HIS ‘IOLANTHE’ WILL HAVE SOME NEW WRINKLES

Tampering with the century-secure tradition that protects a Gilbert and Sullivan opera is not for those who fear the public’s animosity.

Such meddling is often looked upon as sacrilege by the dedicated “Savoyards” who seem to have an insatiable appetite for the Victorian writers’ 14 musical collaborations. So named to honor London’s Savoy Theatre, for nearly 100 years the sole professional producer of G&S; works, Savoyards are often quite vocal about the “right” way to stage their beloved “Mikado” or their “Pinafore.”

But local director Welton Jones is not worried. Twenty years as a drama critic for the San Diego Union has no doubt given him a good thick layer of protection for the epithets that may be hurled when his “concept” staging of “Iolanthe” opens tonight for a two-weekend run at the Casa del Prado Theatre in Balboa Park.

“Let’s just say I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Jones hinted.

A leave of absence from journalistic duties allowed him two weeks to stage the opera for the San Diego Gilbert and Sullivan Company. Jones’ wife and general director of the company, Hollace Koman, is serving as musical director for “Iolanthe.”

“I told the company on the first day of rehearsals the direction we were going to go and they all were charmed by it--and I hope that we charm the audience by it,” Jones said. “Nobody’s ever done this show this way before, as far as I know.”

It won’t be the first time the local troupe has disrupted G&S; tradition.

The company got off to a true Savoyard beginning in 1974 with a production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” staged by D’Oyly Carte Opera Company veteran Martyn Green. After Green’s death the following year and a two-year hiatus, Koman enlisted a series of guest directors to stage the G&S; works, but they varied widely in their perception of how closely one should follow Gilbert’s original stagings.

“Let’s put it this way,” Jones explained. “The most popular musical show in the history of the known universe is ‘The Mikado.’ That’s not my opinion, that’s fact. When you’ve got somebody that wrote that and staged it and their staging directions are still available, in other words, I can still look and see exactly how it was done by Mr. Gilbert, it’s difficult to ignore that.

“But I don’t think that anything that I do (with ‘Iolanthe’) will be something that Mr. Gilbert would not approve of.”

Jones’ first directing job for his wife was in 1984 when he put together a critically acclaimed production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Patience.”

His direction in April of the Jacques Offenbach operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” drew considerably less praise. But that didn’t sway him from a desire to “help out with the family business” as often as his regular employer will allow.

He admits that there are those who think it inappropriate for a critic to get involved in the production side of theater. His colleagues are nearly equally divided on the subject, he said. Some maintain a careful distance. Others consider it almost necessary to keep their skills sharpened by going back, periodically, to the hands-on experiences that first sparked their love for the theater.

“There’s no doubt that theater critics have a foot in two camps,” Jones said. “Are you a journalist or are you a theater person? Well, the answer is, of course, ideally you’re both.

“You’ve got to understand that at one time or another I have done everything in the theater. . . . I’ve sewed costumes, I’ve done choreography, I’ve danced on stage, I’ve performed in the pit on an instrument, and I find that all of this is immensely valuable to me in writing about the theater, both as a reviewer and as a commentator, as an interviewer and as a columnist. I think that directing makes me more sensitive to the problems of a director.

“What has happened over the years is that at various times in my career there have been times when opportunities arose for me to participate . . . and I’ve always eagerly grabbed those opportunities when I could. On this particular occasion the opportunity was that I married the producer.”

Jones also happens to be infatuated with Gilbert and Sullivan himself, as easily conversant in G&S; trivia as any good Savoyard.

“I would guess, conservatively speaking, I’ve probably seen ‘The Mikado’ two dozen times, and if I heard of a good production right now I’d say, ‘Hey, what are you doing tonight? Let’s go.’ How many times have opera lovers seen ‘Aida’ or ‘Tosca’? How many times have you seen ‘Hamlet,’ and what does it matter?” he said.

“There just seems to have been nothing, at least nothing that Gilbert could come up with, that Sullivan couldn’t set to music. And there seems to have been no Sullivan music that Gilbert couldn’t grace with appropriate lyrics.”

According to Jones, “Iolanthe,” with its band of influential fairy ladies pitted against members of the House of Lords, is “one of the most beloved and respected and adored operas in the entire group among genuine Savoyards.”

Whether or not that’s enough to recommend it, Jones said he is “having a blast” directing the show.