Port Washington’s Claudia Arroyo Co-Stars In Princess Ida

Port Washington’s Claudia Arroyo is co-starring in the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island’s 2023 production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic Princess Ida, currently touring Long Island with shows in Smithtown, Port Washington, Commack and Oakdale.

Princess Ida—which debuted in 1884 at London’s Savoy opera, with book and lyrics by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan—is a favorite with Gilbert & Sullivan aficionados, with its score in particular regarded as perhaps Sullivan’s greatest. The current production, which features a 23-piece orchestra, is the Light Opera Company’s first since 2007.

The opera is set in eastern Europe in the 15th century. Arroyo plays Chloe, a young woman who has fled life in “man’s world” to study at Princess Ida’s women’s university, which preaches such radical ideas as egalitarianism, women’s education and equal rights for all.

“Princess Ida is unlike any other Gilbert & Sullivan opera,” said director Gayden Wren, a longtime member of the company and also the author of an acclaimed book about Gilbert & Sullivan. “It’s Shakespearean in its scope, and its humor—which combines farce, slapstick, satire and burlesque—is in the service of a story of unique emotional power. Ida and Hilarion are two sides of the same coin, young aristocrats who’ve been pawns in their fathers’ rivalry almost since they were born. The story pits them as enemies, but as the opera progresses they begin to see something of themselves in each other, and to sense the outlines of a future different from the one they’ve always been told awaits them.

“Claudia is a wonderful performer,” Wren continued. “She’s been with the company since 2019, and she keeps getting better and better, both as a singer and as an actress. She’s also a great person to work with, and we’re very fortunate to have her.”

Princess Ida will be presented on Saturday, June 24, at 8 p.m. at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater at the Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington; on Sunday, June 25, at 3 p.m. at the Star Playhouse at the Mid-Island Y/JCC in Commack; and on Saturday, July 1, at 8 p.m. at the CM Performing Arts Center in Oakdale. Admission is $30, seniors and students $25. For tickets or further information, call (516) 619-7415 or visit www.gaslocoli.org.

—Submitted by the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island