Patience
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company will perform Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride, a classic satire of vanity, pretension and fads, at the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall on March 9, 10, and 11.
Sparkling satire and wit adorn Gilbert and Sullivan’s masterpiece operetta, a send-up of romantic sex symbols—and the public’s hopeless infatuation with them. But the sex symbols in Patience are poets: the fleshy, doom-and-gloom Reginald Bunthorne and the rustic, idyllic Archibald Grosvenor. Although Archibald has already stolen the hearts of Bunthorne’s female poetry groupies, he has yet to capture the affections of Patience, the village’s innocent and winsome milkmaid—the very same milkmaid that Bunthorne pines for as well. But Patience is not smitten with passions and poetry, and neither are the hopelessly banal Dragoon guards, who must reluctantly become poets-in-training to win back their ex-fiancées from the clutches of aestheticism.
Patience was immensely popular in London when first produced in 1881, lasting longer on the stage than Gilbert and Sullivan’s earlier hits The Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore. Although Gilbert was concerned at the operetta’s first revival in 1900 that its ribbing of the short-lived fad of aesthetic poetry wouldn’t age well, he was happy to report to Sullivan that “The old opera woke up splendidly.” Patience maintains its humor and charm to this day.
Director Shane Valenzi will return for a fourth year, as will conductor Matthew Sheppard, director of the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra. Collaborating with Valenzi for the first time will be associate director Ross Matsuda. The talented cast includes some of the Company’s favorites from past productions as well as several outstanding newcomers. Nancy Levner will produce, aided by assistant producer Roger Huff.
Performances take place at Mandel Hall, 1131 East 57th Street, on March 9, 10, and 11. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets can be ordered online at tickets.uchicago.edu, or by calling the UChicago Arts Box Office at 773.702.2787.
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Inc. is a non-profit, community arts organization dedicated to performing the works of Gilbert & Sullivan to the highest artistic standards. It has been a mainstay of Chicago’s Hyde Park cultural scene since it was founded in 1964 by three local G&S fans: Nancy Lorie, Robert Ashenhurst, and Roland Bailey. Today, the company is led by Mark Johnson.
2018 marks the 34th consecutive year the proceeds from the annual production will benefit the Department of Music’s performance program, whose thirteen ensembles present more than a hundred varied concerts each year.
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QUICK FACTS
WHAT:
Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride, by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
WHO:
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
The University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra
Director: Shane Valenzi
Associate Director: Ross Matsuda
Conductor: Matthew Sheppard
Producer: Nancy Levner
PRINCIPAL CAST:
Patience…………………………………………………………………………Olivia Doig
Reginald Bunthorne ……………………………………………………….Jeffrey Luksik
Archibald Grosvenor………………………………………………………Brandon Sokol
The Lady Jane……………………………………………………………….. Sara Stern
Colonel Calverley …………………………………………………….…..Gabriel DiGennaro
Lieutenant, The Duke of Dunstable ………………………………Dennis Kalup
The Lady Angela……………………………………………………………Anna Caldwell Saini
The Lady Saphir……………………………………………………………Mikaela Sullivan
Major Mugatrod……………………………………………………….Colin Commager
The Lady Ella…………………………………………………………………Katherine Petersen
WHEN:
Friday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m.
WHERE:
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th Street, on the University of Chicago campus
ADMISSION:
$60 Patron, $25 General, $5 Student, $15 General tickets for groups of 10 or more.