Back on the Boards: Wish you were here!
With "Back on the Boards" GSA returned to the stage after over a year of virtual performances due to the pandemic.
Premiered Wednesday, November 24th, 2021
About the Show
The collection is a sampler of delights, including numbers from The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe, Ruddigore, and The Yeomen of the Guard.
Directors Jan Jones and Holton Johnson brought back some of the best--Art DiBianca as the very model of a modern major general, Shelby Schisler as Mad Margaret, and Sam Johnson as the Pirate King--and provided new faces and new combinations. Director Holton Johnson and GSA Music Director Jeffrey Jones-Ragona also stepped up for powerful entertainments.
All fifteen scenes took place on the GSA “home stage,” recorded with meticulous attention to lighting, sound, and video to Jeanne Sasaki’s accompaniment on the grand piano. The program is subtitled “Wish You Were Here” as the GSA reminder that the safety of its cherished audiences is at the heart of the company’s planning. The 400 seats of the theatre were empty as performers, directors, and technical staff collaborated to produce the gift of G&S wit and music for the 2021 holidays.
Bethany Ammon
Patricia Combs
Arthur DiBianca
Esther Hernandez
Holton Johnson
Sam Johnson
Jeffrey Jones-Ragona
Natalie Joy
Meredith Ruduski
Shelby Schisler
Paiton Eleise Seals
Amy Selby
“The sun, whose rays are all ablaze” from The Mikado
Performed by: Paiton Eleise Seals
“I am the very model of a modern Major-General” from The Pirates of Penzance
Performed by: Arthur DiBianca
“Good morrow, good lover!” & “None shall part us” from Iolanthe
Performed by: Meredith Ruduski & Holton Johnson
“Oh, foolish fay” from Iolanthe
Performed by: Patricia Combs
“Were I thy bride” from The Yeomen of the Guard
Performed by: Esther Hernandez
“Alone, and yet alive!,” “Willow, tit-willow” & “There is beauty in the bellow of the blast” from The Mikado
Performed by: Bethany Ammon & Sam Johnson
“Cheerily carols the lark” from Ruddigore
Performed by: Shelby Schisler
“Oh, is there not one maiden breast” from The Pirates of Penzance
Performed by: Jeffrey Jones-Ragona
“Poor wand’ring one” from The Pirates of Penzance
Performed by: Amy Selby
“I know a youth” from Ruddigore
Performed by: Arthur DiBianca & Shelby Schisler
“Sorry her lot” from H.M.S. Pinafore
Performed by: Natalie Joy
“Refrain, audacious tar” from H.M.S. Pinafore
Performed by: Amy Selby & Holton Johnson
“Oh, better far to live and die” from The Pirates of Penzance
Performed by: Sam Johnson