The magic of Gilbert and Sullivan

Telegraph: "I can still remember my first encounter with the genius of Gilbert and Sullivan. It was an unbearably hot afternoon in Bangkok in the early Seventies, and students from the American School were presenting The Mikado. Two black girls and one Caucasian sang Three Little Maids from School Are We in thick Bronx accents. The orchestra was pretty ropy and the heat made the strings slide more and more out of tune."