The Durham Savoyards, Ltd.'s Princess
Ida, or Castle Adamant Was Delightful

I am not usually a fan of opera, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Durham Savoyards, Ltd.'s recent production of Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant at The Carolina Theatre of Durham. Director/choreographer Melissa S. Craib Dombrowski lined up an incredible number of performers and coaxed top-notch performances out of all of them. Music director/conductor Dr. Joanna Sisk-Purvis, likewise, produced excellence.

If this is the quality of production that we can expect from the Durham Savoyards, Ltd., keep them coming. If this is the quality of any script with libretto by Sir William. S. Gilbert and music by Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, more, please!

One of the more delightful aspects is the manner in which Princess Ida lampoons historical and literary conventions, including arranged marriages, national pride, cross-dressing, the battle between the sexes, and a host of others.

Side Note: I was impressed by the echoes of Shakespeare, such as "in my mind's eye," "chaos come again," and "man is but an ass." (I'm sure there were more.) Ida's creation of a women-only university is reminiscent of the men-only "academe" created by the king of Navarre in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.

Scott Sino (left) as King Hildebrand converses with Erin Conn as Prince Hilarion about waiting for Princess Ida (photo by Mark Welker)

The Play:

In the opening scene, we learn that 20 years ago, one-year-old Princess Ida (daughter of King Gama) was promised in marriage to two-year-old Prince Hilarion (son of King Hildebrand).

Problem: Ida has now decided to renounce this marriage and, indeed, all men. She goes even further and founds a university to educate women, requiring all of her students to join her in renouncing men.

Hildebrand is unhappy. He imprisons Gama and his sons in an attempt to leverage Ida into honoring her commitment.

Hilarion and two friends decide to disguise themselves as women and sneak into the university.

Hilarity ensues.

Guron (John Paul Middlesworth), Arac (Kent Parks), and Scynthius (Vaughn Greene) demonstrate their fighting abilities (photo by Mark Welker)

The Acting:

Every performance, principals and ensemble included, was spot-on. Pacing was brisk and even. Singing and movement were also on point.

Scott Sino's King Hildebrand and Stuart Albert's King Gama made a nice match, with both actors playing the silliness of their characters to the hilt. Albert was especially funny.

Erin Conn's Prince Hilarion and Constance Paolantonio's Princess Ida were just as well-matched, each character adamantly adhering to the "justice" of their position regarding their rights and expectations.

As a fan of the 1980s CBS sitcom Newhart, I was properly impressed by a kind of Larry-Daryl-and-Daryl flavor in the buffoonery of Gama's sons Arac, Guron, and Scynthius. Kudos to Kent Parks, John Paul Middlesworth, and Vaughn Greene, respectively, for these bits.

Stuart Albert (left) as King Gama tells a joke to the annoyance of Scott Sino as King Hildebrand (photo by Mark Welker)

The Tech:

Technical director Ben Morgan headed up a capable team, with lighting design by Ava Bitsas, set design by James Vollers, and master carpentry by Mark Welker. Kishara McKnight's costume design added nicely to the visual spectacle as well as the verisimilitude for the time-and-place. Although the program does not credit a sound designer, I imagine that musical director Sisk-Purvis and director Dombroski teamed up to cover that aspect.

Joanna Sisk-Purvis' 16-piece orchestra handled the music with aplomb. And stage management was expertly handled by Donna Cavallo, assisted by Anna Thomson.

Erin Conn (left) as Prince Hilarion and Emerson Zhou (right) as Cyril
hold King Gama (Stuart Albert) hostage (photo by Mark Welker)

Nice Touches:

• The costumed "characters," seated in the box seats.

Beginning the performance by asking the audience to stand and join in singing, "God Save the Queen."

• The projections of the dialogue and songs on the screen above the stage.
• The starry backdrop in the early scenes.
• The plethora of rhyming.
• The spy glasses used by Hildebrand and his people as they anticipated the arrival of Gama & Co.
• The statue of a lion in the courtyard of Ida's university.
• The final (serious seeming) post-curtain-call song.

In Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant stars (from left) Richard Colin Brown as Florian, Erin Conn as Prince Hilarion, and Emerson
Zhou as Cyril, who are disguised as students to talk to Constance Paolantonio as Princess Ida (photo by Mark Welker)

Memorable Lines:

• "If he fail to keep his troth, upon our oath, we'll trounce them both!"
• "We'll shut him up in a dungeon cell, and toll his knell on a funeral bell."
• "Two tenors and one baritone."
• "While the Ape, despite his razor keen, was the apiest ape that ever was seen."

Constance Paolantonio as Princess Ida discovers the true identity of (from left) Erin Conn as Prince
Hilarion, Richard Colin Brown as Florian, and Emerson Zhou as Cyril (photo by Mark Welker)

From the Department of Picky-Picky:

• In the dark, I had trouble finding the words to "God Save the Queen" in my program.
• A QR code to online head shots of the actors is always nice.
• Even though Stuart Albert was hilarious with the physicality of King Gama, his handling of the cane-assisted steps was inconsistent at times.

The Bottom Line:

It's a shame that this show only ran for one weekend. The Durham Savoyards, Ltd. definitely have a knack for producing Gilbert & Sullivan. Melissa Dombrowski, Joanna Sisk-Purvis, and Ben Morgan are a super team. My recommendation is, keep your eyes out for their future collaborations.

Teddy McKrell (left front) as Lady Psyche and Ada Brown (right front) as Lady Blanche lead the defense of Castle
Adamant, with Constance Paolantonio (top center) as Princess Ida looking on with pride (photo by Mark Welker)

Gilbert & Sullivan's PRINCESS IDA, OR CASTLE ADAMANT (In Person March 20-22), directed and choreographed by Melissa S. Craib Dombrowski, with musical direction by Dr. Joanna Sisk-Purvis, and starring Erin Conn as Prince Hilarion, Constance Paolantonio as Princess Ida, Scott Sino as King Hildebrand, Mary Elisabeth Hirsh as Melissa, Stuart Albert as King Gama, Ada Brown as Lady Blanche, Emerson Zhou as Cyril, Richard Colin Brown as Florian, Teddy McKrell as Lady Psyche, Kent Parks as Arac, Vaughn Greene as Synthius, John Paul Middlesworth as Guron, Suzanne Crifo as Sacharissa, Andrea Zimmerman as Chloe, and Mary Guy as Ada (Durham Savoyards, Ltd. at The Carolina Theatre of Durham). VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/@durhamsavoyardsltd. PRESENTER: https://www.durhamsavoyards.org/, https://linktr.ee/durhamsavoyardsltd, https://www.facebook.com/durhamsavoyards, https://www.instagram.com/durhamsavoyardsltd/, and https://www.youtube.com/@durhamsavoyardsltd. VENUE: https://carolinatheatre.org/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/carolina-theatre-of-durham, https://www.facebook.com/CarolinaTheatreDurham, https://www.instagram.com/carolinatheatredurham/, https://www.tiktok.com/@carolinatheatredurham, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Theatre_(Durham), https://x.com/CarolinaDurham, and https://www.youtube.com/@carolinatheatreofdurham. PARKING & DIRECTIONS: https://carolinatheatre.org/visit/directions/. ACCESSIBILITY: https://carolinatheatre.org/visit/accessibility/. PRINCESS IDA, OR CASTLE ADAMANT (1884 London and New York three-act comic opera): https://gsarchive.net/princess_ida/html/index.html, https://stageagent.com/shows/operetta/1682/princess-ida, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Ida. THE SCRIPT (excerpts): https://books.google.com/books. STUDY GUIDE (Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company): https://gsvloc.org/about-us/gilbert-sullivan-revised/princess-ida/. GILBERT & SULLIVAN (collaborators on 14 comic operas, 1871-96): https://www.gilbertandsullivansociety.org.uk/, https://www.gilbertandsullivan.nyc/, https://www.gandsmanc.org/, https://gsarchive.net/, https://gsopera.com/, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gilbert_and_Sullivan, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_and_Sullivan. SIR W.S. GILBERT (London-born dramatist and librettist, nee William Schwenck Gilbert, 1836-1911): https://www.wsgilbert.co.uk/, https://gsarchive.net/gilbert/life/long_bio.html, https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-S-Gilbert, and https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/W._S._Gilbert, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Gilbert. SIR ARTHUR S. SULLIVAN (London-born composer, nee Arthur Seymour Sullivan, 1842-1900): https://sullivansociety.org.uk/, https://sullivansociety.org.uk/arthur-sullivan/, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Sullivan, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Sullivan. INFORMATION: 919-560-3030 or info@durhamsavoyards.org. PLEASE DONATE TO: Durham Savoyards, Ltd. and The Carolina Theatre of Durham. Quinn Barbaza's Triangle Review Review Permalink. [RUN HAS CONCLUDED.]

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