Savoyards Ithaca presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer at the Cornell Schwartz Center: 7:30 PM, June 27 and 28. Free tickets are available at the box office beginning 6:00 PM.Savoyards Ithaca presents Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer at the Cornell Schwartz Center: 7:30 PM, June 27 and 28. Free tickets are available at the box office beginning 6:00 PM.
Celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, The Sorcerer—Gilbert and Sullivan’s first full-length work—both mocks and celebrates English provincial life. Sullivan’s score blends British church and country music and German and Italian opera, while Gilbert’s book satirizes classism and commercialism. Director Holly Adams, however, emphasizes the show’s message of hope and redemption.
In the village of Ploverleigh, a privileged but progressive young couple conducts a rash experiment. To help their frustrated and less privileged neighbors to overcome class barriers and find their soulmates, they hire a cut-rate London sorcerer to concoct a love portion and distributes it at a tea party. The results, of course, are hilariously disastrous. Eventually, order is restored, but not without a cost—and not before the villagers learn some important lessons about the true meaning of community.
The cast features such Ithaca College faculty, students, and alumni as Maggi Chauby, Anthony Di Renzo, and Doug Mathews. Scott Miller, a graduate of the Music Education program, directs the vocal ensemble.
Savoyards Ithaca, formerly the Cornell Savoyards, has performed Gilbert and Sullivan as well as European light opera and classic American musicals since 1953. Recently incorporated, the group is now a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit the company’s website at http://www.savoyardsithaca.org.
The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts is located at 430 College Avenue at the intersection of Oak Avenue. A city parking garage is half a block from the theater on Dryden Street.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20170419085447168