{"id":6492,"date":"2024-09-26T17:01:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/midlands-light-opera-society-presents-gilbert-and-sullivans-iolanthe\/"},"modified":"2024-09-26T17:01:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:01:08","slug":"midlands-light-opera-society-presents-gilbert-and-sullivans-iolanthe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/midlands-light-opera-society-presents-gilbert-and-sullivans-iolanthe\/","title":{"rendered":"Midlands Light Opera Society Presents Gilbert and Sullivan\u2019s Iolanthe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Midlands Light Opera Society is set to enchant audiences with Gilbert and Sullivan&rsquo;s beloved operetta, <em>Iolanthe<\/em>, from <strong>September 27 to 29<\/strong>. Performances will take place at <strong>7:30 PM<\/strong> on both the <strong>27th and 28th<\/strong>, with a matinee at <strong>3 PM<\/strong> on the <strong>29th<\/strong>. All shows will be held in <strong>Bennett Hall<\/strong> at <strong>First Christian Church<\/strong>, located at <strong>2062 N Beltline Boulevard in Columbia<\/strong>. Attendees can enter through the double doors under the driveway.<\/p>\n<p>The story unfolds with the <strong>Queen of the Fairies<\/strong>, played by <strong>Felicia Torres<\/strong>, who pardons <strong>Iolanthe<\/strong> (portrayed by <strong>Evelyn Clary<\/strong>), a fairy exiled for 25 years due to her marriage to a mortal. Iolanthe spent her time banished at the bottom of a pond to be close to her half-fairy, half-mortal son, <strong>Strephon<\/strong> (played by <strong>Terry Artis<\/strong>). Strephon is engaged to <strong>Phyllis<\/strong> (played by <strong>Christi Pirkle<\/strong>), a ward of the court, requiring the <strong>Lord Chancellor<\/strong> (played by <strong>Roddey Smith<\/strong>) to give consent for their marriage. However, the Lord Chancellor has his own romantic interests in Phyllis, as do <strong>Lord Tolloller<\/strong> (played by <strong>Nikki Anderson<\/strong>) and <strong>Lord Montararat<\/strong> (played by <strong>Ben Palmer<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>The fairies, led by <strong>Leila<\/strong> (<strong>Stephanie Villamizar<\/strong>), <strong>Celia<\/strong> (<strong>Shelby Sessler<\/strong>), and <strong>Fleta<\/strong> (<strong>Amy Thomasson<\/strong>), rally to help Strephon win Phyllis&rsquo;s hand. Meanwhile, <strong>Private Willis<\/strong> (<strong>Andrew Skaggs<\/strong>) tries to maintain order as family secrets surface and the fairies meddle in politics. Rounding out the cast is an all-ages chorus of fairies and peers, featuring <strong>Sophia Almeida<\/strong>, <strong>Lilith Clary<\/strong>, <strong>Mark Foil<\/strong>, <strong>Kim Foil<\/strong>, <strong>Harmony Hayslette<\/strong>, <strong>Julie Lumpkin<\/strong>, <strong>Alex Mabrey<\/strong>, <strong>Janice Boan Mabrey<\/strong>, <strong>Maria Martinez<\/strong>, <strong>Sara Martinez<\/strong>, <strong>Ashley Mize<\/strong>, and <strong>William Thomasson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The production is helmed by director <strong>Roddey Smith<\/strong>, with musical accompaniment by <strong>Ashleigh Morse<\/strong> and musical direction by <strong>Ronnie Wise<\/strong>. Costumes are designed by <strong>Susan Scaccia<\/strong>, with stage management by <strong>Hollie Smith<\/strong> and choreography by <strong>Leighton Mount<\/strong>. The production is produced by <strong>Evelyn Clary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Even though this work premiered in 1882, the show is still captivating audiences. The tunes are catchy, people love fairies, and everyone likes to poke fun at politicians,&rdquo; said Roddey Smith. &ldquo;This is a true community production,&rdquo; Clary noted. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s delightful to witness the diversity of talent. We have cast members who are professionals, those returning after a break, and newcomers, all working together harmoniously.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Tickets are priced at <strong>$10<\/strong> for seniors (65+) and students, and <strong>$15<\/strong> for all others. Tickets can be purchased with cash or check at the door, or online with a <strong>$1 processing fee<\/strong> for card purchases at the door. For online ticket purchases, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeffy.com\/ticketing\/aec73aab-0998-47b7-ac36-c9b92140db45\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Zeffy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Midlands Light Opera Society is a <strong>501(c)(3) nonprofit organization<\/strong>. For additional information and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/midlandslightopera.wixsite.com\/midlands-light-opera\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Midlands Light Opera<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Midlands Light Opera Society is set to enchant audiences with Gilbert and Sullivan&rsquo;s beloved operetta, Iolanthe, from September 27 to 29. Performances will take place at 7:30 PM on both the 27th and 28th, with a matinee at 3 PM on the 29th. All shows will be held in<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/midlands-light-opera-society-presents-gilbert-and-sullivans-iolanthe\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32],"tags":[103,97,930],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-6492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-events","tag-live-entertainment","tag-live-music","tag-opera"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/GilbertOSullivanOpera_2024_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C347&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}