Gilbert & Sullivan Fest 2008 - winter and summer schedule announced - performing at NY City Center

Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, is proud to announce its new �G&S Fest 2008,� a festival of Gilbert & Sullivan productions featuring six shows, from 4 - 15 Jan 2008 and 5 - 15 Jun 2008 at New York�s City Center.

• Princess Ida
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: Prince Hilarion had been married in babyhood to Princess Ida, daughter of King Gama. The Princess, however, has set up a college for women from which all men are barred. Hilarion and his friends infiltrate the castle and ultimately the men, led by Hilarion's father, King Hildebrand, stage a full-scale invasion. Ida is abandoned by her women and finally surrenders to her Prince.
  Cast: Keith Jurosko (King Hildebrand), Michael Scott Harris (Cyril), Stephen Quint (King Gama), Dianna Dollman (Lady Blanche) and Kimberly Bennett (Melissa).
  Winter schedule: Fri 4 Jan 8pm, Sun 6 Jan 3pm, Sat 12 Jan 8pm
  Summer shedule: No performances

• The Pirates of Penzance
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: Centers on a band of tenderhearted pirates celebrating the coming of age of their apprentice, Frederic. Although Frederic�s apprenticing to pirates was the mistake of his nurse maid Ruth, he has dutifully served, but he now announces his plan to devote his life to the extermination of piracy. The na�ve young man meets a group of beautiful girls, their father, the delightfully dotty Major General Stanley, and enlists the help of some bumbling and diffident policemen.
  Cast: Stephen Quint (Major General Stanley), Keith Jurosko (The Sergeant of Police), Laurelyn Watson Chase (Mabel), Ross Crutchlow (Pirate King), and Angela Smith (Ruth).
  Winter schedule: Sat 5 Jan 2pm & 8pm, Tue 8 Jan 7pm, Fri 11 Jan 8pm, Sun 13 Jan 3pm
  Summer shedule: Sat 7 Jun 2pm, Fri 13 Jun 8pm

• The Mikado
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: Beautiful school girl Yum-Yum loves the romantic minstrel Nanki-Poo but is engaged to Ko-Ko the executioner. This romantic triangle takes the usual course of thwarted romance, until the arrival first of the fearsome Katisha, claiming Nanki-Poo as her 'perjured lover,' and later of the emperor, or Mikado, himself - with his own list of punishments to fit the crime. In order to resolve the ensuing complications, Ko-Ko must use his wits to convince the most unattractive Katisha to marry him - in record time.
  Cast: Keith Jurosko (The Mikado), Laurelyn Watson (Yum-Yum), Michael Scott Harris (Nanki-Poo), Stephen Quint (Ko-Ko) and Louis Dall�Ava (Pooh-Bah).
  Winter schedule: Sat 12 Jan 2pm
  Summer shedule: Sat 7 Jun 8pm, Sat 14 Jun 2pm

• Trial by Jury / G &S A LA CARTE (Revue)
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: Trial by Jury - An over the top send up of the legal system. A lecherous judge and all male jury, a gold digging plaintiff, a self professed cad of a defendant, and a sleazy lawyer turn the courtroom proceedings upside down with self serving arguments and musical merriment.
  Synopsis: G & S A La Carte: A range of work by the team of Gilbert & Sullivan, from their most popular tongue-twisting 'patter songs' to their dramatic double choruses and their pyrotechnics of vocal virtuosity
  Cast: David Wannen (The Usher), Laurelyn Watson Chase (The Plaintiff), Michael Scott Harris (The Defendant), Richard Holmes (The Counsel), and Stephen Quint (The Learned Judge).
  Winter schedule: Thu 10 Jan 8pm
  Summer shedule: No Performances

• H.M.S. Pinafore
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: The gentlemanly Captain of the Pinafore, who claims that he would never swear at his crew (What, Never?), does not know that his daughter has fallen in love with a common sailor serving on her father's ship. Meanwhile, the Captain has arranged for her to marry the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter. Sir Joseph himself has risen from humble beginnings to gain his office by political acumen, despite having never gone to sea! And the Captain himself fancies a poor bumboat woman.
  Cast: Stephen Quint (Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.), Keith Jurosko and Richard Holmes (Captain), Angela Smith (Little Buttercup), and Louis Dall�Ava as (Dick Dead-Eye).
  Winter schedule: No Performances
  Summer shedule: Fri 6 Jun 8pm, Sun 8 Jun 3pm, Tue 10 Jun 7pm, Wed 11 Jun 2pm

• The Gondoliers
  Director: Albert Bergeret
  Synopsis: Two just-married Venetian gondoliers are informed by the Grand Inquisitor that one of them has just become the King of 'Barataria', but only their foster mother, presently at large, knows which one.
  Cast: Erika Person (Tessa), Stephen Quint (The Duke of Plaza Toro), and Keith Jurosko (Don Alhambra).
  Winter schedule: No Performances
  Summer shedule: Thu 12 Jun 8pm, Sat 14 Jun 8pm,Sun 15 Jun 3pm

Under the artistic and music direction of Albert Bergeret, the company has presented over 2,600 performances throughout the United States, Canada, and England. Incorporating a 25-piece orchestra, the productions feature contemporary energy while retaining a traditional respect for each of the G & S masterpieces.