The Savoy Company
presents
Gilbert & Sullivan’s
Iolanthe, or, The Peer and the Peri
3 SHOWS ONLY!
May 18 – May 19, 2018
Friday, May 18 at 8:00pm
Saturday, May 19 at 2:00pm
Saturday, May 19 at 8:00pm
By Gilbert & Sullivan
Music Director Peter A. Hilliard
Stage Director Bill Kiesling
Production Manager William Kader
Iolanthe, or, The Peer and the Peri, the seventh collaboration between G&S, opened in London at the Savoy Theatre on November 25, 1882. This comical operetta recounts a conflict between the immortal fairies and the mortal peers. It lampoons both the English House of Lords and the idea of political parties but in such bouncy, amicable absurdities that only G&S can bring.
Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. Phyllis does not know that Strephon is half fairy (his upper half — his legs are mortal!) and when she sees Strephon kissing a seemingly young woman, she assumes the worst. But her “rival” turns out to be none other than Strephon’s own mother, Iolanthe, a fairy (fairies never grow old) who had been banished for marrying a mortal. But Phyllis’ guardian, the Lord Chancellor, and half the peers in the House of Lords are all sighing after her. Soon the peers and the fairies are virtually at war until a solution is found.
Peter Hilliard returns for his sixth season as music director and Bill Kiesling, in his fourth season as stage director, adds his signature subtle twist by envisioning Iolanthe as a fairy tale. Take note of his homage to several Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales intertwined with this classic G&S tale.
Cast
The Lord Chancellor: Ross Druker
Earl of Mountararat: Bob Binkley
Earl of Tolloller: Tom Faracco
Private Willis (of the Grenadier Guards): Guillermo Bosch
Strephon (an Arcadian Shepherd): Phoenix Fritch
Queen of the Fairies: Susan Weinman
Iolanthe (a Fairy, Strephon’s Mother): Rachel Sigman
Celia (a Fairy): Amber Englebert
Leila (a Fairy): Elise Bjordammen
Fleta (a Fairy): Kara Beck
Phyllis (an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward of Chancery): Alize Rozsnyai
The Savoy Company is the oldest amateur theatre company in the world dedicated solely to the production of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.
