Operetta: Rare and Well Done

Since the earliest days of operetta, historical figures—famous and infamous—have served as inspiration for characters, plots, songs, and shows. The stage counterparts of these figures—from Cleopatra to Casanova, Madame Pompadour to Napoleon, Boccaccio to Goethe—have provided us history lessons, but tempered with the satirical, romantic, and glamorized stylings of operetta. OLO has taken advantage of the inactivity during the COVID crisis to craft, and secure materials for, a live-streamed concert titled Operetta: Rare and Well Done, comprising 13 songs and narration associated, in one way or another, with historical personages and events. Our goal—as with The Daring of Diane—is to chip away at those 10,000 operetta titles that OLO has yet to present on stage. Composers represented include Jacques Offenbach, Franz von Suppé, Arthur Sullivan, and George Gershwin. The historical characters range from queens to sculptors to actors to composers. Make no mistake … these songs, drawn from the French, German, British, and American repertoire, are rare! But you will be humming or knee-slapping the tunes for days.

Ensemble: Mark Hosseini, Benjamin Krumreig, Teryn Kuzma, Joelle Lachance, Michelle Pedersen, Elizabeth Perkins, Spencer Reese, Tanya Roberts, Caitlin Ruddy, Julie Wright Costa Narration Text and Song Selections by Michael Miller Julie Wright Costa, Stage Director Wilson Southerland, Music Director, piano Spencer Reese, Choreographer Justin Gibson, Lighting Designer Kiah Kayser, Scenic and Props Artisan Christopher Plummer, Sound Designer