Professor Jonathan Strong, who reconstructed our Thespis score had this to say about the pronunciation of those character's names: "The scansion of Gilbert's verse indicates that the second syllable is stressed in Spar-KAY-on and Ni-SEE-mis; the same likely applies to Tip-SAY-on and Pret-TAY-a." I grant you that Gilbert may have been having a bit of fun with us; thinking that when an audience saw Nicemis written out in a show program, they might recognize, and think funny, that the rather Greek sounding name Ni-SEE-mis as spoken in the show could also be seen as "nice miss." And that Pret-TAY-a could also be seen as pretty-ya (prettier). That said, as it is Jonathan Strong who is the expert on Thespis and the person who reconstructed the score that we used to stage our production of this show, we defer to his judgement regarding the correct pronunciation of the characters names. John Freedman Vice President, Producer, Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan Society
@@jfreedman35 Thanks for such a thoughtful and scholarly reply. I could accept Ni-SEE-mis for meter in a song, but I still think one should say Nice-Miss when scansion and meter are not an issue, like in dialogue. Maybe I'm a little old fashioned and grumbly on this. It's all a little mysterious anyway since we lack the score.
@@jfreedman35 Also, I don't remember offhand what other Thespis reconstructions, Henty's and Shepherd's, do with the names. But I really like some of your creative melody choices!
and you're borrowing 'in a contemplative fashion' from the gondoliers in thespis, too! i like it despite your mispronunciations of names.
very cute use of 'if saphir i choose to marry' for thespis lyrics! works really well!
nicemis is pronounced nice miss. like a nice miss. sparkeion is pronounced sparky-on.
Professor Jonathan Strong, who reconstructed our Thespis score had this to say about the pronunciation of those character's names:
"The scansion of Gilbert's verse indicates that the second syllable is stressed in Spar-KAY-on and Ni-SEE-mis; the same likely applies to Tip-SAY-on and Pret-TAY-a."
I grant you that Gilbert may have been having a bit of fun with us; thinking that when an audience saw Nicemis written out in a show program, they might recognize, and think funny, that the rather Greek sounding name Ni-SEE-mis as spoken in the show could also be seen as "nice miss." And that Pret-TAY-a could also be seen as pretty-ya (prettier). That said, as it is Jonathan Strong who is the expert on Thespis and the person who reconstructed the score that we used to stage our production of this show, we defer to his judgement regarding the correct pronunciation of the characters names.
John Freedman
Vice President, Producer, Connecticut Gilbert & Sullivan Society
@@jfreedman35 Thanks for such a thoughtful and scholarly reply. I could accept Ni-SEE-mis for meter in a song, but I still think one should say Nice-Miss when scansion and meter are not an issue, like in dialogue. Maybe I'm a little old fashioned and grumbly on this. It's all a little mysterious anyway since we lack the score.
@@jfreedman35 Also, I don't remember offhand what other Thespis reconstructions, Henty's and Shepherd's, do with the names. But I really like some of your creative melody choices!