This 30th anniversary season of the University’s Mock’s Crest Productions will present Gilbert and Sullivan classic operetta The Yeomen of the Guard on June 8-9, 14-16, and 20-23. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on Sundays) in Mago Hunt Center Theater. Tickets are $34 for general admission, $29 for seniors/non-UP students, and $27 for groups of ten or more. University of Portland faculty and staff are offered $20 tickets and UP students are $15.
The Yeomen of the Guard was an attempt by Arthur Sullivan to move John Gilbert’s topsy-turvy world into more serious opera. It is a tale of a nobleman wrongfully accused of sorcery who has been locked up in the Tower of London and scheduled for execution. However, Mr. Gilbert puts his comic spin on this tale where bravery, comic disguise, and a lovelorn jailer and jester make a tragic tale end with true love overcoming all obstacles. It is one of Sullivan’s best musical scores with classic numbers like “The Merryman and his Maid.”
Mock’s Crest is a semi-professional company devoted to a yearly summer production of comic light opera, primarily the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. It combines professional singers and musicians with students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Performing and Fine Arts. The production company was originally created under the guidance of the late Roger O. Doyle in 1990 with UP theater faculty support as his production team. This year marks the last year that Larry Larsen, performing and fine arts, will serve as producer after 26 years. Next year, David De Lyser and Nicole Hanig will be stepping in to assume leadership with a production of HMS Pinafore.
For more information or to purchase tickets contact the Mago Hunt Center box office at x7287.