Music
Iolanthe
Show Dates | |||
Synopsis |
Twenty-five years before the setting of the opera, Iolanthe, a fairy, had committed the capital offense of marrying a mortal. The Queen of the Fairies had commuted the sentence to lifelong exile, on condition that Iolanthe leave her husband and never see him again. Her son, Strephon, has grown up as a shepherd, half fairy, half mortal. Strephon loves Phyllis, a ward of the Court of Chancery. She loves Strephon but is unaware of his mixed origin. Meanwhile, the entire House of Lords is enamoured with Phyllis, especially the Lord Chancellor, her guardian. At the start of the opera, the fairies persuade the Queen to pardon Iolanthe, and she returns, introducing Strephon to her sisters. The Queen agrees to help when Strephon announces his wish to marry Phyllis despite the Lord Chancellor's refusal. The House of Lords enter and appeal to the Lord Chancellor to give her to whichever peer she chooses. Phyllis then enters and declines to marry a peer, announcing her intent to marry Strephon. The peers angrily refuse and leave, taking Phyllis with them. Iolanthe enters and holds a tender conversation with her son. But, as she (like all fairies) looks like a girl of seventeen, Phyllis and the peers misinterpret the scene. They don't believe that Strephon is being faithful, and Phyllis decides to marry one of two peers, Mountararat or Tolloller. The fairies take revenge by sending Strephon to Parliament and casting a spell to make all the peers pass any bills that Strephon chooses, including entry to Parliament depending on intelligence rather than class. The peers are terrified and appeal to the fairies not to carry this out, but they refuse. The peers are upset about Strephon's success in Parliament and appeal to the fairies to return things to normal. The lords sing of the glory of Parliament and Britain as the fairies notice how cute the peers are. The Queen is shocked by the fairies' feminine weakness and, while acknowledging the effect of manly beauty, asserts that she is strong. Tolloller and Mountararat discover that if either marries Phyllis, they must move to Utica and renounce their titles. They conceed in the name of friendship. Meanwhile, the Lord Chancellor has had a sleepless night and eventually decides to marry Phyllis himself. Strephon confesses to Phyllis that he is half a fairy, and they decide to marry as soon as possible. They persuade Iolanthe to appeal to the Lord Chancellor on their behalf, and she does so, revealing that she is his wife. Thus, she again incurs the death penalty. Meanwhile, the fairies have married the peers and so all should die. The Lord Chancellor suggests that by adding the word "don't" to the fairy law, the fairies will not have to die. To save her life, the Queen marries Private Willis, all the mortals are transformed into fairies, and they all fly away to Fairyland, leaving the House of Lords to be filled according to intelligence, not birth. | ||
Cast |
The Lord Chancellor - Bart Smith The Fairies: Emily Baker, Erin Roberts, Heather Hawke, Gretchen Phillips, Theresa Lashway, Jeryl Hayes, Joanna Gollobin, Kristi Herrmann, Morgan Koepke, Sarah Kronour, Jennifer Leachman, and Leah Lombardo
The Peers: Domonic Dodrill, Geoff Peart, Ben Webb, Ryan Robinson, and Matthew Briggs | ||
Program |
Act I - An Arcadian Landscape
Tripping Hither, Tripping Thither - Fairies Invocation - Fairies, Queen, and Iolanthe Good Morrow, Good Mother - Strephon Fare Thee Well - Fairies and Queen Good Morrow, Good Lover - Phyllis and Strephon None Shall Part Us From Each Other - Phyllis and Strephon Loudly Let the Trumpet Bray - Peers The Law is the True Embodiment - Lord Chancellor and Peers My Well Loved Lords - Phyllis and Peers My Lords it May Not Be - Phyllis, Strephon, Lord Chancellor, and Peers When Darkly Looms the Day (Act I Finale) - Company Act II - Palace Yard, WestminsterWhen All Night Long a Chap Remains - Private WillisStrephon's a Member of Parliament - Fairies and Peers When Britain Really Ruled the Waves - Lords Trolloller and Mountararat, Chorus Oh Foolish Fay - Queen and Fairies Though P'Raps I May Incur Your Blame - Lord Trolloller, Lord Mountararat, Phyllis, Private Willis He Who Shies at Such a Prize - Lords Tolloller, Lord Mountararat and Lord Chancellor If We're Weak Enough to Tarry - Phyllis and Strephon My Lord, A Suppliant at Your Feet - Iolanthe It May Not Be - Iolanthe, Queen, Lord Chancellor, Fairies Soon as We May Off & Away (Act II Finale) - Company | ||
Photos |
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Special Thanks |
Brian Graves and the Denison Theater Department, Jean McWhorter and the Licking County Players, Costume Specialists, and Rick and Cheridy Keller |
