Set in an island paradise during World War II, two parallel love stories are threatened by the perils of prejudice and war. Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with a mature French planter, Émile. When she learns that the mother of his children was an island native, she finds herself unable to turn her back on her ingrained prejudices, and refuses his offer of  marriage. Meanwhile, the strapping Lt. Joe Cable—driven by the same fears that haunt Nellie—denies himself the fulfillment of a future with a Tonkinese girl with whom he’s fallen in love.  When Émile is recruited to accompany Joe on a dangerous mission that claims Joe’s life, Nellie must reconcile her prejudice with the opportunity for her own chance at happiness. In the inimitable R&H way, virtually every song was a hit, including “There Is Nothing like a Dame,” “Bali Ha’i,” “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” the heartfelt “Younger than Springtime,” the iconic “Some Enchanted Evening,” and the mind-opening “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Jacob Allen
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Anne Medlock
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer

Cast
Ensign Nellie Forbush, a nurse from Arkansas Sarah Best* Jocelyn Hansen**
Emile de Becque, an expatriate French plantation owner Aidan Smerud* Brad Baron**
Ngana, his daughter Isabella Rodeman
Jerome, his son Grayson Griffith
Henri, his native servant Spencer Reese
Marcel Logan Barat
Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese trader Michelle Pedersen
Liat, her daughter Lauren Nash Silberstein
Luther Billis Kyle Yampiro
Stewpot, carpenter’s mate second class Tim McGowan
Professor Garrett Medlock
Lt. Joseph Cable, USMC Alan Smith* Benjamin Dutton**
Capt. George Brackett, U.S. Navy Ted Christopher
Cmdr. William Harbison, U.S. Navy Vincent Gover
Lt. Buzz Adams Adam Wells
Yeoman Herbert Quale Austin Rubinoski
Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey Spencer Reese
Seabees
Morton Wise Kelvin Boateng
Richard West Diego Roberts Buceta
Sailors
Tom O’Brien George Marn
James Hayes Charles Piper
Shore Patrolman George Marn
Lt. Genevieve Marshall, lead nurse Hilary Koolhoven
Ensign Dinah Murphy Hannah Holmes
Ensign Janet MacGregor Abby Kurth
Ensigns
Connie Walewska Tanya Roberts
Bessie Noonan Emily Neill
Rita Adams Joelle Lachance
Lisa Minelli Ivana Martinic
Pamela Whitmore Chelsea Miller
Sue Yaeger Sadie Spivey
Cora MacRae Kelly Curtin

Ensemble
Logan Barat, Kelvin Boateng, Diego Roberts Buceta, Annachristi Cordes, Kelly Curtin, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Teryn Kuzma, Joelle Lachance, George Marn, Ivana Martinic, Tim McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Chelsea Miller, Emily Neill, Charles Piper, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Austin Rubinoski, Sadie Spivey, Adam Wells, Kyle Yampiro

For more than 60 years, Stephen Sondheim has been a driving force in modern American musical theater—first as a lyricist (West Side Story and Gypsy), then as composer and lyricist for more than a dozen musicals (e.g., Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd) whose intense fusion of music, drama, and characters redrew the boundaries of Broadway, and most recently as the living inspiration behind a seemingly endless, and unprecedented, series of worldwide revivals of virtually all his works. With great pride, and as part of its ever-evolving mission, the Ohio Light Opera welcomes this acclaimed composer to its repertoire with his 1987 hit Into the Woods. Its opening line, “Once upon a time,” sets the stage for a unique excursion into a fairy tale world quite different from anything we have seen. The witch has rendered the Baker and his wife childless, but promises to reverse the curse if the couple can bring her Cinderella’s slipper, Rapunzel’s hair, Red Riding Hood’s cape, and Jack’s cow. All ends happily … but then Act 2 begins.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Steven A. Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Anne Medlock
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer
Assistant Director  Ian Silverman

Cast
Narrator/The Mysterious Man Ted Christopher
Cinderella Hilary Koolhoven*  Chelsea Miller**
Cinderella’s Father Charles Piper
Cinderella’s Mother Lauren Nash Silberstein
Cinderella’s Stepmother Jocelyn Hansen
Florinda, Cinderella’s stepsister Abby Kurth
Lucinda, Cinderella’s stepsister Joelle Lachance
Jack, a simpleton Spencer Reese*  Alan Smith**
Jack’s Mother Julie Wright Costa
Little Red Ridinghood Sadie Spivey
Wolf Brad Baron
Red Ridinghood’s Grandmother Michelle Pedersen
The Baker Jacob Allen*  Kyle Yampiro**
The Baker’s Wife Sarah Best*  Tanya Roberts**
The Witch Yvonne Trobe* Hannah Holmes**
Rapunzel Ivana Martinic
Rapunzel’s Prince Aidan Smerud
Cinderella’s Prince Benjamin Dutton
The Prince’s Steward   Garrett Medlock
Sleeping Beauty Kelly Curtin
Snow White Elizabeth Perkins
Giantess Elizabeth Pedersen
Understudy for Jack: Garrett Medlock
Understudy for Jack’s Mother: Michelle Pedersen

No Gilbert and Sullivan work boasts as many walk-away tunes as The Pirates of Penzance. Building on the success of H.M.S. Pinafore, but trading—as their satirical focus—the rigors of naval discipline for the obligations of duty, G&S manage to burlesque their normal share of popular institutions, including the army, the police, and operatic sopranos. Pirate apprentice Frederic, age 21, has served out his indentures and, replete with a sense of duty, joins the police force, determined to exterminate his old mates. He falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, who himself is the target of a pirate revenge plot. Plans go awry when it is revealed that, thanks to a leap-day birth, Frederic is really only five and one-quarter years old. The engaging musical score includes some of the catchiest music in operetta:  Mabel’s pyrotechnic “Poor, Wandering One,” the tongue-twisting “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” “A Policeman’s Lot,” and “With Catlike Tread,” which, decades later, was given new words as “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here.” 

Conductors J. Lynn Thompson and Wilson Southerland
Stage Director Ted Christopher
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Charles Murdock
Costume Designer Jennifer Ammons
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston
Sound Designer Tyler Quinn
Assistant Director  Ian Silverman

Cast
Major-General Stanley Boyd Mackus
The Pirate King Brad Baron*  Aidan Smerud**
Samuel George Marn
Frederic Alan Smith*  Spencer Reese**
Sergeant of Police Ted Christopher
Mabel Chelsea Miller*  Kelly Curtin**
Edith Abby Kurth
Kate Yvonne Trobe
Isabel Sadie Spivey
Ruth Hannah Holmes
Understudy for Major-General Stanley: Vincent Gover
Understudy for Frederic: Logan Barat
Understudy for Frederic: Tim McGowan
Understudy for Mabel: Sadie Spivey

Ensemble
Logan Barat, Kelvin Boateng, Diego Roberts Buceta, Annachristi Cordes, Benjamin Dutton, Vincent Gover, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Teryn Kuzma, Joelle Lachance, George Marn, Tim McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Emily Neill, Charles Piper, Austin Rubinoski, Lauren Nash Silberstein, Mark Snyder-Schulte, Sadie Spivey, Yvonne Trobe, Adam Wells

Hungarian-born Emmerich Kálmán is currently the most-performed operetta composer in the world.  With 12 of his shows under its belt, the Ohio Light Opera has played a significant role in showcasing his rarer works. The 2019 season brings yet another rarity, and a U.S. premiere: his 1932 operetta The Devil’s Rider. Its plotline, rooted in the political intrigue of 19th-century Austria, concerns the Hungarian riding master Sándor, who has fallen for the alluring daughter, Leontine, of his political opponent Prince Metternich. When Sándor presents the Empress with a petition outlining the sorrows of the Hungarian nation, she becomes totally smitten with him and agrees to a conciliatory visit to Hungary. The outraged Metternich tosses Sándor in prison … but there are still two acts to go! Replete with waltzes, marches, foxtrots, tangos, and a saxophone-infused, rhumba-rhythmed trio, the scintillating score is topped off by the famous “Grand Palotás de la Reine,” the most frenzied csárdás-driven dance you will ever see or hear!

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven A. Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Jennifer Ammons
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Sarah Calvert
Assistant Director  Ian Silverman

Cast
Empress Carolina Pia, consort of Emperor Ferdinand of Austria Yvonne Trobe
Cavalry Captain Count Sándor Benjamin Dutton
Prince Metternich Boyd Mackus
Leontine, his daughter Tanya Roberts
Prince Honorius of Monaco Kyle Yampiro
Prince Karl, his son Tim McGowan
Superintendent Sedlnitzky Jacob Allen
Pfleiderer, vigilante Aidan Smerud
Anina Miramonti, his daughter, a dancer Sadie Spivey
Sophie von Zinzendorf, Sándor’s cousin Kelly Curtin
Officers of the Regiment of the “Seventh Hussars”
Major Count Balothy Garrett Medlock
Cavalry Captain Count Kinsky Charles Piper
Lieutenant von Woyna Adam Wells
Hungarian Magnates
Count Batthyány Logan Barat
Count Réty Alan Smith
Baron Eötvös Vincent Gover
Magistrate Count Erdödy Kelvin Boateng
Janos, batman Diego Roberts Buceta
Ferencz, batman George Marn
Chief Bench Judge Spiro Matsos
Austrian Magistrate  Austin Rubinoski

Ensemble
Jacob Allen, Emily Anderson, Logan Barat, Sarah Best, Kelvin Boateng, Diego Roberts Buceta, Annachristi Cordes, Vincent Gover, Jocelyn Hansen, Abby Kurth, Teryn Kuzma, Joelle Lachance, George Marn, Ivana Martinic, Spiro Matsos,Garrett Medlock, Michelle Pedersen, Elizabeth Perkins, Charles Piper, Austin Rubinoski, Lauren Nash Silberstein, Aidan Smerud, Alan Smith, Adam Wells

A few years back, the Ohio Light Opera struck gold with the first U.S. production in seven decades of Welsh-born Ivor Novello’s 1939 The Dancing Years. Six years later, in 1945, the composer wrote music, lyrics, and book for a fascinating three-generation (à la Romberg’s Maytime) romantic musical titled Perchance to Dream—with title borrowed from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Its gripping plotline—set totally at the Huntersmoon mansion in England, but spread out over 127 years from 1818 to 1945—deals with the intrigues, flirtations, quarrels, and tragedies of three sets of characters—drawn together by historical family ties and a ghostly sense of romantic destiny. The show played in London for more than 1000 performances and became one of the greatest West End hits of the 1940s. Song hits include the waltz “Love Is My Reason for Living,” “The Night that I Curtsied to the King,” and the unforgettable “We’ll Gather Lilacs.”  This OLO production is an American premiere and, very possibly, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—don’t miss it!

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven A. Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston
Sound Designer Tyler Quinn
Assistant Director  Ian Silverman

Cast
Lydia/Veronica/Iris Sarah Best
Ernestine/Mrs. Bridport Yvonne Trobe
Melinda/Melanie/Melody Chelsea Miller
Mazelli/The Vicar Kyle Yampiro
Lady Charlotte Fayre, Sir Graham’s aunt Julie Wright Costa
Sir Graham Rodney/Valentine/Bay Jacob Allen
William Fayre/Bill Tim McGowan
Miss Alice Connors, chorus-mistress of Valentine’s choir Tanya Roberts
Friends of Melanie
Amelia Bridport Kelly Curtin
Vivien Luton Michelle Pedersen
Lucy Luton Ivana Martinic
Lavinia Lauren Nash Silberstein
Latitia Annachristi Cordes
Sophia Jocelyn Hansen
Elizabeth Hilary Koolhoven
Caroline Abby Kurth
Friends of Sir Graham
Susan Pell Teryn Kuzma
Edgar Pell Benjamin Dutton
Sir Amyas Wendell Vincent Gover
Lord Failsham Austin Rubinoski
Thomas Diego Roberts Buceta
Aiken, his butler George Marn
Understudy for Lydia/Veronica/Iris: Hilary Koolhoven
Understudy for Lady Charlotte: Michelle Pedersen

Ensemble
Logan Barat, Kelvin Boateng, Diego Roberts Buceta, Annachristi Cordes, Kelly Curtin, Benjamin Dutton, Vincent Gover, Jocelyn Hansen, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Teryn Kuzma, George Marn, Ivana Martinic, Michelle Pedersen, Tanya Roberts, Austin Rubinoski, Lauren Nash Silberstein, Adam Wells, Kyle Yampiro

“Irresistible,” “a humdinger,” “bright, brassy, and jubilantly sassy,” “a deliriously daffy delight,” “raucous, rollicking, and fast,” “about the best-natured musical you may ever see.” These are just some of the accolades that greeted the Broadway opening in 1954 of Adler and Ross’ The Pajama Game, which ran more than 1000 performances. Although they followed this up the next year with another blockbuster, Damn Yankees, Ross’ death that same year at age 29 cut short what promised to be a musical theater team to rival Rodgers & Hammerstein and Lerner & Loewe. Based on Richard Bissell’s novel 7½ Cents, the engaging story centers on the budding, but tense, romance between pajama factory foreman Sid and union boss Babe, who is trying hard, on behalf of the employees, to wangle a raise out of Sid’s boss. Few shows have produced a more dizzying array of bright, catchy, and spirited tunes: “I’m Not at All in Love,” “Once a Year Day,” “Hey There,” “Steam Heat,” “Small Talk,” “There Once Was a Man,” and the unforgettable “Hernando’s Hideaway.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Jacob Allen
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Myron Elliott
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer
Assistant Sound Designer Colin Kovarik

Cast
Catherine “Babe” Williams Alexa Devlin
Sid Sorokin Nathan Brian
Gladys Hotchkiss Sarah Best
Myron Hasler Cory Clines
Prez Spencer Reese
Vernon Hines Daniel Neer
Mabel Hannah Kurth
Mae Gretchen Windt
Brenda Yvonne Trobe
Pop Seth Johnson
Poopsie Caitlin Ruddy
Charley Jonathan Heller
Joe DeShaun Tost
Quartet Abby Kurth, Timothy McGowan, Cody Carlson, Stephen Walley
Max Benjamin Krumreig
Worker Benjamin Dutton
Mara Mailee Herzog
Sara Emily McCormick
Virginia Ivana Martinic
Rita Amy Livingston
1st Helper Stephen Walley
Sandra Sadie Spivey
Carmen Hilary Koolhoven
Charlene Joelle Lachance
Bob Adam Kirk
Jim Trevor Todd
Anderson Garrett Medlock
Waiter Garrett Medlock

Ensemble
Cody Carlson, Benjamin Dutton, Jonathan Heller, Mailee Herzog, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Benjamin Krumreig, Abby Kurth, Joelle Lachance, Amy Livingston, Ivana Martinic, Emily McCormick, Timothy McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Caitlin Ruddy, Sadie Spivey, Megan Taylor, Trevor Todd, DeShaun Tost, Yvonne Trobe, Stephen Walley, Gretchen Windt

Richard Rodgers, never at a loss for melody, and Lorenz Hart, ever-ready with a witty and poignant lyric, outdid even themselves in their 1937 musical hit Babes in Arms, which produced more enduring standards than any musical of the period. The stage show and subsequent Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney film popularized the “kids … let’s put on a show” concept. To avoid being sent off to a work farm for the summer while their vaudevillian parents tour, teenagers, led by Val Lamar and his adoring girlfriend Billie, band together to produce a musical follies featuring former child actress Baby Rose. But prejudice among the ranks raises obstacles to their venture. Song hits include “My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “Johnny One-Note,” the rousing title song, and that most haunting and affecting of tunes, “Where or When,” in which Billie, meeting Val for the first time, is struck with a déjà vu sense that they have crossed paths before. Remarkably, the show has never been revived on Broadway—don’t miss this opportunity at OLO!

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Victor Shonk
Costume Designer Stephanie Eubank
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer
Assistant Sound Designer Chris Wilson
Assistant Stage Director Spencer Reese

Cast
Val LaMar Spencer Reese
Billie Smith Sarah Best
Marshall Blackstone Benjamin Dutton
Dolores Reynolds Gretchen Windt
Gus Fielding Benjamin Krumreig
Baby Rose Alexa Devlin
Irving de Quincy DeShaun Tost
Ivor de Quincy Adam Kirk
Peter Timothy McGowan
Lee Calhoun Jonathan Heller
Beauregard Calhoun Stephen Walley
Dan LaMar, Val’s dad, a vaudevillian Trevor Todd
Maizie LaMar Hannah Kurth
Nat Blackstone Seth Johnson
Emma Blackstone Yvonne Trobe
Sheriff Reynolds, Dolores’ father  Cory Clines
Rene Flambeau, a French aviator Garrett Medlock
Phil McCabe Cody Carlson
Girl Mailee Herzog
Understudy for Gus: Cody Carlson

Ensemble
Cody Carlson, Cory Clines, Jonathan Heller, Jonah Hoskins, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Hannah Kurth, Joelle Lachance, Amy Livingston, Timothy McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Chelsea Miller, Caitlin Ruddy, Sadie Spivey, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Trevor Todd, DeShaun Tost, Yvonne Trobe, Stephen Walley

OLO audiences over the past several years have had a unique opportunity—in Jubilee, Silk Stockings, Can-Can, Kiss Me, Kate, and Anything Goes—to experience the unmatched delights of a Cole Porter musical. His memorable tunes, sophisticated lyrics, and double entendres have captivated theatergoers since he made his first big splash on Broadway in the late 1920s. And now … OLO brings to life his first hit show, Fifty Million Frenchmen, with one of the composer’s most glorious musical scores. Wealthy American playboy Peter Forbes, while in Paris, bets his friend Billy that, within a month and passing himself off as poor, he can become engaged to a girl, Looloo, who has caught his eye. Complications arise when two other girls foist their attentions on Peter, and Looloo informs him that her socialite parents are set on her marrying a grand duke. The score includes two Porter top-40 standards, “You Do Something to Me” and “You’ve Got That Thing,” in addition to “Find Me a Primitive Man” (not one that belongs to a club, but one that has a club that belongs to him), the ever-amusing “The Tale of the Oyster,” and the exquisite “You Don’t Know Paree.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer
Assistant Sound Designer Colin Kovarik
Assistant Stage Director Rachel Kobernick

Cast
Louis Pernasse, a bookmaker Ted Christopher
Mr. Emmit Carroll, of Terre Haute, Indiana Boyd Mackus
Mrs. Gladys Carroll, his wife Yvonne Trobe
Joyce Wheeler Joelle Lachance
Michael Cummins Nathan Brian
Billy Baxter Jonathan Heller
Looloo Carroll Sarah Best
Peter Forbes, of “the street” Stephen Faulk
Violet Hildegarde Alexa Devlin
May DeVere, a cabaret artist Hannah Kurth
Waiter Trevor Todd
Male Quartet Timothy McGowan, Spencer Reese, Trevor Todd, Cody Carlson

Ensemble
Cody Carlson, Benjamin Dutton, Mailee Herzog, Jonah Hoskins, Mason Kelso, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Ivana Martinic, Emily McCormick, Timothy McGowan, Chelsea Miller, Spencer Reese, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Trevor Todd, DeShaun Tost

More than a quarter century after his death, Leonard Bernstein remains a towering figure in shaping our national musical legacy. Composer, conductor, pianist, author, and lecturer—he was a true modern Renaissance man, who brought innovation and pizzazz to all that he touched. In commemorating his 2018 centenary, Ohio Light Opera welcomes him, for the first time, into its repertoire with his 1956 comic operetta Candide, based on the classic 1759 satire of Voltaire. Westphalian philosopher Dr. Pangloss has imparted to Candide, his bride Cunegonde, and her brother Maximilian the belief that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. When Candide and Cunegonde announce their intent to be married, her irate father, the Baron, forces Candide into exile. Through harrowing life-changing experiences in Bavaria, Holland, Lisbon, Spain, South America, Africa, and Italy, Candide has come to question the doctor’s ideology—he would rather follow his own credo. In addition to the world-famous overture, the captivating musical score includes “The Best of All Possible Worlds,” “Oh, Happy We,” “Eldorado,” “Make Our Garden Grow,” and the ever-popular coloratura dazzler “Glitter and Be Gay.”

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kiah Kayser
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston
Sound Designer Christopher Plummer, Chris Wilson, Colin Kovarik
Assistant Stage Director Rachel Kobernick

Cast
Voltaire/Pangloss Daniel Neer*, Ted Christopher**
Candide Benjamin Krumreig*, Stephen Faulk**
Cunégonde Chelsea Miller*, Ivana Martinic**
Maximilian Stephen Walley
Paquette Caitlin Ruddy
The Old Woman Alexa Devlin*, Hannah Kurth**
Cacambo Jonathan Heller
Martin Boyd Mackus
The Governor Spencer Reese
Vanderdendur Seth Johnson
Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronck Mason Kelso
Baroness of Thunder-ten-Tronck Yvonne Trobe
Corporal Adam Kirk
Captain DeShaun Tost
Drill Sergeant Benjamin Dutton
Dutch Minister Garrett Medlock
James, the Anabaptist Boyd Mackus
Don Issacar Cory Clines
The Grand Inquisitor Trevor Todd
Portuguese Sailor Garrett Medlock
Inquisitors Benjamin Dutton, Trevor Todd
Agents of the Inquisition Seth Johnson, Timothy McGowan, DeShaun Tost
King of Eldorado Mason Kelso
Queen of Eldorado Abby Kurth
Surinam Slave Cody Carlson
Tunisian Captain DeShaun Tost

Ensemble
Rachael Cammarn, Cody Carlson, Cory Clines, Benjamin Dutton, Jonah Hoskins, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Joelle Lachance, Amy Livingston, Emily McCormick, Timothy McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Elizabeth Perkins, Spencer Reese, Sadie Spivey, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Trevor Todd, DeShaun Tost, Yvonne Trobe, Gretchen Windt

Very few things British escaped the satirical pen of William Gilbert—their parliamentary system was no exception. In Iolanthe, politicians, laws, males, and class snobbery have no chance in a world in which women, in the guise of fairies, call the shots. The forever youthful fairy Iolanthe married a mortal some years before and bore a son, Strephon. When his beloved, the shepherdess Phyllis, sees him embracing his mother, she misinterprets their relationship and agrees to marry instead a member of the House of Lords. As revenge for this insult, the Fairy Queen uses her powers to put Strephon into Parliament, with the goal of wreaking havoc. Sullivan’s score, ever melodic, is arguably his most ambitious, with harmonies reminiscent at times of Mendelssohn and Wagner. Highlights include the Fairy Queen’s “Oh, Foolish Fay”; the mighty chorus of the Peers, “Loudly Let the Trumpet Bray”; the Lord Chancellor’s “When I Went to the Bar”; and the devilishly difficult nightmare song, “When You’re Lying Awake,” the patter song to end all patter songs.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson/Wilson Southerland
Stage Director Ted Christopher
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kim Powers
Costume Designer Jennifer Ammons
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston
Sound Designer Colin Kovarik
Assistant Set Designer Brandon M. Newton

Cast
The Lord Chancellor Ted Christopher
Earl of Mountararat Nathan Brian
Earl Tolloller Benjamin Krumreig
Private Willis, of the Grenadier Guards Cory Clines
Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd Stephen Faulk
Phyllis, an Arcadian shepherdess and ward in chancery  Hilary Koolhoven
Queen of the Fairies Julie Wright Costa
Iolanthe, a fairy, Strephon’s Mother Sarah Best
Fairies
Celia Chelsea Miller
Leila Sadie Spivey
Fleta Gretchen Windt
Understudy for Private Willis: Stephen Walley
Understudy for Iolanthe: Tzytle Steinman

Ensemble
Rachael Cammarn, Benjamin Dutton, Jonathan Heller, Mailee Herzog, Jonah Hoskins, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Adam Kirk, Joelle Lachance, Amy Livingston, Ivana Martinic, Emily McCormick, Timothy McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Chelsea Miller, Daniel Neer, Elizabeth Perkins, Spencer Reese, Caitlin Ruddy, Sadie Spivey, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Trevor Todd, Yvonne Trobe, Stephen Walley, Gretchen Windt

With its setting in exotic Peru, a zany but affecting plotline, and a truly scintillating musical score, Offenbach’s La Périchole has stood the test of time as one of the composer’s most beloved works. Responding to changing Parisian tastes, Offenbach veered away from the parody and satire that had characterized his recent works (e.g., La belle Hélène and Bluebeard) and turned to good new-fashioned romantic operetta. When Piquillo, companion of penniless street singer La Périchole, goes off seeking food, she falls prey to the advances of the hot-to-trot viceroy, Don Andrès, who offers her an advantageous court position as lady-in-waiting to his deceased wife. But, according to protocol, her new position requires that she be married, a condition that, under the influence of a little wine, she accepts. When the viceroy’s men bring in a candidate—and it is Piquillo, so drunk that he doesn’t recognize Périchole—the fun begins! Musical highlights include Périchole’s poignant and heartfelt “Letter Song,” her tipsy waltz, and the viceroy’s banishment of Piquillo to the dungeon that is reserved for recalcitrant husbands.

Conductor Wilson Southerland
Stage Director Julie Wright Costa
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kiah Kayser
Costume Designer Kim Griffin
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer Chris Wilson
Assistant Stage Director Cory Clines

Cast
La Périchole, a poor street singer Gretchen Windt
Piquillo, a poor street singer Daniel Neer
Don Andres, viceroy of Peru Boyd Mackus
Don Miguel de Panatellas, first gentleman of the bedchamber Stephen Faulk
Don Pedro de Hinoyosa, governor of Lima Ted Christopher
Guadalena, first cousin Chelsea Miller
Berginella, second cousin Caitlin Ruddy
Mastrilla, third cousin Alexa Devlin
Marquis de Tarapote, chamberlain of the viceroy Spiro Matsos
Manuelita, lady of the court Hilary Koolhoven
Ninetta, lady of the court Abby Kurth
Brambilla, lady of the court Hannah Kurth
Frasquinella, lady of the court Ivana Martinic
First Notary Seth Johnson
Second Notary Trevor Todd
Understudy for La Périchole: Tzytle Steinman
Understudy for Piquillo: Garrett Medlock

Ensemble
Nathan Brian, Rachael Cammarn, Cody Carlson, Cory Clines, Alexa Devlin, Mailee Herzog, Jonah Hoskins, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Abby Kurth, Hannah Kurth, Amy Livingston, Ivana Martinic, Emily McCormick, Timothy McGowan, Garrett Medlock, Chelsea Miller, Caitlin Ruddy, Sadie Spivey, Tzytle Steinman, Trevor Todd, DeShaun Tost,
Stephen Walley

Before embarking on a series of heavier, tear-jerking, lushly romantic operettas written for operatic tenor Richard Tauber, composer Franz Lehár, with his 1924 Cloclo, took one last fling at the carefree, lighthearted operetta style of his pre-war Merry Widow days. Cloclo is an extroverted Parisian revue star who, above all her admirers, loves the extremely poor Maxime. But, for love of the high life, she can’t resist the attentions of the well-off and elderly Severin, mayor of Perpignan. Her “need more money” letter to Severin is intercepted by his wife Melousine, who assumes that the young girl is her husband’s illegitimate daughter, but, as they are childless, is more than happy to take Cloclo into her home. Complications arise when Cloclo’s piano teacher falls hard for her and she winds up in jail for striking an officer. The musical score, orchestrally and vocally rich, is a delight from start to finish. Take Merry Widow (waltzes and marches), add jazz (foxtrots and blues), throw in a tango and a champagne-fueled jail scene à la Fledermaus—and mix!

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Jennifer Ammons
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston
Sound Designer Colin Kovarik

Cast
Cloclo Mustache Caitlin Ruddy   
Severin Cornichon, mayor of Perpignan Daniel Neer
Melousine, his wife Yvonne Trobe
Maxime de la Vallé Benjamin Dutton
Chablis, piano teacher Stephen Faulk
Petipouf, police officer Nathan Brian
Angèle Garelle, a young widow Abby Kurth
Tricolet, called “The Count of Monte Cristo Jonathan Heller  
Pipère, called “The Prince of Veuve-Cliquot” Stephen Walley
Rasolin, called “The Marquis of Corneville” Benjamin Krumreig
Barbesol, called “The Duke of Moulin Rouge” Adam Kirk
Flipeur, called “The Vicomte of Grand Marnier” Cory Clines
Torcheboeuf, called “The Marshal Tabarin” Jonah Hoskins
Marcell Duval, called “Cyrano de Bergerac” Trevor Todd
Claude Monet, called “Count of Nénuphars” Stephen Faulk
Henri Matisse, called “The Duke of bêtes sauvages” Seth Johnson
George Barbier, called “Vicomte of affiches et illustrations” DeShaun Tost
Pablo Picasso, called “Marquis of the période bleue” Garrett Medlock
Von Marambot, minister Seth Johnson
A Police Inspector DeShaun Tost
A Police Commissioner Benjamin Krumreig
Police Officers Cody Carlson, Garrett Medlock
Branzini, dancing master Nathan Brian
Gaspard, servant at Cornichon’s Garrett Medlock
Brigitte, cook Sarah Best
Rosalie, chambermaid at Cloclo’s Chelsea Miller
Josef, lackey at Cloclo’s Cody Carlson
Maxime’s Mother Tzytle Steinman

Ensemble
Sarah Best, Nathan Brian, Rachael Cammarn, Cody Carlson, Cory Clines, Stephen Faulk, Jonathan Heller, Mailee Herzog, Jonah Hoskins, Seth Johnson, Adam Kirk, Benjamin Krumreig, Abby Kurth, Joelle Lachance, Amy Livingston, Ivana Martinic, Emily McCormick, Garrett Medlock, Chelsea Miller, Sadie Spivey, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, DeShaun Tost, Stephen Walley

That a homespun show about the shenanigans of a music peddler in a small Midwest city beat out West Side Story for the 1958 Tony Award for Best Musical speaks volumes.  Meredith Willson drew on memories of his childhood days in Iowa and fashioned the music, lyrics, and book for a seemingly timeless story that continues to capture the hearts of young and old.  Con man “Professor” Harold Hill mesmerizes the residents of River City by selling them musical instruments and uniforms with the promise to form a boys’ band and teach them to play using his “think system.”  The execution of his plan is sidetracked a bit when he falls hard for the local librarian, Marian, and comes under the watchful eye of the mayor, who orders the school board to check out his credentials.  Bring the kids and grandkids to this true American classic and enjoy such tunes as “Ya Got Trouble,” “Goodnight, My Someone,” “Seventy Six Trombones,” “Marian the Librarian,” “Wells Fargo Wagon,” “Gary, Indiana,” and “Till There Was You.”

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director: Ted Christopher
Choreographer/Assistant Director: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Justin Miller
Costume Designer: Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer: Justin Gibson
Sound Designer: Christopher Plummer

Cast
Charlie Cowell: Jonathan Heller
Conductor: Adam Kirk
Harold Hill: Nathan Brian*/Ted Christopher**
Mayor George Shinn: Kyle Yampiro
Ewart Dunlop: Christopher Sapp
Oliver Hix: Royce Strider
Jacey Squires: Tom Carle
Olin Britt: Peter Morgan
Marcellus Washburn: Benjamin Krumreig
Tommy Djilas: Spencer Reese
Marian Paroo: Sarah Best*/Danielle Knox**
Mrs. Paroo: Alexa Devlin
Amaryllis: Madeleine Christopher
Winthrop Paroo: Bryson Christopher†/Lincoln McMullen‡
Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn: Yvonne Trobe
Zaneeta Shinn: Olivia Doig
Gracie Shinn: Anna Christopher
Alma Hix: Gretchen Windt
Maud Dunlop: Teresa Perrotta
Ethel Toffelmier: Katherine Corle
Mrs. Squires: Tzytle Steinman
Constable Locke: Nathan Kessel

Ensemble
Tom Carle, Cody Carlson, Grace Caudle, Katherine Corle, Noelle Crites, Alexa Devlin, Olivia Doig, Jonathan Heller, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Nathan Kessel, Adam Kirk, Ivana Martinic, Garrett Medlock, Peter Morgan, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Spencer Reese, Hannah Rowland, Christopher Sapp, Tzytle Steinman, Royce Strider, Megan Taylor, David Varney, Stephen Walley, Gretchen Windt, Kyle Yampiro

Youth Cast
Anna Christopher, Bryson Christopher, Madeleine Christopher, Hope Kennedy, Gracelyn Lepold, Ethan Mann, Emma Martinez, Lincoln McMullen, Oliver Miller, Ella Smucker

With 136 show titles to its credit, at Ohio Light Opera … Anything Goes.  Cole Porter’s 1934 masterpiece not only secured his position as the period’s leading Broadway composer, but still stands today as a captivating testament to his incomparable fusion of words and music.  And, in keeping with its mission, OLO presents the show in its original 1934 version, shorn of all the interpolations that have “plagued” more recent productions.  While at a New York bar, evangelist-turned-nightclub-singer Reno Sweeney has fallen for Billy Crocker, who, to be near his girlfriend Hope Harcourt, has stowed away on Reno’s transatlantic cruise ship.  Forced to adopt various disguises to avoid detection, Billy eventually secures a ticket and passport from Reverend Moon, who has been branded Public Enemy No. 13.  Not surprisingly … confusion ensues.  Porter’s revelatory score includes “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “All Through the Night,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” and the knee-slapping title tune.

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreographer/Assistant Director: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer: Kristina Miller
Lighting Designer: Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer: Christopher Plummer

Cast
Reno Sweeney, evangelist-turned-nightclub singer: Alexa Devlin
Billy Crocker, assistant to Elisha: Spencer Reese
Hope Harcourt, American debutante: Danielle Knox
Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt, Hope’s mother: Julie Wright Costa
Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, Hope’s wealthy English fiancé: Kyle Yampiro
Lord Oakleigh, Evelyn’s father: Ted Christopher
Moonface Martin, “Public Enemy Number 13”: Daniel Neer
Bonnie, sidekick to Moonface: Hilary Koolhoven
Elisha J. Whitney, Ivy League Wall Street banker: Peter Morgan
Reno’s Angels
Purity: Tanya Roberts
Charity: Grace Caudle
Chastity: Teresa Perrotta
Virtue: Sarah Best
The Ritz Quartette/Sailors: Tom Carle, Christopher Sapp, Royce Strider, Jonathan Heller
Charley: Mason Kelso
Wang: Stephen Walley
Captain: Nathan Kessel
Bartender (John): David Varney
Bellboy: Cody Carlson
Reporter: Adam Griffiths
First Cameraman: Nathan Kessel
Bishop Dodson: Garrett Medlock
Snooks: Olivia Doig
Steward Cody: Carlson
Purser: Seth Johnson
First Federal Man: Jonathan Heller
Federal Man: David Varney
Mrs. Wentworth: Yvonne Trobe
Mrs. Frick: Gillian Hollis
Chief Officer: Adam Griffiths
Teenager Hannah Rowland
Teenager: Noelle Crites
Ship’s Drunk: David Varney
Mr. Swift: Garrett Medlock

Ensemble
Sarah Best, Tom Carle, Cody Carlson, Grace Caudle, Noelle Crites, Olivia Doig, Adam Griffiths, Jonathan Heller, Gillian Hollis, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Nathan Kessel, Ivana Martinic, Garrett Medlock, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Tanya Roberts, Hannah Rowland, Christopher Sapp, Tzytle Steinman, Royce Strider, Megan Taylor, Yvonne Trobe, David Varney, Stephen Walley

Gilbert and Sullivan’s rollicking romp through naval life, class distinctions, and melodramatic villainy has entertained millions since its London premiere.  Where else can one find a First Lord of the Admiralty who had never seen a ship, or a seafaring captain who gets seasick, or a nursemaid who can’t tell one baby from another?  It was the 1879 success of this show in New York—and during that year, there were said to be more than 150 productions playing across the United States—that inspired the American theater community to create its own musical theater tradition.  Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, is in love with able seaman Ralph Rackstraw.  But her father has other plans for her: an advantageous union with the exalted Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.  When the young couple’s elopement is thwarted by cantankerous seaman Dick Deadeye, it remains for Little Buttercup to confess that her baby farming techniques had left something to be desired … a many years ago.  Never mind the why and wherefore—to list the catchy tunes in Pinafore is to cite the entire musical score.

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson, Wilson Southerland
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreographer: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer: Charlene Gross
Associate Costume Designer: Jennifer Ammons
Lighting Designer: Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer: Samantha Palumbo

Cast
The R. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, first lord of the admiralty: Boyd Mackus
Captain Corcoran, commanding the H.M.S. Pinafore: Daniel Neer
Ralph Rackstraw, able seaman: Benjamin Krumreig* Stephen Faulk**
Dick Deadeye, able seaman: Nathan Brian
Bill Bobstay, boatswain’s mate: Ted Christopher
Bob Becket, carpenter’s mate: Peter Morgan
Tom Tucker, midshipmite: Oliver Miller
Josephine, the Captain’s daughter: Hilary Koolhoven* Olivia Doig**
Cousin Hebe, Sir Joseph’s first cousin: Gretchen Windt
Mrs. Cripps / Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth bumboat woman: Alexa Devlin

Ensemble
Nathan Brian, Tom Carle, Ted Christopher, Katherine Corle, Adam Griffiths, Gillian Hollis, Mason Kelso, Nathan Kessel, Grant Knox, Audrey Lee, Ivana Martinic, Peter Morgan, Sarah Polinski, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Hannah Rowland, Christopher Sapp, Royce Strider, Megan Taylor, Gretchen Windt

Understudy for Captain Corcoran: Royce Strider
Understudy for Dick Deadeye: Peter Morgan

If ever there were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, this is it—the first fully-staged production in almost a century of George Gershwin’s 1924 musical Primrose.  Written for the London stage (255 performances), but never brought to Broadway, the show reveals the composer fully crossing the threshold into the jazz-inspired stylings that would take Broadway by storm just a few months later in Lady, Be Good!  Although Englishman Desmond Carter wrote the bulk of the lyrics, most of the show’s hit songs were actually adapted by George from tunes he had written earlier to brother Ira’s lyrics.  Offering a tip of the hat to Gilbert and Sullivan, Edwardian musical comedy, and British music hall, the show centers on dapper Toby Mopham, who finds himself engaged to vulgar beautician Pinkie Peach.  To help him out of the situation, he calls on his friend, houseboat-dwelling author Hilary Vane, who himself has fallen in love with ingénue Joan, who reminds him of the character Primrose in his latest story.  After many (and we do mean many) complications, characters, and disguises, everyone winds up with his or her ideal mate.  Song hits include “Wait a Bit, Susie,” “Boy Wanted,” “Some Far Away Someone,” and “Naughty Baby.”

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Julie Wright Costa
Choreographer: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Kiah Kayser
Costume Designer: Kim Griffin
Lighting Designer: Daniel Huston
Sound Designer: Dominic Mosher

Cast
Jason: Tom Carle
Freddie Falls: Benjamin Krumreig
May Rooker: Tanya Roberts
Sir Barnaby Falls: Kyle Yampiro
Joan, his ward: Sarah Best
Hilary Vane, a novelist: Nathan Brian
Toby Mopham: Stephen Faulk
Michael, Pinkie’s brother: Cody Carlson
Manager of Hotel: Mason Kelso
Pinkie Peach: Alexa Devlin
Lady Sophia Mopham: Katherine Corle
Pritchard, her maid: Yvonne Trobe
Post Girl: Teresa Perrotta
Hazel: Gretchen Windt
Jenny: Megan Taylor
Jack: Christopher Sapp
Jean: Ivana Martinic
Marjory: Grace Caudle
Maud: Tzytle Steinman
Flower Seller: Grace Caudle
Turk: David Varney
Quartet (Sirens): Olivia Doig, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Megan Taylor

Ensemble
Grace Caudle, Katherine Corle, Olivia Doig, Adam Griffiths, Jonathan Heller, Mason Kelso, Nathan Kessel, Hilary Koolhoven, Ivana Martinic, Garrett Medlock, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Spencer Reese, Christopher Sapp, Royce Strider, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Yvonne Trobe, David Varney, Stephen Walley, Gretchen Windt

The Student Prince, the longest-running Broadway musical of the 1920s, is for many theater-goers the quintessential romantic operetta.  Hungarian-born composer Sigmund Romberg cashed in on his earlier musical training in Vienna and created a magical score of waltzes and marches, all set to Dorothy Donnelly’s adaptation of a 1901 German play titled Old Heidelberg.  Prince Karl-Franz, accompanied by his tutor Dr. Engel and pompous valet Lutz, arrives at Heidelberg University, but finds his studies less enticing than the waitress Kathie at the local inn.  The age-old clash between love and duty rears its head when he is summoned back home to the deathbed of his grandfather and ordered to marry Princess Margaret.  Romberg’s score brims over with tunes that you will be humming as you walk in and walk out of the theater: “Golden Days,” “Overhead the Moon Is Beaming,” “Just We Two,” “Deep in My Heart, Dear,” and, of course, that most rousing of libation songs, “Drink! Drink! Drink!”

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreographer: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer: Mark Snyder
Lighting Designer: Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer: Samantha Palumbo

Cast
Four Lackeys: Christopher Sapp, Garrett Medlock, Royce Strider, Jonathan Heller
Prime Minister von Mark: Royce Strider
Doctor Engel, the Prince’s tutor: Boyd Mackus
Prince Karl Franz, heir to the throne: Grant Knox
Gretchen, maid at the Inn: Gretchen Windt
Ruder, keeper of the Inn, Kathie’s uncle: Peter Morgan
Toni, waiter at the Inn: Spiro Matsos
Lutz, the Prince’s valet: Daniel Neer
Hubert, a footman: Cody Carlson
Count Hugo Detlef, student, leader of the Saxon Corps: Benjamin Krumreig
Von Asterberg, student, member of Saxon Corps: Tom Carle
Lucas, student, leader of Rheinisher Corps: Nathan Kessel
Kathie, maid at the Inn: Gillian Hollis
Grand Duchess Anastasia, mother of Princess Margaret: Yvonne Trobe
Princess Margaret, fiancée of Karl Franz: Grace Caudle
Captain Tarnitz, officer attending Princess Margaretv Stephen Faulk
Baron Arnheim, gentleman of the court: Christopher Sapp
Countess Leyden, lady of the court: Hannah Rowland
Captain of the Guard: David Varney
Rudolph Winter, cousin of Kathie: Spencer Reese

Ensemble
Tom Carle, Cody Carlson, Katherine Corle, Stephen Faulk, Adam Griffiths, Jonathan Heller, Mason Kelso, Nathan Kessel, Hilary Koolhoven, Benjamin Krumreig, Audrey Lee, Ivana Martinic, Garrett Medlock, Peter Morgan, Arielle Nachtigal, Teresa Perrotta, Spencer Reese, Hannah Rowland, Christopher Sapp, Tzytle Steinman, Royce Strider, Megan Taylor, David Varney, Stephen Walley, Gretchen Windt

Understudy for Kathie: Oliva Doig
Understudies for Prince Karl Franz: Adam Griffiths and Tom Carle
Understudy for Doctor Engel: Stephen Walley
Understudy for Count Hugo Detlef: David Varney

Among Ohio Light Opera’s many contributions to lyric theater, none has proved more fulfilling and rewarding than the successes it has achieved with the operettas of Hungarian-born Emmerich Kálmán. With 12 titles produced thus far—and more to come—OLO returns this season to what many believe is his supreme masterpiece, Countess Maritza.  Count Tassilo, now penniless, has taken a menial position as manager of one of the estates of the wealthy Maritza.  He hopes to earn enough money to pay off his debts and provide a dowry for his sister Lisa.  To ward off a constant barrage of suitors, Maritza announces a mock engagement to a fictitious pig farmer, a Baron Koloman Zsupán. To her surprise, a real Baron Zsupán shows up and claims her hand. Tassilo, also, has some covering up to do when Lisa appears as part of Maritza’s house party.  As romantic feelings blossom between Tassilo and Maritza, so do their pride and stubbornness as employee and employer—Maritza has no choice but to fire her manager.  But … she has a change of heart.  Song gems include Tassilo’s heartfelt tribute to his home town, “Vienna Mine,” the Maritza-Zsupán duet “Let’s Go to Varasdin,” and Tassilo’s lament “Play, Gypsy.”

Conductor: Wilson Southerland
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreographer: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Justin Miller
Costume Designer: Kristina Miller
Lighting Designer: Daniel Huston
Sound Designer: Dominic Mosher
Assistant Director: Kyle Yampiro

Cast
Countess Maritzav Tanya Roberts
Prince Moritz Dragomir Popolescu: Boyd Mackus
Baron Koloman Zsupán, property owner from Varasdin: Grant Knox
Count Tassilo Endrödy-Wittenburg: Daniel Neer
Lisa, his sister: Katherine Corle
Karl Stephan Liebenberg: Nathan Brian
Princess Bozena Cuddenstein zu Chlumetz: Julie Wright Costa
Penizek, her servant: Kyle Yampiro
Tschekko, an old servant of Maritza: Spiro Matsos
Berko, a gypsy: Stephen Faulk
Manja, young gypsy girl: Teresa Perrotta
Ilka, guest of Maritza: Hannah Rowland
Rosika, village teenage girl: Arielle Nachtigal
Juliska, village teenage girl: Hannah Rowland
Ilonka, village teenage girl: Olivia Doig
Sari, village teenage girl: Gillian Hollis

Ensemble
Sarah Best, Cody Carlson, Grace Caudle, Olivia Doig, Stephen Faulk, Adam Griffiths, Jonathan Heller, Gillian Hollis, Seth Johnson, Nathan Kessel, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Garrett Medlock, Peter Morgan, Arielle Nachtigal, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Hannah Rowland, Tzytle Steinman, Megan Taylor, Yvonne Trobe, David Varney, Stephen Walley, Kyle Yampiro

Understudy for Countess Maritza: Teresa Perrotta
Understudy for Manja: Tzytle Steinman

Everyone likes a good Cinderella story, so what better way for OLO to introduce this iconic character into its repertoire than with Victor Herbert’s zany musical comedy The Lady of the Slipper.  With stepsisters named Dollbabia and Freakette, a cat named Mouser, and two fellows named Punks and Spooks who emerge from a cornfield (à la Wizard of Oz) to entice Cinderella to the ball and then into the prince’s arms, “zany” is indeed the right term for a show that captured the public’s fancy and became the second-longest-running book musical of 1912.  Recognized by Herbert biographer Edward Waters as “in every way … a major achievement in the American musical theater,” the show features Herbert at his most engagingly diverse: waltzes, galops, marches, a duet (“Meow! Meow! Meow!”) for Cinderella and the cat, a “Witches Ballet,” and the hit duet “A Little Girl at Home” for Cinderella and Prince Maximilian.  For the second time in just three years (recall the hilarious Dream City and the Magic Knight from 2014), OLO presents a Herbert musical that has not been fully-staged in over a century.

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreographer: Spencer Reese
Set Designer: Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer: Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer: Brittany Shemuga
Sound Designer: Samantha Palumbo

Cast
The Crown Prince Maximilian: Benjamin Krumreig
Prince Ulrich, his brother: Royce Strider
Captain Ladislaw, aide-de-camp to Maximilian: Tom Carle
Baron von Nix, Cinderella’s father: Ted Christopher
Atzel, the Baron’s butler: Kyle Yampiro
Mouser, the Baron’s cat: Spencer Reese
Albrecht, a shoemaker: Christopher Sapp
Louis, his assistant: Mason Kelso
Joseph, a milliner: Garrett Medlock
Matthias, a furrier: Jonathan Heller
Punks, from the cornfield: Stephen Faulk
Spooks, from the cornfield: Nathan Brian
Cinderella: Gretchen Windt
Dollbabia, Cinderella’s step-sister: Tanya Roberts
Freakette, Cinderella’s step-sister: Sarah Best
Romneya: Alexa Devlin
The Fairy Godmother: Katherine Corle
Valerie, maid at the Baron’s: Teresa Perrotta
Sophia, Albrecht’s wife: Tzytle Steinman
Irma, Joseph’s wife: Grace Caudle
Clara, Louis’ wife: Olivia Doig
Ludovica, Matthias’ wife: Sarah Polinski
Maida: Gillian Hollis
Gretchen: Arielle Nachtigal
Major Domo: Kyle Yampiro

Ensemble
Tom Carle, Cody Carlson, Grace Caudle, Olivia Doig, Adam Griffiths, Jonathan Heller, Gillian Hollis, Seth Johnson, Mason Kelso, Hilary Koolhoven, Audrey Lee, Garrett Medlock, Ivana Martinic, Arielle Nachtigal, Daniel Neer, Teresa Perrotta, Sarah Polinski, Spencer Reese, Hannah Rowland, Christopher Sapp, Tzytle Steinman, Royce Strider, Yvonne Trobe, David Varney, Stephen Walley, Kyle Yampiro

Understudy for Cinderella: Grace Caudle

“Another op’nin’, another show.” If ever a musical dispelled persistent rumors that its composer was “washed up,” it was Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate. Not only the crowning achievement of his remarkable Broadway career, but one of the supreme glories of American musical theater, the show bristles with captivating “Top 40” tunes in a dazzling variety of musical styles, all set, as an extra bonus, to Shakespeare’s comedy of the sexes The Taming of the Shrew. Stage stars Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi are divorced, but nevertheless still working together in a Baltimore stage production of the Bard’s comedy. Complications arise when Fred hires a perky cabaret performer Lois Lane to perform the role of Bianca, Fred winds up on the wrong side of two gangsters trying to collect a gambling debt, and Lilli hits the ceiling when she is mistakenly delivered flowers from Fred that he intended for Lois. Virtually every song in the score became a hit: “So in Love,” “Why Can’t You Behave?” “Always True to You in My Fashion,” “I Hate Men,” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” to name just a few. Join us in celebrating Cole Porter’s 125th birthday in the season-opening production of Kiss Me, Kate. Wunderbar!

Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Bella and Samuel Spewack
Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Stephen Carr
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Ken Martin
Costume Designe Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Kent Sprague

Cast
Fred Graham Ted Christopher, Brad Baron
Lilli Vanessi Sarah Best, Tanya Roberts
Lois Lane Hannah Kurth
Bill Calhoun Stephen Faulk
Harrison Howell Clark Sturdevant
First Man (Gangster) Kyle Yampiro
Second Man (Gangster) Royce Strider
Harry Trevor Samus Haddad
Hattie Alexa Devlin
Ralph David Geist
Stage Doorman Bailey Cummings
Paul Spencer Reese
Gremio Cameron Brownell
Hortensio  Isaac Assor
Haberdasher Benjamin Krumreig
Nathaniel Matthew Brennan
Gregory Matt Kelly
Phillip Tom Carle
Lilli Vanessi (cover) Hilary Koolhoven
Paul (cover) Cameron Brownell

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Isaac Assor, Matthew Brennan, Cameron Brownell, Alexandra Camastro, Tom Carle, Jacob Clanton, Katherine Corle, Bailey Cummings, Alexa Devlin, Hannah Gauthier, David Geist, Samus Haddad, Matt Kelly, Hilary Koolhoven, Benjamin Krumreig, Amy Livingston, Hannah Miller, Emily Nelson, Katharine Nunn, Spencer Reese, Meagan Sill, Gretchen Windt

“Irving Berlin has no place in American music. HE IS AMERICAN MUSIC.” With these words, penned in 1924, Broadway composer Jerome Kern captured the essence of the Russian-born immigrant who wrote words and music to some of our most touchingly eloquent song classics, including “God Bless America,” “Always,” “Easter Parade,” and “White Christmas.” But he could let his hair down, too . . . and in 1946 Berlin wrote music and lyrics to a humorous, homespun tale—yet another battle of the sexes—of American folk hero Annie Oakley. Naïve as they come, but a whiz with a rifle, Annie wins a job with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and falls hard for its handsome shooting star, Frank Butler. When he feels upstaged by her shooting antics and higher marquee billing, he leaves the show and joins a rival company. Attempts at a merger fail and it remains for Chief Sitting Bull to give Annie a lesson on how to win herself an obstinate man. Berlin churned out one winsome song after another, including “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly,” “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun,” “The Girl that I Marry,” “Anything You Can Do,” and what became the unofficial entertainment anthem, “There’s No Business like Show Business.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Jacob Allen
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kim Powers
Costume Designer Myron Elliott
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga

Cast
Annie Oakley Alexa Devlin
Frank Butler Nathan Brian
Mr. Clay Cameron Brownell
Minnie Emily Hagens
Dolly Tate Julie Wright Costa
Buffalo Bill Cody Brad Baron
Charlie Davenport Kyle Yampiro
Chief Sitting Bull Samus Haddad
Pawnee Bill Clark Sturdevant
Mac Jacob Clanton
Foster Wilson Matt Kelly
Conductor Tom Carle
Porters Matthew Brennan, Christopher Sapp, Jacob Clanton
Mrs. Potter-Porter Sarah Best
Mr. Schuyler Adams Tom Carle
Mrs. Schuyler Adams Jessamyn Anderson
Mr. Percy Ferguson Bailey Cummings
Mrs. Percy Ferguson Emily Nelson
Mr. Henderson Royce Strider
Mrs. Henderson Catherine Corle
Messenger David Geist
Little Jake Madi Christopher
Mary Anna Christopher
Jessie Madison Mitchell
Nellie Elizabeth Perkins
Annie Oakley (cover) Katharine Nunn

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Sarah Best, Matthew Brennan, Alexandra Camastro, Tom Carle, Jacob Clanton, Katherine Corle, Bailey Cummings, Hannah Gauthier, David Geist, Matt Kelly, Adam Kirk, Hannah Kurth, Audrey Lee, Amy Livingston, Hannah Miller, Emily Nelson, Spencer Reese, Christopher Sapp, Meagan Sill, Royce Strider, Kyle Yampiro

More than 130 years after its premiere, The Mikado—in the timelessness of its characters and situations, its witty lyrics, and succession of engaging tunes—remains a wonder of lyric theater. Tailor Ko-Ko, condemned to death for flirting, is reprieved and appointed Lord High Executioner of Titipu. He is betrothed to his ward Yum-Yum, but she has fallen in love with the Mikado’s son Nanki-Poo. Displeased with the lack of executions in Titipu, the Mikado orders that the situation be rectified. Nanki-Poo, distraught because he cannot marry Yum-Yum, agrees to be executed in a month, provided that he can marry her in the meantime. When the Mikado sees Nanki-Poo’s name on Ko-Ko’s falsified execution affidavit, he condemns Ko-Ko to death for compassing the death of the heir-apparent. “A Wand’ring Minstrel I,” “I’ve Got a Little List,” “Three Little Maids from School,” “The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring,” and “Tit-Willow” are but a few of the song gems that have made this the most popular of the G&S shows.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Ted Christopher
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Charlene Gross
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston

Cast
The Mikado of Japan Samus Haddad
Nanki-Poo Benjamin Krumreig, Stephen Faulk
A Noble Royce Strider
Ko-Ko Nathan Brian
Pooh-Bah Brad Baron
Pish-Tush Isaac Assor
Yum-Yum Emily Nelson, Emily Hagens
Pitti-Sing Gretchen Windt
Peep-Bo Hilary Koolhoven
Katisha Alexa Devlin
Nanki-Poo (cover) Matt Kelly
Pish-Tush (cover) Royce Strider

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Isaac Assor, Matthew Brennan, Cameron Brownell, Tom Carle, Katherine Corle, Bailey Cummings, Hannah Gauthier, Matt Kelly, Hilary Koolhoven, Audrey Lee, Amy Livingston, Katharine Nunn, Tanya Roberts, Christopher Sapp, Meagan Sill, Mark Snyder, Royce Strider, Clark Sturdevant, Gretchen Windt

Following on the heels of The Cabaret Girl and Oh, Lady! Lady!!, the Ohio Light Opera continues its survey of Jerome Kern’s early groundbreaking musicals with his 1917 Have a Heart. In addition to its predictably enchanting Kern score—one of his most tuneful—the show features book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and master British humorist P. G. Wodehouse (whose wit won over audiences last season in Gershwin’s Oh, Kay!), marking his Broadway full-score debut. The story centers on department store owner Ruddy Schoonmaker and his estranged wife Peggy, who try to salvage their marriage by spending a night at a Rhode Island beach resort. Their reconciliation efforts seem doomed by the appearance there of Ruddy’s recent paramour, movie actress Dolly Brabazon, and of Peggy’s recent wooer, the counterfeiter Capt. Charles Owen. Only at the intervention of elevator boy Henry—whose lines throughout the show, according to Wodehouse and Bolton, had the customers rolling in the aisles—do the romantic entanglements get resolved. Hit songs include the irresistibly catchy “You Said Something,” Henry’s comical “Napoleon,” and the sublime “And I Am All Alone.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Hali Hutchison
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga

Cast
Rutherford “Ruddy” Schoonmaker Nathan Brian
Peggy Sarah Best
Dolly Brabazon Tanya Roberts
Henry Kyle Yampiro
Lizzie Emily Hagens
Ted Stephen Faulk
Mrs. Pyne (Aunt) Julie Wright Costa
Matthew Pyne (Uncle) Mark Snyder
Chick Owen Spencer Reese
Detective Baker Royce Strider
Maitre d’Hotel David Geist
The Turk Isaac Assor
Floor Walker Matt Kelly
Man of Quartette Jacob Clanton
Sales Girls Katherine Corle, Meagan Sill, Hannah Kurth, Amy Livingston, Katharine Nunn
Women Shoppers Hilary Koolhoven, Hannah Miller, Alexandra Camastro
Waitresses Hannah Kurth, Meagan Sill
Bell Boys Matt Kelly, Daniel Huston

Ensemble
Isaac Assor, Cameron Brownell, Alexandra Camastro, Jacob Clanton, Katherine Corle, Bailey Cummings, David Geist, Daniel Huston, Matt Kelly, Adam Kirk, Hilary Koolhoven, Hannah Kurth, Amy Livingston, Hannah Miller, Katharine Nunn, Christopher Sapp, Meagan Sill

Few artists stand as tall above their field as does Jacques Offenbach above French operetta. Following his ground-breaking Orpheus in the Underworld in 1858, he teamed in the mid-1860s with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy to produce six shows—La belle Hélène, Bluebeard, La vie parisienne, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, La Périchole, and The Brigands—that remain among the greatest of all French operettas. La vie parisienne, featuring Offenbach at his most effervescent, is the zany tale of a pair of Parisian wannabe bon vivants Gardefeu and Bobinet, who, having failed in their attempts to woo the cocotte Métella, turn their attentions to the visiting Swedish Baroness de Gondremarck. Her husband, the Baron, seeking a fun Parisian holiday, arrives with a letter of introduction to Métella. All wind up at a jolly party at Gardefeu’s home, which the naïve visiting royalty have been led to believe is a hotel. Offenbach’s first attempt at a full-length domestic operetta comedy, the score teems with waltzes, patter songs, ensembles, and a most recognizable can-can.

Conductor Wilson Southerland
Stage Director Julie Wright Costa
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston

Cast
Bobinet Kyle Yampiro
Un Employé (Porter) Bailey Cummings
Raoul De Gardefeu Benjamin Krumreig
Métella Gretchen Windt
Gontran Matt Kelly
Joseph Jacob Clanton
Le Baron de Gondremarck Ted Christopher
La Baronne de Gondremarck Meagan Sill
Le Brésilien Clark Sturdevant
Alphonse Tom Carle
Frick Spencer Reese
Gabrielle Tanya Roberts
Pauline Hilary Koolhoven
Prosper Matthew Brennan
Urbain Isaac Assor
Clara Katherine Corle
Léonie Katharine Nunn
Louise Alexandra Camastro
Gardefeu (cover) Tom Carle

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Isaac Assor, Brad Baron, Sarah Best, Matthew Brennan, Alexandra Camastro, Tom Carle, Jacob Clanton, Katherine Corle, Bailey Cummings, Alexa Devlin, Hannah Gauthier, David Geist, Emily Hagens, Matt Kelly, Hilary Koolhoven, Hannah Kurth, Audrey Lee, Hannah Miller, Emily Nelson, Katharine Nunn, Christopher Sapp, Royce Strider, Clark Sturdevant

OLO has had request after request over the years . . . finally, here it is: the first American stage production in almost 70 years of Welsh-born Ivor Novello’s The Dancing Years. Novello had a remarkable career: as songwriter (“Keep the Home Fires Burning”), as silent film matinée idol (Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger), as Hollywood scriptwriter (credited with the lines “Me Tarzan, You Jane”), as playwright, and as a composer who virtually single-handedly brought romantic musicals (operettas . . . if you like!) back to life in Britain in the 1930s, 40s, and early 50s. The Dancing Years is the tear-jerking story of an opera diva, Maria Ziegler, who befriends and encourages aspiring operetta composer Rudi Kleber. When she misunderstandingly overhears Rudi making a mock marriage proposal to a young woman to whom, years before, he had playfully promised “right of first refusal,” Maria leaves her lover, marries her old admirer, Prince Metterling, and loses all touch with Rudi. Some 12 years later, Rudi and Maria meet again and passions flare . . . but she is accompanied by her 12-year-old son. Song gems include “I Can Give You the Starlight,” “My Dearest Dear,” “Primrose,” and “Waltz of My Heart.”

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Ken Martin
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Brittany Shemuga

Cast
Maria Ziegler Sarah Best, Julie Wright Costa
Cacille Kurt Hannah Kurth
Grete Schone Emily Hagens
Ceruti Benjamin Krumreig
Hattie Watney Alexa Devlin
Countess Lotte Gretchen Windt
Rudi Kleber Nathan Brian, Ted Christopher
Prince Charles Metterling, Samus Haddad
Franzel Isaac Assor
Carl Madi Christopher
Madame Pelotti Tanya Roberts
Sadun Jessamyn Anderson
Lilli Jessamyn Anderson
1st Officer Matthew Brennan
2nd Officer Cameron Brownell
Elizabeth Emily Nelson
Sonia Hannah Gauthier
Wanda Audrey Lee
Sari Hilary Koolhoven
Mitzi Amy Livingston
Hilde Alexandra Camastro
Emmy Tanya Roberts
Footman Jacob Clanton
Kathie Alexandra Camastro
Lorelei Katharine Nunn
Signor Valdo Matt Kelly
The Night Watchman Christopher Sapp
Echo Matt Kelly
Otto Bryson Christopher
Oscar Matthew Brennan
Schani Royce Strider
Goetzer Matt Kelly
Poldi Spencer Reese
Young Maria Ziegler (cover) Jessamyn Anderson

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Isaac Assor, Matthew Brennan, Cameron Brownell, Alexandra Camastro, Tom Carle, Jacob Clanton, Bailey Cummings, Stephen Faulk, Hannah Gauthier, David Geist, Matt Kelly, Hilary Koolhoven, Audrey Lee, Amy Livingston, Hannah Miller, Emily Neill, Emily Nelson, Katharine Nunn, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Christopher Sapp, Royce Strider

The year 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of Hungarian-born Emmerich Kálmán’s operetta Die Csárdásfürstin (The Gypsy Princess). With this work, the composer began a remarkable—and virtually unprecedented—string of eight consecutive operetta masterpieces for the Vienna stage, all achieving great international popularity. In the third of these, Das Hollandweibchen (The Little Dutch Girl), Kálmán set out to “scale back the . . . modern dance genre and . . . assign a larger role to the chorus . . . modeled on our grand classical operettas.” German Princess Jutta is stood up at her arranged royal wedding by groom Prince Paul, whom she has never met, but who prefers to spend the day sailing on a lake in Holland. Through the machinations of her prime minister, she is nevertheless married by proxy to the absent Prince. She seeks revenge and travels to Holland, disguises herself as “a little Dutch girl” Bella, and gets the unsuspecting Prince to fall hard for her—she then reveals her identity and dumps him. The lovesick Paul follows her back to Germany, but to no avail . . . or so it seems. Kálmán’s musical score is masterful, highlighted by a most fiery Hungarian quartet and frenzied dance sequence.

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Tymberley Whitesel
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Daniel Huston

Cast
Princess Jutta Meagan Sill
Baroness Elly, from the Weyde, first maid of honor Jessamyn Anderson
Chatelaine Sallina Frelln Webel Horst Gretchen Windt
Marshal of Eberius David Geist
Von Stopp, lord chamberlain Benjamin Krumreig
Prince Adalbert, Jutta’s uncle Brad Baron
Paul Roderich, crown prince of Usingen Clark Sturdevant
Dr. Udo von Sterzel, extraordinary ambassador of Usingen Samus Haddad
Von Oppel, minister of Usingen Spiro Matsos
Von Seydenhecht, minister of Usingen Nathan Brian
Von Trockenrodt, minister of Usingen Stephen Faulk
Four newlyweds Emily Nelson, Tanya Roberts, Alexandra Camastro, Hannah Kurth
Von Tiedemann, president Matthew Brennan
Baron Seeborg Tom Carle
Von Melow Kyle Yampiro
Von Wetterling Spencer Reese
Klaas, host Isaac Assor
Coachman Cameron Brownell
Princess Jutta (cover) Katherine Corle

Ensemble
Isaac Assor, Brad Baron, Matthew Brennan, Nathan Brian, Cameron Brownell, Alexandra Camastro, Tom Carle, Jacob Clanton, Katherine Corle, Stephen Faulk, Hannah Gauthier, David Geist, Emily Hagens, Hilary Koolhoven, Hannah Kurth, Audrey Lee, Amy Livingston, Spiro Matsos, Hannah Miller, Emily Neill, Emily Nelson, Katharine Nunn, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Christopher Sapp, Kyle Yampiro

One of the most beloved American musicals, Lerner and Loewe’s 1947 Brigadoon not only propelled its composer and lyricist toward the front ranks of Broadway, as rivals to Rodgers and Hammerstein, but also introduced to musical theater a new type of other-worldly romanticism. Americans Tommy and Jeff, while on a hunting trip in Scotland, stumble on an unmapped village, whose citizens are in the midst of a fair and also celebrating the impending marriage of Charlie and Jean. Jean’s older sister Fiona and Tommy take an immediate liking to one another, while the brazen village lass Meg wastes no time in pursuing Jeff. When Tommy notes that the locals have never heard of a telephone and that Charlie has attached the date 1746 to his bible signature, he questions Fiona on the strange goings-on. She leads him to the local schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie, who explains that Brigadoon appears only one day every hundred years. Disenchanted by local events, Tommy and Jeff return to New York, but are soon drawn back to the Highlands. But Brigadoon has vanished … or has it? Song hits include Jean’s “Waitin’ for My Dearie,” Tommy’s “Almost Like Being in Love” and “There But for You Go I,” Charlie’s “Come to Me, Bend to Me,” and Meg’s show-stopping “The Love of My Life.”

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Michael Benson
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Dialect Design Paul Meir Dialect Services, LLC

Cast
Tommy Albright, a well-to-do New Yorker Nathan Brian
Jeff Douglas, Tommy’s friend Brad Baron
Maggie Anderson Holly Flack
Archie Beaton, Harry’s father Kyle Yampiro
Angus MacGuffie, head of his clan Mark Snyder
Meg Brockie Olivia Maughan, Gretchen Windt
Stuart Dalrymple Jaron Putnam
Sandy Dean Paul Holmes
Harry Beaton, Archie’s son Spencer Reese
Andrew MacLaren, father to Fiona and Jean Clark Sturdevant
Fiona MacLaren, Andrew’s eldest daughter Katherine Polit
Jean MacLaren, Andrew’s youngest daughter, engaged to Charlie Emily Hagens
Charlie Dalrymple, engaged to Jean Stephen Faulk, Benjamin Krumreig
Fishmonger Andrew Zapata
Mr. Lundie, schoolmaster of Brigadoon Ted Christopher
Ian MacGregor, head of his clan Samus Haddad
Sword Dancers Brad Karel, C.J. David, Kyle Yampiro, Spencer Reese
Bagpiper Victor Welsch
Frank, a bartender in New York C.J. David
Jane Ashton, Tommy’s fiancée in New York Caitlin Ruddy

Ensemble
Townsfolk of Brigadoon Jessamyn Anderson, Ted Christopher, Katherine Corle, C.J. David, Holly Flack, Samus Haddad, Paul Holmes, Adrienne Jones, Bradley Karel, Hannah Kurth, Audrey Lee, Emily Nelson, Jaron Putnam, Spencer Reese, Sarah Roth, Caitlin Ruddy, Ashley Shamy, Meagan Sill, Mark Snyder, Royce Strider, Clark Sturdevant, Amelia Sutherland, Alexandra Vecchio, Kyle Yampiro, Andrew Zapata

For many theater historians and Broadway enthusiasts, the greatest of all American song composers, Cole Porter brought more of himself, his extraordinary life, and his times to his stage works than any of his contemporaries. The Ohio Light Opera, following in the footsteps of its recently acclaimed productions of Porter’s rarely staged Jubilee and Silk Stockings, turns its attention this season to the ever-engaging Can-Can, set in 1893 in Porter’s beloved Paris, and featuring one of the composer’s most glorious scores. Can-can dancers at La Môme Pistache’s Montmartre nightclub are constantly arrested, and then acquitted, on morals charges. A new, upright judge, Aristide, pays a visit to the club to see for himself – he is determined to enforce the law and get results. Instead, he is enchanted by the dance and falls hard for Pistache, eventually gets disbarred, and joins with his paramour in getting arrested so that he can have his own day in court and, with Pistache, refute the obscenity charges. Few shows have contributed more tunes to the Top 40 charts: “C’est Magnifique,” “Live and Let Live,” “Allez-Vous En,” “It’s All Right with Me,” and the haunting “I Love Paris.”

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Cassie King
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Assistant Stage Director Spencer Reese

Cast
Bailiff Jaron Putnam
Court President, Henri Marceaux Brad Baron
Judge Paul Barriere Kyle Yampiro
Judge Aristide Forestier Ted Christopher
Gabrielle Holly Flack
Marie Caitlin Ruddy
Celestine Hannah Kurth
Girl Alexandra Vecchio
Claudine Jessamyn Anderson
Policeman Royce Strider
Second Policeman Bradley Karel
Hilaire Jussac, art critic Boyd Mackus
Boris Adzinidzinadze, Bulgarian sculptor Stephen Faulk
Waiter  Spencer Reese
Second Waiter Jaron Putnam
La Môme Pistache, owner of the Bal du Paradis Sarah Best
Hercule C.J. David
Étienne Clark Sturdevant
Théophile Andrew Gilstrap
Photographer Andrew Zapata
Nun Sarah Diller
Model Emily Hagens
Jailor Paul Holmes
Rainbow Brad Baron
Mimi Katherine Corle
Tabac Waiter Royce Strider
Monarchist Kyle Yampiro
Doctor  Jaron Putnam
Turnkey Paul Homes
Prosecutor Matt Kelly
Man Brad Baron
Woman Sarah Diller
Second Brad Baron

Ensemble
Brad Baron, Katherine Corle, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Holly Flack, Andrew Gilstrap, Emily Hagens, Paul Holmes, Bradley Karel, Matt Kelly, Hannah Kurth, Jaron Putnam, Spencer Reese, Caitlin Ruddy, Laura Schneider, Ashley Shamy, Meagan Sill, Royce Strider, Clark Sturdevant, Amelia Sutherland, Alexandra Vechhio, Kyle Yampiro, Andrew Zapata

A most intriguing combination indeed: the comical and romantic lyrics of America’s master of light verse, Ogden Nash; the witty and stylish dialogue of humorist S. J. Perelman; and the captivating musical score of Kurt Weill. One Touch of Venus exploits that ever-popular premise of a statue of Venus that comes to life, but can’t quite adapt to the real world. Art aficionado Whitelaw Savory has installed in his museum a statue of Venus that bears a resemblance to a former girlfriend. The statue comes to life, but takes a liking not to its owner, but rather to Savory’s barber Rodney Hatch, from Ozone Heights. Rodney’s fiancée Gloria is furious, Savory is despondent over his unrequited love for Venus, and Venus has her hands full in winning over the reticent Rodney. This show is perhaps the closest that Weill ever came to pure musical comedy – but with an obvious debt to operetta. Song hits include Venus’ “I’m a Stranger Here Myself,” Savory’s “West Wind,” and the irresistibly seductive “Speak Low,” with which Venus tries to ensnare Rodney after she has whisked Gloria off to the North Pole. One Touch of Venus has been one of OLO’s most requested titles, and Kurt Weill, not heard at OLO since last century, remains one of musical theater’s greatest ambassadors.

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Daniel Hobbs
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Assistant Stage Director Spencer Reese

Cast
Whitelaw Savory, multi-millionaire art collector Brad Baron
Molly Grant, his assistant Hannah Kurth
Rodney Hatch, a barber Benjamin Krumreig
Venus, a goddess Sarah Best
Gloria Kramer, Rodney’s fiancée Gretchen Windt
Mrs. Kramer, her mother Sandra Ross
Zuvetli, an Anatolian Clark Sturdevant
Taxi Black, a private detective Kyle Yampiro
Stanley, his assistant Andrew Gilstrap
First Student Ashley Shamy
Second Student Amelia Sutherland
Dr. Crippen Spencer Reese
Truckmen Paul Holmes, Royce Strider
Woman Welder Katherine Polit
Bus Starter Paul Holmes
Mrs. Moats, a landlady Olivia Maughan
Rose Alexandra Vecchio
Dr. Rook Jaron Putnam
Sam Samus Haddad
Store Manager C.J. David
Salesgirl Adrienne Jones
Men Spencer Reese, Andrew Zapata
Police Lieutenant Matt Kelly
Policeman Royce Strider
Attendant Jaron Putnam
Another Student Spencer Reese
Matron Caitlin Ruddy

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Andrew Gilstrap, Samus Haddad, Emily Hagens, Paul Holmes, Adrienne Jones, Bradley Karel, Matt Kelly, Olivia Maughan, Emily Nelson, Katherine Polit, Jaron Putnam, Spencer Reese, Caitlin Ruddy, Laura Schneider, Ashley Shamy, Meagan Sill, Royce Strider, Amelia Sutherland, Alexandra Vecchio, Andrew Zapata

If there were any doubts about the impact that George and Ira Gershwin would have on Broadway following their groundbreaking Lady, Be Good! in 1924, they were quickly dispelled two years later when Oh, Kay! opened to near-unanimous rave reviews and produced a handful of tunes that soon became standards. Written as a vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence, the comical plotline invoked a hot topic of the day: bootlegging. The book by Guy Bolton and master of comic fantasy P. G. Wodehouse concerns a rum-running operation, clandestinely based in the Long Island home of out-of-town Jimmy Winter, and run by the aristocratic Duke of Durham and his sister Lady Kay. Jimmy returns with a caustic new bride Constance, who, because of a question over the legality of the marriage, has to spend the night away from the house. Kay, to escape bad weather, blunders into the house and, to avoid detection by an inquisitive revenue officer, is sequestered in the bedroom by Jimmy, eventually posing as both Mrs. Winter and Jimmy’s maid to escape the prying eyes of Constance and her father. “Clap Yo’ Hands,” “Fidgety Feet,” “Do, Do, Do,” and the incomparable “Someone to Watch Over Me” are but a sampling of the tunes in this top-notch Gershwin score.

Stage Director Ted Christopher
Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Cassie King
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Erich Keil

Cast
Molly Morse Caitlin Ruddy
Peggy Katherine Corle
The Duke of Durham, an English bootlegger Kyle Yampiro
Lady Kay, his sister Emily Hagens
Larry Potter, a bootlegger Spencer Reese
“Shorty” McGee, a bootlegger Samus Haddad
Phillipa “Phil” Ruxton, twin to Dolly Sarah Best
Dolly Ruxton, twin to Phillipa Alexandra Vecchio
Jimmy Winters Nathan Brian
Constance Appleton, Jimmy’s bride Jessamyn Anderson
Judge, her father Boyd Mackus
Revenue Officer Jansen Benjamin Krumreig
Assistant Revenue Officer Andrew Gilstrap
Mae Holly Flack
Daisy Hannah Kurth
Pinkham Gretchen Windt
Wally Jaron Putnam
Chauffeur Andrew Zapata

Ensemble
Katherine Corle, Holly Flack, Andrew Gilstrap, Paul Holmes, Bradley Karel, Matt Kelly, Hannah Kurth, Emily Nelson, Katherine Polit, Jaron Putnam, Sarah Roth, Caitlin Ruddy, Laura Schneider, Ashley Shamy, Meagan Sill, Mark Snyder, Amelia Sutherland, Gretchen Windt, Kyle Yampiro, Andrew Zapata

Although audience reaction at its 1887 premiere, just a few days following the end of the long run of The Mikado, was lukewarm, Ruddigore has since fought its way back in the hearts of Gilbert and Sullivan lovers and is now recognized as one of their most inspired creations. Gilbert designed the plot – featuring witches, curses, ghosts, crime, and a madwoman – as a parody of old-fashioned melodramas. The plot centers on Ruthven Murgatroyd, who has abandoned his position as baronet and its curse-induced obligation to commit a crime every day, and is now living a simple, carefree life as villager Robin Oakapple. That is … until he falls in love with Rose Maybud, his jealous foster brother Richard Dauntless reveals his true identity, and he is forced to resume his baronet position. Musical highlights include the ghostly “When the Night Wind Howls,” sung by chief ancestor Roderic Murgatroyd as he descends from his portrait; the catchy, tongue-twisting patter trio, “My Eyes Are Fully Open”; “I Was Once a Very Abandoned Person,” intoned by the reformed Despard and Mad Margaret; and Roderic and Dame Hannah’s exquisite duet, “There Grew a Little Flower.”

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Michael Benson
Costume Designer Adrienne Jones
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Assistant Stage Director Spencer Reese

Cast
Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (disguised as young farmer Robin Oakapple) Nathan Brian
Richard Dauntless, his foster-brother Stephen Faulk
Sir Despard Murgatroyd, a wicked baronet Ted Christopher
Old Adam Goodheart, Robin’s faithful servant Andrew Gilstrap
Rose Maybud, a village maiden Katherine Polit
Dame Hannah, Roses’ Aunt Julie Wright Costa
Mad Margaret Sarah Best
Zorah, professional bridesmaid Sarah Diller
Ruth, professional bridesmaid Katherine Corle
Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, the 21st baronet Brad Baron
Ghost 1 Mark Snyder
Ghost 2 Paul Holmes
Ghost 3 C.J. David
Ghost 4 Samus Haddad

Ensemble
Brad Baron, Katherine Corle, C.J. David, Holly Flack, Samus Haddad, Emily Hagens, Paul Holmes, Matt Kelly, Hannah Kurth, Olivia Maughan, Emily Nelson, Jaron Putnam, Spencer Reese, Caitlin Ruddy, Laura Schneider, Ashley Shamy, Mark Snyder, Royce Strider, Amelia Sutherland, Alexandra Vecchio, Andrew Zapata

Few, if any, German cultural figures are revered as much as poet/playwright/novelist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was thus quite a daring step when famed composer Franz Lehár and his librettists chose to write an operetta about his early days as a struggling poet and his love affair with Friederike Brion, daughter of an Alsacian village parson. The operetta’s plot centers on Goethe’s sought-after appointment as court poet in Weimar, which, because of past court experiences, will be approved by the reigning Duke only if Goethe remains a bachelor. Intent on marrying Friederike, he refuses the post. Recognizing the importance of the opportunity to her beloved’s career, she begins flirting with his best friend Lenz. Thinking her unfaithful, Goethe accepts the court position, bids Friederike a cold farewell, and heads for Weimar. Years later, he passes through her home town again and only then learns the truth. But is it too late? Lehár poured out his heart in writing one of his most beautiful scores. Operetta lovers will most certainly recognize several tunes, including “Oh, Maiden, My Maiden,” sung by Goethe as he revels in his court poet offer and the belief, at that moment, that he will be enjoying it with the love of his life, and Friederike’s “Why Did You Kiss My Heart Awake?” as she struggles with the heartwrenching decision that she feels obligated to make.

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Wilson Southerland
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Cassie King
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Shannon Schweitzer
Assistant Stage Director Michael Lucas

Cast
Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar Samus Haddad
Johann Jakob Brion, pastor of Sesenheim Kyle Yampiro
Magdalena, his wife Olivia Maughan
Salomea, their daughter Gretchen Windt
Friederike, their daughter Meagan Sill
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, law student Clark Sturdevant
Jakob Lenz, a theological student Stephen Faulk
Friedrich Weyland, medical student Andrew Gilstrap
Franz Lerse Matt Kelly
Georg Engelbach Royce Strider
Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling C.J. David
John Meyer Benjamin Krumreig
Captain Karl Ludwig von Knebel,tutor at the Court of Weimar Samus Haddad
Madame Schöll Julie Wright Costa
Hortense, her daughter Katherine Polit
Madame Hahn Sarah Best
Liselotte Emily Hagens
Dorothée Caitlin Ruddy
Annette Hannah Kurth
Babette Holly Flack
Christel Laura Schneider
Clarrie Emily Nelson
Lottie Katherine Corle
Babbie Jessamyn Anderson
Mollie Ashley Shamy
A Postilion Nathan Brian
Schöpflin Spiro Matsos
A Peasant Alexandra Vecchio
Another Peasant Sarah Best
Servant Alexandra Vecchio
Servant Nate Brian

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Sarah Best, Nathan Brian, Katherine Corle, C.J. David, Holly Flack, Andrew Gilstrap, Samus Haddad, Emily Hagens, Bradley Karel, Matt Kelly, Benjamin Krumreig, Hannah Kurth, Spiro Matsos, Emily Nelson, Katherine Polit, Caitlin Ruddy, Laura Schneider, Ashley Shamy, Royce Strider, Alexandra Vecchio, Andrew Zapata

In its combination of comedy and pathos, and the human, rather than farcical, qualities of its characters, The Yeomen of the Guard holds a unique place among the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In an inheritance scam by a scheming relative, the bearded Colonel Fairfax has been condemned to death and is to be executed at the Tower of London. Sergeant Meryll, of the Yeomen of the Guard, concocts a plan whereby his son Leonard, arriving to join the Yeomen, will go into hiding and be impersonated by a beardless, unrecognizable Fairfax, thus providing time to seek a pardon. In order to thwart his unscrupulous kinsman, Fairfax begs the Tower Lieutenant to find him a wife. Meanwhile, jester Jack Point and his intended bride, the strolling singer Elsie Maynard, have arrived in town. The Lieutenant confronts Elsie and, with the promise of 100 crowns and an assurance to Jack that her new husband will soon be dead, Elsie is blindfolded, whisked away, and married to Fairfax. But the plan goes awry… Both Gilbert and Sullivan felt that Yeomen was their finest collaboration. There are few, if any, songs in the operetta repertoire as sincere and emotionally grabbing as Jack and Elsie’s “I Have a Song to Sing, O!”

Stage Director Julie Wright Costa
Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Choreographer Spencer Reese
Set Designer Tymberley Whitesel
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Shannon Schweitzer

Cast
Sir Richard Cholmondeley, Lieutenant of the Tower Kyle Yampiro
Colonel Fairfax, under sentence of death Clark Sturdevant
Sergeant Meryll, of the Yeomen of the Guard Boyd Mackus
Leonard Meryll, his son Stephen Faulk
Jack Point, a strolling jester Ted Christopher
Wilfred Shadbolt, head jailer and assistant tormenter Brad Baron
The Headsman Samus Haddad
First Yeoman Benjamin Krumreig
Second Yeoman Paul Holmes
First Citizen Royce Strider
Second Citizen Michael Lucas
Elsie Maynard, a strolling singer Emily Nelson
Phoebe Meryll, Sergeant Meryll’s daughter Olivia Maughan
Dame Carruthers, housekeeper to the Tower Sandra Ross
Kate, her niece Sarah Diller

Ensemble
Jessamyn Anderson, Nathan Brian, Katherine Corle, C.J. David, Holly Flack, Andrew Gilstrap, Samus Haddad, Paul Holmes, Bradley Karel, Matt Kelly, Benjamin Krumreig, Michael Lucas, Katherine Polit, Jaron Putnam, Spencer Reese, Sarah Roth, Laura Schneider, Meagan Sill, Royce Strider, Amelia Sutherland, Lauren Vanden Broeck, Gretchen Windt

Its literary source, setting, and original stars were thoroughly British, its composer was born in Germany, its librettist educated in England – and yet My Fair Lady could only have been a creation of Broadway. From its 1956 opening to its close more than six years later as the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the show captured the hearts of theater-goers as no musical before or since. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins accepts a bet from his friend, Colonel Pickering, that he cannot groom a bedraggled Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and pass her off to his society friends as a lady. When, after months of coaching, “the rain in Spain” falls eloquently off her tongue, the transformation is complete, as Eliza impresses Higgins’ socialite friends at Ascot and at the Embassy Ball. But she rails against her mentor for turning her into something that she is not. She returns to Covent Garden, unrecognized by her friends and thoroughly disenchanted. Only now does Higgins realize his true feelings for her. But maybe too late – Freddy Eynsford-Hill has asked for her hand … Almost every song achieved hit status: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”

Stage Director Jacob Allen
Conductor J Lynn Thompson
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Assistant Director Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kim Powers
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Weston Wilkerson
Sound Designer Andy Kauff
Dialect Design Paul Meier Dialect Services, LC

Cast
Eliza Doolittle Natalie Ballenger, Tanya Roberts
Henry Higgins Ted Christopher
Mrs. Pearce Olivia Maughan
Zoltan Karpathy Stefan Gordon
Alfred P. Doolittle Daniel Neer
Freddy Eynsford-Hill Stephen Faulk, Andrew Maughan
Colonel Pickering Anthony Maida
Mrs. Higgins Julie Wright Costa
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill Alexa Devlin
Lady Boxington Gretchen Windt
Lord Boxington Mark Snyder
Mrs. Hopkins Emily Nelson
Jamie Clark Sturdevant
Harry Stefan Gordon
Cockney Quartet C.J. David, Jayson Lebaron, Christopher Calderazzo, Paul Holmes
Higgins’ Servants Wendy Marck, Tara Sperry, Janie Crick, Hannah Kurth, Jayson Lebaron, Michael Lucas
Selsey Man Colin Commager
Hoxton Man Andrew Gilstrap
Bartender Christopher Oglesby
Policeman Andrew Gilstrap
Footman C.J. David
Queen of Transylvania Gretchen Windt

Dialect samples courtesy of the International Database of English Accents

Ensemble
Servants, Cockneys, Opera-Goers, Ascot Racetrack Devotees, Embassy Ball Patrons, Street Buskers Christopher Calderazzo, Grace Caudle, Colin Commager, Janie Crick, C.J. David, Alexa Devlin, Chelsea Friedlander, Andrew Gilstrap, Stefan Gordon, Paul Holmes, Hannah Kurth, Jayson Lebaron, Michael Lucas, Wendy Marck, Emily Nelson, Christopher Oglesby, Arielle Schmidt, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Clark Sturdevant, Gretchen Windt

“Irving Berlin has no place in American music. HE IS AMERICAN MUSIC.” This observation, by no less than Jerome Kern, was offered even years before Berlin wrote “Easter Parade,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “White Christmas,” and hundreds of other songs that only further solidified his position as America’s favorite songwriter. Although he contributed a few hundred songs to Broadway musical revues, he wrote the scores for only seven book musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun and, in 1950, the engaging Call Me Madam, based on episodes in the life of Washington socialite Perle Mesta. In the show, Sally Adams, the “Hostess with the Mostes’ on the Ball,” has been appointed ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg. Upon her arrival, she becomes entangled with Cosmo Constantine, head of the Conservative Radical party – too proud to accept an American loan to bail out his bankrupt country, but unable to refuse her own offer to save the 300-year-old Lichtenburg fair from cancellation. Sparks fly between Sally and Cosmo – romantic and otherwise. But her interference in the local politics triggers her recall to Washington. Berlin’s remarkable score includes “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” “The Best Thing for You,” “The Ocarina,” and a Berlin counterpoint specialty: the incomparable duet “You’re Just in Love” (“I Hear Singing and There’s No One There”) – try, if you can, to get this tune out of your head!

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Dance Captain and Assistant Director Spencer Reese
Set Designer Kim Powers
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

Cast
Mrs. Sally Adams Alexa Devlin, Olivia Maughan
Kenneth Gibson Stephen Faulk
Princess Maria Tara Sperry
Cosmo Constantine Ted Christopher
Sebastian Sebastian Stefan Gordon
Pemberton Maxwell Michael Lucas
Senator Gallagher Acheson Anthony Maida
Senator Brockbank  Jacob Allen
Congressman Bill Wilkins Clark Sturdevant
Congressman Harry Gibson  Aidan Smerud
Miss Philips Janie Crick
Clerk Jayson Lebaron
Court Chamberlain Christopher Oglesby
Grand Duke (Otto) of Lichtenburg Boyd Mackus
Grand Duchess (Sophie) of Lichtenburg Julie Wright Costa

Ensemble
Various Senators, Townspeople of Lichtenburg, Socialites, Politicians Jacob Allen, Natalie Ballenger, Grace Caudle, Colin Commager, Julie Wright Costa, Chelsea Friedlander, Andrew Gilstrap, Stefan Gordon, Hannah Kurth, Jayson Lebaron, Michael Lucas, Anthony Maida, Wendy Marck, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Emily Nelson, Christopher Oglesby, Jamie Rappaport, Sarah Roth, Arielle Schmidt, Aidan Smerud, Clark Sturdevant, Gretchen Windt

No stage work so magically evokes the elegance and effervescence of life in Vienna as does Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Its 1874 premiere ushered in the Golden Age of Viennese Operetta – within a few years, Vienna had supplanted Paris as the operetta capital of the world. Based on German and French farces, the story unfolds as a plot by Dr. Falke to avenge his earlier embarrassment on being dumped in a park, drunk and wearing a bat costume, by the well-to-do Gabriel Eisenstein following a masked ball. Falke invites Eisenstein, his wife Rosalinda, and their chambermaid Adele to a party thrown by the perpetually bored Prince Orlofsky. None of the three knows of the other invitations and, as part of Falke’s scheme, each arrives at the party in disguise. Add to the mix an operatic tenor and former suitor of Rosalinda, a determined prison warden, an incompetent lawyer, and a drunken jailer … and you have the ingredients for operetta at its best. The amusing interplay of the characters is supported by a dizzying array of Strauss tunes: a drinking song by Rosalinda’s suitor Alfred, a tribute to champagne, Rosalinda’s famous csardas, coloratura flights by Adele, and, of course, the expected selection of Strauss waltzes, polkas, and marches.

Stage Director Ted Christopher
Conductor Jonathan Girard
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Set Designer Murdock Lucas
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Weston Wilkerson
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

Cast
Gabriel von Eisenstein Daniel Neer, Stefan Gordon
Rosalinda Tara Sperry, Tanya Roberts
Alfred Andrew Maughan, Anthony Maida
Adele Emily Nelson
Dr. Blind Michael Lucas
Dr. Falke Boyd Mackus, Nathan Brian
Frank Jayson Lebaron
Sally Arielle Schmidt
Frosch Jacob Allen
Prince Orlofsky Olivia Maughan, Gretchen Windt
Ivan Spiro Matsos

Ensemble
Guests at Orlofsky’s Party Grace Caudle, Christopher Calderazzo, Colin Commager, Janie Crick, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Chelsea Friedlander, Andrew Gilstrap, Paul Holmes, Adrienne Jones, Hannah Kurth, Michael Lucas, Wendy Marck, Spiro Matsos, Christopher Oglesby, Jamie Rappaport, Sarah Roth, Arielle Schmidt, Aidan Smerud, Mark Snyder

No Gilbert and Sullivan stage work boasts as many walk-away tunes as their 1879 The Pirates of Penzance, whose official world premiere took place in New York City under the supervision of G&S themselves. Building on the success of the previous year’s H.M.S. Pinafore, but trading – as their satirical focus – the rigors of naval discipline for the obligations of duty, G&S manage to burlesque their normal share of popular institutions, including the army, the police, and operatic sopranos. Pirate apprentice Frederic, at age 21, has faithfully served out his indentures and, replete with a sense of duty, joins the police force, determined to exterminate his old mates. He falls in love with Mabel, the first girl he sees, but the daughter of Major-General Stanley, who himself is the target of a pirate revenge plot. Plans go awry when it is revealed that, thanks to a leap-day birth, Frederic is really only five and one-quarter years old. The engaging musical score includes some of the catchiest music in operetta: Mabel’s pyrotechnic “Poor Wandering One!;” the tongue-twisting patter song “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General;” “A Policeman’s Lot;” “Climbing over Rocky Mountain” – a survivor from Thespis, G&S’s lost first stage work; and “With Catlike Tread,” which, more than a quarter-century later, was given new words as “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here.”

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor J Lynn Thompson
Choreographer  Carol Hageman
Dance Captain, Choreographer and Assistant Director Spencer Reese
Set Designer Murdock Lucas
Costume Designer Adrienne Jones
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

Cast
Major-General Stanley Boyd Mackus
The Pirate King Aidan Smerud, Ted Christopher, Stefan Gordon
Frederic Andrew Maughan, Clark Sturdevant
Sergeant of Police Andrew Gilstrap
Mabel Chelsea Friedlander
Ruth Julie Wright Costa
Edith Sarah Diller
Kate Hannah Kurth
Isabel Janie Crick

Ensemble
Chorus of Pirates, General Stanley’s Daughters, Policemen Nathan Brian, Christopher Calderazzo, Grace Caudle, Colin Commager, Janie Crick, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Stephen Faulk, Stefan Gordon, Paul Holmes, Hannah Kurth, Jayson Lebaron, Wendy Marck, Emily Nelson, Christopher Oglesby, Jamie Rappaport, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Roth, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Gretchen Windt

Between 1915 and 1924, composer Jerome Kern teamed with librettists/lyricists Guy Bolton and famed British author/humorist P. G. Wodehouse on a series of intimate musical comedies – the so-called Princess shows (four of the shows opened at Broadway’s 299-seat Princess Theatre). They featured not the exotic locales and the dukes and duchesses of operetta, nor the lavish spectacle of the Ziegfeld Follies, but rather the romantic and comic entanglements of everyday Americans, in current dress and modern dialogue. These shows forever changed the landscape of Broadway; Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and numerous others credited these musicals with inspiring their own development and quest for a theatrical style. Among American songwriters, Kern was the supreme melodist – no more convincingly showcased than in his 1918 Princess musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! The story focuses on wedding plans of Mollie Farrington and Willoughby “Bill” Finch, which are temporarily derailed by the objections of Mollie’s mother, the arrival of Bill’s old flame May, and the heist of the Farrington family jewels by the ex-girlfriend of Bill’s valet Spike. Wodehouse was at his wittiest and most playful, introducing characters named May Ann Ayes, Lettice Romayne, and Cassie Roll. And Kern’s score bristles from beginning to end with catchy, sentimental tunes, including the song “Bill,” which was eventually dropped from the score, but resurfaced a decade later in Show Boat.

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Lynn Thompson
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Dance Captain and Assistant Director Spencer Reese
Set Designer Murdock Lucas
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Erich Keil
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

Cast
Mollie Farringdon Wendy Marck
Mrs. Farringdon Julie Wright Costa
Willoughby “Bill” Finch Nathan Brian
Hale Underwood Jacob Allen
Spike Hudgins Daniel Neer
Fanny Welch Alexa Devlin
May Barber Tara Sperry
Cyril Twombly Michael Lucas
William Watty Mark Snyder
Parker  Sarah Diller
Fisher Hannah Kurth
Whitney Natalie Ballenger
Brewster Emily Neill
Elsie Natalie Ballenger
Miss Clarette Cup Jamie Rappaport
Miss Cassie Roll Arielle Schmidt
Miss Miss Lotta Pommery Hannah Kurth
Miss Hallie Butt Olivia Maughan
Miss May Anne Ayes Grace Caudle
Miss Sal Munn Tanya Roberts
Mr. Artie C. Hoke Spencer Reese

Ensemble
Bridesmaids, Friends of Mollie’s and Willoughby’s Natalie Ballenger, Christopher Calderazzo, Grace Caudle, Colin Commager, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Andrew Gilstrap, Paul Holmes, Hannah Kurth, Michael Lucas, Olivia Maughan, Emily Neill, Jamie Rappaport, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Arielle Schmidt, Aidan Smerud, Mark Snyder

“A hit from start to finish,” “A new type of popular entertainment,” “A lift or two higher than anything of the kind.” These words, from the New York Times opening-night review of Victor Herbert’s Dream City and The Magic Knight, only begin to capture the ecstatic response of the New York press to one of the most remarkable shows to grace the early-20th-century Broadway stage. Herbert wrote the show, billed as “a dramatic pipe in two puffs,” to accommodate the desire of show producer Joe Weber (of Weber and Fields music hall fame) to create a “higher level of entertainment.” Farmer Wilhelm Dinglebender of Malaria Center, Long Island is offered a 25-percent stake in a Dream City to be built on Dinglebender’s property by fast-talking real estate con artist J. Bilkington Holmes, who promises the farmer that he will soon be richer than John E. Rockefeller. Dinglebender ponders the offer, falls asleep, and dreams that the city has been built. Rich beyond measure, he has been appointed mayor and must, among his responsibilities, attend the opera. So horrible an experience is it that he has Dream City dynamited, only then awakening from his dream. Herbert’s score is a revelatory amalgam of diverse musical styles: ragtime, vaudeville, country music, musical comedy, operetta, opera, music hall – unlike anything that Herbert wrote before or after. The composer’s spoof of Wagner’s Lohengrin during the second-act sequence within the Dream City opera house is absolutely hilarious – “a triumph of musical fooling,” as reported by the New York Tribune.

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Assistant Director Spencer Reese
Set Designer Cassie King
Costume Designer Stefanie Genda
Lighting Designer Eric Norbury
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

DREAM CITY
Wilhelm Dinglebender, A Long Island truck farmer with a dreamy disposition and a chronic distaste for labor Daniel Neer
Maria Dinglebender, His wife, with energy enough for two and a bossy disposition Julie Wright Costa
Nancy Dinglebender, The Dinglebender’s daughter and the belle of Malaria Center Natalie Ballenger
Amanda Boggs,The ‘help’ for the Dinglebenders Alexa Devlin
J. Bilkington Holmes, A real estate boomer, with the plans for an ideal city Nathan Brian
Seth Hubbs, Village hackman, and the oracle of Malaria Center Andrew Maughan
Henri d’Absinthe, An artist in search of atmosphere Stephen Faulk
Henry Peck, A city flat dweller, spending the weekend with his family in the country Anthony Maida
Mrs. Henry Peck, His wife, with alleged society connections in the metropolis Olivia Maughan
The Peck Daughters:
Mabel Wendy Marck
Maude Tanya Roberts
Gladys Hannah Kurth
Willie, A kid from Malaria Center Michael Lucas
Old Man Platt, A relic Mark Snyder
Joe Snediker, Village Romeo Jacob Allen
Hank Schudder, Village Romeo  Jayson Lebaron
Hen Conklin, Village Romeo C.J. David
Rembrandt, A footman Christopher Oglesby
Messenger Boy Christopher Calderazzo
Policeman Hannah Kurth

THE MAGIC KNIGHT (30-minute burlesque in the second act)

Elsa, A typical grand operatic maiden in the usual distressing predicament Emily Nelson
Ortrud, Her contralto aunt, given to dabbling in the art of magic Julie Wright Costa
Frederick, Her hen-pecked uncle Aidan Smerud
The King, A base monarch Ted Christopher
Lohengrin, A professional rescuer of distressed maidens Clark Sturdevant
The Swan/Godfrey, An item in a foul conspiracy Michael Lucas
First Knight Stefan Gordon
Three Knights
Lastnite Stefan Gordon
Tunite Christopher Oglesby
Tumaronite Andrew Gilstrap

Ensemble
Citizens of Malaria Center, Knights, Maidens, Men-At-Arms, Pages, Vassals Jacob Allen, Natalie Ballenger, Christopher Calderazzo, Grace Caudle, Colin Commager, Janie Crick, Sarah Diller, C.J. David, Chelsea Friedlander, Andrew Gilstrap, Stefan Gordon, Paul Holmes, Hannah Kurth, Jayson Lebaron, Michael Lucas, Anthony Maida, Wendy Marck, Olivia Maughan, Emily Nelson, Christopher Oglesby, Jamie Rappaport, Tanya Roberts, Arielle Schmidt, Mark Snyder, Clark Sturdevant, Gretchen Windt

Hungarian-born composer Emmerich Kálmán has, in recent years, reassumed the position that he held almost a century ago as the world’s most performed operetta composer. His shows are perpetual staples in virtually all of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. But no company in the world has championed his works with greater dedication than The Ohio Light Opera. In 2014, continuing its survey of the composer’s complete stage works, OLO presents its eleventh Kálmán title – the rarely performed 1912 operetta The Little King (originally Der kleine König). Inspired by the love affair of famed French singer-actress Gaby Deslys and Portugal’s King Manuel II, who at age 20 was forced into exile, the plotline concerns a boyish monarch who falls hard for a visiting opera singer, unaware that she is the daughter of a revolutionary plotting his assassination. During her visit to his palace, she has a bomb implanted in a bouquet of roses that she has ordered for the king. Only at the last second, when she can no longer resist his charms, does she discreetly defuse the bomb. Their almost-explosive love affair blossoms … until he learns of her revolutionary connections, shuns her, and is forced into exile by the Republican uprising. Some time later, on the French coast, surrounded in exile by only his loyal followers, the King welcomes a visitor …. The musical score features Kálmán’s ever-captivating blend of Viennese waltzes and haunting Hungarian harmonies and rhythms, as well as the first-ever use of a tango in a Viennese stage work.

Stage Director Steven Daigle
Conductor Steven Byess
Choreographer Carol Hageman
Dance Captain Spencer Reese
Set Designer Cassie King
Costume Designer Charlene Gross
Lighting Designer Eric Norbury
Sound Designer Andy Kauff

Cast
The King Clark Sturdevant
Field Marshal General Lincoln Christopher Oglesby
Admiral Montbrison Daniel Neer
A Chief of Police Jayson Lebaron
The Lord Chamberlain Michael Lucas
The Colonel Nathan Brian
The Lieutenant Aidan Smerud
Lieutenant Lancelot Stephen Faulk
Anetta Montarini Natalie Ballenger
Huck Anthony Maida
Zaza Gretchen Windt
Daisy Arielle Schmidt
Fifi Jamie Rappaport
Hedy Christopher Calderazzo
Doltschi Spencer Reese
An Old Lackey Michael Lucas
A Petty Officer C.J. David
“My Darling”  Bonnie, The Greyhound

Ensemble
Soldiers, Maids, Members of the Court, Navy Officers Christopher Calderazzo, Janie Crick, C.J. David, Sarah Diller, Alexa Devlin, Chelsea Friedlander, Stefan Gordon, Paul Holmes, Adrienne Jones, Jayson Lebaron, Michael Lucas, Olivia Maughan, Daniel Neer, Emily Nelson, Christopher Oglesby, Jamie Rappaport, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Arielle Schmidt, Aiden Smerud, Tara Sperry

Placing his hand on her waist and issuing the command “Come!” the King of Siam and Anna launch into what must be Broadway’s most exuberant dance sequence. The polka “Shall We Dance,” together with such R&H classics as “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Getting to Know You,” and “I Have Dreamed,” all support an endearing, but bittersweet, tale of the clash between Eastern and Western cultures. When the attractive English widow Anna arrives in Siam to serve as governess for the King’s children, she confronts a monarch who is willing to adapt to Western values, but whose pride and sense of tradition ultimately prove an obstacle. When Anna’s efforts to champion the love of Burmese courtier Lun Tha and his beloved Tuptim – who is being gifted to the King – fall on deaf ears, Anna readies to leave Siam. But news reaches her that the King is very ill … When The King and I closed in 1954 after 1,246 performances, it joined Oklahoma! and South Pacific as the three longest-running book musicals in Broadway history. Come to OLO and see why!

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director: Jacob Allen
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Amber Marisa Cook
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil
Dialect Design: Paul Meier Dialect Services
Thai Translations: Tawatos Phadungsoondararak

Captain Orton: Garrett Obrycki
Louis Leonowens, Anna’s son: Elizabeth Perkins
Anna Leonowens, a widowed Briton: Tanya Roberts
The Interpreter: Gregory LaMontagne
The Kralahome, the King’s prime minister: Edward Hanlon
The King, the King of Siam: Ted Christopher
Phra Alack: Alexander Turpin
Lun Tha, Burmese scholar, in love with Tuptim: Christopher Nelson* Clark Sturdevant**
Tuptim, Burmese slave: Elise Kennedy
Lady Thiang, the King’s chief wife: Alexa Devlin* Sarah Best**
Prince Chulalongkorn, the King’s eldest son and heir: Gerard Berroteran
Sir Edward Ramsay: Stefan Gordon
Princess Ying Yaowalak: Maddie Rae Frazier
Principal Dancer: Hannah Kurth
Uncle Thomas: Gregory LaMontagne
Little Eva: Wendy Muir
King Simon: Luke Hefner
Topsy: Natalie Ballenger
Children: Alexis Armstrong, Anna Christopher, Madeleine Christopher, Noelle Crites, Gracelynn Lepold, Taylor Mills, Joanna Spiker, Marius Stoll, Anneliese Wagoner  

Ensemble
Tara Austin, Natalie Ballenger, Ezra Bershatsky, Alexander Brickel, Alexia Butler, Janie Crick, Nadia Fayad, Stefan Gordon, Luke Hefner, Lawren Hill, Lara Korneychuk, Benjamin Krumreig, Hannah Kurth, Gregory LaMontagne, Michael Lucas, Brooke Morrison, Wendy Muir, Jesus Murillo, Garrett Obrycki, Jarrett Smith, Tara Sperry, Alexander Turpin

Suave, sophisticated, and filthy rich, Cole Porter brought more of himself and his times to his stage works than any of his contemporaries. His double entendres – some quite risqué – were so cleverly integrated into his lyrics that they sailed right over the heads of the censors into the laps of his audiences. Closely based on the 1939 film Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo, Porter’s final Broadway show, Silk Stockings, represents, according to The New York Times, “the best goods in the American musical comedy emporium.” Russia has sent the stern and ice-cold envoy Ninotchka to Paris to retrieve a composer, who, encouraged by his American agent Steve Canfield, is thinking of defecting. Steve and Paris work their magic on Ninotchka, but her Russian pride intervenes and she returns to her home country. Steve follows, but is detained for conspiracy to undermine the government. The immensely witty dialogue bristles with Cold War gibes: When informed that the composer Prokofiev is dead, a Russian official retorts: “I didn’t even know that he was arrested.” The score contains many Porter gems, including “All of You,” “As on Through the Seasons We Sail,” “Paris Loves Lovers,” “Satin and Silk,” and “Stereoscopic Sound.”

Conductor: Jonathan Girard
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Whitney Locher
Scenic Design: Kimberly V. Powers
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Peter Ilyitch Boroff: Clark Sturdevant
Hotel Doorman (Alexis): Mark Snyder
Hotel Manager: Benjamin Krumreig
Flower Girl: Tara Austin
Maid: Olivia Maughan
Ivanov: Gregory LaMontagne
Brankov: Christopher Nelson
Bibinski: Edward Hanlon
Steve Canfield: Nathan Brian
First Commissar: Stephen Faulk
Guards: Jarrett Smith, Alexander Brickel
Vera: Elise Kennedy
Commissar Markovitch: Garrett Obrycki
Choreographerv: Ezra Bershatsky
Ninotchka: Sarah Best
Reporters: Stephen Faulk, Ezra Bershatsky, Luke Hefner, Mark Snyder, Jesus Murillo
Janice Dayton: Alexa Devlin
Waiter (Pierre Bouchard): Spiro Matsos
Chief Commissar: Jesus Murillo
Minister: Michael Lucas
President of Politburo: Jarrett Smith
Saleslady: Lawren Hill
M. Fabour: Stephen Faulk
Bookstall Man: Alexander Brickel
French Comrade: Michael Lucas
Movie Director: Jesus Murillo
Assistant Director: Benjamin Krumreig
A girl: Tara Austin
Sonia: Nadia Fayad
Grisha: Ezra Bershatsky
Bather: Luke Hefner
Anna: Alexia Butler

Ensemble
Tara Austin, Ezra Bershatsky, Alexander Brickel, Alexia Butler, Janie Crick, Stephen Faulk, Nadia Fayad, Luke Hefner, Lawren Hill, Elise Kennedy, Lara Korneychuk, Benjamin Krumreig, Michael Lucas, Spiro Matsos, Olivia Maughan, Jesus Murillo, Garrett Obrycki, Tanya Roberts, Jarrett Smith, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Clark Sturdevant 

Gilbert and Sullivan’s rollicking romp through naval life, class distinctions, and melodramatic villainy has entertained millions since its London premiere. Where else can one find a First Lord of the Admiralty who had never seen a ship, or a seafaring captain who gets seasick, or a nursemaid who can’t tell one baby from another? It was the 1879 success of this show in New York – and during that year, there were said to be more than 150 productions playing across the United States – that inspired the American musical community to create its own musical theater tradition. Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, is in love with able seaman Ralph Rackstraw. But her father has other plans for her: an advantageous union with the exalted Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. When the young couple’s elopement is thwarted by cantankerous seaman Dick Deadeye, it remains for Little Buttercup to confess that her baby-farming techniques had left something to be desired … a many years ago. Never mind the why and wherefore – to list the catchy tunes in Pinafore is to cite the entire musical score. Discover or rediscover for yourself why H.M.S. Pinafore, returning for its 15th season at OLO, has been the Company’s most performed show.

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director: Julie Wright Costa
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Adrienne Jones
Scenic Design: Kimberly V. Powers
Lighting Design: Michael Banks
Assistant Choreographer: Sarah Best

The Right Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., First Lord of the Admiralty: Ted Christopher
Capt. Corcoran, commanding H.M.S. Pinafore: Stefan Gordon
Ralph Rackstraw, able seaman: Stephen Faulk* Benjamin Krumreig**
Dick Deadeye, able seaman: Edward Hanlon
Bill Bobstay, boatswain’s mate: Ezra Bershatsky
Bob Becket, carpenter’s mate: Nathan Brian
Tom Tucker, midshipmite: Sara Giray
Josephine, the Captain’s daughter: Natalie Ballenger* Lawren Hill**
Hebe, Sir Joseph’s first cousin: Olivia Maughan
Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth bumboat woman: Alexa Devlin

Ensemble
Tara Austin, Ezra Bershatsky, Nathan Brian, Alexia Butler, Janie Crick, Sarah Diller, Nadia Fayad, Edward Hanlon, Luke Hefner, Hannah Kurth, Gregory LaMontagne, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Wendy Muir, Christopher Nelson, Garrett Obrycki, Tanya Roberts, Tara Sperry, Clark Sturdevant, Alexander Turpin

Forgoing the light-hearted atmosphere of champagne in Die Fledermaus and gondoliers in A Night in Venice, Johann Strauss, in The Gypsy Baron, turned to a less frivolous Hungarian tale of gypsies, lost treasures, and class conflict. The dizzying array of toe-tapping tunes – rollicking, romantic, and sentimental – attests to Strauss’ success in combining the best of the Viennese waltz and Hungarian gypsy rhythms. Government officials have returned to Barinkay dispossessed family property. Neighboring pig farmer Zsupán tries successfully to interest him in a tactical marriage with his beautiful daughter Arsena. She, however, will accept nothing less than a baron for her husband. When Barinkay is ennobled as baron by a band of gypsies, but is still refused by Arsena, he plights himself to the gypsy girl Saffi, but backs off when he learns that she is the daughter of a Hungarian pasha. He joins the Hussars, returns as a war hero, and gets the girl – but which one? From the instantly recognizable “Treasure Waltz” to Barinkay’s remarkable catalogue aria in which he enumerates his past occupations to an anvil chorus reminiscent of Verdi, this is Viennese operetta at its most engaging.

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Whitney Locher
Scenic Design: Cassandra King
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Ottokar, young farm hand, only child of Mirabella Stephen Faulk
Count Carnero, emissary of the Empress of Austria Stefan Gordon
Sándor Barinkay, adventurer Andrew Maughan
Czipra, a gypsy matriarch, Saffi’s mother Julie Wright Costa
Kálmán Zsupán, rich pig farmer, neighbor of Barinkay Jesus Murillo
Laczi, servant of Zsupán Mark Snyder
Mirabella, mother of Ottokar, governess of Arsena Olivia Maughan
Arsena, daughter of Zsupán Elise Kennedy
Count Peter Homonay, Hungarian statesman and veteran Hussar Christopher Nelson
Saffi, a gypsy girl Tara Sperry
Pali, a gypsy Nathan Brian
Ferkó, a gypsy Luke Hefner
Józsi, a gypsy Clark Sturdevant
A Gypsy Michael Lucas
A Boatman Jarrett Smith
Two Girls Alexia Butler, Nadia Fayad
A Man Jarrett Smith
Herald Benjamin Krumreig
Vendors of Vienna Hannah Kurth, Wendy Muir, Emily Neill

Ensemble: Tara Austin, Natalie Ballenger, Nathan Brian, Alexander Brickel, Alexia Butler, Janie Crick, Nadia Fayad, Raphael Gunn, Luke Hefner, Lawren Hill, Lara Korneychuk, Benjamin Krumreig*, Hannah Kurth, Gregory LaMontagne, Michael Lucas, Wendy Muir, Emily Neill, Christopher Nelson, Garrett Obrycki, Jarrett Smith, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Clark Sturdevant, Alexander Turpin

* Understudying the role of Sándor Barinkay

A landmark show, Lady, Be Good! was George Gershwin’s first Broadway collaboration with brother Ira, and the show that confirmed the stardom of Fred and Adele Astaire. Just as importantly, in George’s musical hands, it brought jazz and fascinating rhythm, front and center, to the Broadway stage. The plot focuses on brother and sister orphans, Dick and Susie Trevor, who are evicted from their lodgings by the wealthy, scheming Josephine Vanderwater, who has her sights set on Dick. He, however, is in love with Shirley Vernon, but feels that he has no choice but to marry Jo. Susie, in the meantime, has paired up with a disheveled passerby, Jack Robinson, who is the disinherited nephew of a wealthy, now-deceased uncle. Complications arise by way of lawyer Watty Watkins, who convinces Susie to impersonate a wealthy Mexican widow as part of a scheme to save his own skin. Gershwin “standards” include the title song, “Fascinating Rhythm,” “So Am I,” “Hang on to Me,” “The Half of It, Dearie, Blues,” “Little Jazz Bird,” and (believe it or not) a patter song with yodeling, “Swiss Miss.”

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Ted Christopher
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Michael Banks

Dick Nathan Brian
Susie, his sister Natalie Ballenger
Shirley Elise Kennedy
Josephine Vanderwater Tara Sperry
Jack Robinson, hobo Christopher Nelson
Buck Benson, go-getter for Life magazine Michael Lucas
Sammy Cooper, his photographer Andrew Maughan
Watty Watkins, a slick lawyer Ezra Bershatsky
Estrada, a Mexican menace Alexander Turpin
Mr. Parke, trustee of Seth Robinson estate Mark Snyder
Jess, his butler Alexander Brickel
Bertie Bassett, sheriff’s assistant Gregory LaMontagne
Sheriff’s Assistant Stefan Gordon
Daisy Sarah Best
Policeman Garrett Obrycki
Man Jarrett Smith
Flunky (Jenkins), servant Jesus Murillo
Boy Benjamin Krumreig
1st Girl Wendy Muir
2nd Girl Alexia Butler
3rd Girl Lara Korneychuk
Girl Hannah Kurth

Ensemble: Sarah Best, Alexander Brickel, Alexia Butler, Janie Crick, Alexa Devlin, Stefan Gordon, Lara Korneychuk, Hannah Kurth, Benjamin Krumreig, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Wendy Muir, Jesus Murillo, Emily Neill, Garrett Obrycki, Tanya Roberts, Jarrett Smith, Mark Snyder

On June 26, 1979, the Ohio Light Opera inaugurated its premiere season with a production of The Gondoliers. This comic opera, the last great success of Gilbert and Sullivan, is set in 1750 Venice and has what for many is the pair’s most lilting, sparkling, and dance-filled score. The story deals with two foster brothers, gondoliers Marco and Giuseppe, who learn that one of them is presumably the heir to the throne of Barataria and was wed as an infant to Casilda, daughter of the impoverished Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro. The two gondoliers, however, through a game of blind man’s bluff, have selected and married Gianetta and Tessa. Toward the goal of replenishing his coffers, the Duke has come to Venice to seek the missing monarch for his daughter’s hand. To further complicate matters, Casilda is in love with Luiz, the Duke’s attendant and drummer. But … things are seldom what they seem! Song hits include “From the Sunny Spanish Shore,” “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes,” “Dance a Cachuca,” and “When a Merry Maiden Marries.”

Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director: Julie Wright Costa
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design:  Amber Marisa Cook
Scenic Design: Kimberly V. Powers
Lighting Design: Eric Norbury

Cast
The Duke of Plaza-Toro, a grandee of Spain Ted Christopher
Luiz, his attendant Clark Sturdevant
Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor Edward Hanlon
Venetian Gondoliers
Marco Palmieri Stephen Faulk
Giuseppe Palmieri Nathan Brian
Antonio Ezra Bershatsky
Francesco Jarrett Smith
Giorgio Jesus Murillo
Annibale Alexander Brickel
The Duchess of Plaza-Toro Sandra Ross
Casilda, her daughter Olivia Maughan
Contadine
Gianetta Tanya Roberts
Tessa Sarah Best
Fiametta Wendy Muir
Vittoria Hannah Kurth
Giulia Janie Crick
Inez, the King’s foster-mothe Lara Korneychuk

Ensemble: Tara Austin, Ezra Bershatsky, Alexander Brickel, Janie Crick, Sarah Diller, Nadia Fayad, Luke Hefner, Lawren Hill, Elise Kennedy, Lara Korneychuk, Hannah Kurth, Gregory LaMontagne, Michael Lucas, Andrew Maughan, Wendy Muir, Jesus Murillo, Christopher Nelson, Jarrett Smith, Tara Sperry, Alexander Turpin

Credited as the “inventor” of operetta, Jacques Offenbach wrote more than 100 stage works, none more successful or engaging than The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, a military satire whose title character has proved irresistible to both audiences and great singing actresses, including Lillian Russell. The young Duchess has come of age, but her scheming ministers search for means to keep her distracted from state business. They try turning her attention to the flash and dash of the army, but she takes a special shine to Private Fritz, whom she promotes through the ranks until he makes general. Somewhat dense, he wants nothing more than to wed his sweetheart Wanda, on whom army chief General Boum has his own eyes set. The incensed Duchess seeks revenge and plots with her ministers to bring down the new Commander-in-Chief. The show features dazzling Offenbach tunes, including the justly famous “Here is the Sabre of My Father,” in which the Duchess entrusts the “official sword” to General Fritz, and “Tell Him, Please,” in which she tries to convince the naïve youth that a certain “friend of hers” has a crush on him.

Conductor: Steven Byess
Stage Director: Steven Daigle
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Michael Banks
Assistant Stage Director: Tara Sperry

Cast
Fritz, a young soldier Andrew Maughan
General Boom MacBoom, Head of the Gerolstein army Ted Christopher
Captain Nepomuc, adjutant Ezra Bershatsky
Count Hector von Eisgesicht, emissary of the Elector Mark Snyder
Prince Paul, of Upper Langenhose Stefan Gordon
Grand Duchess of Gerolstein Sandra Ross
Wanda, a peasant girl, betrothed to Fritz Natalie Ballenger
Baroness Ann von Hinundzurück, aunt to Grand Duchess Julie Wright Costa
Iza, lady of the court Olivia Maughan
Olga, lady of the court Alexia Butler
Amelia, lady of the court Hannah Kurth
Charlotte, lady of the court Alexa Devlin
Schwartz, soldier Michael Lucas
Schumacher, soldier Alexander Brickel
Sergeant Garrett Obrycki

Ensemble: Tara Austin, Alexander Brickel, Alexia Butler, Alexa Devlin, Sarah Diller, Stephen Faulk, Nadia Fayad, Edward Hanlon, Luke Hefner, Lawren Hill, Lara Korneychuk, Benjamin Krumreig*, Hannah Kurth, Michael Lucas, Olivia Maughan+, Wendy Muir, Jesus Murillo, Garrett Obrycki, Tanya Roberts, Jarrett Smith, Clark Sturdevant, Alexander Turpin

* Understudying the role of Fritz
+ Understudying the role of Grand Duchess of Gerolstein

At The Ohio Light Opera, Loesser is more – “a bushel and a peck” more!  No American musical has garnered more unanimously glowing accolades than Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows’ 1950 musical fable Guys and Dolls.  Based on the stories and characters of famed writer Damon Runyon, the music, lyrics, and book bristle with the seedy street life of New York City.  The show’s characters have assumed legendary recognition:  gambler Sky Masterson has fallen hard for Save-A-Soul Mission reformer Sarah Brown; bookie Nathan Detroit has been engaged for 14 years to nightclub chanteuse Miss Adelaide, who laments her psychosomatic cold that has lasted just as long; and horseplayer Nicely-Nicely Johnson provides a revivalist confession (“Sit down, you’re rockin’ the boat”) when forced to give testimony at the Mission.  Song hits include:  “Luck be a lady,” “If I were a bell,” “I’ve never been in love before,” and “My time of day.”

Director: Jacob Allen
Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Cast
Sky Masterson Nathan Brian
Sarah Brown Danielle McCormick Knox* Natalie Ballenger**
Nathan Detroit Brad Baron
Nicely-Nicely Johnson Adam Fieldson
Benny Southstreet John Callison
Arvide Abernathy Nicholas Wuehrmann
Adelaide Alexa Devlin
Rusty Charlie Stephen Faulk
Agatha Suzanne Oberdorfer
Big Jule Geoffrey Kannenberg
Harry the Horse Ezra Bershatsky
Lt. Brannigan Nathan Owen
General Matilda B. Cartwright Olivia Maughan
Angie the Ox Mark Snyder
Joey Biltmore Zackery Morris
Trumpet Missionary Benjamin Krumreig
Martha Allison Schumaker
Hot Box Dancers Ashley Close, Malia French, Kristina Hanford & Ruby White

Ensemble: Luke Bahr, Justin Berkowitz, Ezra Bershatsky, John Callison, Ashley Close, Stephen Faulk, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Kristina Hanford, Matthew Hill, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Benjamin Krumreig, Olivia Maughan, Caroline Miller, Zackery Morris, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Allison Schumaker, Jarrett Smith, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Ruby White

Rodgers and Hart meet Mark Twain – an enticing pairing indeed.  The Ohio Light Opera  proudly introduces Rodgers and Hart to its repertoire with their scintillating 1927 (revised in 1943) musical A Connecticut Yankee, based on Twain’s 1889 fantasy novel.  After last season’s sold-out run of Camelot, OLO revisits this magical kingdom, but only after a brief stop in Connecticut.  Join us in the adventures of Martin, who, after a wedding-eve whack on the head by his jealous fiancée Fay Morgan, “wakes up” in Camelot and has to do some quick thinking to escape an untimely death.  He falls in love with the beautiful Alisande, but becomes caught up in the adventures of Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, and the scheming Morgan Le Fay.  The score offers one delight after another:  “Thou swell;” “On a desert island with thee;” one of musical theater’s most heartfelt declarations of love, “My heart stood still;” and Morgan Le Fay’s cynical lament over her many dead husbands, “To keep my love alive.”   

Director: Steven Daigle
Conductor: Steven Byess
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: Kirk Domer
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Cast
Lt. Kenneth Kay, U.S.N. / Sir Kay John Callison
Judge Thurston Merrill / Merlin Jacob Allen
Admiral Arthur Kay Arthur, U.S.N. / King Arthur Ted Christopher
Ensign Gerald Lake, U.S.N. / Sir Galahad Adam Fieldson
Lt. Martin Barrett, U.S.N. Nathan Brian
Captain Lawrence Lake, U.S.N. / Sir Lancelot Luke Bahr
Lt. Fay Merrill, W.A.V.E. / Queen Morgan Le Fay Sarah Best
Corporal Alice Courtleigh, W.A.C. / Alisande la Courtelloise (Sandy) Danielle McCormick Knox
Evelyn Natalie Ballenger
Queen Guinevere Ruby White
Lady Angela Olivia Maughan
Tristan Geoffrey Kannenberg
Sagramore Jarrett Smith
Tenor Solo Andrew Maughan
Boys Quartet Justin Berkowitz, Matthew Hill, Ezra Bershatsky & Christopher Cobbett
4 Girls Amy Maples, Malia French, Ashley Close & Alexa Devlin
Knight Zackery Morris
1st Worker Matthew Hill
2nd Worker Ezra Bershatsky
3rd Worker Zackery Morris
1st Girl Ashley Close 2nd Girl Kristina Hanford
3rd Girl Alexandra Jaeb
First Knight Geoffrey Kannenberg
Second Knight Christopher Cobbett

Ensemble: Luke Bahr, Justin Berkowitz, Ezra Bershatsky, John Callison, Ashley Close, Christopher Cobbett, Alexa Devlin, Malia French, Kristina Hanford, Matthew Hill, Alisha Hocking, Alexandra Jaeb, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Benjamin Krumreig, Amy Maples, Bethany Marty, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Zackery Morris, Brooke Morrison, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Kimberly Sibilia, Jarrett Smith, Tara Sperry, Ruby White

More than 125 years after its premiere, The Mikado – in the timelessness of its characters and situations, its witty lyrics, and succession of engaging tunes – remains a wonder of lyrical theater.  Tailor Ko-Ko, condemned to death for flirting, is reprieved and appointed Lord High Executioner of Titipu.  He is betrothed to his ward Yum-Yum, but she has fallen in love with the Mikado’s son Nanki-Poo.  Displeased with the lack of executions in Titipu, the Mikado orders that the situation be rectified.  Nanki-Poo, distraught because he cannot marry Yum-Yum, agrees to be executed in a month, provided that he can marry her in the meantime.  When the Mikado sees Nanki-Poo’s name on Ko-Ko’s falsified execution affidavit, he condemns Ko-Ko to death for compassing the death of the heir-apparent.  “A wandering minstrel I,” “I’ve got a little list,” “Three little maids from school are we,” “The flowers that bloom in the spring,” and “Tit-willow” are but a few of the song gems that have made this the most popular of the G&S shows.

Director: Steven Daigle
Conductor: Jonathan Girard
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Cast
The Mikado of Japan Ted Christopher
Nanki-Poo, his Son, disguised as a wandering minstrel, and in love with Yum-Yum Stephen Faulk
Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner of Titipu Nicholas Wuehrmann
Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else Geoffrey Kannenberg
Pish-Tush, a Noble Lord John Callison
Yum-Yum, Ward of Ko-Ko Amy Maples* Malia French**
Pitti-Sing, Ward of Ko-Ko Sarah Best
Peep-Bo, Ward of Ko-Ko Mary Griffith
Katisha, an elderly Lady, in love with Nanki-Poo  Alexa Devlin

*  June 28, July 10, 20, August 4
**July 6, 13, 27, August 11

Ensemble: Luke Bahr, Brad Baron, Ezra Bershatsky, John Callison, Ashley Close, Adam Fieldson, Mary Griffith, Kristina Hanford, Matthew Hill, Benjamin Krumreig, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Caroline Miller, Zackery Morris, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Nathan Owen, Allison Schumaker, Mark Snyder, Tara Sperry, Ruby White

“I have a true and noble lover … Come, come, I love you only, my heart is true.”  No song conjures up the romance of operetta better than the languorous waltz “My hero” from Oscar Straus’ The Chocolate Soldier.  Based on a George Bernard Shaw play, the story concerns a chocolate-loving mercenary soldier, Bumerli, who takes refuge in the bedroom of Nadina, daughter of the enemy colonel.  A mutual attraction develops, although she is engaged to and idolizes the dashing Major Alexius, whose gallantry on the battlefield, according to Bumerli, is not quite what he has claimed to Nadina.  The relationship between Nadina and her “chocolate soldier” temporarily sours, however, when she believes, through a letter mix-up, that his attentions are more focused on her cousin Mascha.  Straus’ musical score, in the true Viennese vein, includes the title song (“Oh, you little chocolate soldier man”), the Bumerli/Nadina duet “Sympathy,” and the rousing chorus “Thank the Lord the war is over.”

Director: Steven Daigle
Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Amber Marisa Cook
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Erich R. Keil

Cast
Nadina Popoff, daughter of Colonel Popoff  Tara Sperry 
Aurelia Popoff, her mother Sandra Ross
Mascha, Nadina’s cousin Caroline Miller
Lieutenant Bumerli, the ‘Chocolate Soldier’—Swiss mercenary—Serbian army Nicholas Wuehrmann
Captain Massakroff, of the Bulgarian army Geoffrey Kannenberg
Louka, Popoff’s servant Malia French
Stephan, Popoff’s servant Christopher Cobbett
Colonel Kasimir Popoff, of the Bulgarian army Boyd Mackus
Major Alexius Spiridoff, of the Bulgarian Army—engaged to Nadina  Andrew Maughan

Ensemble: Natalie Ballenger, Brad Baron, Justin Berkowitz, Ezra Bershatsky, John Callison, Christopher Cobbett, Alexa Devlin, Adam Fieldson, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Matthew Hill, Alisha Hocking, Danielle McCormick Knox, Benjamin Krumreig, Amy Maples, Bethany Marty, Olivia Maughan, Zackery Morris, Brooke Morrison, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Nathan Owen, Allison Schumaker, Kimberly Sibilia, Jarrett Smith, Ruby White

One of OLO’s most requested titles, Sigmund Romberg’s Blossom Time was the first of the composer’s blockbuster shows that defined the 1920s – via The Student Prince, The Desert Song, and The New Moon – as the heyday of American romantic operetta. Centered on the life of immortal Viennese composer Franz Schubert, and featuring Romberg’s engaging adaptations of famous Schubert melodies, the plot unfolds as a bittersweet account of the composer’s unrequited love for Mitzi, one of three daughters of the crown jeweler. To express his feelings for her, Schubert writes a love song.  Too bashful to sing it to her himself, he engages his friend Baron Schober to serenade her. Mitzi thinks the sentiments are truly Schober’s and falls in love with him. Schubert is devastated and loses the will to live and continue composing. The musical score features instantly recognizable melodies from The Trout, Moment Musicale, Rosamunde, and Serenade, as well as “The song of love” – derived by Romberg from the sublime melody of the Unfinished Symphony.

Director: Ted Christopher
Conductor: Steven Byess
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Charlene Gross
Scenic Design: C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design: Krystal Kennel

Cast
Mitzi Kranz, youngest of the sisters Amy Maples
Fritzi Kranz, sentimental—secretly engaged to Carl Binder Danielle McCormick Knox
Kitzi Kranz, straight-laced—secretly engaged to Robert Erkmann Sarah Best
Bellabruna, opera diva—temperamental—Italian—interested in Schober Caroline Miller
Baron Franz Schober, Austrian poet, librettist, and actor Luke Bahr
Franz Schubert, Austrian composer Justin Berkowitz
Christian Kranz, father of Mitzi, Fritzi, and Kitzi Boyd Mackus
Johann Michael Vogl, opera singer—friend of Schubert and Schober Stephen Faulk
Kuppelweiser, writer—friend of Schubert and Schober Christopher Cobbett
Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter—friend of Schubert and Schober Brad Baron
Carl Binder, secretly engaged to Fritzi Jacob Allen
Robert Erkmann, secretly engaged to Kitzi John Callison
Count Scharntoff, Bellabruna’s husband—elegant, older aristocrat Ted Christopher
Mrs. Kranz, mother of Mitzi, Fritzi, and Kitzi Olivia Maughan
Greta, flower girl Ruby White
Hansy, waitress Malia French
Novotny, secret police Mark Snyder
Rosi, Bellabruna’s maid Mary Griffith
Mrs. Colburg Suzanne Oberdorfer
Waiter Matthew Hill

Ensemble: Natalie Ballenger, Ashley Close, Alexa Devlin, Adam Fieldson, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Kristina Hanford, Matthew Hill, Benjamin Krumreig, Andrew Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Nathan Owen, Allison Schumaker, Jarrett Smith, Mark Snyder, Ruby White

The Ohio Light Opera is one of few companies in the world to produce the entire Gilbert and Sullivan canon (including a reconstruction of the lost Thespis).  This season, G&S fans have the opportunity – the first in 12 years – to see one of their rarer works, Utopia Limited.  Anglophile King Paramount, who rules over the island kingdom of Utopia, has sent his daughter, Princess Zara, to be educated in England – for him, the greatest, most powerful, and wisest country in the world.  She returns with six Flowers of Progress, who remodel Utopia on English principles.  The island becomes “swamped by dull prosperity” and, led by Paramount’s advisors, rises in revolt against the British intruders.  Zara forestalls all-out rebellion by introducing party politics, which allows the flourishing of “healthy” graft and squalor.  Gilbert misses no opportunity to hammer his normal share of institutions:  Parliament, big business, and party politics.  Sullivan’s musical highlights include an engaging duet for two princesses and a remarkable “minstrel” ensemble replete with tambourines.

Director: Nicholas Wuehrmann
Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Amber Marisa Cook
Scenic Design: Jessica Moretti
Lighting Design: Michael Banks

Cast
King Paramount the First, King of Utopia Ted Christopher
Scaphio, Judge of the Utopian Supreme Court Christopher Cobbett
Phantis, Judge of the Utopian Supreme Court Brad Baron
Tarara, the Public Exploder Jacob Allen
Calynx, the Utopian Vice-Chamberlain Mark Snyder
Imported Flowers of Progress
Lord Dramaleigh, a British Lord Chamberlain Nathan Brian
Captain Fitzbattleaxe, First Life Guards Andrew Maughan
Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, K.C.B, of the Royal Navy Geoffrey Kannenberg
Mr. Goldbury, a Company Promoter, afterwards Comptroller of the Utopian Household Boyd Mackus
Sir Bailey Barre, Q.C., M.P. Stephen Faulk
Mr. Blushington, of the County Council Nathan Owen
The Princess Zara, Eldest Daughter of King Paramount Amy Maples
The Princess Nekaya, younger sister of Zara Ashley Close
The Princess Kalyba, younger sister of Zara Ruby White
The Lady Sophy, their English Governess Sandra Ross
Salata, Utopian Maiden Emily Neill
Melene, Utopian Maiden Olivia Maughan
Phylla, Utopian Maiden Mary Griffith

Ensemble: Luke Bahr, Justin Berkowitz, Ezra Bershatsky, Sarah Best, Nathan Brian, Stephen Faulk, Adam Fieldson, Mary Griffith, Kristina Hanford, Matthew Hill, Alexandra Jaeb, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Olivia Maughan, Caroline Miller, Zackery Morris, Emily Neill, Suzanne Oberdorfer, Nathan Owen, Allison Schumaker, Jarrett Smith, Tara Sperry

More than any company in the world, The Ohio Light Opera has championed the operettas of Hungarian-born Emmerich Kálmán.  For its tenth offering from this composer, OLO features the American premiere of his 1917 masterpiece Die Faschingsfee, presented under the title Miss Springtime.  After being rescued by painter Victor Ronai from the lecherous advances of Count Lothar, the beautiful Princess Alexandra – immediately smitten with her savior – learns that, because of this rebuff, Lothar has withdrawn his commission for a high-priced fresco from Victor.  Some time later, and without having again crossed paths with Victor, Alexandra anonymously restores to him the money that he would have made.  In his new studio, Victor paints from memory the portrait of his “Miss Springtime.”  However, when he learns from friends of his secret benefactor, and is introduced to her elderly fiancé, the proud Victor becomes outraged and destroys the painting.  Miss Springtime, written right after Kálmán’s The Gypsy Princess, brims with catchy Viennese waltzes, marches, and ensembles. 

Director: Steven Daigle
Conductor: Steven Byess
Choreography: Carol Hageman
Costume Design: Adrienne Jones
Scenic Design: Charlene Gross
Lighting Design: Krystal Kennel

Princess Alexandra Maria Tara Sperry
Duke Ottokar of Grevlingen Mark Snyder
Hubert von Mützelburg Jacob Allen
Count Lothar Mereditt Stephen Faulk
Herr von Dierks Geoffrey Kannenberg
Viktor Ronai, painter Luke Bahr
Andreas Lubitschek, animal painter Christopher Cobbett
Lori Aschenbrenner, chorus girl Natalie Ballenger
Doctor Julius Pappritz, writer Nathan Brian
Richard Goetz, a singer Andrew Maughan
Gideon, a sculptor Nicholas Wuehrmann
Meringer, poet Ezra Bershatsky
Liesl, a painter John Callison
Adah, cabaret singer Allison Schumaker
Franzi, chorister Ashley Close
Gusti, chorister Malia French
Poldi, chorister Kristina Hanford
Mizzi, a waitress Mary Griffith
Jean, head waiter Spiro Matsos
A servant Zackery Morris
A chauffeur Nathan Owen

Ensemble: Justin Berkowitz, Ezra Bershatsky, Sarah Best, Brad Baron, Nathan Brian, Ashley Close, Alexa Devlin, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Kristina Hanford, Alisha Hocking, Danielle McCormick Knox, Benjamin Krumreig, Bethany Marty, Andrew Maughan, Caroline Miller, Zackery Morris, Brooke Morrison, Emily Neill, Nathan Owen, Allison Schumaker, Kimberly Sibilia, Jarrett Smith, Nicholas Wuehrmann

ACT I: The poet-dramatist-wit-pamphleteer Voltaire reads an invitation at Versailles for the courtiers to attend a masked ball. King Louis XV, disguised as a wolf, attends the ball with four tarts. Madame d’Etiolles, wife of a Parisian businessman, attends the ball with her husband. Her friend, Madame d’Estrades, entreats Madame d’Etiolles to try flirting with the king, who is anxious to settle down with someone a bit more stable, not to mention accomplished in social and artistic endeavors. The king falls immediately for Madame d’Etiolles, and invites her to a quiet inn. The queen is not amused and confronts Voltaire with her distaste for the king’s philandering. The king unmasks himself, and shocks the crowd by ennobling the former Madame d’Etiolles as the new Marquise de Pompadour. Several months later, Madame Pompadour is awaited in her chambers by an assortment of personages. Her chamberlain, Collin, ushers in Madame d’Estrades, who has brought a few regimental candidates to be on the marquise’s night watch. Pompadour picks for the job the cousin of Madame d’Estrades, the handsome young soldier Rene. She instructs him in military bearing while he cheekily endeavors to win her love. Police Chief Maurepas tells Collin that it is suspected that Voltaire is the secret lover of Madame Pompadour. Voltaire and Pompadour then perform a scene from the dramatist’s new play about the biblical character Joseph and the allures of Potiphar’s wife.

ACT II: Rene reports for duty in Pompadour’s chambers and is told to wait in her bedroom. But she rashly leaves, deciding to ride her stallion. The king, supposedly on a hunting trip, enters her rooms suddenly and is shocked to find Rene there, wearing the king’s dressing gown. In an effort to calm the king, Madame d’Estrades reveals that Rene is in fact married, and his simple wife is quickly made more presentable to the court. Madame Pompadour is cheered up by a recital of her many accomplishments, but the king enters with two sisters on his arms, his new conquests. The saddened marquise realizes her fate, but the king keeps her on at Versailles in honor of her many artistic and charitable activities.

Conductor Michael Borowitz
Assistant Conductor Selim Giray
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Charlene Alexis Gross
Scenic Design Charlene Alexis Gross
Associate Scenic Design Erich Keil
Lighting Design Erich Keil

Cast
King Louis XV Will Perkins
Voltaire Jacob Allen
Rene D’Estrades, a regimental corporal Evan McCormack
Monsieur D’Etiolles, a business man John Hummel
Collin, court chamberlain to Pompadour David Kelleher-Flight
The Queen Julie Wright Costa
Madame D’Etiolles (later Madame Pompadour) Anna-Lisa Hackett
Madame D’Estrades, her confidant and cousin to Rene Angela Vagenes
Madeleine, wife of Rene Sarah Best
Boucher, the painter Max Nolin
Maurepas, Police Commissioner of Paris Nicholas Wuehrmann
Amelie, a courtesan Malia French
Caroline, a courtesan Karla Hughes
Valentine, a courtesan Lori Birrer
Leonie, a courtesan Jacquelyn Kress
Lieutenant of the guards Geoffrey Kannenberg

Ensemble: Lori Birrer, John Callison, Ashley Close, Malia French, Jon Gerhard, Mary Griffith, Eva Hendrix-Shovlin, Karla Hughes, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Jacquelyn Kress, Michael Lucas, Amy Maples, Andy Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Max Nolin, Geoffrey Penar, Zachary Rusk, Ruby White, Joey Wilgenbusch, Nicholas Wuehrmann

Because his hard-of-hearing nursemaid Ruth misunderstood his father’s request that his son become an apprentice to a pilot, Frederic has spent his childhood years as apprentice to a pirate. He will soon come of age and, although he dearly loves his shipmates, finds their profession atrocious and will devote his adult life to their extermination. Although he has never seen a woman other than Ruth, he has a hard time believing that he couldn’t do better with someone 30 years younger. He finds that someone in Mabel, the daughter of Major General Stanley. Just as Frederic is about to lead a mission to bring down the pirates, it is revealed that, because he was born on February 29, he is really only five years old and must remain loyal to the pirates, much to the dismay of Mabel, whose father is under siege by the pirate crew. Only when the local police request that the pirates yield in the name of Queen Victoria do we learn the true background of the swashbucklers.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Nicholas Wuehrmann
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Charlene Alexis Gross
Scenic Design Erich Keil
Lighting Design Krystal Kennel

Major-General Stanley Nicholas Wuehrmann
The Pirate King Gary Moss, Christopher Cobbett
Samuel, his lieutenant David Kelleher-Flight
Frederic, a pirate apprentice Stephen Faulk, Evan McCormack
Mabel, General Stanley’s daughter Karla Hughes, Amy Maples
Edith, General Stanley’s daughter Lori Birrer
Kate, General Stanley’s daughter Sarah Best
Isabel, General Stanley’s daughter Natalie Ballenger
Ruth, a pirate maid of all work Jacquelyn Kress
Sergeant of Police Ted Christopher
Servant Corey Brittain
Servant Katie Humphrey

Ensemble: Natalie Ballenger, Sarah Best, Lori Birrer, Malia French, Jon Gerhard, Anna-Lisa Hackett, Eva Hendrix-Shovlin, John Hummel, David Kelleher-Flight, Michael Lucas, Andy Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Max Nolin, Geoffrey Penar, Will Perkins, Madeline Piscetta, Zachary Rusk, Raina Thorne, Angela Vagenes, Logan Walsh, Ruby White, Joey Wilgenbusch

COX AND BOX: Greedy landlord and crafty old soldier Bouncer has rented the same room to two men, a hatter named Cox, who works during the day, and a printer named Box, who works at night. Cox, whose coals have been mysteriously disappearing, is getting suspicious, as is Box, who notices that his match box is being inexplicably depleted. Cox returns, having been given the day off by his employer – in due course, the two meet and decide that they will put up with each other for the time being. In conversation, they discover that they are both engaged to the same girl, Penelope Ann, and both eager to be rid of her. They quarrel and call for Bouncer to bring in pistols, but he brings instead a note from Penelope Ann’s solicitor announcing that she is feared dead at sea, with her worldly possessions left to her intended. The men have a change of tune – each is now happy to be her intended. Bouncer intervenes with another letter declaring that Penelope Ann was rescued at sea and is on her way to meet her intended. A knock is heard at the door. It is not Penelope Ann, but rather Bouncer, who announces that a lady has left a note revealing that Penelope Ann has decided to marry a Mr. Knox. Elated, Cox and Box discover that they have one more thing in common.

TRIAL BY JURY: Edwin, engaged to but tiring of his sweetheart Angelina, has fallen in love with another; Angelina takes him to court for breach of promise. The court usher, while enjoining impartiality on the jury, shows a definite partiality himself for the fair plaintiff. Although both jury and judge indicate that, in their own pasts, they have had changes of heart like Edwin’s, they nevertheless have little sympathy for him. After the jury is sworn in, Angelina appears and immediately captivates all the men in court. Her lawyer gives a stirring speech, and she falls sobbing on his breast. Edwin proposes various solutions, including marrying Angelina now and his new sweetheart later, but her lawyer objects. Edwin tries to dissuade her from wanting to marry him at all, saying that when he is drunk he would beat her. The judge proposes that Edwin be made drunk to see whether he indeed would, but her lawyer again objects. Finally, the judge, disgusted at the objections and eager to get away, has his own thoughts on how best to adjudicate the case.

EVENING WIND: Atala, daughter of cannibal chief Evening Wind, has fallen in love with shipwrecked Parisian hairdresser Arthur, who strikes the chief as a good candidate for his next meal. Evening Wind receives a visit from neighboring chief Courageous Rabbit; they bemoan their status as widowers, each unaware that he has eaten the other’s wife. Courageous Rabbit proposes Atala as an ideal wife for his son, who is arriving that day from Paris. Evening Wind reluctantly confesses to his neighbor that the cook has just served up Arthur for dinner. Atala is stunned. When Courageous Rabbit demands vengeance, Evening Wind proposes that the sacred tribal bear decide the fates of the two chiefs.

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Jacob Allen
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Amber Marisa Cook
Scenic Design C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design Krystal Kennel

COX AND BOX
Box Jon Gerhard
Cox Ted Christopher
Bouncer Boyd Mackus

TRIAL BY JURY
The Learned Judge Boyd Mackus
The Defendant Stephen Faulk
Counsel for the Plaintiff David Kelleher-Flight
Usher Logan Wash
Foreman of the Jury John Callison
The Plaintiff Malia French
Bridesmaid Ashley Close
Bridesmaid Lori Birrer
Bridesmaid Jacquelyn Kress
Bridesmaid Ruby White

EVENING WIND
Evening Wind, Chief of Gros-Loulous Gary Moss
Atala, his daughter Elisa Matthews
Courageous Rabbit, Chief of Papas-Toutous Will Perkins
Arthur, hair-dresser Jon Gerhard
Not-Combed-At-All, the cook Max Nolin
Great Bear David Kelleher-Flight
Parisian Customer John Callison
French Servant Christopher Cobbett
French Servant Geoffrey Penar
French Servant Evan McCormack

Ensemble: Natalie Ballenger, Lori Birrer, John Callison, Ashley Close, Christopher Cobbett, Sarah Diller, Mary Griffith, Eva Hendrix-Shovlin, John Hummel, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Jacquelyn Kress, Michael Lucas, Elisa Matthews, Evan McCormack, Max Nolin, Geoffrey Penar, Will Perkins, Zachary Rusk, Mark Snyder, Raina Thorne, Angela Vagenes, Ruby White

ACT I: Unaware that she is the lost heiress to a fortune, ballet student Irma pursues her studies at the conservatory under dance master Fresco. The impoverished nobleman and aspiring composer Count Berezowski knows of the inheritance and is determined to marry her and secure her fortune for himself. He works out a profit-sharing deal with Fresco, who will assist him in delivering Irma. She, however, is in love with the dashing Hungarian Hussar Ladislas, who informs her that her twin brother Fedor has deserted his regiment and apparently run off with the Parisian opera singer Mlle. Pompon. Irma has a plan – she will impersonate her twin, averting her brother’s prosecution as a deserter, and write a suicide note to the Count declaring Irma’s “unavailability.” A gypsy band arrives – among them are Sandor and his girlfriend, the fortune teller Musette, who by sheer coincidence is a dead-ringer for Irma. Fresco thinks that she is Irma, returned from the dead, and offers her to the Count, who schedules an immediate wedding. The act ends in total confusion as Ladislas and Sandor feel betrayed by their misidentified girlfriends.

ACT II: Fresco reassures Musette’s father Boris (who is being paid off for his cooperation in the impersonation) that the wedding with the Count will indeed take place. Sandor bemoans the apparent infidelity of his beloved Musette, but she assures him that she is really his. Mlle. Pompon appears, sees Irma and thinks that she is Fedor. Before long, we learn that Pompon has had previous encounters with not only Fedor, but also the Count and Ladislas. Again, total confusion! Sandor appears, sees Irma, thinks her Musette, but is insulted when she doesn’t recognize him. Ladislas appears, sees Fedor, knows that “he” is really Irma, but is insulted at her seeming insistence on marrying the Count.

ACT III: Sandor arrives at the camp of the Hussar regiment, having followed who he thought was girlfriend Musette, but who actually was Irma still impersonating Fedor. The Count appears, asks “Fedor” for his sister’s hand in marriage, but is rebuffed. The Count, Fresco, and Boris, thinking that Irma has run away and that Fedor will now claim the fortune, plot his demise, which is fine with Pompon, as she feels that he has given her the cold shoulder. All ends happily ever after!

Conductor Steven Byess
Stage Director Ted Christopher
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Whitney Locher
Scenic Design Erich Keil
Lighting Design Krystal Kennel

Musette/Irma, fortune teller/ballet pupil Amy Maples
Sandor, gypsy musician David Kelleher-Flight
Fresco, ballet master/opera manager Gary Moss
Count Berezowski, composer/pianist Logan Walsh
Captain Ladislas, Hussar Stephen Faulk
Boris, Musette’s father Max Nolin
Mlle. Pompon, prima donna Elisa Matthews
Vaninka, gypsy Sarah Best
Rafael, gypsy Lori Birrer
Sergeant Potemkin John Callison
Sergeant Kopaczy Mark Snyder
General Korbay Geoffrey Penar
Lieutenant Almir Zachary Rusk
Lieutenant Timar Geoffrey Kannenberg
Wanda, ballet pupil Natalie Ballenger
Etelka, ballet pupil Ashley Close
Vera, ballet pupil Madeline Piscetta
Waldemar, opera house prompter Christopher Cobbett
Matosin, stage manager Jacob Allen
Sentry Will Perkins

Ensemble: Jacob Allen, Natalie Ballenger, Sarah Best, Lori Birrer, John Callison, Ashley Close, Christopher Cobbett, Mary Griffith, Anna-Lisa Hackett, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Andy Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Evan McCormack, Geoffrey Penar, Will Perkins, Madeline Piscetta, Zachary Rusk, Mark Snyder, Raina Thorne, Angela Vagenes, Joey Wilgenbusch

ACT I: The state of Pontevedro, close to bankruptcy, will be ruined if the wealthy widow Hanna Glawari marries a foreigner and yields her fortune to him. Baron Zeta, Pontevedro’s ambassador to Paris, schemes to get Pontevedrian Count Danilo to marry the widow, not knowing that he had previously wished to marry her, only to have the match declared unsuitable by his snobbish family. On the rebound, Danilo has been enjoying the high life in Paris, especially at Maxim’s. At an embassy party, the dashing Camille de Rosillon is infatuated with the Baron’s wife, Valencienne. Hanna is courted by all the men, even by Camille, whom Valencienne wants to see married, for she fears she herself is falling for him. Danilo and Hanna fence verbally, and Danilo promises the Baron that he will try to keep Hanna free from foreign entanglements. He claims the right to dance with her and sweeps her off her feet.

ACT II: The wily Hanna, hosting a party at her villa, takes advantage of the Camille/Valencienne affair in her campaign to snare Danilo. Just as the Baron is about to discover Camille and Valencienne in a summer pavilion rendezvous, Hanna changes places with Valencienne. She is pleased by Danilo’s jealously when she announces her engagement to Camille.

ACT III: A party is in progress at Maxim’s, with entertainment provided by the grisettes. Left alone with Danilo, Hanna assures him that he cannot be accused of being a fortune hunter if he marries her – by the terms of her late husband’s will, she loses all her money upon remarriage. After the relieved Danilo proposes, she reminds him of one more stipulation in the will.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Julie Wright Costa
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Whitney Locher
Scenic Design Kimberly V. Powers
Associate Scenic Design C. Murdock Lucas
Lighting Design Krystal Kennel

Major Domo Geoffrey Kannenberg
Njegus Jon Gerhard
Maid Kalina Schloneger
Lackey/Butler Michael Lucas
Baron Zeta Boyd Mackus
St. Brioche Jacob Allen
Cascada Christopher Cobbett
General Bogdanowitsch Geoffrey Penar
Councillor Kromow Mark Snyder
Pritschitsch Logan Walsh
Sylvanie Raina Thorne
Olga Mary Griffith
Praskowia Olivia Maughan
Valencienne Karla Hughes, Elisa Matthews
Camille de Rosillon Will Perkins, Andy Maughan
Hanna Glawari Anna-Lisa Hackett, Angela Vagenes
Count Danilo Gary Moss, Joey Wilgenbusch
Michel Spiro Matsos
Waiters Michael Lucas, Zachary Rusk
Lolo Malia French
Dodo Natalie Ballenger
Joujou Sarah Best
Cloclo Amy Maples
Margot Ashley Close
Froufrou Ruby White

Ensemble: Jacob Allen, Natalie Ballenger, Sarah Best, Lori Birrer, John Callison, Ashley Close, Christopher Cobbett, Stephen Faulk, Malia French, Mary Griffith, John Hummel, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Jacquelyn Kress, Michael Lucas, Amy Maples, Spiro Matsos, Olivia Maughan, Evan McCormack, Max Nolin, Zachary Rusk, Kalina Schloneger, Raina Thorne, Logan Walsh, Ruby White

ACT I: On a wintry morning, King Arthur’s court greets the arrival of Guenevere, the King’s soon-to-be bride. Arthur is nervous at becoming a bridegroom; Guenevere is more romantically inclined in her new position as Queen of England, but equally uncertain. When they meet unexpectedly, he outlines the pleasures of life in Camelot. Each charmed by the other’s lack of court etiquette and formality, they are happily married as King and Queen. Arthur’s tutor, the magician Merlyn, is lured away from Camelot and is unable to warn the King of imminent dangers. Arthur has learned the wisdom of peaceful ways from Merlyn and has brought tranquility and justice to his domain through the establishment of the celebrated Round Table. News of the Table has even reached France, engaging the sympathies of young Lancelot du Lac, who arrives at Camelot proclaiming his intentions to serve King Arthur. Lancelot, in the view of the court and Guenevere, is insufferable; she encourages the castle knights to challenge him to a joust. Arthur tries to dissuade her from siding against Lancelot, but the Queen is adamant. Lancelot is victorious, exhibiting a strange power of faith and purity, thereby gaining the respect of the court and of the Queen. His feelings towards Guenevere speedily develop into a deep but silent love, putting to test the principles of the Round Table and Lancelot’s true love for the King he serves.

ACT II: Two years pass – Lancelot and Guenevere still strive to conceal their love. Arthur is aware of their feelings, but covers his resentment to preserve peace in Camelot. Rumors of the relationship attract the young squire Mordred, Arthur’s illegitimate son, who loathes Arthur’s dreams of peace and intends to disrupt the kingdom in the hope that he may ascend to the throne. Through Mordred’s scheme, Arthur is trapped in the enchanted forest of Mordred’s aunt, Morgan Le Fey, who casts a sleeping spell over the King. Lancelot visits Guenevere in her chambers, where Mordred overhears them confess their love and accuses them of treason. Lancelot escapes, but Guenevere is sentenced to burn at the stake. At the last moment, Lancelot rescues Guenevere and takes her to France, and Arthur is forced to make war on his friend. Just before their final battle, Arthur meets both Guenevere and Lancelot, and discovers that they are no longer together. Realizing that all he has fought for is gone, Arthur forgives Guenevere. He discovers a young stowaway who aspires to join the Round Table. He knights the boy and sends him back to England, charging him, when he grows up, to tell another generation of the noble ideas of Camelot.

Conductor J. Lynn Thompson
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Charlene Alexis Gross
Scenic Design Kimberly V. Powers
Lighting Design Krystal Kennel

Merlyn Nicholas Wuehrmann
Arthur Ted Christopher
Guenevere Elisa Matthews, Raina Thorne
Lancelot Geoffrey Penar, Christopher Cobbett
Pellinore Nicholas Wuehrmann
Mordred Jacob Allen
Morgan Le Fey Julie Wright Costa
Tom of Warwick Jack Neill
Sir Dinadan/Soloist John Callison
Sir Lionel Joey Wilgenbusch
Sir Clarius Andy Maughan
Sir Sagramore Geoffrey Kannenberg
Lady Sybil Angela Vagenes
Lady Anne Sarah Best
Lady-in-Waiting #1 Natalie Ballenger
Lady-in-Waiting #2 Malia French
Page/Herald Jesse Massaro
Squire Dap Mark Snyder
Nimue Karla Hughes
A Knight Logan Walsh
A Man John Hummel
Lady #1 Ashley Close
Lady #2 Jacquelyn Kress
Lady #3 Mary Griffith
Sir Colgrevance Evan McCormack
Sir Bliant Logan Walsh
Sir Castor Will Perkins
Sir Guilliam Zachary Rusk

Ensemble: Natalie Ballenger, Sarah Best, John Callison, Ashley Close, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Karla Hughes, John Hummel, Geoffrey Kannenberg, Jacquelyn Kress, Michael Lucas, Jesse Massaro, Andy Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Evan McCormack, Emily Neill, Will Perkins, Zachary Rusk, Mark Snyder, Angela Vagenes, Logan Walsh, Ruby White, Joey Wilgenbusch

ACT I: The Royal Family – King, Queen, Prince James, and Princess Diana – are relieved that the ceremonial Presentation Night at the royal court is finally over. Each returns to his or her passion – the Queen to her movie magazines, the King to his string tricks, James to his dance steps, and Diana to her reading. The Prime Minister enters and reminds all of the work that needs to be done in planning the entertainment for the upcoming King’s Jubilee. The Queen suggests a screening of Mowgli and the White Goddess, featuring swimmer/actor/hunk Charlie Rausmiller; the King volunteers his string tricks; James wants to invite night club performer Karen O’Kane to introduce a new dance step; and Diana suggests that playwright Eric Dare be honored. Footmen lead in two squirming boys: James’ younger brother Peter and Peter’s cousin Rudolph. After being chastised by the King for misbehaving, the boys, before exiting, hatch a plan whose ultimate goal is to get them a visit to Radio City in New York. Soon after, a rock hurtles through the window – the Prime Minister, fearing a rebellion, orders the Royal Family to dreary out-of-town Feathermore Castle. They agree to defy the order and, for the first time in their lives, pursue their own fantasies. Eric Dare arrives at the Nicodemus Bar to the cheers of his adoring “satellites,” among whom is Diana. They strike up a conversation – a mutual attraction quickly develops. Meanwhile, the Queen is pounding the pavement trying to locate the movie theatre where Mowgli, himself, is making a personal appearance. The King, practicing his string tricks incognito in the park, has impressed socialite Eva Standing, who invites him to perform at her party the next day. The Queen has finally found the theatre, meets Mowgli, and persuades him to give her swimming lessons. Across town, at the Cafe Martinique, James is bewitched by Karen’s rendition of “Begin the beguine” – they take to the dance floor together. The Prime Minister, panicked at the total disappearance of the Royal Family, finally tracks them down at Eva’s costume ball – he will escort them personally to Feathermore.

ACT II: With long faces and a sense of resignation, the Royal Family is bemoaning its isolation at rain-drenched Feathermore. Diana confesses, however, that she has invited Eric for the weekend and that he will stay in the Crystal Room; the Queen chimes in that she has done the same for Mowgli. But, according to James, Karen will be occupying the room, which creates some difficulty because the King has invited Eva. All four guests arrive on the same train – Eva suggests that they all wait out the rebellion at Rockwell Beach, while the Queen proposes that her husband abdicate so that they can all travel to America and fulfill their fancies. While at Rockwell, the Prime Minister informs the family that the “rebellion” was nothing more than a prank of the two young boys – they all must return to the palace and prepare for the Jubilee. All four exchange emotional “goodbyes” with their recent new friends. Back at the palace at the King’s Jubilee, Mowgli, Eric, Eva, and Karen have one final opportunity to come face-to-face with the Royal Family.

Conductor Michael Borowitz, Steven Byess
Stage Director Steven Daigle
Choreography Carol Hageman
Costume Design Whitney Locher
Scenic Design Kimberly V. Powers
Lighting Design Erich Keil

The King Ted Christopher
The Queen Julie Wright Costa
Prince James Jacob Allen
Princess Diana Natalie Ballenger
Prince Peter Jennifer Vicknair, Henry Perkins
Prince Rudolph Jillian Vicknair, Elizabeth Perkins
Lord Wyndham, Prime Minister Jon Gerhard
Eric Dare, Playwright Nicholas Wuehrmann
Eva Standing, Socialite Sarah Best
Karen O’Kane, Singer Raina Thorne
Charles Rausmiller/Mowgli, swimmer/actor Joey Wilgenbusch
Professor Rexford David Kelleher-Flight
Leader John Hummel
Officer Max Nolin
Student Stephen Faulk
Laura Fitzgerald Ashley Close
Mr. Watkins Geoffrey Kannenberg
Mrs. Watkins Mary Griffith
First Woman Ruby White
Second Woman Malia French
Ape Logan Walsh
Newsman Michael Lucas
Usher David Kelleher-Flight
Usher Andrew Shaffer
Meek Man Andy Maughan
Man Gary Moss
Drunk David Kelleher-Flight
Waiter Stephen Faulk
Head Waiter John Hummel
Master of Ceremonies Max Nolin
1st Cabinet Member Mark Snyder
2nd Cabinet Member Geoffrey Kannenberg
Process Server Christopher Cobbett
Man Michael Lucas
Woman 1 Jacquelyn Kress
Woman 2 Emily Neill
Footman Andrew Shaffer
Steele Christopher Cobbett
Bather 1 Olivia Maughan
Bather 2 Andy Maughan
Mayor Mark Snyder
Life Guard Logan Walsh
Little Man John Callison
Keeper Gary Moss

Ensemble: Lori Birrer, John Callison, Ashley Close, Christopher Cobbett, Stephen Faulk, Malia French, Mary Griffith, Anna-Lisa Hackett, Karla Hughes, John Hummel, Geoffrey Kannenberg, David Kelleher-Flight, Jacquelyn Kress, Michael Lucas, Amy Maples, Elisa Matthews, Andy Maughan, Olivia Maughan, Gary Moss, Emily Neill, Max Nolin, Andrew Shaffer, Mark Snyder, Angela Vågenes, Logan Walsh, Ruby White