NEWPORT, R.I. – The New York City-based Blue Hill Troupe, which has been raising money for various charities through live performances since 1924, will bring its production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore to Newport to benefit the restoration of the Casino Theatre, Stanford White’s historic playhouse on the grounds of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The public performance will be given on Saturday, June 25 at 8 p.m. at the Casino Theatre, 9 Freebody St. For ticket information, call 401-256-1011.
The Blue Hill Troupe has traditionally performed a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta each spring, a Broadway musical each fall, and several concerts around New York City every winter. Over the years, these combined efforts have raised more than $3 million for charity.
Consisting of both professional and amateur performers, Troupers sing and act, design and build sets, create costumes and props, wire lighting and sound systems, edit and produce the program, sell tickets and usher for each production.
In its production of H.M.S. Pinafore, the troupe sails the ocean blue in its saucy ship. Along the voyage, the captain’s beautiful daughter, Josephine, reveals her hidden passion for Ralph Rackstraw, a handsome but lowly sailor. This pronouncement threatens to capsize her father’s well-laid plans for her marriage to Sir Joseph Porter of the Admiralty.
Will the rank-crossed couple elope? Who is the elusive Little Buttercup and what does she know? Are all those women who travel with Sir Joseph really his sisters, cousins and aunts?! With its spirited shanties and aching ballads, deft satire of class distinctions, thwarted romances and mistaken identity, this mainstay of the Savoy opera canon receives a glorious full production from NYC’s longest running producers of Gilbert & Sullivan.
The Casino Theatre serves as an educational facility for Salve Regina’s department of performing arts during the academic year, and is available to other groups for theatrical productions, summer stock, films, concerts, lectures, and other public events.
“Having the newly renovated Casino Theatre available for our students makes Salve Regina’s theatre program more competitive,” says Suzanne Delle, assistant professor and artistic director of the Casino Theatre. “Watching a theatre or dance performance in the Casino Theatre automatically elevates it to a new level of professionalism.”