New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players Presents Double Bill AGES AGO and MR. JERICHO
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP) concludes its 44th season with its first ever production of an unusual pair of one acts that bookend the Gilbert & Sullivan collaboration. This double bill of Ages Ago/Mr. Jericho will be performed March 1st through 3rd, 2019 in the intimate confines of The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre at The West Side YMCA (10 W. 64th Street Between Central Park West & Broadway). Performance times are Friday, March 1st at 7:30pm; Saturday, March 2nd at 2 and 7:30pm; and Sunday, March 3rd at 3 pm.
Ages Ago/Mr. Jericho, provides a double dose of classic operettas where both pieces have charms that have not been explored by a professional company in New York since the late 19th century. Both one acts were used in London as companion pieces for other works of the time and feature the same cast of 5 actors.
Ages Ago, with libretto by W.S. Gilbert, predates the better known G&S works - foreshadowing their classic Ruddigore in its use of a portrait gallery coming to life, inBrigadoon like manner, once every 100 years. The score, by Sullivan contemporary Frederic Clay, contains many of the same qualities found in those of his more renowned colleague. "Brilliant...sparkling operetta full of ingenious fun" - London's Penny Illustrated Paper (1869)
Mr. Jericho, by Harry Greenbank and Ernest Ford, is an early example of advertising hype. Before Google, omnipresent digital billboards, and pushy TV ads, there was Mr. Jericho, a 19th Century businessman, and title character, whose use of hype allowed him to amass a fortune from the sale of "genuine jams" in a frothy entertainment full of clever puns, Gilbertian satire on Victorian classism (especially the House of Peers), and catchy tunes of "Sullivanesque" nature.
NYGASP Founder and Artistic Director Albert Bergeret, who has been hailed as "the leading custodian of the G&S classics" by New York Magazine, brings to bear his vast experience with Victorian era material in producing and directing these two unfamiliar, but highly entertaining rarities. NYGASP's 45-year history of producing all of the G&S repertory under its founder's supervision provides just the right background for exploring lesser known works of the time, such as Ages Ago and Mr. Jericho, that are still relatable and amusing.
The NYGASP 2018-19 season is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Tickets are $60, with discounts for Seniors and Children. For ticket information on all shows please visit www.nygasp.org or call 212-769-1000.
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