Two-part harmony

Carefully polished Pinafore

A staple of mid-century amateur theatre, Gilbert and Sullivan were shunted off the professional stage in the 80s by the mega-musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but the Carl Rosa Opera company is reversing that trend.

The defunct 19th century company relaunched in 1998 as a series of touring ensembles (it brought The Mikado here in 2001 and Pinafore arrives as part of an Australasian tour).

West is the director of this production (which has a 24-piece local orchestra "exactly as Sullivan scored it".)

He also stepped into the role of Sir Joseph Porter (the man who "polished up the handle so carefullee that now he is the Ruler of the Queen's Navee") when the incumbent, Colin Baker, a one-time Dr Who, had to honour an obligation to attend a Dr Who convention.

The camp, celebrity-laden miked-up G&S extravaganzas of the 80s and 90s are "a wave that wore itself out," West believes.

"Pinafore is one you can do with respect to what Gilbert intended. Things are happening in the Royal Navy that are peculiar. And that gives it its humour and charm."

Her Majesty's Pleasure

Prunella Scales has performed An Evening With Queen Victoria more than 300 times since 1980 but says she never tires of it. Most performances are weeks apart she says (although this tour sees her perform 40 dates in six weeks).

"I love the show and it's an absolute privilege to play a woman from the age of 30 to the age of 91," she says.

"It's one of the most demanding and interesting parts I've ever played. It goes through extremes of emotion."

The show has been well-received in the northern hemisphere - the Los Angeles Times praised Scales' "deft acting, rich voice and abundant intelligence" and Scales says audiences are often surprised to find that the show, devised by Katrina Hendrey, uses only Victoria's words, from journals, letters and the public record.

She says solo stage work underlines why she finds live audiences so rewarding.

"People ask me how I manage to change my makeup when I am never offstage. I don't change the makeup, of course; they do it for me."