Fall 1994: The Zoo
Notes
Gilbert and Sullivan's first collaboration, Thespis, ran for barely a month in 1872 and then vanished. The two parted company for a time, teaming up again three years later when a one-act operetta was needed to round out a program featuring Offenbach's La Perichole. This musical dessert was Trial By Jury, and it soon proved more popular than the main course. Sullivan and Rowe's The Zoo, written to follow a play by Gilbert, opened at another theatre three months later and was clearly an attempt to capitalize on the success of Trial. It never achieved the same popularity and all but disappeared until 1966, when the musical score surfaced at an auction at Southby's. In both operas, Sullivan's spirited music makes deft allusions to the conventions — and pretensions — of Grand Opera. And, as there is no spoken dialogue in either show, it's an evening of wall-to-wall Sullivan.
Director: Byron Wilmot
Music Director: Leanne DeVane
Producer: Bob Weeks
Cast
- Aesculapius Carboy
- Ron Herman
- Eliza Smith
- Pamela Good
- Thomas Brown (the Duke of Islington)
- Bill Hammond
- Laetitia
- Anne Virgil
- Laetitia's Sister
- Amanda Lobaugh
- Mr. Grinder
- David Schafer
Chorus
Scott Baros, Terry Benedict, Lynette Blake, Tracy Burdick, Richard Burns, Jim Caffrey, Eileen D'Esterno, Christine Dettman, Peter Dunbar, Julia Ferreira, Nancy Galletto, Stephen Gullo, Isabele Henry, Lindsay Holmes, Cathy Lazaroff, Jamie Loehr, Mary Lyubomirsky, Linda Minier, Patti Anne Montrois, Jean Gordon Ryon, Bob Weeks, Sarah Zaffora-Reeder, Scot Zaffora-Reeder
Crew
- House Manager
- Jordu Kelly-Sutliff
- Stage Manager
- Robert Ciaccia
- Props
- Bodie McCaffrey
- Costume Manager
- Maryanne Lettis
- Lighting Designer
- Michele Denber
- Program Design
- Sarah Freeman