The University of Iowa Summer Opera will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, July 10-12, and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.
A satire of the Aesthetic movement, Patience tells a light-hearted tale of the rivalry of two poets fighting for the affection of a milkmaid. Zany twists and turns make this show a classic Gilbert and Sullivan production, full of wit, charm, and a delightfully uplifting musical score.
Nicholas Wuehrmann will direct the UI production and William LaRue Jones, director of the UI Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the orchestra.
Featured characters and respective cast members are:
- Colonel Calverley: Mitchell Widmer
- Major Murgatroyd: John Williams
- Duke of Dunstable: Chris Dockum
- Bunthorne: Michael Penick
- Grosvenor: Matthew Skibo
- Lady Angela: Tessa Hoffman
- Lady Saphir: Janet Ziegler
- Lady Ella: Megan Henry
- Lady Jane: Audrey Yoder
- Patience: Jacqueline Lang
- Bunthorne’s Solicitor: John Muriello
Wuehrmann has directed Countess Maritza, The Merry Widow, Utopia Limited, and The Pirates of Penzance for Ohio Light Opera, and his productions of Die Zauberflöte and Hänsel und Gretel have been touring around Europe for three years under the auspices of Great Performances in Germany. He has also directed Romance/Romance, You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow, Starting Here Starting Now, The World Goes ’Round, and jimmy for Seaside Music Theater/UCF. His production of Baby earned him a Kennedy Center Award for outstanding direction. He directed the 2013 UI Summer Opera production, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.
Since 1997, Jones has been professor of music and director of orchestral studies and conductor of orchestras and opera at the UI. In 2011 he received the distinct honor of becoming a Collegiate Fellow in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His conducting schedule includes a wide array of professional, festival, collegiate, and student ensembles throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, ranging from the Minnesota Orchestra and the Minneapolis Pops to the Penang (Malaysia) Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Theatro da Paz (Belem, Brazil), the Antofagasta (Chile) Symphony, and the Symphony Orchestra of Lucerne (Switzerland).
Tickets are $20 ($15 for senior citizens, $10 for youth, and $5 for UI students with a valid UI ID) and are available from the Hancher Box Office in the Old Capitol Town Center. Tickets are available at hbotix.hancher.uiowa.edu/Online/default.asp. Hancher Box Office summer business hours, for walk-up and phone sales, are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Call 319-335-1160 or 800-426-2437. People with special needs for access, seating, and auxiliary services should dial 319-335-1158, which is equipped with TDD for people with hearing impairment.
The School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts are units of the Division of Performing Arts in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For accommodations at the concert contact the School of Music at 319-335-1603. For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events, visit the Arts Iowa website.