Let's drink and make Merry

Hazel Norton-Hale - 21st November 2003 reproduced with kind permission from Varsity

Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow is unchallenging entertainment at its best.

Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow is an operetta about love, greed, patriotism and intrigue. Central to the plot are two love affairs, that of Valencienne (wife of the gullible Baron Zeta) and the Frenchman Camille, and of the merry widow Anna Glavari - heiress of 20 millions - and her former flame Count Danilovitsch, who are too proud to admit they still care for each other. Before the couples can be reunited (Valencienne with her husband and Anna with Danilo) there is plenty of hilarious confusion and strife.

The women seem to have the control around here, as the men acknowledge in their despairing comic ensemble 'Women!'. Camille is under Valencienne's thumb and everyone under Anna's spell, portrayed as a wonderful tease ­ all eyebrows and smiles ­ by Charmian Shipp. The impressive voices of Kathryn Lilley (Valencienne) and Nigel Murfitt (Camille) came across particularly in their Act I duet, 'A highly respectable wife', and other musical highlights included Danilo (Graham Gemmell)'s beautiful song, 'You'll find me at Maxim's' and the Act II Finale, a sextet in which all the principles express their feelings, with Patrick O'Brien's bumbling Baron at his most bemused. A mention must also go to the Jeeves-like Njegus (Simon Merrington) whose gangly butler was brilliant throughout, from his first ferrero-rocher-bearing entrance to his gallant saving of Valencienne's honour.

The words were clear and the twists and turns in the plot (which looked scary in the synopsis) easy to follow. Though there were occasional cringe-worthy puns, the poetry was mostly witty, and the occasional off-stage prompts were easily forgiven. You may start by thinking the production overwhelmingly cheesy, but there comes a point at which you can relax and accept that the only way of dealing with a script like this is to ham it up as much as possible. Not recommended for anti-Gilbert-and-Sullivan snobs, this is unchallenging entertainment at its best, full of laughs and sing-along tunes, as well as an impressive and well-directed amateur cast.