UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Mock's Crest Productions

Mock’s Crest Productions Presents “The Yeoman of the Guard”

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.

Faculty & Staff Discount for “The Light in the Piazza,” June 21

The performing and fine arts department is offering a discounted performance of Mock’s Crest Productions’ “The Light in the Piazza” on Thursday, June 21. Faculty and staff members can buy tickets for $16 by presenting a UP ID at the box office, which is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., M–F, or call x7287 to reserve.

“The Light in the Piazza” is a contemporary musical operetta with a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. The story is based on a 1962 film about a mother and daughter on a journey of self-discovery and finding true love in the streets of Florence. The music broke with the standard Broadway pop tradition and ventured into neoromantic classical music for which it won a Tony Award in 2005.

For more information contact Larry Larsen, PFA, at larsen@up.edu.

Mock’s Crest Presents “The Light in the Piazza”

Mock’s Crest Productions will present The Light in the Piazza, a contemporary musical operetta based on a 1962 film of the same name, on June 9-10, 14-17, and 21-24. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on Sundays) in Mago Hunt Center Theater. Like Mock’s Crest’s usual Gilbert and Sullivan fare, The Light in the Piazza is about true love. Based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Margaret Johnson, a wealthy Southern woman, and Clara, her daughter, who through coincidence and fate sparks an immediate and intense romance with a local young man while traveling in Italy. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart.

Tickets are $32 for general admission, $27 for students and seniors, and $25 for groups of ten or more. Dinner will be served in the Clark Library plaza prior to evening performances at 6:30 p.m., $14.75 per person. Bruch will be served prior to Sunday matinees at 12:30 p.m. for $13.75 per person.

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 at the University of Portland. The production company was originally created under the guidance of the late Roger O. Doyle in 1990 with support of theater faculty as his production team.

For more information or to purchase tickets contact the Mago Hunt Center box office at x7287.

Mock’s Crest Productions Presents “The Pirates of Penzance,” June 22-25

Mock’s Crest Productions will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in Mago Hunt Center Theater on June 22-25. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday – Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays. Dinner and brunch will be served on the lawn in front of the Hunt Center prior to show times. Tickets are available at Mago Hunt Box Office and can be ordered by phone at x7287 or online at magohuntboxoffice@up.edu.

The opera’s official premiere was in New York City in December 1879, and it has delighted audiences ever since. Young Frederic, having completed his 21st year, is released from apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, and soon falls in love. Frederic learns that he was born on the 29th of February, and has a birthday only once each leap year; his contract says that he is to remain apprenticed to the pirates until his twenty-first birthday, meaning that he must serve for another 63 years.

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 at the University of Portland. The production company was originally created under the guidance of the late Roger O. Doyle in 1990 with support of theater faculty as his production team.

For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

Mock’s Crest Productions Presents “Ruddigore,” June 4-26

ruddigoreMock’s Crest Productions will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Ruddigore in Mago Hunt Center Theater on June 4-5, 10-12, 17-19, and 23-26. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday – Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays. Dinner and brunch will be served on the lawn in front of the Hunt Center prior to show times. Tickets are available at Mago Hunt Box Office and can be ordered by phone at x7287 or online at magohuntboxoffice@up.edu.

Ruddigore is the classic Gilbert and Sullivan “Ghost” operetta. It follows the trials of Robin Oakapple, who fled Ruddigore to avoid inheriting its title and curse, which requires that the Baron must commit a crime every day or spend his nights in agony being tortured by the ghosts of his ancestors.

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 at the University of Portland. The production company was originally created under the guidance of the late Roger O. Doyle in 1990 with support of theater faculty as his production team.

For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

“HMS Pinafore” Set to Sail June 12-28

pinaforMock’s Crest Productions will continue performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” on June 12-14, 19-21, and 25-28. Show times are 7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Dinner and brunch will be served on the lawn in front of the Mago Hunt Center prior to each show. Tickets are available at the Mago Hunt box office; orders can be placed by phone at 503-943-7287.

This is Mock’s Crest 25th year and what better way to celebrate than with Gilbert & Sullivan’s first major success in the world of comic operetta? “HMS Pinafore” was first produced in London in 1878 and had been staged twice previously by Mock’s Crest. Production staff includes Larry Larsen (faculty producer, set and light designer),
Tracey Edson (music director and conductor),
Bruce Hostetler (stage director), Sue Bonde (costume designer),
Jessica Wallenfels (choreographer),
Jennifer Hammontree (production stage manager), and
Nate Bartos (technical director).

For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

“Iolanthe” Plays Through June 28

iolantheMock’s Crest Productions will present Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday from June 6 to June 28, at 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m Sundays), in Mago Hunt Center Theater. Tickets are available through the Hunt Center box office at 7287 or magohuntboxoffice@up.edu.

This year’s production promises an evening of fairies, love, and politics set in the mod-swinging early 1960s of London’s SoHo District, an all-new setting for Gilbert and Sullivan’s “fairy” comedic opera, which satirizes the House of Peers and the English political system. Iolanthe revolves around the love of Strephon, who is half a mortal and half a fairy, and Phyllis, a lovely shepherdess, who is a ward of the Lord Chancellor of England. Strephon’s mother, Iolanthe, is a fairy and favorite of the Queen of the Fairies but has been banished because of her relationship with a mortal. Strephon and Phyllis want to get married but her request is refused by the Lord Chancellor and the peers, both because Strephon’s reputable “fairyness” and because they all want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon speaking with his immortal and never-aging mother, she believes him to be unfaithful and sides with the peers. Will the House of Parliament and the Lord Chancellor allow the lovers to reconcile? Or will laws get in the way between Phyllis and Strephon?

For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

“Die Fledermaus” Set To Open

Mock's Crest Die Fledermaus @ University of Portland. Summer 201The University of Portland will host Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” produced by Mock’s Crest Productions, a summer professional theater company supported by the University. Performances will take place on June 7-9, 14-16, 20-23, and 27-30 in Mago Hunt Center Theater. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday matinees, which begin at 2 p.m. Theater fans are invited to join Mock’s Crest for an evening of white lies, mistaken identities, and revenge set in the roaring 20s of New York City.

Tickets are available through the Hunt Center box office at 7287 or magohuntboxoffice@up.edu. Adult tickets are $30; seniors, students, and groups of 10 or more are $25. Dinners are available starting 90 minutes before evening shows for $14.50 and include farm fresh green salad, local vegetables, grilled chicken breast, fingerling potatoes, and a dessert station with fresh berries. Brunch is served 90 minutes before Sunday matinees for $13.50 and includes local vegetable frittata, ham and smoked salmon, fingerling potatoes, fresh fruit, and pastries. Company members will be in attendance to provide introductory remarks at the dinners and brunches.

Nationally recognized Kristine McIntyre, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as opera companies in Kentucky, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Portland Opera, will direct. McIntyre also directed “The Mikado” at the University of Portland in 2010 and 2002. Resident UP faculty member Larry Larsen designed the sets and lighting and Darrin Pufall designed the costumes. Returning cast members include Catherine Olsen and Brian Tierney, both last seen in the 2011 Mock’s Crest production of “The Yeoman of the Guard,” and Stacey Murdock, who was in the 2009 production of “A Little Night Music.”

Mock’s Crest Productions theater company was created in 1990 to produce high quality comic opera, employing some of the Pacific Northwest’s finest actors, singers, directors, and designers. It was founded to enhance the cultural fabric of the North Portland community and to perpetuate the University’s long tradition of support for the arts.

For more information contact the performing and arts department at 503-943-7228 or pfa@up.edu.