Update ** Due to pandemic-related prodiction delays, Mr. Donkin's retirement will occur after the 2022 summer production. His final role will be as Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore. **
The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston announced the upcoming retirement of Alistair Donkin, the Society’s long-time Stage Director and featured performer. Mr. Donkin will be retiring from these roles after the Society’s summer production in 2021 to spend more time at home in England and allow new talent to guide the Society into the future.
Mr. Donkin, a member of the original D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in London, first performed with the Society in 1982’s Trial by Jury, presented in a double bill with H.M.S. Pinafore, to mark the Society’s 30th anniversary.
“I thought it was just a one-off visit to Houston,” said Mr. Donkin, “but having been invited back every year since and adding directorial duties to my performing role since 1985, I now feel that Houston is my second home.”
Mr. Donkin’s final principal roles with the Society will be as Jack Point in Yeomen of the Guard in June 2020 and Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore in summer 2021. With Trial By Jury added as a double bill in 2021, he will close out his tenure with the Society with the same shows that brought him to the Society nearly 40 years previously.
“We’re proud to help keep the tradition of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company alive through our partnership with Alistair,” said Steve McCary, Society President. “We would not be where we are today without his brilliance. It has been a privilege to work with him.”
“It will be difficult to see Alistair perform his last roles with us, but I hope that the Society’s future pays tribute to the time we have spent together.”
Mr. Donkin notes that his retirement will be bittersweet: “I would enjoy nothing more than to continue as Stage Director and featured performer with the Society for many years to come, but as we approach 2021, the 70th production of the Society and my 40th production working with them, not to mention the fact that I will be 73 in 2021, I felt it was the right time to step aside and allow a new Stage Director to take the Society forward. I have no doubt that there will be many directors clamouring for the opportunity to work with such a talented and well run Company.”
Mr. Donkin added, “My aim has always been to stage the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan in a traditional way: one which respects the wishes of both librettist and composer while adding suitable updates and local references in the spirit of the original satire. In this respect, I consider the Houston Society to be the successors in title to the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.”
Mr. Donkin can next be seen performing in the Society’s annual Spring Gala - An Auction of Arias, held at Ouisie’s Table on February 21. Tickets are available at www.hgns.org/tickets.