ELLSWORTH — The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine and the Grand Auditorium will present “Yeomen of the Guard” on the Stanley Subaru Stage Friday through Sunday, Feb. 6-8, at the Grand.
“Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and His Maid” was called a genuine English opera when it premiered in London in 1888. Now, 127 years later, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine brings it to full-throated life under the direction of Dede Johnson and John Haskell, music director. Using gorgeous melody and opulent orchestral settings, “Yeomen” tells a tale of bravery, deceit and disappointed love, against the background of the Tower of London, the notorious site of torture and royal treasure in the early 16th century. The opera is the darkest, and perhaps most emotionally engaging, of the Savoy Operas, ending with a broken-hearted main character and two very reluctant engagements. The libretto does contain considerable humor, including a lot of pun-laden one-liners, but Gilbert’s trademark satire and topsy-turvy plot complications are subdued in comparison with other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It is certainly one of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s grandest operatic scores, a realization of his life’s dream to produce a grand opera with its roots in European tradition but entirely British in character.
Cast members hail from many area towns, including Blue Hill, Sullivan, Bangor, Orono and Glenburn. They are Joe Marshall, Fran Vogt, John Cunningham, Theo Dumas, Pepin Mittelhauser, Roland Dube, Molly Abrams, Leslie Michaud, Margo Lukens, Margaret Machaiek,
Clayton Smith and Irv Hodgkin.
Show director Dede Johnson and music director is John Haskell.
The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine is a community theater group that incorporates newcomers and generations of loyal members who love to sing and perform these operatic works. It has an unbroken history of annual Gilbert & Sullivan productions since 1976. The Society won first prize for its performance of “Utopia, Ltd.” at the first-ever International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England, in 1994, much to the surprise of the English Gilbert and Sullivan companies competing in the festival. Returning by invitation to the International Festival three more times — Buxton in 1995, Philadelphia in 1996 and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 2011 — several members of the company won awards for individual performances. More news and information about the company, including audition announcements, is at gilbertsullivanmaine.org.
“Yeomen of the Guard” will presented at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8. Tickets are $20, $18 seniors and students, at the Grand box office and at grandonline.org. For information, call 667-9500.