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Theatre goes to the Tower with 'Yeoman of the Guard'

By Heather Zimmerman

The Tower of London seems like a tough place for romance to thrive, and indeed, not quite all is well that ends well in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeoman of the Guard, an operetta set at the famous tower. However, the journey to the end is full of exciting ups and downs, love and heartache, and a few twists.

Lyric Theatre presents The Yeoman of the Guard by William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan through June 28 at the Montgomery Theatre, Market and San Carlos streets, San Jose.

Gilbert and Sullivan's works are generally known for pun-filled word play and happy coincidences that make for merry marriages all around in the end. The Yeoman of the Guard has plenty of the former, but with not every character being lucky in love, and its rather foreboding setting, the piece is known as the pair's darkest work.

But no matter: The Yeoman of the Guard was an instant hit at its 1888 debut, and is even said to have been the favorite Gilbert and Sullivan work of the famed collaborators themselves. Not bad for an operetta which, as the story goes, was inspired by an advertisement depicting a tower guard, or Beefeater, that Gilbert happened to see while waiting for a train.

Set in Shakespearean times, just after the death of Good Queen Bess, all not is merry in olde England. Colonel Fairfax, falsely accused of sorcery by a cousin who stands to inherit his estate, awaits execution at the Tower of London. Phoebe, the daughter of Sergeant Meryll--a yeoman warder, as tower guards are known--has fallen for Fairfax, and in turn head jailer Wilfred has fallen for Phoebe.

Sergeant Meryll, Phoebe and her brother, Leonard, plot to free Fairfax who, though resigned to death, realizes that he can stop his cousin from inheriting by marrying before he dies. Fairfax's hastily chosen bride is a traveling singer named Elsie, and although the quickie marriage is meant to be only a short-lived sham, it alarms Elsie's fellow minstrel Jack Point, who loves Elsie.

Throw in Fairfax's escape, engineered by the Meryll family; Fairfax being disguised as Leonard; Wilfred's false report of Fairfax's death; Elsie falling for "Leonard;" and an interfering tower matron with designs on Sergeant Meryll and nearly everyone winds up confused, engaged or sometimes both. Alas, not all the matches are for love, nor does everyone find a match.

However, the happy result of so much drama seems to have been true musical inspiration: the score is considered be one of Sullivan's finest.

Tickets are $14-$18 students/$22-$30 seniors/$25-$35 general. For more information, call 408.986.1455 or visit www.lyrictheatre.org.