Saratoga Springs -- Home-town hero David Hyde Pierce charmed an enthusiastic audience in a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's mini-operetta, "Trial by Jury" at Skidmore College on Monday night.

Pierce, the Emmy-award winning actor who portrays Frasier Crane's brother on NBC's "Frasier", was Learned Judge in a Friends of Musical Arts production in the Janet Kinghorn Bernard Theatre. The show was a benefit for the Saratoga County Arts Council. A Saratoga Springs native, Pierce had only a few hours rehearsal with the rest of the cast before the curtain went up. The operetta is a courtroom spoof in which the judge settles a dispute between two lovers by marrying Plaintiff himself.

Pierce made a dramatic entrance dressed in a bright red robe and a ridiculous looking white wig. Once on stage he tossed patented weak smiles and feeble waves to the audience before taking his place on the bench.

You knew the trial was in trouble when Learned Judge passed a love note to a bridesmaid before shifting his amorous attentions to Plaintiff. As the piece progressed, Pierce the actor triumphed with his ready sense of wit -- sometimes subtle and sometimes slapstick -- where Pierce the vocalist fell a little short.

And he had made no pretenses about that, having fun in his struggle with some of the high notes. "I hit it twice, " he reminded the audience in a quick aside after successfully nailing a note at the top of his range. But if the range was a stretch, it should be noted that Pierce did an excellent job with a tricky patter song in which the judge explains how he came to be a judge.

Pierce said he enjoyed doing the show immensely because there wasn't a lot of professional pressure. "But because this is Saratoga," he added, "it really meant a lot to me." Pierce said he has always felt very comfortable doing comedy. "I like serious things threaded through with comedy," he said, "My instinct leads me to try to make something funny."

Pierce said his only previous musical theatre experience was at a summer camp when he was a kid. He also played "Charlie Brown" in a 7th grade student production of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" when he was a student at the Saratoga Springs High School. He praised the high standards of music director Benjamin Van Wye and stage director Sandra Boynton and the Saratoga Chamber Singers cast for having the show in such a ready state when he came to the performance day rehearsal.

Excellent in their roles were Judith Merrian as Plaintiff and Gregory Hostetler as Defendant. Appearing in supporting roles were James R. Adams II as Usher, Jeffery E. Fowler as Foreman of the Jury and Christopher Trombley as Counsel. Todd Sisley accompanied at the piano.

By Bill Rice
Schenectady Gazette (7/29/97)