Ages Ago and Sullivan Songs

Art by Sami Sallaway

Ages Ago

Written by W.S. Gilbert
Music by Frederic Clay

Sir Ebenezer Tare has taken possession of Glen-Cockaleekie Castle, taking advantage of its disputed state of ownership, as the title deed is only discovered, like clockwork, every hundred years. But the century is soon up, and the spirits that haunt the castle, taking the form of living portraits of all its previous owners, have more than a little to say about who owns the title deed to what around here! This one-act musical entertainment by W.S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay showcases the librettist’s signature blend of legal hijinks and supernatural whimsy, combined with a score by one of England’s most eminent composers of comic opera in the years before Gilbert teamed up with Sullivan.

Sullivan Songs

Music by Arthur Sullivan
Text by W.S. Gilbert and Others

Ages Ago was originally produced in a double bill with Arthur Sullivan’s popular one-act opera Cox and Box, and it was at a rehearsal for the original production that the librettist and composer first met. In honor of this, Opera Picciona’s performances of Ages Ago will be preceded by a concert of Sullivan Songs, featuring art songs by Gilbert’s best-known collaborator. The program will include three songs written by Sullivan to texts by Gilbert in 1874 and 1875, representing some of the earliest and least-known fruits of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration.

Company

Rosa / Lady Maud de Bohun - Alice J. Lambert
Mrs. MacMotherly / Dame Cherry Maybud - Manya Gaver-Holmes
Columbus Hebblethwaite / Sir Aubrey de Beaupré - Robert Farruggia
Sir Ebenezer Tare / Lord Carnaby Poppytop - Richard Holmes
Steward / Brown - Martin Everall

Covers and Concert Singers - Thomas Baker, Alyssa Mener*, Merrill Mitchell*, Renee Ricevuto
* Merril Mitchell will perform October 23. Alyssa Mener will perform October 24.

Director - Natan Zamansky
Music Director - Marisa Green
Pianist - Kevin Hull

 

Program Notes