"Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at Howard Conn Fine Arts Center

In their first fall production, Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, the only local company dedicated to the silly, witty, and delightful creations of late 19th Century British librettist and composer W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, respectively, bring us my personal favorite, The Pirates of Penzance! GSVLOC have typically just been doing one show a year, in the spring, but as their dedicated audience would agree, once is just not enough. Directed by Gary Briggle (who played the Major General in the Ordway's 2015 production), the huge cast and off-stage orchestra bring out all of the delicious silliness and gorgeous musicality of the piece. If you're looking for a traditional production of this G&S masterpiece (with an interesting note in the program about the history of the piece - the first to premiere in the U.S.), this is it. See it at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center in Plymouth Congregational Church in South Minneapolis through November 20.

"H.M.S. Pinafore" by Mounds View Community Theatre at Irondale High School

Friends, support your local community theater! In the beautifully rich theater community that is #TCTheater, there is a ton of great work being done in high schools, community centers, churches, and other locations around the Twin Cities metro area. Most of which I don't get to see because I'm too busy seeing work by the 70+ professional theater companies. But lucky for me, my local community theater is Mounds View Community Theatre, which does a musical every summer. And lucky for all of us, the director of this year's selection, the delightfully silly Gilbert and Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, is one of the Twin Cities' best director/choreographers Joe Chvala. I saw the show on their closing weekend and was absolutely delighted by it from start to finish. Joe Chvala's energetic and dynamic choreography combined with this amazingly talented and hard-working cast of "amateur" performers and designers, not to mention all the behind the scenes volunteers, adds up a whole lotta joy and rapture for this audience member.