The McAdo, or The Town of Ballydew

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present a new adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado for four weekends, from Friday, November 1 to Sunday, November 24, 2024.  This reimagined version of the show, graciously shared with us by Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, is set in the highlands of Scotland and retitled The McAdo.

Lanky Doug, a strolling minstrel, arrives in the Scottish town of Ballydew, seeking to marry the beautiful Wynn Somme.  He learns, however, that Wynn Somme is already engaged to Coco, a cheap tailor, who has been unexpectedly raised the rank of Lord High Executioner.  Heartbroken, Lanky Doug contemplates suicide. In the meantime, Coco is unable to find someone to execute, as he must do, before the arrival of the clan Laird, The McAdo.  Coco hits on a plan that will solve both of their problems.  He will offer Lanky Doug a month of marriage to Wynn Somme if Lanky Doug allows Coco to execute him at the end of that month.  What Coco doesn’t realize is that Lanky Doug is the son of The McAdo and has run away to avoid marriage to the bloodthirsty Katie Shaw.  The arrival of The McAdo complicates matters, but ultimately brings the story to a delightful, satisfying conclusion.

This production will be a first for the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company as there will be two casts of principals … the Gilbert Cast and the Sullivan Cast … alternating performances.

The casts for this production of The McAdo includes:

Chorus of Members of the McAdo Clan and residents of Ballydew

The Gilbert Cast and the Sullivan Cast Performance Schedule

For this upcoming production, the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company owes an extraordinary debt of gratitude to the members of Gilbert & Sullivan Austin, who invited and strongly encouraged the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company to produce its reimagined version of the operetta, set in Scotland.  Surprisingly few changes to Gilbert’s libretto and Sullivan’s score were necessary to transport the story to Scotland.  The fact that it is possible to transport this operetta from its original to a new setting speaks to the underlying universality of the piece as a delightful commentary on human folly and isn’t tied to one fictional local or another.

For a fuller discussion about this and previous revisions to The Mikado, we invite you to read our full presentation on The Mikado Revised page of our website.

The performances will be at the Conn Theater, at Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue South, in Minneapolis.

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