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GILBERT & SULLIVAN’S THE MIKADO SET TO TAKE THE ALGONQUIN STAGE

originally published: 03/16/2013 (MANASQUAN, NJ) -- The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players present the timeless music, gorgeous sets, vibrant costumes, and irresistible humor of The Mikado at Algonquin Arts Theatre on Sunday, March 24, at 3 p.m.

Under the artistic direction of Albert Bergeret, the NYGASP return after last presenting H.M.S. Pinafore in 2010. Another capacity crowd is expected and less than 100 tickets remain.

Tickets are available by calling 732-528-9211, visiting algonquinarts.org or stopping by the Algonquin Arts Theater Box Office at 173 Main Street in Manasquan from 12-6 p.m. on weekdays and from 12-4 p.m. on Saturdays. The cost is $43 for adults, $41 for seniors and $33 for students. Tickets are all subject to a $2 per ticket processing fee.

Manasquan Savings Bank presents the performance as this season's selection in the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Opera Series.

The ninth collaboration between W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Mikado is a classic masterpiece from one of the finest composer-lyricist teams of all time. Since its debut the show has been a box office hit, breaking sales records in the late 1880s en route to becoming perhaps the most popular musical theatre production of all time.

The Mikado was first performed at the Savoy Theatre, London, England in 1885 and ran longer in its initial run than any other Gilbert & Sullivan opera. Since then it has been filmed twice, and performed in every possible style -- jazzed, swung, and even as a ballet. This NYGASP production is in the traditional mold, combining a modern playfulness with a respect for the creators' original intent. A full orchestra brings to life Sullivan's own evocative orchestration and the legit singing of the company’s outstanding performers brings lushness to the vocal lines. Gilbert's wit and always relevant barbs aimed at the foibles of human nature also receive full attention.

 

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The New York Daily news exclaims: "(The NYGASP's Mikado has) all the Gilbertian sense of humor you’d want ... plenty of vitality and frequent gleeful surprise ... lovely voices and winning personalities ... an attractive production!"

New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players is a professional repertory company giving vitality to the living legacy of its legendary namesakes through performance and education. Co-founded by Bergeret in the mid 1970s and with humble beginnings as a street theatre -- complete with a budget of $35 for Xeroxing -- NYGASP has become America's pre-eminent professional Gilbert & Sullivan repertory company with an annual budget of nearly $1.5 million. Today its repertory includes all 13 Gilbert & Sullivan title and a large pool of professional company members, orchestra and crew that perform in theatres across the country, including a recent engagement at City Center in New York City earlier this winter.

The Mikado, set in fictitious Japanese Town of Titipu, features a village full of colorful characters including three maids from school, a wandering minstrel, the hilariously corrupt public official, and a Lord High Executioner that is too tenderhearted to actually execute those on his list. Yum-Yum, a beautiful school girl, loves the romantic minstrel Nanki-Poo, but is engaged to Ko-Ko the executioner. This romantic triangle takes the usual course of thwarted romance, until the arrival first of the fearsome Katisha, claiming Nanki-Poo as her "perjured lover," and later of the emperor, or Mikado, himself - with his own list of punishments to fit the crime.

About Algonquin Arts Theatre:
Algonquin Arts Theatre (AAT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1992 with the mission to provide cultural enhancement and arts education to all audiences at the Jersey Shore through high-quality performances and programs in theatre, music, film and dance. The end goal is to foster appreciation of the arts and promote lifelong learning, particularly among underserved audiences including the economically disadvantaged, senior citizens and individuals with disabilities.

Algonquin Arts Theatre's programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; by funds from the Paul F. Zito, M.D. Educational Foundation, by Simon Kaufman, Esq. & Maria Zito-Kaufman and remembering Marialana and her love for children and the arts.