FROM 30 MARCH TO 7 MAY WITH A PRESS NIGHT ON FRIDAY 1 APRIL
Sasha Regan’s critically acclaimed all-male IOLANTHE will open at Wilton’s Music Hall on Friday 1 April, following previews from 30 March, for a limited season, ending 7 May. Originally staged at the Union Theatre towards the end of last year, this is the second Union Theatre production to transfer to Wilton’s, following the success of Pirates of Penzance last year, which won the Best Off-West End Production in the Whatsonstage Awards 2010.
Universally regarded as Sir Arthur Sullivan’s most beautiful score, IOLANTHE is a topsy-turvy love story involving fairies and members of the House of Lords. The first Gilbert and Sullivan opera to be staged at the Savoy Theatre, it opened in London in 1882 and, simultaneously, in New York.
Sasha Regan’s production, with design by Stewart Charlesworth, has been set in a public boys’ school. Choreography is by Mark Smith, director and choreographer of new dance company, Deaf Men Dancing, with musical supervision by Michael England and musical direction by Chris Mundy.
IOLANTHE stars Shaun McCourt as ‘Chancellor’, Alex Weatherhill as ‘Fairy Queen’, Louis Maskell as ‘Strephon’, Alan Richardson as ‘Phyliss’, Christopher Finn as ‘Iolanthe’, Matthew James Willis as ‘Earl Tolloller’, Luke Fredericks as ‘Earl Mountararat’, Reuben Kaye as ‘Celia’, Adam Lewis Ford as ‘Lelia’ and Raymond Tait as ‘Private Willis’. Also in the cast are Kingsley Hall, Robin Rayner, Matthew McLoughlin, Shane Lindley, Joseph Davenport and Patrick George.
Sasha Regan founded the Union Theatre in 1998. IOLANTHE is the fourth all-male Gilbert and Sullivan production produced here, the first three being HMS Pinafore, The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. The latter was also directed by Sasha Regan.
IOLANTHE is produced at Wilton’s Music Hall by Regan De Wynter and Wilton’s.
LISTINGS IOLANTHE
Dates 30 March – 7 May 2011
Performances Tuesday-Saturday 7.30pm, Saturday & Sunday 2.30pm
Tickets £23 (£15 previews; £18 concessions; £60 family ticket)
Place Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley, off Ensign Street, London E1 8JB
Box Office 020 7702 2789
Release issued by: Amanda Malpass Media
What a fabulous show.
Oh my, I am still sighing nearly 24 hours later. Lovely, pretty boys singing so beautifully in a half restored building. Paying carefully attention to the witty score with it’s parallels to the government coalition of today the all-male cast provided joy, mirth and the occassional tear from beginning to end. Like their version of Pirates of Penzance there was no drag, no high-campery or screeching falsettos, just fairies seducing peers in the house of lords. The costumes reflected the stripped back nature of the hall and all the cast protrayed great feeling with the smallest gestures and facial ticks. I want to watch it another 14 times, so I can spend time following each individual actor. They all had some wonderful moments
And the venue is just perfect, if you’ve never been to the oldest musical hall, then it’s worth it just for that. Go to http://www.wiltons.org.uk/ for more.
There’s nothing else to say, except go see it (you’ve got until 7th May, for a wonderous evening that will have you smiling inside for the next week.
I just wonder, given the gender imbalance in my musical theatre group, whether an all-female Gilbert and Sullivan show could deliver the goods.