Princess Ida (or Castle Adamant)

by W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan

Victorian Lyric Opera Company
F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater, Rockville, MD
​Performed June 2019

Music Director - Joseph Sorge
Assistant Music Director - Amy Broadbent
Assistant Director - Kathleen Alvania
Production Assistant - Rishabh Bajekal
Rehearsal Accompanists - Ross Capon, Judy Gardner, Erica Rome
Stage Manager - ​Doug Maryott
Assistant Stage Manager - Christine Hurst
Set Design - Bill Pressley
Costume Coordinator - Denise Young
Lighting Design - Matthew Bailey

​Cast 
Princess Ida - Erica Ferguson (and Elizabeth Thomas (6/14))
Prince Hilarion - James Carpenter and Billy Binion
King Hildebrand - Blair Eig
King Gama - John Barclay Burns
Cyril - Rick DuPuy
Florian - Bob Gudauskas
Lady Blanche- Jenellen Fischer
Lady Psyche - Madeleine Koon
Melissa - Amanda Jones
Sacharissa - Christine Pash
Chloe - Sarah Seider
Ada - Karen Wahl
Arac - Michael Beder
Guron - Joshua Milton
Scynthius - Timothy Ziese

Reviews

"... the production is directed with both wit and keen attention to detail and stylistics by Helen Aberger." - Prince George's Sentinel

"This revitalization of classic operetta is executed to near perfection and is simply not to be missed." - TheatreBloom​

Ensemble
Aliyah Fischer, Julia Frank, Tom Goode, Tara Hockensmith, Lillian Hoehl, Chuck Howell, Rand Huntzinger, David Jeffrey, Ralph Johnson, Gabriella Jones, Carlton Maryott, Jane Maryott, Dave Robinson, Sarah Robinson, Cheryl Stafford, Gary Sullivan, Caleb Thomas, Maria Wilson, Kent Woods. ​

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To our new audience members: Welcome! We are so glad you are here! Please know that the character of Princess Ida is not a Disney princess (i.e. head over heels for a Prince and challenged by some ill fate). I apologize to those who came hoping she is, but truth be told, she isn't. Those already familiar with the show will agree that she is not. And to those faithful G&S fans - please know that our production is not about men versus women, as it is often played. 

Our Princess Ida is about traditions and "norms" being questioned and bucked. It is about breaking with expectation, patterns, and societal pressure in order to listen to ourselves. Sometimes, though, in order to "break," we take a tone that is just as strident as what we are breaking from. However - by realizing this, by witnessing our thoughts and actions - we make a new normal, a new tradition: one of listening, compromise, and respect. 
​
-Helen Aberger, Stage Director

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Photo credits: Harvey Levine