Getting a sense of direction

By Ruth Rovner
For the Times

Next weekend, when the Savoy Company presents the spirited Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Gondoliers, Michael Tunney will be in the audience — but not as a typical audience member. He’ll be watching attentively every detail taking place onstage at the Academy of Music. He’ll even be taking notes unobtrusively.
Tunney is director of the overall production. He’s been involved in every aspect of the production. It’s taken three months of intensive preparation to reach the final stage of actual performance. And even then, the director’s role is not over.
"I’ll be taking lots of notes," he says of opening night on Friday next week. "We can always get better for the next performance."
In all, the cast will present four performances, two at the Academy of Music on Friday and Saturday evenings, May 27 and 28, and then two more on June 10 and 11 at Longwood Gardens.
Set in 18th century Venice and Barataria (a fictional country), The Gondoliers is one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most popular works.
"It’s delightful!" says Tunney, who lives in the Northwood area. "It’s a charming story with beautiful music. You can’t help but get caught up in the spirit of it."
Founded 105 years ago, Savoy Company is considered the oldest amateur theater company dedicated solely to Gilbert & Sullivan.
The production directed by Tunney will be typically colorful and ambitious. The large cast includes 70 chorus members plus 17 singers with leading roles — all of them in period costumes — plus a 30-piece orchestra.
The set will transport the audience to Venice in the 1750s. They’ll even see gondolas onstage that will appear to be gliding along the canals of Venice.
The gondola theme is a key one: the play’s title Gondoliers refers to two characters who guide the gondolas. In the Savoy production, actors will actually step off the boats onto the stage.
As director, Tunney worked with the set designer in planning for these gondolas. Even before the planning began, he was immersed in research about the operetta and its setting.
First, he listened intently to various recordings of The Gondoliers. He also watched and listened to four different videos of Gondoliers productions, including the Savoy’s own l993 production.
"The more you listen, the more comes to mind about what you’d like to see onstage," he says. "Little by little, it starts to take shape in your mind."
Meanwhile, he delved into research about the "The Gondoliers" and about Venice. He even bought a DVD titled A Walking Tour of Venice.
"I’ve never been there, and I wanted to get a feel for Venice in the era of the 1750s," he says. "I tried to learn as much as I could about the period and the place."
Research comes easily to this director, who once worked part time as a librarian. He met his wife Pat, a librarian, at the Fox Chase branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
The next step after research was finding the right cast.
Tunney was part of an audition committee that selected the 14 singers who have leading roles apart from the chorus. During the audition, each performer had to sing and also show skill with spoken dialogue.
"So many good people tried out that it was hard to narrow it down," says Tunney.
Adding to the challenge was finding the right combination of singers, since many of the numbers are duets, trios, and quartets. About 45 performers auditioned, and only 14 were chosen.
"It was an agonizing process," Tunney says.
With the leading roles cast, rehearsals began: first, seven weeks with music director Dan Rothermel, and then seven weeks with Tunney, with four or five rehearsals every week.
It was a daunting schedule for someone who also holds down a full-time job.
For 15 years, Tunney has worked in the emergency services office of the City of Philadelphia as an ambulance license coordinator. But he’s also led a double life as a city employee who’s also committed to musical theater.
A Northeast native who’s lived here his entire life, Tunney majored in vocal performance at Temple University. He worked for the City of Philadelphia while still in college. Afterward, he took on full-time work. With a wife and two children by then, he wanted the security of full time work.
"But I still wanted to do performing on the side," he says.
His talent as a baritone was spotted by Savoy’s music director Dan Rothermel.
In 1988, Tunney was encouraged to audition for that season’s production, Utopia Limited, which required a number of male leads.
Until then, although he often took performing roles, he’d never been in a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.
"I knew very little about them," he says.
But that was soon to change. The audition was a success, and he took on a leading role — and continued to do so almost every year after that.
He soon became an avid Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiast.
"For a long time, it was the most popular theater in the English-speaking world," he says. "Gilbert was acerbic, with a dry wit, and Sullivan composed colorful, romantic music.
"The two had contrasting styles which blend together to create a unique spark," he added.
In 2003 Tunney the singer switched roles to become director for the Savoy’s production of The Mikado. He again directed in ’04. The Gondoliers is his third consecutive year as director.
It’s an all-encompassing role that involves all aspects of production. He worked with set, lighting, and sound designers, making such decisions as how many mikes are needed for a particular scene and when to use a spotlight.
"There are so many talented people on the production end, and it’s very much a collaboration," he says.
Meanwhile, during rehearsals, the singer-turned-director worked with the lead singers: reading through their scenes, directing their entrances and exits, and working on their interpretation of the character they play.
"You watch the actors grow as they gradually bring to life the character they play," says Tunney. "It’s a very exciting process."
Finally, after weeks of rehearsals, the entire cast will rehearse on the actual set at the Academy of Music next week.
First, there are two "tech rehearsals" when all the technical details are ironed out.
Then, on Thursday evening, just one night before the opening, there’s the full dress rehearsal, complete with costumes, set, props and the live orchestra.
"Everything’s in place, and it’s just like a full performance," says Tunney.
With one exception: He’s the only one in the audience, and he sits there in the empty concert hall with a mike so he can give directions to those on the stage if needed. He hopes to do this only between acts.
"The goal is to go straight through without stopping," he says.
That, of course, is what the cast will do when they open on Friday evening next week.
Even then, Tunney will be watching and taking notes. But he’ll also start to feel the satisfaction that comes from seeing the entire production come to life after so many hours of preparation.
"All the effort is worth it when you see everything come together on the stage," he says.
That’s when he can finally sit back and enjoy the pleasures of The Gondoliers, now that he knows this work so well.
"It has a sense of joy and romance," he says. "The characters are lively, interesting and funny. And the music is the most enjoyable in all of Gilbert & Sullivan." ••
The Savoy Company presents Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers on May 27 and 28 at the Academy of Music and then June 10 and 11 at Longwood Gardens. Ticket costs range from $10 to $46 and are available by calling 215-735-7161 or going online at www.savoy.org