We need Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas more than ever.

"In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral. I am the very model of a modern major-general." - Major-General Stanley

I always raved to my friends and people close to me about the operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan, and deservedly so! Especially outside of Anglophone countries, Gilbert and Sullivan aren't as popular as United States, United Kingdom and the like.

I found Gilbert and Sullivan's work during a time of internal turmoil. I was a fresh graduate in high school and couldn't get into any university because we didn't have money. While I would lounge around at home I would watch the operettas. I wasn't a big theater person back then, as the theater scene in Manila was something unknown to me. They're stories and music provide brief pumps of dopamine in my system.

As mentioned earlier, I subject my friends and such to their music. I even exposed my students to their music. I would always recommend they listen to the Major-General's song, and I think this piece summarizes perfectly why we need Gilbert and Sullivan in today's time of people in power abusing their wealth and power in order to further expand their power and reach over us people in the middle class. The same way during the Victorian period when the middle-class in the United Kingdom was forming.

We need more stories to laugh our worries off because how else are we going to face the fact that we are powerless against the powerful. Yet, in Gilbert and Sullivan's works, they make the rich and powerful laugh at themselves without even knowing that they're looking at themselves and they make the common folk laugh because we know it. They do it in such a roundabout way that the satire is not immediately seen but by all means, Gilbert and Sullivan are satirists. Don't think that just because they're satirists that they're not serious in their craft because if not you'll be overlooking a vast catalog of whimsical stories and beautiful music.

The more vocal of the duo was Sir William Schwenk Gilbert who definitely left his mark on the English language and Musical theater in general. What kind of person would think to make an operetta in a courtroom with the characters defending, arguing, and overall cause a scene (Trial by Jury) or on a ship where it just happens that at birth the captain of the ship has a sailor whom he was swapped with as a baby, thus swapping ranks at the end of the operetta (HMS Pinafore). Only an insane person would make that - and by all means, he is insane... insanely genius. He often has this on the nose way of critiquing that cryptic to those who don't know the context but blindingly obvious once you see it.

This needs not to be said but if the music is horrible, no matter how good of a story the operetta promises. (I would have just read the plot on Wikipedia) Sir Arthur Sullivan Memorable melodies composed of the mind of a musical genius. Great melodies that come to mind are "With catlike tread" from Pirates of Penzance which is the greatest and most glorious example of irony featuring pirates singing about being quiet in the loudest way possible, another from Pirates of Penzance: "How beautifully blue the sky" which is a piece that is 3/4 and 2/4 at the same time which although not new, it's still a fun and unique experience to hear and "The sun whose rays" which is an aria from The Mikado which is a beautiful melody that can compete with the contemporaries and of all time. Of course, outside of his operettas, he has a notable body of work. Take a listen at this rendition of "The sun whose rays". At the right time, this piece hits me in a certain way. It always gets me.

In a topsy turvy world, we need a serious voice of reason that will say the thoughts that we hold deep inside our hearts and heads. Imagine, 100 years later after their premiere their messages are still relevant today. That's why I believe that we all need to watch a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta may it be Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, Trial by Jury, Ruddigore, The Sorcerer, or even the Mikado and know that people 100 years went through the same struggle as us. We'll get through this struggle.

Peace, love, and more patter songs for you.