With performances of The Mikado beginning on September 7, Lyric Stage becomes the first major Boston theatre company to begin its season, just days after the Labor Day Weekend. There are some specially priced tickets available, at half price. See below.

Lyric Stage couldn’t have picked a more fitting – and upbeat – show than this timeless classic by Gilbert and Sullivan. The popular musical, sometimes called an operetta, runs until October 13. It will offer a whole new generation the opportunity to discover the mirth and merriment of W.S. Gilbert’s words and the incredible melodies of Sir Arthur Sullivan. It is a show that virtually guarantees its audience to leave the theatre singing bits of song from the show. And did I mention this is colorful, too? The costumes, of course, are always over the top for The Mikado. But so are all the characters you will meet.

Lyric Stage has just announced its cast, and it is very strong, with some of the best artists in the region ready to smash the worlds of musical theatre and opera together.

Brief Plot Description

You can read the details of the crazy plot online, but suffice to say that that it revolves around three little maids from school, a wandering minstrel, a pompous government official, and the Lord High Executioner . . . and they’re just some of the hilariously absurd characters in Gilbert & Sullivan’s most beloved work, The Mikado. Set in the fictional town of Titipu, The Mikado is a tale of the beautiful school girl Yum-Yum who is engaged to be married to Ko-Ko despite her love for the romantic wandering minstrel, Nanki-Poo. Will these two young lovers find their happily-ever-after . . . or will heads roll?

CREATIVE TEAM:

Directed by Spiro Veloudos

Musical Director, Jonathan Goldberg

Scenic Design, Janie Howland**

Costume Design, Rafael Jaen**

Lighting Design, Karen Perlow      

FEATURING: 

Timothy John Smith*……………..The Mikado of Japan                     

Davron S. Monroe*………………..Nanki-Poo (his son, disguised as a wandering minstrel; in love with Yum-Yum)

Bob Jolly*……………………………….Ko-Ko (Lord High Executioner of Titipu)

David Kravitz………………………….Pooh-Bah (Lord High Everything Else)

Rishi Basu………………………………Pish-Tush (A Noble Lord)

Erica Spyres*…………………………Yum-Yum (Ward of Ko-Ko)

Teresa Winner Blume……………Pitti-Sing (Ward of Ko-Ko, sister of Yum-Yum)

Stephanie Granade……………….Peep-Bo (Ward of  Ko-Ko, sister of Yum-Yum and Pitti-Sing)

Leigh Barrett*……………………….Katisha (an elderly Lady, in love with Nanki-Poo)

Ensemble:

Christina English, Joelle Kross, Kathryn McKellar, Brandon Milardo, Brian Richard Robinson*, Matt Spano*

*Member of Actors Equity Association (AEA)     ** United Scenic Artists (USA-Local 829)

WHEN: September 9 – October 13, 2012
Wednesdays, Thursdays – 7:30pm
Wednesday matinees – 2pm, September 12 and October 10
Fridays – 8pm
Saturdays – 3pm & 8pm
Sundays – 3pm
Post-show talkbacks: Sundays, September 9, 23 after 3pm performance
Press opening: Sunday, September 9, 3pm
VIP Opening: Wednesday, September 12 – 7:30pm (post-show reception with cast and crew — open to all ticket holders)

WHERE: The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116

TICKETS: $25 – $62.
Seniors – $5 off regular price.
Student rush – $10.
Group rates available.
Box Office: 617-585-5678
website: lyricstage.com

There are some discounted tickets available for Mikado as well, for selected performances. To access them, use our link, sign in with an email and you will see a variety of offers from all across the country. Click me

A poster from 1919.

ABOUT THE MIKADO CAST:

Leigh Barrett* (Katisha) returns to The Lyric Stage after last appearing in Big River. Other Lyric Stage credits include: Animal Crackers, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Grey Gardens, Follies, Souvenir, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, and Nuncrackers. Boston area credits include: The Drowsy Chaperone, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Adding Machine: A Musical, Passion, A Class Act, Elegies, Songs for a New World,The Mystery of Edwin Drood (SpeakEasy Stage), The World Goes ‘Round, Indulgences, Dessa Rose, Side By Side By Sondheim, Into the Woods, Ragtime, The Threepenny Opera, Sweeney Todd (New Repertory Theatre), Gypsy, Pal Joey, You Never Know, Picnic, A Christmas Carol (Stoneham Theatre), Marry Me a Little, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well (Gloucester Stage). She has most recently completed a long and successful run of Car Talk the Musical at Central Square Theatre. Leigh is the proud recipient of two Elliot Norton Awards and two IRNE Awards. Upcoming performances include All about Election Eve at SpeakEasy Stage Company and A Christmas Carol at North Shore Music Theater.

Teresa Winner Blume (Pitti-Sing) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Recent Boston credits include: Floyd Collins and Lucky Stiff with Moonbox Productions;L’Ile de Tulipatan, Loves of Lehar, and Happy Arcadia with New England Light Opera. Opera credits include: The Mikado (Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera); Le Nozze di Figaro (Grant Llewellyn and the North Carolina Symphony); L’Elisir d’Amore; Albert Herring; The Tempest. Musical Theatre/Theatre: Into the Woods, West Side Story, Black Comedy, An Italian-American Reconciliation. Concert soloist: Carmina Burana (Canton Symphony Orchestra), Brahms Requiem, FaureRequiem, Mahler Symphony No. 4, and twice as the featured soloist in concert with the North Carolina Symphony. Teresa is an actress/singer on the roster ofBoston’s New Opera and Musical Theatre Initiative (NOMTI), a workshop for writers creating new works. She is currently collaborating on a 27-song cycle for soprano and piano, “Prayers from the Ark,” with composer Nancy Rexford. As an art song recitalist, Teresa was a national semi-finalist for the NATS Artist Awards competition, after winning both Massachusetts and New England divisions. Teresa holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Master of Music in Voice from the Eastman School of Music. www.TeresaWinnerBlume.com

Christina English (Ensemble) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Regional opera credits include Orpheus in the Underworld, Little Women (Boston Opera Collaborative), Cardillac, Béatrice et Bénédict (Opera Boston), Così fan tutte and Hansel and Gretel (Riverside Theatreworks). She has recently returned to musical theater with Union Park, a vocal quartet performing newly arranged Broadway, pop, and holiday revues. Christina has been a young artist with the Seagle Music Colony and Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, and she sings locally with Lorelei Ensemble and First Church Boston.www.christinaenglish.com

Stephanie Granade  (Peep Bo) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Stephanie is a native of Conyers, Georgia. She recently received her Masters in Voice Performance from the University of Kentucky before moving to Boston. Theater Credits: Oliver! (The Schubert Theatre, NYC), A Christmas Carol (North Shore Music Theatre), Follies (NextDoor Theatre), 21^st Annual Summer Concert Series (Longwood Opera, Camelot (Irish Repertory Theater), Cendrillon (MetroWest Opera Company), La Bohème, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, and River of Time (Lexington Opera House, KY, and Die Fledermaus (Operafestival di Roma in Rome, Italy).  www.stephaniegranade.com

David Kravitz (Pooh-Bah) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Opera credits include Intermezzo (New York City Opera), Turandot (Florentine Opera), Die Fledermaus (Opera Memphis), The Inspector (Boston Lyric Opera), Death and the Powers (Chicago Opera Theater and American Repertory Theater), The Rake’s Progress (Emmanuel Music), Don Pasquale and L’italiana in Algeri (Boston Midsummer Opera), Cardillac (Opera Boston), and many others. Solo appearances with orchestras include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Cantata Singers and Ensemble, Boston Baroque, and Emmanuel Music. Upcoming engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Emmanuel Music, among others. Recordings on the Naxos, BMOP/sound, Koch International Classics, Albany Records, and New World labels. www.davidkravitz.com

Joelle Kross (Ensemble) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Recent credits include My Fair Lady (Reagle Music Theatre), The 24^th Annual Putnam CountySpelling Bee (Turtle Lane), A Christmas Carol (Hanover Theatre), Lucky Stiff (Moonbox Productions), The Most Happy Fella (Gloucester Stage), and A Little Night Music (Metro Stage). She has also sung with Boston Midsummer Opera, and the London Philharmonic and Video Game Orchestras.  Joelle holds a B.A. in theatre, music, and French from Muhlenberg College. Next up: Life of Riley (Zeitgeist Stage).

Kathryn McKellar (Ensemble) is making her Lyric Stage debut. Musical theater credits include: My Fair Lady (Reagle Music Theater), A Little Night Music(Metro Stage Company), HMS Pinafore (MIT), Guys and Dolls, Carousel, Sound of Music, West Side Story, Grease, Candide. Cabaret: Tonight! Tonight! and Opera goes to Hell (Boston Opera Collaborative), An Evening of Offenbach and Vienna to Broadway (New England Light Opera), Once Upon an Opera (Opera del West). Opera productions and concert/scenes: Carmen (Greater Worcester Opera), L’elisir d’amore and Le nozze di Figaro (The Boston Conservatory), Don Giovanni (Opera Studio Weimar), Gianni Schicchi, Cunning Little Vixen, Little Women, Alcina (Boston Opera Collaborative), Manon, Die Fledermaus(Riverside Theater Works), Streetcar Named Desire, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Dialogues of the Carmelites, The Tempest, The Count of Luxumbourg, Giuditta, Orlando (Bay Area Opera Theater), L’incoronazione di Poppea and Der Zwerg (OperaHub), The Mikado, Orpheus in the Underworld, La bohème, Roméo et Juliette. Miss McKellar is on the roster of the Boston Lyric Opera, co-directs Opera on Tap Boston, and has been featured in concerts and productions across the United States and Europe. Kathryn is also active in new music, dance, film, television, and film score recordings, and is featured artist in a number ofBoston’s most recent film and television projects. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Kathryn received her Masters of Music from The Boston Conservatory where she was a member of The Opera Studio and received first place in the conservatory’s Chamber Music Competition. As a 2012 winner of The American Opera Idol Competition, Kathryn was awarded the Lynne Strow-Piccolo Artist Award, and second place in Audience Votes. www.KathrynMcKellar.com

Brandon Milardo (Ensemble) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Musical theatre credits include Threepenny Opera (Commonwealth Opera) and Candide (Lowell House Opera). Opera: Carmen (NEMPAC), La bohème and Falstaff (Boston Opera Collaborative), Don Giovanni (MetroWest Opera). Brandon has a B.M. in Voice UMass Amherst and an M.M. in Opera Studies from the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Brian Richard Robinson* (Ensemble) returns to The Lyric Stage after having appeared in Side Show (IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), When Pigs Fly (IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), and The Gig. He has been a soloist with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and he is a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, having performed in Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall, and numerous international venues. Regional credits:Trouble in Tahiti, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Seussical, tick, tick…BOOM!, The Bubbly Black Girl…, Caroline, Or Change, Songs for a New World (with Jason Robert Brown), The Sound of Music, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Threepenny Opera, The Will Rogers Follies, Passion, The Wild Party (LaChiusa), and A New Brain. While an undergraduate at Yale University, Brian sang with The Whiffenpoofs and The Baker’s Dozen. He is also a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and currently works as Medical Director for a pharmaceutical company.

Timothy John Smith (The Mikado) returns to The Lyric Stage after performing in Urinetown, 1776 (IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical), Kong’s Night Out, Groundswell, Man of La Mancha, and Kiss Me, Kate (IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical). Timothy has also been seen at Huntington Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, SpeakEasy Stage, New Repertory Theatre, Theatre-By-The Sea, North Shore Music Theatre, Stoneham Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, The Outfit, and the Breadloaf School of English to name a few. Tim is a graduate of St. Anselm College and the Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium.

Matt Spano (Ensemble) is making his Lyric Stage debut. Boston area credits include: Candide (Huntington Theatre); Sleep No More (A.R.T./Punchdrunk), The Full Monty, Sunfish, The Dinosaur Musical, A Year with Frog and Toad, and Miracle on 34th Street (Stoneham Theatre), Annie and The Wizard of Oz (Wheelock Family Theatre), Sense and Sensibility: the Musical (Wellesley College/Wellesley Summer Theatre), Matchmaker Matchmaker I’m Willing to Settle (Oberon). In addition, he has taken part in numerous workshops, cabarets, and play festivals, including the Boston Theatre Marathon. He is a regular performer on KidStage, the resident theatre for children and their families at the Boston Children’s Museum; and with CityStage Company has brought live performances to George’s Island in Boston Harbor. Matt is a graduate of Northeastern University where he holds a degree in theatre performance.

Erica Spyres* (Yum-Yum) appeared at The Lyric Stage last season in Avenue Q (WISE Foundation Outstanding Performer), Time Stands Still and Big River. Recent roles include The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and Open House (Lyric Stage), Sense & Sensibility: The Musical (Wellesley College), The Light in the Piazza (SpeakEasy Stage, IRNE Award, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Pirates! and Unknown Soldier (Huntington Theatre), Fringe Wars(Blue Spruce/Company One), Guys & Dolls (Tent Theatre), and A Little Night Music (Springfield Regional Opera). Additionally, Erica has sung jingles and starred in several commercials, hosted WBZ-TV’s What’s in Store, and is an accomplished violinist and fiddler. Erica received a B.A. in Music from DruryUniversity in Springfield, MO. www.ericaspyres.com