Stage Door News

Toronto: Toronto Operetta Theatre’s season ender is “The Gondoliers” running February 28-March 2

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

The Toronto Operetta Theatre brings the 2024/2025 season to a close with a new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers. The Savoy masters’ last great hit will run for three performances on February 28, March 1 and 2 (matinee), 2025, at the St. Lawrence Centre. “Our season this year has been very rewarding artistically with some of the greatest reviews ever,” says TOT’s Silva-Marin, “Equally exciting is the increase in attendance. We reached our goal for Countess Maritza, and ticket sales for The Gondoliers have already exceeded our expectations.”

Adrenalin is flowing and our cast is thrilled to be in Venice! The gondolieri of the title are debuting tenor Yanik Gosselin as Marco and returning baritone Sebastien Belcourt as Giuseppe heard recently as Popolescu in Countess Maritza. A Royal Conservatory Graduate Scholar, Yanik was Chevalier de la Force in their Dialogues des Carmélites and with further credits include the Banff Centre, Manitoba Opera and Tapestry. Their beloved contadini are Brooke Mitchell as Giannetta, who stole hearts in TOT’s The Student Prince garnering rave reviews as Kathie. She is joined by debuting mezzo Lissy Meyerowitz as Tessa coming to TOT after Rosina in The Barber of Seville for Highlands Opera and Niklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for the Halifax Summer Opera Festival. Mezzo Meghan Symon teams up with baritone Gregory Finney – who needs no introduction to TOT patrons - as the Duchess and Duke of Plaza Toro, both ready to take Venice by storm. The full cast will be led by debuting conductor Matheus Coelho, an alumnus of the São Paulo Symphony’s Academy of Music, and currently a U of T Doctoral candidate mentored by conductor Uri Meyer. The Gilbert and Sullivan hijinks will be staged by TOT General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin with Myra Malley as Stage Manager.

The Gondoliers premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London on 7 December 1889 and ran for 559 performances until 20 June 1891. It was immensely popular, and Queen Victoria even commanded the D’Oyly Carte company to present the work at Windsor. The Venetian plot – just who is the King of Barataria? – offered considerable scope for colourful and exciting music, while Gilbert’s libretto gleefully satirizes the emerging enthusiasm for republicanism and egalitarianism. From the rollicking duet “We’re Called Gondolieri” to “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes”, the tunes come tumbling along and Gilbert’s wit is as pointed as ever.

In addition to support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council, the company is generously sponsored by the Jackman Foundation, the Dalglish Family Foundation, the Bedolfe Foundation, The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation, The Estate of Sylvia McPhee, and media sponsor Classical 96.3 FM. Performances take place at the wheelchair-accessible St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, situated in the downtown theatre district, close to public transit and municipal parking.

For information, call the Box Office at 416-366-7723, 1–800-708-6754, or www.torontooperetta.com.