Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company Announces Production Of ANOTHER MIKADO

Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company is excited to announce our Fall 2018 production of Another Mikado, adapted and directed by Allison Benko, whose recent credits include assistant directing the Tony Award-winning production of Oslo at Lincoln Center Theater. In response to the growing debate of how to present the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, The Mikado, in today's society, we hope to present the various sides of this debate in a new theatrical work inspired by the original The Mikado. After a series of workshops in the spring and summer, Another Mikado will run in November 2018 in various locations throughout the tri-state area.

In order to begin the conversation of how to best create this new work, we want to hear from as many people as possible. Whether you love The Mikado or think it should never be produced in any way again, we want to hear about your experience.

Please click here to visit a survey where you can share your experience with us. If you have any questions or want to find a time to speak with us about this project, please email us at ridgewoodanothermikado@gmail.com.

Allison Benko (Director) is a theatre director and writer based in Brooklyn. Her work as a director includes What Happened That Night (upcoming with Project Y's Women in Theatre Festival, also developmental workshops with the Terry Schreiber Acting Studio and Governor's Island); A Doll's House: A New Opera (Central Square Theatre - also developer and co-lyricist); Secret Death of Puppets (New York Public Library and Standard ToyKraft); Every Christmas Story Ever Told (Gloucester Stage Company); The Arthur Miller Centennial (Gloucester Stage Company - also conceiver and lead writer); Twelfth Night (Powderhouse Park), and She Loves Me (Tufts University). Current play development projects include Anya Richkind's The End of Mermaids, Shara Feit's Flights, Lukas Papenfusscline's Romeo and their Juliet, and 1922 Project (devised with co-director Nick O'Leary). Notable assistant direction includes Oslo at Lincoln Center Theater directed by Bartlett Sher, which received Tony, Obie, Lortel, Drama Desk, DCC and OCC Awards for Best Play. She has also studied ritualistic shadow puppetry under senior government fellowship holder Ramachandran Pulavar at the Tholpavakoothu Puppet Centre in Kerala, India, and she has a deep interest in expanding the role of puppetry in contemporary theatre. Current writing projects include Another Mikado and the libretto of a children's opera set during the Battle of Britain. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and holds a B.A. in Drama from Tufts University. Please visit allisonbenko.com for more information.

The Ridgewood Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company (Producer) is a nonprofit performing ensemble based in Ridgewood, New Jersey. RGSOC has presented full productions of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan every fall and spring since its founding in 1937 by Kay and Jack Edson. For over 80 years, we have delighted audiences with the timeless jollity of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta canon. As one of the oldest continuing musical theatre groups in the country, we pride ourselves on mounting comic operas by Gilbert & Sullivan that are seldom seen elsewhere. We give full performances in Ridgewood, plus we perform elsewhere in Northern and Central Jersey (Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Ocean counties), Rockland County, New York City, and Connecticut. In addition, we take pride in making opera more accessible to the community by performing several free shows and staged concerts a year at facilities that cater to senior residents, patients, and veterans.

For More Information Visit

Website: ridgewoodgands.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ridgewoodgands

Instagram: @ridgewoodgands

Direct Link to Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DLLK6JC