Mocks Crest Productions at University of Portland

The Gondoliers

Set Design by Jon Ares.

June 2000.

Written by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Directed by Stan Foote, costumes by Margaret Louise Hetherington, and Lighting Design by Nathanael Bartos. Choreography by Cherie Price.

Stan’s feeling was that The Gondoliers was a fun and predictable as a 1960’s Frankie and Annette beach movie. We camped up that feeling, by placing the show in Venice Beach, California, instead of Venice, Italy.

Marco and Guiseppe, and the other Gondolieri, are surfers. (“Gondolieri” is Venice Beach for “Surfer.” Right.)

The first act takes place on the boardwalk of Venice, California, and Act Two takes place at the Palace of Barataria, which is a tropical island, but the palace has a particularly masculine feeling to it (since women are never allowed). I used rear projection to bring across the vacation atmosphere… travel postcards of Barataria, brochures, postcards and snapshots of frolicking teens on the beach. These wre used during the Overture, and also during th EntreAct to Act II.