The splendor of musical theater will once again be onstage in Wooster from Sat 6/15-Sat 8/10. This is just as it should be, with Ohio Light Opera continuing the tradition that began 40 years ago.
As he has every year since being appointed to the post of artistic director in 1999, Steven A. Daigle has selected one of this, and one of that, and one of the other, sort of, anyway, to present this year. He likes to expand the boundaries of light opera to include some of the popular and critical successes from Broadway, for instance. But at the same time, he remains true to the operetta heritage fostered for so long in European capitals. And then, finding eligible newer works is also part of the recipe here.
The newest work on the schedule this year is the OLO premiere of a score he considers to be the definition of a “true ensemble” — Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. It dates to 1987, before a good many of his current troupe were even born. Balancing that is the eldest piece on the list — Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, first produced 140 years ago. (This one is not a premiere, having been on stage here for 14 times previously! Almost a record for frequency.)
Of the seven productions on the schedule for this year, only two of them have been seen here previously: South Pacific (2004) and Pirates. Among the newcomers are George & Ira Gershwin’s Girl Crazy, Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II’s Music in the Air, and a British import that debuted in London in 1945 by Ivor Novello — Perchance to Dream. Representing the Viennese tradition in a new translation by Mr. Daigle is Emrich Kálmán’s The Devil’s Rider from 1932.
South Pacific ran for 1925 performances on Broadway, garnering ten Tony awards along the way, plus a second Pulitzer Prize for drama, presented to the Rodgers and Hammerstein team. This was in addition to the Pulitzer Prize awarded to the author James Michener for his Tales of the South Pacific on which the music was based.Jacob Allen returns as stage director (he’ll also be part of the acting company this year) while conducting duties are handled with aplomb by J. Lynn Thompson.
If you’ve been wowed by the choreography of the last few years (or even if you haven’t seen them in action as yet), you’ll be very appreciative of Spencer Reese, and the corps of dancing actors who promise lots of tap dancing in Girl Crazy (1932) by the Gershwins. Among the familiar songs to be conducted by Steven Byess will be “Bidin’ My Time,” “Embraceable You,” “But Not for Me,” “I Got Rhythm” and some others perhaps not so well known. Steven Daigle is the stage director for this one. Set mostly in the wilds of Custerville, Arizona, which has no female residents, but lots of cowboys and gamblers.
Into the Woods is, in the opinion of Steven Daigle, the stage director of this production, “a true ensemble piece.” They all step out of the pages of fairy tales we’ve all known and come to love, along with their families. Just think of Cinderella — there’s her mother and father, stepmother, stepsisters and — her prince. There’s also Rapunzel and her prince. Little Red Ridinghood, her grandmother and the wolf. Jack (from before the beanstalk tales) and his Mom, a baker, and his wife, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and . . . Conductor is J. Lynn Thompson, and again Spencer Reese is choreographer.
These are not your ordinary fairy tale characters, however, being much more human and susceptible to human foibles. Funny foibles at times, but still, foibles. You may not be whistling the tunes on your way out of the theater, but you’ll probably still be chuckling over the comic inventions.
Opening night for the 2019 Season is Sat 6/15, with South Pacific. It happens in OLO’s usual venue — Freedlander Theatre on the campus of Wooster College. For season or single-show tickets, call 330-263-2345 or go to ohiolightopera.org.
[Written by Kelly Ferjutz]
Wooster, OH 44691