Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company to Celebrate 80th Anniversary with IOLANTHE

Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company will lead off their 80th Anniversary season with a special production of Iolanthe (which is the first production Ridgewood G&S presented during their founding in 1937). Iolanthe runs November 4-26 in various locations throughout the tri-state area.

Since its sparkling 1882 premiere at London's new Savoy Theatre (the first to be fitted with electric lights, making all manner of magical effects possible), the fantastical satire Iolanthe has delighted audiences with its clever combination of romance, humor, political satire, and the memorable musical numbers that made Gilbert and SullIvan Household names. In the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal; this forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies.

Iolanthe is directed by Michael Blatt and Music Directed by Laura Ravotti. Joy Forlenza serves as the assistant director for the production. The cast of Iolanthe includes Joan Barker, Larry Bogert, Bob Bromberg, Carol Ciancia, Rhonda Cooperstein, Barbara Domini, Tim Domini, Eva Giorgi, John Holmboe, Eileen Karlson, Stephen Kiss, Jennifer Low, Eileen Mager, Kathleen Meagher, Peter O'Malley, Robert Prowse, Maryanne Rauschenbach, Sarah Rauschenbach, Jamie Roitman, Joseph Rothstein, John Ryle, Timothy Schwartz, Angela Scorese, Veronica Shea, Frank Skokan, Malik Squire, Philip Sternenberg, Sarah Strickland, and Judith Weis.

Performance dates and times are: Saturday, November 4 at 7:30pm, Sunday, November 5 at 3pm, Sunday, November 12 at 3pm at Ridgewood United Methodist Church (100 Dayton Street, Ridgewood, NJ); Sunday, November 19 at 3pm at Heritage Village (Southbury, CT); and Sunday, November 26 at 3pm at Fair Lawn Community Center (10-10 20th Street, Fair Lawn, NJ). Tickets are $22 at the door, and $20 in advance at ridgewoodgands.org/iolanthe. Groups of 10 or more can receive $15 tickets by emailing ridgewoodgands@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Michael Blatt (director) is a New York City based director and actor. As a Director, Michael has worked in Bergen, Norway where he directed a new Norwegian translation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. Other directing credits include Curtains by Kander and Ebb at The Village Light Opera Group, NYC, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang and An Infinite Ache by David Schulner for the 2016 Actors Studio Repertory Season. Prom Queen the Musical (US Premiere) Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center. He also directed Urinetown and Seussical at The Theatre Arts Center. He directed a world premiere of Where a Certain Future by James Howard Carr at Northern Michigan University. Michael is a recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Director Award for his work in Wimberley at The Mid-town International Theatre Festival and a member of The Playwriting and Directing Workshop at The Actors Studio. Michael has an MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and a BFA from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. He is an associate member of SDC.

Laura Ravotti (music director) has been performing professionally since 1986, starting in Nashville, TN, where she was rehearsal accompanist for the Nashville Ballet, staff accompanist at Vanderbilt University (Blair School of Music), and a substitute french horn player with the Nashville Symphony. She then went on to perform in Branson, MO where she backed up such entertainers as Bob Hope, Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, ShAri Lewis & Lambchop. In 2000, Laura moved to New York City where she played on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, and performed with the NJ Pops and Greenwich Symphony. She has been the Music Director at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Croton-on-Hudson, NY since 2005. Ms. Ravotti has a BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University, PA, and an MM from Bowling Green State University, OH.

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