Grosvenor Light Opera Company (GLOC)

London's leading Gilbert & Sullivan company

Welcome to the Grosvenor Light Opera Company! We are an amateur operatic society based in central London, England focusing on the works of W.S.Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan and complementing this with other material.

Introducing our summer production....

THE SORCERER

TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Click here to buy tickets online for GLOC's Summer production of the Sorcerer.

Tickets are £14 per person. £10 tickets are available for the over 65's on the Saturday Matinee.

The show runs on the following dates and times, in June, at the London Oratory School, Seagrave Road, Fulham:

Wednesday 6th, @7.30pm

Thursday 7th, @7.30pm

Friday 8th, @7.30pm

Saturday Matinee 9th, @2.30pm

Saturday 9th, @7.30pm

Tickets can also be bought from members of the cast.

Lead Roles Cast

Following some very competitive and high quality auditions GlOC can now announce those cast for the lead roles are as follows:

Alexis Pointdextre - Nick Dore

Aline Sangazure - Rachel Wood

Constance - Lizzie Bond and Dani Rolet

Dr Daly - Michael Pandazis

J. W. Wells - Rob Richmond

Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre - Chris Crowcroft

The Notary - David Bonar

Mrs Partlet - Penny Mullord

Lady Sangazure - Sarah Olney

Rehearsals, Auditions and Show Week

We are now fuilly cast for the Sorcerer but should you be interested in joining future shows please contact our recruitment and publicity officer Peter Bellini: recruitmentandpublicity@gloc.org N.B.Rehearsals on Wednesdays have now been moved to a 6:45 prompt start.

Rehearsals for "The Sorcerer" Every Wednesday from 25th January onwards plus Sundays 13th, 20th and 27th May:

(All of the above will be at St Gabriel's Halls, Pimlico (our usual rehearsal venue) - see http://www.stgabrielshalls.org.uk for directions.)

Sunday 3rd - Saturday 9th June: Show week! (Band call on Sunday 3rd, Tech rehearsal Monday 4th, Dress rehearsal Tuesday 5th, shows Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at The London Oratory School Theatre

THE SORCERER

The Sorcerer was the third collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan after Thespis and Trial by Jury. It premiered in 1877 and was then revived and revised substantially for a production at the Savoy Theatre in 1884. It is the 1884 version which is generally performed in amateur and professional productions and forms the basis of the published score and libretto. The plot is mostly taken from a short story written by Gilbert in 1876 called The Elixir of Love.

THE STORY

Alexis the son of wealthy aristocrat Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre is to be married to Aline Sangazure the daughter of the equally noble Lady Sangazure.

Alexis, is obsessed with idea of love levelling all ranks and social distinctions. To promote his beliefs, he invites the proprietor of J. W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers, to brew and administer a love potion. This causes everyone in the village to fall in love with the first person they see and results (with typically Gilbertian Topsy –Turvy), in the pairing of comically mismatched couples.

THE GLOC PRODUCTION

In order for the class and social barriers broken by the love potion to make any sense this production is going to keep the Opera in its original setting ie. 1870’s Victorian England. Set in the household of Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre the Opera offers lots of possibilities for fun cameo roles for the chorus. It is indeed one of the few that positively demands distinct characterizations rather than generic Peers or Policemen or Sisters , Cousins and Aunts. The more comically mismatched the couples are after taking the love potion the funnier the effect. Taking inspiration from the Downton Abbey phenomena the idea will be to recreate the Upstairs /Downstairs world of aristocrats and their servants with housekeeper, maids , footmen , valets, butler, cook , gardeners and their social superiors including society guests at the Wedding.

Just because the show is period doesn’t mean its going to be static! And you do get to wear great costumes.

The show will contain plenty of movement and choreography – there is a country dance for the company in Act Two and a gavotte in Act One ,in addition a great to sing and perform Act One finale where all the cast fall under the spell of the love potion. We will also attempt to recreate the gothic Victorian special effects of the Incantation scene. There may even be a cameo role for Ahrimanes the devil who is able to revoke the effects of the love potion in return for your soul.

Help raise money for GLOC just by shopping

Please take a moment to register with Easyfundraising.org.uk and choose Grosvenor Light Opera Company as the cause you wish to support, to raise money for GLOC at NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. Hundreds of major retailers are represented on the site, so you can help to fund our productions just by doing your regular online shopping for CDs, books, groceries, wedding gifts, MP3s, and much more.

Simply click the link to your regular supplier via the Easyfundraising.org.uk site each time you shop, for us to benefit. It takes about 5 seconds longer than usual, and we get free money as a result...

Please ensure you opt to support Grosvenor Light Opera Company, and NOT GLOC Musical Theatre, who are also listed on the site but are a different society!

Interested in joining GLOC?

We are always delighted to hear from any potential new members of the society, and have vacancies for all voice parts. We are a very friendly and sociable society of young professionals from many different spheres of work, from all corners of London, and we rehearse regularly on Wednesday nights in Pimlico. If you are interested in joining, please contact Ali for more information

GLOC is a charity registered in England (no. 1065719)