CESP Newsletter

The September ISSUE

Dear Readers,
Since our last issue, we have some exciting news to report! At our recent AGM we
elected a new president, our director of the last three years, the wonderfully talented Leon Berger.
We are delighted that he accepted and we are looking forward to working with him in this new
capacity.
Meanwhile, September finds us (mostly) returned from our various summer activities and
preparing our next event.
August saw a few of us up in Harrogate for the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, performing
in productions of Utopia Limited and The Pirates of Penzance. Mind you, it barely seems a few
weeks since we finished our own run of 'The Gondoliers'. It seems to have been a real success,
since we had the biggest number of tickets sold for the last seven years or so!
Now our attention is on rehearsals for our Autumn concert 'Tunes from Toons'. Jackie Mitchell is
directing this, a varied and lively anthology of music from (mostly Disney) animated feature films and we are looking forward to late November when we perform it at St Marys, Walthamstow. More
about this is our next issue.
And now, here is a Q & A with our newly elected President.

Richard Wheatley

Q & A with Leon Berger

How did you first hear about CESP?
Ive been a G&S fan since a teenager and coming to London as
a student (more years ago than I care to remember) Ive always
been aware of the several London companies around me
performing G&S - like Grosvenor, Philbeach, University of
London and, of course CESP. With my involvement in writing
and publishing about G&S I have known CESP member Vincent
Daniel who is an expert in various related fields - for several
years. So CESP has always been on my horizons.

What attracted you to directing the company?

Jackie Mitchell! No, that sounds dodgy - Ill rephrase it.
Leon as King Paramount in Utopia Limited in a
school production aged 18
I was appearing at the International G&S Festival in Buxton
where I was invited to take part in a performance of the rare
Sullivan opera, The Rose of Persia. Jackie was taking one of the supporting roles and we kept in
touch. A couple of years later we found ourselves singing together at a G&S Charity concert and
she happened to mention that CESP was always interested in looking for new Directors. I went
along to see your production of The Mikado and came away with three impressions. (1) What a
terrific and enthusiastic bunch of performers. (2) What an amazing space is the Deaton Theatre (3)
I want to work with you all in that venue!

Which shows have you directed for CESP?

Ive directed three productions now. Patience, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. I
like to say that my productions are traditional with a twist and Im glad to say that the company
has bought into all my twists!

What do feel you can give to productions of G&S

I grew up with the DOyly Carte shows indeed, having worked
with several of their off-shoot Companies. Ive been in many of
those productions and could reproduce them with little difficulty.
They form the tradition which one can choose to go along with
or react against. What one mustnt do is copy slavishly, but look
at what informed that tradition, what its reasons were and come
up with an equivalent. Im such a nerd that I can usually tell if a
performer is channelling John Reed, Kenneth Sandford, Martyn
Green etc and normally try and stamp on it! Part of my job is
to help an actor find his own way into a character, not just
imitate what others have done before.
Rehearsals are such fun!

Its taken as read that, if youve auditioned and got a part, then you can sing, act and (hopefully)
dance. But what often bugs me about amateur companies doing G&S (and some professional
ones!) is how little attention is paid to the dialogue. The characters need to relate and respond to
each other and that ensemble feel is what Im really aiming for.
Gilberts texts are so well-written that they usually capable of more than one interpretation and the
rehearsal process can often reveal some extraordinary and unusual readings which totally change
a character from how its usually played, without altering a word. This is especially true if an actor
has played a role many times before. Take Alistair ( my favourite patterman!); hes played the
Duke of Plaza Toro some 3 or 4 times before but, Id like to think, that by reinterpreting him as a
devious Cockney spiv this time it had more variety, depth and fun than the monochrome snob hes
usually portrayed as.
Finally, as Ive also a background in stage design, its rewarding to make the production and look
of the piece as one.
How do you feel about becoming our president?
Really chuffed. Especially as Im taking a backseat from directing this year, its a great way to still
maintain contact with all my friends in the company.
How do you like to spend your time when not directing/performing?
Directing and performing probably takes up about 90% of my time. And while Im known for G&S, I
have a life in grand opera and straight plays too! When I have a show to work on, its a great
excuse to indulge in research, burrow myself in the British Library, schmooze with other scholars,
read round the subject and see as many other productions as possible for inspiration. As some of
you know, I am also the Archivist for Flanders & Swann which involves many happy duties;
licensing their works, transcribing from manuscripts, writing, publishing, broadcasting, performing
and generally promoting their material written as a duo or with other collaborators. For the last ten
years Ive been writing the biography of Michael Flanders in what little spare time I have. It may be
one for my retirement!

The Act 2 Finale of Leons most recent

production with CESP - The Gondoliers