“Hark, the hour of ten is sounding,
hearts with anxious fears are bounding,
Hall of Justice, crowds surrounding,
breathing hope and fear.
 For to-day in this arena,
summoned by a stern subpoena,
Edwin, sued by Angelina,
shortly will appear.”

—The Public Chorus
Trial by Jury
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company’s Production of

The Zoo and Trial by Jury

November 8 to 24, 1996

Photo Gallery

The Zoo / Trial by Jury Program

Directors:  

Stage Director: Donna Carroll
Music Director: Becky Swanson
Artistic Director: Wendy Evans

Program Note

Sir Arthur Sullivan is the connection between the three works on our program.  The first shows his serious (but still light) classical vein.  Overture di Ballo is a ten minute orchestral work that premiered in 1970.

Trial by Jury, a charming gem in the G&S canon, is the earliest existing collaboration between W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.  (The music to the earlier Thespis has been lost.)  Both Trial by Jury and The Zoo were first produced in 1875, three months apart, and both are one-act operettas with no spoken dialogue.  However, the words for The Zoo are by B.C. Stephenson, not Gilbert, and the focus is melodrama rather than satire.  The score for The Zoo was lost for many years.  It re-surfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in 1966 and was soon thereafter made available once more to the theatrical world.  Interestingly, the double bill of The Zoo and Trial by Jury was performed once before in the Twin Cities about twenty-five years ago, and in this very theatre!

Two excellent internet resources for information about Trial by Jury:

Wikipedia – Trial by Jury

The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive – Trial by Jury

Two excellent internet resources for information about The Zoo:

Wikipedia – The Zoo

The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive – The Zoo

The Zoo and Trial by Jury 1996 Show Poster

Show Poster

The Zoo and Trial by Jury 1996 Company Photo

Company Photo

Photography by Daniels Studio

“Are the birds all caged?
 The wild beasts all littered down?”

—Phoebe Meryll
The Yeomen of the Guard