The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present H.M.S. Pinafore, for four weekends, from March 6th through March 29th of 2015.
This production of H.M.S. Pinafore will be directed by Lesley Hendrickson, with Music Direction by Randy Buikema.
The cast for this production of H.M.S. Pinafore includes:
Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. Tom Berg
Captain Corcoran Waldyn Benbenek
Ralph Rackstraw Kai Brewster
Boatswain Stephen Zehr
Dick Deadeye Ryan Johnson
Carpenter’s Mate John Orbison
Josephine Victoria Valencour
Little Buttercup Caitlin Wilkey
Cousin Hebe Amanda Weis
Chorus of Able Bodied Seamen
Joe Allen James Brooks
Rick Cedergren Dumont Darsey
Alex Gerchak Stephen Hage
Wric Larsen Samuel Lowell
Jared Mogen Eric Pasternack
Felix Aguilar Tomlinson
Chorus of Sir Joseph’s Sisters, Cousins and Aunts
Mary Mescher Benbenek Margaret Burton
Amanda Carlson Maia Carnicom
Mary Gregory Shawn Holt
Emily Johnson Holly MacDonald
Charlotte Morrison Rhea Sullivan
Cassandra Utt Madeline Veenker
Sarah Zuber
H.M.S. Pinafore is Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic tale of love and duty … dramatically reimagined in this production against the looming backdrop of World War II.
The timeless story remains the same … taking place aboard the British warship H.M.S. Pinafore. Captain Corcoran’s daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her father’s wishes at first, but Sir Joseph’s advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically to bring a happy ending to the story.
H.M.S. Pinafore’s humor focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general. The operetta also pokes good-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, the Royal Navy, and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. H.M.S. Pinafore is, was, and remains one of the most successful and popular of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works and is the work that firmly established Gilbert and Sullivan’s place in history.
The performances will be at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, at Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue South, in Minneapolis.
Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m. For a more detailed performance calendar, visit our Tickets page.
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Two excellent internet resources for information about H.M.S. Pinafore: