The Grand Duke in Concert
Gilbert & Sullivan Austin presents a concert adaptation of scholar John Wolfson's popular restoration of The Grand Duke as Gilbert originally intended. When Gilbert's longtime stars became unavailable in 1896, he hastily rewrote The Grand Duke, creating an unbalanced work that puzzled audiences for over a hundred years.
Using Gilbert's original plot book from the British Library, Wolfson removed the challenging added scenes and restored Gilbert's intended structure. The Grand Duke was revealed to be a brilliant meta-theatrical comedy, and Wolfson’s version has achieved international popularity. The last opera in the Gilbert & Sullivan canon is now revealed as an underrated gem!
A theatre troupe plots to overthrow the titular Grand Duke of Pfennig Halbpfennig, a miserly man who is in chronically poor health from years of living as cheaply as possible. Among the laws of this small Grand Duchy is the Statutory Duel, a successor to old-fashioned sword or pistol duels in which the antagonists duel using playing cards. The loser is physically unharmed, but is considered dead for all legal purposes. The result is as absurd as it sounds!
Amy will be performing the role of Julia Jellicoe, An English Comédienne.
More information at www.gilbertsullivan.org.
Tickets may be purchased HERE.