Simon Butteriss is one of the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company's best-loved performers and directors. Away from the stage, he is a regular guest artist on Theatrical Adventures cruises, where he swaps the theatre for the river, sharing music, stories and laughter with guests in a much more intimate setting. This year, Simon appears in three leading roles at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival – Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore, Ko-Ko in The Mikado and Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.
Simon, thank you for taking time out of a very busy (and very hot!) rehearsal schedule to talk to us. As you’re playing all three principal patter roles at this year’s Festival, let’s begin with an obvious question...
Which patter man role do you most enjoy playing, and why?
Probably not Ko-Ko, which is almost certainly the best patter role but actually not my favourite character. It’s almost impossible to settle on just one. I’d say Bunthorne (Patience), Robin (Ruddigore) or Jack Point (The Yeomen of the Guard). Bunthorne is hilariously unpleasant, which is a joy to play; Robin is the only patter role that is a proper ‘leading man’: romantic in Act 1 and a reluctant melodramatic villain in Act 2. Jack Point is vulnerable and charming and ultimately as close to a tragic hero as G&S get. All three get angry, which is a wonderful energy for patter songs.
Do you have a favourite Gilbert & Sullivan Opera?
Again, very difficult to choose just one but if my arm were twisted, I’d say The Yeomen of the Guard.
What do you enjoy most about spending time with guests on board?
The fact that we all have an abiding passion in common encourages immediate bonding and on a cruise there is the leisure to have proper conversations - sometimes about G&S but more often about the amazing adventures we have onshore and off each day.
If you could persuade someone who has never experienced Gilbert & Sullivan to see just one opera, which would it be, and why?
As I’d suggest La Bohème to a newcomer to opera l, I’d recommend The Mikado to someone who’d never seen G&S - they are both technical perfection. Mikado has a dazzling score and is a perfectly constructed farce that leaves you breathless with laughter. But my caveat would be to try one of the less mainstream ones too - and be amazed.
Do you have a favourite behind-the-scenes story from either the Festival or one of our cruises?
Many, some of them hilarious but most of them unprintable! Here’s one that shows the commitment and professionalism of most G&S performers. On tour in the USA, a particularly virulent virus was tearing its way through the company. In Gettysburg one night I was in the wings enjoying Yum Yum (the wonderful Charlotte Page) singing The Sun Whose Rays with her customary exquisite skill and serenity. After the first verse, instead of rearranging herself on stage to sing the second, she made an elegant exit, vomited into a fire bucket and returned to sing an impeccable second verse. Brava!
What do you think makes Gilbert & Sullivan so enduringly popular?
Gilbert satirises human nature with razor-sharp wit and accuracy and human nature doesn’t change, so it remains startlingly fresh. Sullivan sets the acid lyrics with his miraculous melodic gift which provides an unexpected and fully rounded humanity to the whole. This unlikely combination makes them works of genius.
Guests often tell us how much they enjoy chatting with the artists after dinner. How special is that compared with the usual theatre experience?
It is more leisured than a quick meeting at a stage door and the intimacy of these cruises makes them feel like very special house parties, curated by an inspired hostess.
What makes the atmosphere on board so unique?
The comparatively small numbers make for a unique party feel, and unlike being on a vast cruiser, ploughing across the Atlantic, we have the luxury of stopping every day to explore wonderful places, which fuels dinner party conversation like nothing else.
Why do you think so many guests return year after year?
The quality of the boats, the food, the weather, the places we visit, the company we keep and, above all, the excellent guides who astonish daily. The musical evenings, provided by professional singers with wit and charm (sometimes provided by the guests themselves, in the great amateur tradition of G&S) are unique.
Finally, what would you say to someone considering their very first Theatrical Adventures holiday?
Book now for a unique holiday you’ll remember forever. You’ll have such FUN!