“We must dance and
we must sing!”

—Chorus of Fairies
Iolanthe

Special Performances

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company’s regular performances include its fully staged productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at the Conn Theater, annually every spring, and its summer concert presentations of the operettas, with the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, at the Lake Harriet Bandshell.  The Company has been presenting the former since 1980 and the latter since 1995.

On a few occasions, however, the Company has also staged other special performances.  These have included a 1982 concert of a selection of Gilbert and Sullivan works, a 2000 concert featuring orchestral and choral works by Sir Arthur Sullivan, a semi-staged concert presentation of a H.M.S. Pinafore, in the spring of 2001, and a concert presentation of Sullivan’s The Rose of Persia, in fall of 2001.  The Company also presented The Da Vinci Coda, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta parody, in 2007 and performed as a choir in a performance of The Events at the Guthrie Theater, in the fall of 2015.  Most recently, the Company has appeared at the Minnesota State Fair, performing selections from both its upcoming productions and other Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

While special performances have been rare occurrences, the Company considers these events to be an important part of its history.

“Then I may sing and play?” 

    “You may!”

—Princess Nekaya and Lord Dramaleigh
Utopia Limited