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Toronto, ON…The Toronto
Operetta Theatre’s 26th Season comes to a close with four
performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
or ‘The Slave of Duty’, under the honorary patronage of
Jonathan Dart, Consul
General of Great Britain. The performances are at the
St. Lawrence Centre’s
Jane Mallett Theatre on
April 27, 29, 30 and
May 1 (mat) 2011.
Robert Cooper leads a stellar cast, chorus and orchestra with stage
direction by TOT General Director,
Guillermo Silva-Marin.
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE premiered in New York City at the Fifth
Avenue Theater in 1879. Both Gilbert and Sullivan were eager to
capitalize on the amazing success of PINAFORE a year earlier and
lavished their creative gifts on this work to an extraordinary
degree. Sullivan deftly honoured the music of Verdi and
Schubert, while at the same time gently poked fun at ‘grand
opera’ tradition. Sullivan lost not a moment in hoisting high
the British dedication to ‘duty above all’ and allows all sorts
of disasters to befall the hero Frederic, the heroine Mabel,
Major General Stanley, and the duty-bound minions of the law.
Gilbert takes customary potshots at the aristocracy, politics
and the military, introducing a sheltered male into the company
of ladies where the mere sight of an uncovered ankle makes him
break out into a sweat.
An unanswered question surrounding PIRATES OF PENZANCE is how
the rousing choral number “Come friends, who plough the sea”
morphed into the American standard “Hail, hail, the gang’s all
here”.
“Gilbert and Sullivan’s world of music and text needs
singer/actors of extraordinary talent and I’m pleased we’ve been
able to assemble a cast with a talent for both” said
Silva-Marin. Headlining the cast is
Jean Stilwell as the ‘piratical maid of all work’ Ruth. One of
Canada’s most renowned mezzo-sopranos, she was hailed in TOT’s
CANDIDE and can be heard daily on Classical 96.3 FM’s G’Day,
GTA. David Ludwig will be Major General Stanley, the ‘orphan boy’ who
must care for a host of daughters as a single father. The
ingénue couple will be the rising young Canadian stars
Jessica Cheung as
Mabel and Ryan Harper
as Frederic, the duteous slave of the title. Rounding out the
cast are Christopher
Wilson as the ingenious but orphaned Pirate King,
Daniel Nicks as his
comrade in crime Samuel and
Jeffrey Saunders as
the Sergeant whose lot on the police force ‘is not an ‘appy
one’.
All performances are at the St. Lawrence Centre’s splendidly
refurbished Jane Mallett
Theatre, which is wheelchair accessible and close to public
parking and transit. For tickets and information call the Box
Office at 416-366-7723
or 1-800-708-6754 or
online at
www.stlc.com. Group rates
for 20 or more.
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GILBERT & SULLIVAN’S
