VLO Logo

VLO News


Annual Meeting Edition

January, 2003

CALL TO ANNUAL MEETING

The Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Valley Light Opera, Inc., will be held on Thursday, February 27, in the auditorium of the Amherst Regional Middle School, Chestnut 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 2003-2004. 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
Stephen Tanne, 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. Over the years we have occasionally presented programs designed to introduce new people to the world of Gilbert and Sullivan. We're going to do it again this year, presenting An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan. The first half of the program will consist of solos, ensembles and choruses from several different G&S operas together with an explanation of what makes G&S operas special. The second half of the program will put everything together. We'll present a fully-staged version of 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.

H. M. S. Pinafore 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, H. M. S. Pinafore. It will be our twenty-ninth 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 H. M. S. Pinafore?

H. M. S. Pinafore, the third collaboration of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, was first performed at the Opera Comique in London on May 28, 1878, and ran for 571 performances. Immensely popular on both sides of the Atlantic, it was Gilbert and Sullivan's first smash hit and arguably one of the greatest successes in the history of English musical theater. Gilbert's plot, featuring sailors who never swear, a pompous Admiral who has never been to sea, and a lass who loves beneath her station (or does she?), is the topsy-turvy paradigm of all the G&S librettos to come. Sullivan's score, bright, bouncy, and memorable, will leave the audience humming the tunes long after, just as it has for the last 125 years (even the Major General in the next Savoy Opera, The Pirates of Penzance, can "whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore!").

Next fall's performances will be the fourth VLO production of H. M. S. Pinafore, which we previously staged in 1975 (our first year!), 1984, and 1993. So it's been ten years since Pinafore has sailed onto the stage of the Amherst Regional High School -- all hands on deck for 2003!

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, call one of the producers for the annual meeting program and ask about singing. Rehearsals for Trial are on Monday evenings, and for the first half of the program on Thursdays. While rehearsals started during the week of Jan. 6, it's always possible that more voices are needed, particularly for the first half. The producers are Kathy Tobiassen (253-4670), Roy Williams (256-8446) and Paul Peelle (253-3682). 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: ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

You may wish to return to the VLO Home Page.

Send Questions/Comments to: info@vlo.org
Jan. 14, 2003.