Manhasset’s Rebecca Rutkovsky stars, and Great Neck’s David Aubrey is featured in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe,” a new production of the classic comic opera presented by the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island in East Islip, Commack, Port Washington, and Rockville Centre.
The Light Opera Company is one of Long Island’s oldest cultural institutions, celebrating its 70th season; Rutkovsky, a soprano who’s active on Long Island’s musical scene, has been a company member since 2022, and was most recently seen as the title character in last season’s “Princess Ida.”
She plays a leader in a band of fairies who come into conflict with the Lord Chancellor of England when he accidentally offends the Fairy Queen by refusing to allow the marriage of a ward in Chancery to a humble shepherd who is secretly a fairy’s son.
“Iolanthe”—which debuted in 1883, with book and lyrics by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan—is one of the most beloved of all the Gilbert & Sullivan operas, especially for its perfect balance of words and music, humor and drama, magic and political satire. The current production, directed by Gayden Wren, with music directed by Isabella Eredita Johnson and David Bernard, is the Light Opera Company’s first since 2015.
The story is a whimsical one: That humble shepherd, Strephon, has the unusual problem of being half fairy and half mortal … his mother was a fairy, his unknown father a mortal, and he’s a fairy down to the waist, though his legs are mortal. When Strephon falls in love with Phyllis, a ward in chancery sought after in marriage by half the House of Lords, it sets up a conflict between the wily Lord Chancellor and the cosmically powerful Fairy Queen, with the Queen’s band of fairies, the lovestruck Peers and Strephon and Phyllis themselves caught in between.
The dramatic side of the story involves Strephon’s mother, Iolanthe, who was sentenced to death for marrying a mortal, then reprieved at the last moment and banished from the fairy world. Her greatest concern is for her son, and when the Lord Chancellor himself falls in love with Phyllis, Iolanthe faces a dilemma that may spell the end of her immortal life.
“It’s really Gilbert & Sullivan at their best,” concluded Wren, who admitted that it’s his personal favorite of the operas. “The real magic isn’t the invisible fairies or the hypnotic spell they cast; it’s Gilbert, Sullivan, and the way that they seem to come together so closely that it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other leaves off. It’s one of the greatest works of musical theater ever written.”
He added that Rutkovsky is at her best in the current production.
“From directing her in ‘Princess Ida,’ I knew Rebecca had a great voice,” Wren said, “but I had no idea how funny she could be. Her Celia is a comic gem, a forever-17-year-old who happens also to have supernatural powers. It’s a great portrayal, and I couldn’t be happier to have her in the show.”
“David is a solid singer with a whimsical sense of humor that informs his performances,” Wren said. “It’s easy to overplay the humor in Gilbert & Sullivan, but David takes a droll approach, which brings out the humor in every scene. It’s fun to watch him figure things out, and it’s always funny in the end.”
Iolanthe will be presented on Saturday, June 29, at 8 p.m. at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater at the Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main Street in Port Washington, and on Sunday, June 30, at 3 p.m. at the Madison Theatre at Molloy University, 1000 Hempstead Avenue in Rockville Centre. Admission is $30, seniors and students $25. For further information, call (516) 619-7415 or visit www.gaslocoli.org.
