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VLO News


Annual Meeting Edition

January, 2002

CALL TO ANNUAL MEETING

The Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Valley Light Opera, Inc., will be held on Thursday, March 7, in the auditorium of the Mark's Meadow School, North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts at 7:45 p.m.

The agenda for the meeting will include announcements and action on reports from officers of the corporation and from committees, as well as election of the Board of Directors for 2002-2003. The Board does not anticipate any other business, but questions and suggestions from members of the VLO are always in order.

The Board of Directors
Mzamo Mangaliso, President

But read on . . .

One of the things that make our Annual Meetings different is that they are usually very short. This leaves time for entertainment. The program at this year's meeting will be special. As we often do, we'll sing selections from Gilbert & Sullivan operas, including our upcoming fall production The Yeomen of the Guard. In addition, however, we'll present Trial by Jury, the one-act G&S jewel which VLO last produced in 1984! A second performance, a benefit for the Amherst Historical Society, will be staged the following evening.

The Yeomen of the Guard next fall

Next, look for the Audition Edition of the VLO News in March, which will contain information about auditions for next fall's production, The Yeomen of the Guard. It will be our twenty-eighth fall show. In addition to singing, though, there are lots of jobs in the VLO, and we're looking for volunteers, folks who have interest, time and energy and want to learn more about how a community theater really works. Can you work with sets, sew costumes, do make-up or publicity? Organize the ushers or sell souvenirs? Just let us know what you'd like to do. For most jobs experience is not required and you decide how much time you are able to give!

What's so special about The Yeomen of the Guard?

The Yeomen of the Guard, the tenth collaboration of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, was first performed at the Savoy Theater in London on October 3, 1888, and ran for 423 performances, closing on November 30, 1889. Set in Elizabethan England, Yeomen was thought by both Gilbert and Sullivan to be their best work yet. Today, Yeomen rapidly becomes a favorite of everyone who sees and hears it, and especially of those who perform it. The music in Yeomen is Sullivan at his very best, and the story is Gilbert at his most reflective. The subtitle, The Merryman and his Maid, says it all. Yeomen is the tale of a jester, Jack Point, and his betrothed, Elsie Maynard. It has wonderful music for everyone--soloists, townspeople, and especially for the Tower Warders. It is set on Tower Green before the White Tower in the precincts of the Tower of London. What more beautiful background can a company ask for to bring out its best? What more can audiences look forward to seeing and hearing again?

Next fall's performances will be the third VLO production of The Yeomen of the Guard, which we previously presented in 1978 and 1990. It is time for the Yeomen to march back onto the stage of the Amherst Regional High School in 2002!

Would you like to be part of it?

If you would like to sing along with choruses from G&S, or join in our production of Trial by Jury at the annual meeting and the benefit concert, join us for rehearsals on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m., at the Amherst Regional High School off Triangle St., starting January 7. Trial by Jury, Gilbert and Sullivan's first great success, is unique in that it contains no dialogue--only music--in its brief one act. It's fun to watch and even more fun to perform. No auditions needed! Get to know the VLO better and, perhaps, you may decide you want to be part of the fall production, too.

The Valley Light Opera is on the World Wide Web!

The VLO now has a Web site! Michael D. Bathrick, President of BerkshireNet, donates space on internet service provider BerkshireNet. Kurt Gordon is our WebMaster. Check us out at www.vlo.org! You will find information about the VLO and, in addition, links to other G&S Web sites throughout the nation.

SavoyNet

-- Another note about the Internet and Gilbert and Sullivan --

Here's another G&S resource. SavoyNet is the international Gilbert and Sullivan Bulletin Board. It offers a chance to communicate with G&S lovers all over the world. To subscribe, without obligation, send an e-mail message to list-serv@bridgewater.edu (leaving the "Subject" line blank) that says only subscribe savoynet [your full name] and instructions will follow.

Membership Renewal Time!

Finally--it's Membership Time. If you haven't become a member of the VLO before, why not consider it now? Membership provides valuable support for the Valley Light Opera, which gets all of its income from members, friends and patrons. None comes from advertising! Almost everyone in the VLO is a volunteer. At $10 for individuals and $15 for families, annual dues for the Valley Light Opera are among the best deals in town. Membership puts you in a special category of VLO supporters. We send you advance notification by first class mail of ticket sales for the annual fall production and you get a vote at the Annual Meeting. Just fill in the form below and mail it with your check (or bring them to the Annual Meeting). That's all there is to it! (And, if you wish, you can make an additional, tax-deductible donation.)


Cut off and mail to:
 
 
Valley Light Opera, Inc.
P. O. Box 2143
Amherst, MA 01004-2143

Individual membership:$10 _____
Family membership:$15 _____
Additional donation (optional)$ _______

Name:______________________________________________________________________
Address:______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________ZIP__________________
 
Phone:________________ Email: ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

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Send Questions/Comments to: info@vlo.org
Jan. 12, 2002.