(THE PICKET) – When hearing the word operetta, we are immediately drawing up images of stout high voiced sopranos wearing horned helmets in the image of Richard Wagner or of perhaps young beautiful ladies performing classical arias. A group of young woman on roller skates isn’t usually going to be in the image set.
The Shepherd University music department’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work Iolanthe under the direction of Dr. Robert Tudor is a drastic departure from our standard image of classical music and operatic performance. The production set for performance at the Frank Center for The Arts on Feb 12-14, is placing a story originally set in the 1800s of English aristocrats and magical fairies into the updated and far more colorful world of the 1960s. The fairies themselves appear on roller skates, this along with plenty of spectacular effects with lighting and set are going to be a sight to behold.
I had the pleasure of observing a full cast rehearsal of the now early stages for the production. The music is both beautiful and fun, as well as in some cases dramatic. The performers bring much to this piece. Jaime Friedel’s Queen of the Fairies is both powerful and able to produce giggles in full form. Strephon as done by junior Cullen Byers, who can make you feel for him as he is helped and hindered by his supernatural assistance. Ally Rosle gives us a beautiful classic soprano heroine with as much comedy as class.
The cast members had much to say on the production themselves. Bethany Przybocki , a junior playing one of our skating roller derby fairies said
“One thing is for certain, it’s going to be fun,” Przybock, a junior playing one of our roller-skating fairies, said.
Przybock noted her favorite part of working the production thus far has been, “relearning how to roller skate, something new that I never thought I’d be doing for a show.”
Greg Havenner, one of the English aristocratic peers, called the production, “A fun sophisticated welcomed change, but at the same time still true to the original concept story.”
The whole cast gives us a beautiful vocal treat. Dr. Tudor’s vision for the show is breathtaking, and his passion for his work is infectious to his cast and anyone watching. I have never before seen a director dedicated enough to put on a pair of roller skates to show his cast choreography and movement.
This production leaves us all as students, alumni and members of the community with a treat to be looking forward to in the coming month. As the lead actress Ally Rosle put it “The show is a spectacle, so much to see, a lot going on.”
I hope to see this spectacle first hand in full force myself.