Sunningdale Savoy Chorus Gala Year 2011


In 2011 The Sunningdale Savoy Chorus will have existed for 20 years. Founded in 1991by John Woodward - Roberts and Mark Bennett the Society originally performed the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan but now include all types of musical theatre in its repetoire.

For its gala year in 2011, however, it will be returning to its roots by performing a range of concerts and shows all designed to celebrate the Savoy in its name.

Its main show in 2011 will be an all new riotous production of HMS Pinafore using a refreshed script and an updated presentation of much of Sullivan’s music. Audiences can expect hornpiping dancers, bawdy sailors, love sick ladies and a ships captain, foremast hand and First Sea Lord who really ought to know better. All within a delightful tale of love across the Victorian class divide.


The show will also include a duet between the ships captain and Josephine his daughter once thought lost but now rediscovered and restored. ;    

The history of of HMS Pinafore is as follows:

"H.M.S. Pinafore or The Lass that Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances which was the second longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation

 The story takes place aboard the British ship H.M.S. Pinafore

The captain's daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her father's wishes at first, but Sir Joseph's advocacy of equality encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically near the end of the story. .

 Watch this space for more information on HMS Pinafore and our Gala Year.