Wright State Theatre presents the musical farce ‘The Gondoliers’ Feb. 18–27

“The Gondoliers” features, from left: Nora DeGreen as Tessa, Kyle Channell as Giuseppe Palmieri, Kevin Lausche as Marco Palmieri and Elizabeth Mies as Gianetta. (Photo courtesy of Wright State Theatre)

Wright State University Theatre will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera “The Gondoliers” in the Herbst Theatre from Feb. 18–27.

Performances take place Feb. 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 20, 26 and 27 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students. For tickets, call the Box Office at 937-775-2500 or purchase tickets online.

Seating for this production is limited to 60 patrons per performance. Patrons, cast and crew are required to wear masks at all times.

Written in 1889 by Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, “The Gondoliers” is a mistaken-identity musical farce filled with witty songs and nutty characters set in fantastical 19th century Venice.

In the opera, the young bride of the heir of the fictional kingdom of Barataria arrives in Venice to join her husband, who cannot be identified after being confused with the son of a drunken gondolier who was entrusted with his care. After the king is killed, the two young gondoliers jointly rule the kingdom until the rightful king can be identified. Unfortunately, when the young queen arrives to find her husband, she learns that the two gondoliers have both recently married local women. Complicating matters is the fact that the queen is in love with another man.

“The Gondoliers” is directed by Jamie Cordes, senior lecturer in theatre at Wright State; music directed by Matt Ebright, staff musical director; and choreographed by Nora DeGreen, a senior musical theatre major.

The comic opera gives the students a chance to sing a beautiful and funny score unplugged and embody grand characters in a world of outlandish circumstances, Cordes said.

“This production should prove to be a wonderful marriage of singing, movement and acting with elements of Monty Python and a smattering of the surreal humor from the 1980 film ‘Airplane,'” Cordes said. “If you enjoy that, you will most likely love the writing of Gilbert and Sullivan.”

On the stage, “The Gondoliers” features Colin Sproule, Ben Smallwood, Austin Gladstone, Kevin Lausche, Kyle Channel, Julian Goldenstein, Toby Hattemer, Richard Yannotti, Drew Davison, Dani Nissen, Delaney O’Toole, Elisabeth Mies, Nora DeGreen, Amy VanDyke, Sydney Freihofer, Alexis Weihe and Sam Evans. The chorus includes Julie Murphy, Kendra Lodewyk, Aidan Fracker and James Newton.

2021–22 theatre season

Wright State Theatre’s season concludes with “Sweet Charity” from March 18 to April 3 in the Festival Playhouse.