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The Founding of MWOS
It was 1939, twenty-eight
years after the 1911 death of Sir William S. Gilbert (Sir Arthur Sullivan had
died in 1901), and the pair's operettas had grown steadily more popular,
gaining an ever widening international following. A group of Montreal West
citizens decided that their town should have its own amateur theatrical
company dedicated to the performance of these sparklingly witty works, and
the Montreal West Operatic Society was born.
The founders, including the mayor of Montreal West, invited New
Zealand born Harry Norris to serve as the
fledgling society's first Musical Director, and Harry's wife Doris, to be
Stage Director. This was an auspicious beginning, as both were veterans of England's
famed D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the parent company of the Gilbert and
Sullivan operettas: Harry was a former conductor; Doris
had performed onstage as a member of the chorus. The Norris's approach was to
recreate the production style of the D'Oyly Carte company, not only in terms
of staging and music, but extending to set and costume design as well.
The inaugural production, The Pirates of Penzance, was presented in
the spring of 1940. Since then, the Society has produced all but two of the
fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, in an unbroken string of 67 annual
productions. The only works that have not been produced are Thespis --
which cannot be produced in its original version as the only surviving
musical score was destroyed in a London fire many years ago -- and The
Grand Duke, the last (and least popular) Gilbert and Sullivan
collaboration, which is rarely performed today.
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Gilbert
& Sullivan
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Recent Years
In 2006, The Montreal West Operatic Society performed in
a new Montreal venue: The
Parkhaven Theatre (formerly Wager Highschool). In the past, we have also performed at the Grand Theatre
in Villa Maria, DB Clarke Theatre at Concordia University and the Royal Vale
Theatre. For many years the productions
have also travelled to several venues outside Montreal.
Locations have included Knowlton, Quebec;
Trenton, Ontario;
St. Johnsbury, Vermont;
and our favorite annual trip to the historic Haskell Opera House which
straddles the border between Rock Island, Quebec
and Derby Line, Vermont.
The shows are always met by an enthusiastic and appreciative audience
wherever they are performed.
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Haskell Opera House
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Strange
Aventures
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1997 saw another page added to the Society's history book when we became the
first Canadian group to perform at the International Gilbert and Sulivan
Festival, with our production of Utopia Limited in Philadelphia.
This exposure gave us the opportunity to compete against some of the best
Gilbert and Sullivan troupes in the world. We were thrilled when our
principal, Anita Hayes, in the role of The Lady Sophy, won the festival award
for Best Supporting Actress.
Another major milestone was achieved with the release of MWOS's
first CD, Strange Adventure!, which takes its name from the
madrigal in The Yeomen of the Guard. It is the first studio recording
ever to include musical numbers from each and every one of the fourteen
Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The disc was recorded over the 1999 Halloween
weekend, with Concordia Music Department Chair Dr. Mark Corwin serving as
Producer / Recording Engineer.
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The Directors
Since its
inception, the Society has had eight Musical Directors: Harry Norris
(1939-63), Eric Adams (1963-77), John Sloan (1977-88), Graham Knott
(1988-90), Douglas Knight (1990-2004), Alexander Cann (2004) Dimitris Ilias
(2005-2006) and as of 2007 MWOS is pleased to welcome Kerry Kerry Roebuck who
hails from Trinidad & Tobago.
In addition to Doris Norris, Stage Directors have included Leonard Langmead,
Eric Adams (who handled both musical and stage direction for a time), Paul
Brennan, Roger Bourne and Doug Parkin.
Scott Savage, a former principal performer with MWOS became Artistic
Director in the fall of 1983. Like Doris Norris before him, Scott is a
veteran of the D'Oyly Carte chorus. Upon his retirement in 1997 he was given
the title Artistic Director Emeritus in recognition of his invaluable
contributions. After Scott, Corey Castle was our director until 2004. He
brought his own unique interpretation to our productions in his
self-proclaimed mission to "make Gilbert and Sullivan more accessible to
today's audiences." He was followed by Elena Cerrolaza, Jeff Freeman and
finally, MWOS is pleased to announce our new director – Kevin John Saylor for
the 2007-2008 production of HMS Pinafore.
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Kerry Roebuck
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The Society
Membership in MWOS is open to anyone with an
interest in Gilbert and Sullivan or musical theatre in general. Cast members
are all unpaid volunteers, and range from serious amateurs who perform for
the sheer fun of it to music students seeking to hone their vocal and
dramatic skills to bona fide professionals looking to broaden their
repertoires. The singers are supported by a cadre of non-singing volunteers
who work on all aspects of the production, from set construction to ticket
sales to front-of-house operations to publicity. Feel free to contact info@mwos.org
for further information.
The Montreal West Operatic Society has, for many years, been a proud
supporter of the Montreal Children's Hospital. In fact, the Society
celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1989 with a gala performance of The
Gondoliers, for the benefit of the Children's. In addition, each year
Society members precede their Christmas party by going door-to-door in
Montreal West singing carols and collecting donations, contributing all the
funds raised to the hospital. All proceeds from the sale of souvenir programs
for the performances is also donated to the Children's.
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Annual
Caroling
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Montreal Children's
Hospital
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