It’s a year of firsts for the Savoyaires, Evanston’s 47-year-old Gilbert & Sullivan theater company. For its annual production the group is presenting a triple bill of three one-acts that all premiered in the same year, 1875, yet have never before been performed together.
It’s a year of firsts for the Savoyaires, Evanston’s 47-year-old Gilbert & Sullivan theater company. For its annual production the group is presenting a triple bill of three one-acts that all premiered in the same year, 1875, yet have never before been performed together.
“Eyes and No Eyes” by Gilbert, “The Zoo” by Sullivan, and the ever-popular “Trial by Jury,” the only joint one-act by Gilbert & Sullivan.
For “Eyes and No Eyes,” this production will be the Midwest premiere and the first production anywhere with orchestra.
The score has been newly orchestrated by Evanstonian Francis Lynch, who additionally produced new piano-vocal scores for both “Eyes and No Eyes” and “The Zoo.” This will also be the Savoyaires’ first-ever production of The Zoo and the group’s first production of Trial by Jury since 1979.
Leading the orchestra for his fourth consecutive Savoyaires production will be music director Timothy Semanik, a recent doctoral graduate in conducting at Northwestern University.
Stage director for the triple bill is A.J. Wester, who has directed for St. Petersburg Opera plus educational productions for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Light Opera Works, and Chicago Opera Theater.
In “Eyes and No Eyes,” three sets of faithless lovers face a dilemma reminiscent of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” In “The Zoo,” disguises and misunderstandings abound as a despondent suitor tries to throw himself into the bear pit. And in “Trial by Jury,” a thoroughly prejudiced judge and jury hear the case of a straying bridegroom and his jilted fiancée.
Performances will be held at the Chute Middle School Auditorium, 1400 Oakton St. in Evanston, on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 2 at 3 p.m., October 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m., and October 16
at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $22/17/12, and $17/$12/$7 for ages 12 and under, and may be purchased
by phone at (847) 563-0155, online at www.savoyaires.org/tickets, or by mail from Savoyaires, P.O. Box 126, Evanston, IL 60204.
The Savoyaires are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
Top: A file photo from the Savoyaires’ 2010 production of “The Gondoliers.”