Two comic operas take stage in Schaumburg
Schaumburg Summer Theatre is presenting the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera "HMS Pinafore" and the famed writing team's first collaboration, the one-act musical farce "Trial by Jury," the next two weekends at Prairie Center for the Arts.
Delighting London crowds for the first time in 1878, "HMS Pinafore" has never gone out of fashion with audiences, thanks to ubiquitous revivals performed by opera companies, professional theatres, schools, and local troupes like Summer Theatre. Set aboard a British naval ship, the story follows the affairs of a captain's daughter who is engaged to wed a Lord admiral but secretly loves a deck hand far below her class rank.
"It still works, even over a century later," says Rob Pileckis, production supervisor at the Prairie Center and the show's director.
No less timeless is Arthur Sullivan's remarkable score, which includes "I'm Called Little Buttercup," "Nevermind the Why and Wherefore" and "I Am the Monarch of the Sea." "It's wonderful to see a high school and college-aged cast embrace this music with such gusto," says Pileckis.
Key cast members include Jack Corkery of Villa Park, Christian Gustafson of Schaumburg, Adriana Tronco of Bensenville, Carlos Olmedo of Lombard, Andrew Fairbank of Villa Park, Stephanie Turner of Lombard, Mary Clare Becks of Barrington and Andrew Ramos of Lombard.
Singers and supporting players include Arlington Heights resident Emma Kaden; Bensenville resident Mckenzie Kern; Elk Grove Village resident Sarah Brannan; Hoffman Estates resident Sarah Davis; Lombard residents Isabella Ledonne, Renata Leighton, Emma Ryan, Erin Sulla, Chris Turner and Abby Wolf; Mount Prospect resident Richard Eyre; Palatine residents Mary DiLeo, Kat DiLeo, Bob DiLeo and Sergio Garcia; Schaumburg resident Rebekah Haynes; and Villa Park residents Carrington Breckenridge, Julia Cicero, Kathleen Cicero, Genevieve Corkery, John DeAngelo, Ryan Frandsen, Mariana Martens, Eric Rundgren, Hannah Trewitt, and Bri White.
If the 90-minute "Pinafore" serves as the evening's main course, "Trial by Jury" serves as its dessert. Set in a 1920s Chicago courtroom, the play sends up courtroom melodramas with dramatic testimonies, finger-pointing witnesses and a sycophant judge.
The plays are directed by Rob Pileckis, with music direction by Marc Beth, costumes by Melissa Scheele, set design by Phil Seifritz, technical direction by Ethan Goldspiel and assistant direction by Mike Concialdi.
Performances are 7:30 p.m., July 31, Aug. 1, 7 and 8. Tickets, $20 for adults and $16 for students and seniors, are available at the Prairie Center box office, (847) 895-3600, or prairiecenter.org. The Prairie Center is at 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg.
The Schaumburg Summer Theatre program is sponsored by the village of Schaumburg.