MUSIC REVIEW : Master Chorale Members Tackle Gilbert & Sullivan

The morale of the Master Chorale of Orange County may have soared when music director William Hall showcased members in principal roles in the “Satire of Gilbert & Sullivan” program over the weekend at Chapman College in Orange.

But Gilbert and Sullivan were not particularly well served.

In Ron Thronson’s staging of “Trial by Jury,” David Higgins on Sunday was a flagrant mugger and made verbal hash of the Judge’s role, taking virtually any opportunity to avoid singing straight-out.

John Nuzzo was an ardent Edwin but offered murky vocalism and unclear diction. Molly Irene Minor, the only non-chorale member to take a principal role, ventured a robustly acted and tremulously sung Angelina.

Mark Zenger was a vocally lightweight usher, Scott Reekstin an edgy, snarling counsel, Philip Arnold a vocally pale foreman.

Director Thronson followed traditional staging but could not resist adding sight-gags such as the jury handing over bribes to His Honor (“All hail, great judge!”) and passing around a flask (to Edwin’s “Oh, gentlemen, listen, I pray”).

The chorale members brought enthusiasm and infectious high spirits to their roles, and the audience responded favorably. Still, the players tended to disregard Gilbert’s strictures on avoiding exaggeration and remaining unconscious of their absurdity.

Hall elicited stylish playing from the small orchestra positioned along the side, stage right.

The first half of the program consisted of partially staged excerpts from five other Savoyard operas, threaded together by narrator Nick Williams’ would-be droll commentary.

This approach may have made sense for an audience that had never heard any Gilbert and Sullivan, but surely it would have been a wiser choice to let the masters plead their own case solely through their words and music.

Hall conducted with buoyancy and style; the orchestra was occasionally unreliable.

The best vocal moments occurred when voices merged in chorus (“For He’s Gone and Married Yum-Yum” from “The Mikado” ) or in combinations such as the madrigal “When the buds are blossoming” from “Ruddigore,” sung by Alyss Sanner, Holly Moore, Nuzzo and Arnold.