SCHAUMBURG SUMMER THEATRE RETURNS TO GILBERT AND SULLIVAN FOR A DOUBLE-BILL OF COMIC OPERAS
In 2009 it was The Pirates of Penzance, then The Mikado in 2010. It was only a matter of time before Schaumburg Summer Theatre returned to Gilbert and Sullivan's rich repertoire of comic operas to stage HMS Pinafore, playing for two weekends starting on Friday, July 31 at the Prairie Center for the Arts. The company will also present the writing team's one act musical farce Trial by Jury.
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, of Pinafore's timelessness. "Consider that W.S. Gilbert's loopy and often satirical writing reverberates in the comedy of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, and in generations that followed. Also, themes like unrequited love and social standing are still being explored. Even if Gilbert's plot devices and wordplay seem a bit antiquated, we still understand the predicaments these characters face."
Due to the content's overall silliness, companies can often get away with blending in new jokes and references without missing a beat (of course it doesn't hurt that G&S canon is now in the public domain, unprotected from any creative liberties one might wish to instill on it). Pileckis says the production does take a few jabs at current events in the Schaumburg production, but is reluctant to spoil any bits.
No less timeless is Arthur Sullivan's remarkable score, which holds up as well as (if not better than) most shows 100 years newer. As with any Broadway hit, the music takes on a variety of styles, from rousing choruses, to comic patter numbers and sentimental ballads. Songs including "I'm Called Little Buttercup," "Nevermind the Why and Wherefore," and "I Am the Monarch of the Sea," maintain a fresh buoyancy. "It's wonderful to see a high school and college-aged cast embrace this music with such gusto," says Pileckis.
The featured cast of HMS Pinafore includes Jack Corkery of Villa Park as the Honorable Sir Joseph Porter and Christian Gustafson of Schaumburg as the ship's commanding Captain Corcoran. Adriana Tronco of Bensenville portrays the captain's daughter, Josephine, and Lombard's Carlos Olmedo plays able seaman Ralph Rackstraw. Andrew Fairbank of Villa Park plays Dick Deadeye and Stephanie Turner of Lombard portrays Little Buttercup. Barrington's Mary Clare Becks plays Sir Joseph's cousin Hebe, and Andrew Ramos of Lombard plays boatswain Bill Bobstay.
A cast of 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; Mt. 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, the program's inclusion of Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, the one-act Trial by Jury, tickles the palate even more as its dessert. Set in a 1920s Chicago courtroom ("because we have costumes from that era," adds Pileckis), Trial by Jury sends up courtroom melodramas with dramatic testimonies, finger-pointing witnesses, and a sycophant judge.
The featured cast of Trial by Jury includes Jack Corkery as the Learned Judge and Carrington Breckenridge as the Counsel for the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff is played by Mariana Martens and the Defendant is played by Carlos Olmedo (in his best Eddie Cantor style). Andrew Fairbank portrays the role of the Usher.
HMS Pinafore and Trial by Jury 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 for HMS Pinafore and Trial by Jury will be held at 7:30 pm, July 31, August 1, 7 and 8. Tickets, $20 for adults and $16 for students and seniors, can be ordered by calling the Prairie Center box office at (847) 895-3600 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by visiting www.prairiecenter.org. The Prairie Center is located at 201 Schaumburg Ct. in Schaumburg, IL.
The Schaumburg Summer Theatre program is sponsored by the Village of Schaumburg.