Bradley Opera Workshop to present Gilbert & Sullivan classic spoof of Victorian Manners

Peoria IL . . . April 3, 2006 . . . Bradley University's Opera Workshop will present Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience or Bunthorne's Bride on Friday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Dingeldine Music Center, located at 1417 W. Barker. Admission is $5 for adults and free for students. Tickets will be available at the door.

This delightful evening of merry melodies, doleful dirges, Dragoon Guards, Rapturous Maidens and pseudo-poets is sure to make you laugh and send you out of the theatre humming. First performed on April 23 1881, this rollicking operetta pokes fun at the aesthetic craze of late 19th century England. The movement's free-thinking, long-haired constituents were marked by their affected speech and dress and attracted a large following of poseurs who mimicked their superficial behavior. Gilbert's amusing libretto focuses on Reginald Bunthorne, a pompous poet who is swooned over by every maiden in the village much to the chagrin of their Dragoon fiance's. Bunthorne, however, is in love with Patience, the village milkmaid. The plot is further complicated when Archibald Grosvenor, another aesthete, attempts to woo Patience and inadvertently attracts the flock of hovering maidens.

Bradley music major Daniel Crumrine leads the talented cast as Bunthorne with Bethany Stocksiek as Patience, Alex Blanchette as Grosvenor, Suzanne Kula as Lady Jane, Daniel Wessler as the Colonel and Chris Delbridge as the Duke. Rounding out the cast are "20 love-sick maidens" and a platoon of Dragoon Guards.

Call 677-2601 for more information.