my head goes "huh huh, she sang pecker".

Thank you dear, I needed that this morning... =-)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Yep, you were Fleta. I still have the program someplace, too. (Which I should probably Xerox for the MITG&SP archive.) I remember chanaleh brought glittery makeup and painted it on the faces of all the fairies. :)

[navrins]

I think it means you've heard HMS Pinafore. Only three of ten have tunes.

And you'll get the third when you come see Iolanthe.

[zenala.livejournal.com]

Is that where my tube of glitter came from? I don't remember actually buying it ever, but I've had it for a while...

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Only three of ten have tunes.

Not true. #1 (TBJ) is in Edwin's recit., but it still has a tune.

[zenala.livejournal.com]

At one Cornell TBJ rehearsal last spring...

Me: You know that refers to lips, right?

Them: *pause*... Huh?... *pause*... Ohhhhhh...

[navrins]

Oh, good point. I plead it being separated off as an excuse for my not noticing it.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Really? I thought it was supposed to mean "heart", in the same sense as "ticker" (which is exactly what we changed it to in the production I was in. Which made rather a slant rhyme to "Exchequer", but was considered better for the composure of the audience).

[zenala.livejournal.com]

Enh, whatever... Around Ithaca "pecker" is now officially "mouth"...

And, yes, I remember the "ticker" thing... That was the show where I played Mutton...

[goljerp]

Er, no, I recognized the songs of #10 and #3. I'm actually a bit more familiar with Iolanthe than Pinafore...