"Princess Ida" by Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at Howard Conn Fine Arts Center

This is the fourth year in a row I've attended Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's spring production of, you guessed it, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Before becoming familiar with this company (that's been around for more than 30 years), I had no idea G&S wrote so many shows! I was only familiar with the more popular ones (e.g., Pirates of Penzance and H.M.S. Pinafore, both of which I love), and it's been fun to discover the lesser known and performed works of this unique composing team. This year they're performing Princess Ida in a steampunk style (which just makes everything more fun). And similar to Park Square Theatre's ingenious adaptation of Pirates of Penzance (now playing through March 24), GSVLOC has made some minor adjustments that make this 130 year old play a little more palatable to modern ears. The result is quite a feminist story of a university by and for women, who live without men. It's Gilbert and Sullivan, so of course it ends with a happy ending to a love story, but at least these female characters are a little more smart and independent than the usual. And as always, it's such a treat to the ears to hear an operetta performed with cast and orchestra too large to count (but north of 30). Traditional, yet modern, this Princess Ida strikes just the right tone.

"Iolanthe" by Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company at Howard Conn Fine Arts Center

Did you know there's a company in town entirely dedicated to the works of music-comedy geniuses Gilbert and Sullivan? Neither did I, until last year about this time, when I "discovered" the 30-year-old Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company through their marvelous production of H.M.S. Pinafore. They followed that up last year with the one-act Trial by Jury at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, where it was one of the top-selling shows. While they may be new to me, they obviously have a very loyal audience, and deservedly so. If you're among that audience, you don't need me to tell you what a wonderful job they do. If you're not, and you're a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's particular brand of witty, clever, rhythmic comic opera, you might want to check out their latest production. This year they're presenting the lesser known (to me anyway) Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri. And it is, once again, a delightful production of a very funny farce/fantasy/ political satire, beautifully performed by a cast of over 40 and a backstage orchestra nearly as large. GSVLOC fills a unique and specific niche in our rich Twin Cities theater community, one that I'm delighted to have "discovered."