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The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan
Tuesday 20 August 2013
Gates open at 5 pm. Performance starts at 6 pm
The Mikado is a comic opera in two acts by the masters of comic opera, Gilbert and Sulivan. Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from Britain, allowed them to satirise British politics and institutions more freely, a tactic used in several of their operas.
Also on offer:
As You Like It, and
Babe the Sheep-Pig
Drumlanrig's excellent and popular open-air theatre shows are held on the Oval Lawn in the shadow of the stunning Drumlanrig Castle. Bring your own rugs or low back seating and a tasty picnic if you wish while you sit back and enjoy the show.
More details to follow.
Cost TBC
(all tickets for outdoor theatre performances are non-refundable)
You can purchase your tickets:
- Online (available shortly)
- Through the Drumlanrig Castle Office Tel. 01848 331555, email at enquiries@drumlanrig.com or Contact Us
- At Thomas Tosh, Thornhill (once available - detail to follow)
- Dumfries and Galloway Arts, Midsteeple, Dumfries (once available - detail to follow)
If you like outdoor theatre, then our other productions of Shakespeare's As You Like It and Dick King-Smith's Babe the Sheep-Pig are a must.
About Illyria's Gilbert and Sullivan Productions
In 2011 Illyria raised the bar for the major UK open-air touring theatre companies by becoming the first and only one to add Opera to its regular season. The ticket sales, acclaim and feedback all vouch for its enormous success.
The subject matter of Gilbert and Sullivan's original works is often romantic and frivolous, the music jolly, and the approach iconoclastic, satirical and extremely tongue-in-cheek. In other words, the perfect material for Illyria!
Although Gilbert and Sullivan wrote the Savoy Operas with 7 or 8 principals, a large chorus and a moderate orchestra in mind, for the sake of affordability Illyria tours with a cast of 7 actor-singers and one Musical Director on piano. Despite the reduction in scale not a single word from WS Gilbert's libretto is cut, nor a single note or harmony from Sir Arthur Sullivan's score unsung. The works are performed faithfully, in their entirety - and given the full Illyria treatment!
These shows boast a creative pedigree unmatched by any other major UK open-air touring theatre company, featuring:
The hottest new talent from the top Musical Theatre courses in London's drama schools.
Musical arrangement by Jane Marlow, singing teacher at LAMDA and formerly MD at Salisbury Playhouse, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Harrogate Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich.
Musical direction by Ben Wiles (MD on "Bat Boy", "Cinderella" and "Heaven Sent" at Hitchin, Broxbourne Civic Theatre and New Wimbledon Theatre, and writer/composer of "Amsterdam" and "Revenge of the Scissorman").
Choreography by Grant Murphy (assistant director to Whoopi Goldberg for the New York and London productions of "Sister Act"; currently dance captain in the West End production of "Shrek")
Direction by Oliver Gray (Artistic director/Founder of Illyria and director of 2 Best of Fringe award-winning shows in Vancouver and Orlando Fringe festivals).
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