“Oh, maiden, rich in Girton lore that wisdom which, we prized before we do confess is nothingness, and rather less, perhaps, than more. On each of us thy learning shed. On calculus may we be fed. And teach us, please, to speak with ease, all languages, alive and dead!”
Utopia, Limited
“Oh! the hours are gold, and the joys untold, when my eyes behold my beloved Princess; and the years will seem but a brief daydream, in the joy extreme of our happiness!”
Utopia, Limited
Utopia, Limited or The Flowers of Progress
March 1 to 24, 2024
The GSVLOC COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan for our Audience
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present Utopia, Limited, for four weekends, from March 1st through March 24th of 2024.
This production will be directed by Maureen Kane Berg, with music direction by Dr. Randal Buikema.
In our newly revised production, Utopia, Limited takes place on the idyllic island of Utopia, somewhere across the sea. Utopia is now a society of people whose great-great-great-grandparents had arrived from England to settle the uninhabited island over a century ago. During the years before the story takes place, Utopia has developed into an independent nation, which has recently renewed its relations with Britain.
Princess Zara returns to Utopia, after having completed her studies at Cambridge University’s Girton College, with a plan to free her father from the machinations of the two judges of the Utopian Supreme Court, by remodeling Utopia’s government. While Princess Zara’s reforms appear to be successful, are they, perhaps, too successful?
Written near the turn of the nineteenth century, but with the sensibilities of the late twentieth century, Utopia, Limited is a remarkably progressive story, unique to all of Gilbert and Sullivan, in that the driving force of the story is a college educated woman, who sets out to reform her nation’s society and government out of love for her father.
The cast for this production of Utopia, Limited includes:
King Nigel Paramount: | Waldyn Benbenek |
Princess Zara: | Mary Kettlewell |
Princess Natasha: | Mallory Rabehl |
Princess Katherine: | Ella Rose Katzenberger |
Lady Sophy: | Lara Trujillo |
Henry Phantis; | Joe Andrews |
Colin Scaphio: | Tom Berg |
Thomas Tarara: | Scott Benson |
Captain Fitzbattleaxe: | Josh Zapata-Palmer |
Mr. Goldbury: | Joe Allen |
Mrs. Blushington: | Kelly Danger |
Captain Corcoran: | Jacob Koshiol |
Sir Bailey Barre: | Jeff Erickson |
Phyllis: | Rosemary Vega |
Sarah: | Mikaela Moe |
Margaret: | Alyssa Ehlen |
Chorus of Utopians, First Life Guards
Mary Mescher Benbenek | Maggie Benham |
Sarah Brickeen | Jim Brooks |
Justin Cervantes | Tessa Dahlgren |
Mary Gregory | Stephen Hage |
Noah Han | Trenton Johnson |
Therese Kulas | Dean Laurance |
Blanka Melbostad | Jaezmyne Pheanious-Browne |
Gary Pye | Richard Rames |
Seth Tychon Steidl | Angela Walberg |
Riley Webster | Holly Windle |
Our company has revised Utopia, Limited to address the various concerns with the original script. We encourage you to read about our revisions on our website’s Utopia, Limited Revised page and to review the revised script.
Our production will be a world premiere of an adaptation that we will share freely with other Gilbert and Sullivan companies that might be considering staging the show. It is our hope that our adaptation will make it possible for Utopia, Limited to become an operetta that is performed far more regularly by companies around the world.
The performances will be at the Conn Theater, at Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue South, in Minneapolis.
Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30 pm. The Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 pm.
If you would like to be notified about when to order tickets, we invite you to add your name to our mailing list. This way, we will know how to contact you! We never sell our mailing list to other parties.
Two excellent internet resources for information about Utopia, Limited: