Collective
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Great
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"I
am a Collector (with a capital C) of Gilbert and Sullivan Memorabilia,"
writes J. Donald Smith, PhD'69. "It all started innocently
enough 'a-many years ago' with records and a few books. But then
I was introduced to ephemera"-to be precise, a set
of 19th-century advertising trade cards with characters and images
from HMS Pinafore. That was at a 1982 antique book fair
in Boston, and Smith's shelf space has never been the same. Some
400 items are on display in his condominium, with thousands more
in boxes "ready to be shown to any visitor at the slightest
provocation." His favorites: several original letters of
Gilbert and Sullivan.
But
even more valuable than the items amassed are the friends Smith
has made through his hobby and with whom he corresponds over e-mail
and visits while he travels. "At the moment," he wrote
the Magazine in August, "I am at the eighth International
Gilbert and Sullivan Festival [in Buxton, England] rehearsing
with a group called Savoynet (the G&S e-mail discussion group)
for a performance of Patience, which goes on stage next
Monday (the men's chorus has a late call this morning which is
why I have the time to reply.)"
Hum
a chorus line or two from a musical on this side of the pond,
and Larry Drill, AM'70, is likely to take up the tune-and switch
on his turntable to play one of his 1,000-plus original-cast Broadway
albums (recently expanded to include original London casts). An
avid reader of Goldmine, a biweekly magazine for record collectors,
Drill lacks a trifle few recordings. On his wish list are Two's
Company (1953), Seventeen (1951), and By the Beautiful
Sea (1954). Albums he couldn't live without: Golden Boy (1964),
"best overture"; Subways Are for Sleeping (1961),
"so New York!"; and How to Succeed in Business without
Really Trying (1961), "great story and great score."
©2001 The University
of Chicago® Magazine