Gilbert & Sullivan's The Sorcerer, 7/20-29, Madison

I'm excited to discover that the Madison (Wis.) Savoyards are producing Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Sorcerer" July 20-21 and 27-29. This rarely performed comic opera features one of the greatest food songs of all time, and as a plus they are also performing the even more rarely mounted "Cox and Box," with its lullaby to bacon.

We've just bought tickets for Friday night and will likely stay over to do the tremendous Dane County Farmers' Market ("the most super-de-duperest farmer's market in the US of A") on Saturday morning.

Dane Co. Farmers' Market

For any G&S fans out there who have not seen these "The Sorcerer" or "Cox and Box" -- or not in a while -- I'll say that this production is worth the trip. For more frequently performed shows, such as "The Mikado" they're doing next year, perhaps not. I'd put the Madison Savoyards on a par with the local G&S companies (the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, the Savoyaires and the possibly defunct PaRiGaSS). That is: The staging is average and the costumes and set of high community-theater quality. The orchestra does a solid job. The chorus sings very well but, as is typical, hasn't enough men. The choristers, school-aged to senior citizens, have clearly been selected for their voices rather than their looks. The individual singers range from so-so to very good.

High points in the current production include James Schaffner, the excellent tenor who plays Box in "Cox and Box" and Alexis in "The Sorcerer" with fine comic chops, and a first-rate rendition of "Now to the Banquet We Press." The low point is James Rowe's muddied performance of the patter song, "My Name is J. Wellington Wells."

Still, there's enough here, especially combined with Madison's other attractions, to make it worth the 2-1/2-hour drive for anyone who loves G&S.

Culinarily, our trip wasn't what it could have been, mainly due to poor timing and lack of planning on our part. We were delayed leaving Friday and therefore got to Madison too late for dinner before the show. I hadn't researched late-night Madison eateries; the student-filled bars near the theater seemed uninteresting; and anyway, Himself was determined to buy a copy of that book on the first night, so we wound up having late-night breakfast-for-dinner at a Perkin's near the bookstore.

Since acquiring the tome took till 2:30 a.m., we slept in and didn't get to the farmers' market till lunchtime. Even at that late hour, with the first-choice offerings picked over, and some booths already packed up and gone, it was still a tremendous market (and the crowds had thinned), and we left with bags full of fresh English peas (already shelled!), ripe beefsteak tomatoes, early corn, new potatoes, squeeky-fresh cheese curds, nutty raw-milk gouda, intense Stilton-like blue cheese, hot and spicy cheese bread and more.

However, by that time, it was too late to get lunch at the Babcock Hall Dairy Store, so we headed over to the Wisconsin Memorial Union, where you can also get the Babcock ice cream. The university-made ice cream has a very pure, fresh-dairy taste, not overly rich.

We also visited Artamos Specialty Meats and Deli, which specializes in organic meats. The deli part of the place was disappointing -- all Boar's Head -- but the house-made sausages looked appealing and we bought some bratwurst and an intriguing sausage called "nakanik," a Middle Eastern-style beef and lamb mixture flavored with cinnamon.

Another stop was at Gail Ambrosius for sorbet. Ambrosius is a chocolatier who makes exquisite handmade truffles, but at her store she also offers fruit sorbets. These come only in 4-ounce containers. On a previous visit, I had tried the deliciously refreshing blood orange, but they were out of it, so I had the raspberry, which was smooth and intensely flavored -- almost too intense to finish -- really a burst of powerful raspberriness, delicious if not quite the hot afternoon refresher I'd been hoping for. Himself enjoyed the pina colada, a coconut sorbet with bits of pineapple in it.

Himself heard the voice of pork chop calling from Rockford, so we ate dinner en route home at The Machine Shed. As folks here have noted, cooking at this small Midwest chain is somewhat uneven. An appetizer of supposed "burnt ends" of beef and pork tasted smoky but were basically just cubes of meat in an indifferent barbecue sauce. Himself's massive pork chop was of fine quality, but cooked rather dry. (He likes pork that way, though, so it was OK.) The accompanying sweet potato fries were quite good. I had the pan-fried chicken, which was perfectly cooked, though under-seasoned to my taste, and the mashed potatoes and chicken gravy were just fine. Our server was friendly but amazingly clueless. I don't think I'd object to going back to this place, but careful ordering and judicious use of salt and pepper certainly are needed.