If the Lyric Opera in Chicago can do G&S in their regular season, then it's highbrow.

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WHEN did the Lyric do G&S in their regular season? I know that the Lyric has occasionally hosted briefly hoster major traveling productions of G&S, like the Peter Sellars Mikado back in the eighties (I was only just born but my mother saw and loved it), but actually as part of their season? God I HOPE not.

I'm a Gilbert and Sullivan fan, but as a long-time subscriber to the Lyric, I would be absolutely infuriated to find G&S on the bill. Gilbert and Sullivan operettas are fun, light-hearted, and charming, but they also demand no more technical skill or imagination to set, direct, and perform well than can be provided by a talented community theater company. To see artistic resources (and funding!) on the scale the Lyric commands squandered on G&S works would leave me livid.

Are you sure you're not confusing the Lyric with Light Opera Company?

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It looks like it was done back in the 2003/2004 season - for budget concerns.

Sun-Times article explaining the switch, and review by someone who attended.

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Someone else already posted the details, and apparently it was a last minute change.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they did another G&S because I think they would take the time and energy to do it right. And there's the financial considerations...

Don't get me wrong, I throughly enjoyed The Midsummer Marriage because I got to see every performance from the onstage bed but I don't think that production was exactly a blockbuster for the company.

I think that the Lyric tries to do something different every few years among the traditional rep and lofty artistic achievements. G&S wouldn't be out of character.

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