Stuart Maunder first encountered Gilbert and Sullivan as a seven-year-old. A decade later, he fell in love with their operettas while performing in a high school production. The long-standing aficionado chats with Patricia Maunder about the influential English duo, their ongoing relevance and State Opera South Australia’s G&S Fest.

Stuart Maunder.
Stuart Maunder. Photo © That Photography Place

In 2007, a Melbourne performance of Opera Australia’s The Pirates of Penzance was delayed by 60 minutes when the director, Stuart Maunder, flew in from Sydney at the 11th hour to cover for an indisposed Reg Livermore, who was playing the crucial role of the Major-General in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta.

The audience’s consternation turned to astonishment when Opera Australia’s then Executive Producer stepped onto the...