Very Truly Yours PResents 50 Years of OGASP Theater

Does anything or anybody really change? Such is the sort of topic which may come into question in light of Gayden Wren's (OC '83) Very Truly Yours, a Gilbert and Sullivan show going up in Hall Auditorium this weekend.

The show celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan Players (OGASP). The play was written in 1995, and had its debut performance that year in New York. Then, in 1997, it successfully performed off-Broadway at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, and has since been performed in various places nationwide. This will be the first time the show is performed in Oberlin, and, incidentally, it is the first time in 30 years that Gilbert and Sullivan is playing in Hall Auditorium.

Very Truly Yours tells the story of the collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan through their actual correspondence in the form of diaries and letters, as well as through contemporary writings and excerpts from the fourteen operas. It also includes "Sweethearts," one of two freestanding songs that Gilbert and Sullivan composed not as a part of any opera, quite a rarity.

"There's something for everyone," said director Gayden Wren. "It's good for those who aren't familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan because it gives a good introduction to their work. It's got some of the hits, but then it's got some of the more rare music as well."

The show was originally composed for a cast of five people, with one voice on each part, but now they are working with a more "extended cast" of about 46 players. The cast is made up of both students and alumni and even two Oberlin residents who did not attend Oberlin College.

There are graduates from 1954 all the way through 2004. "We just have such a wide range, that's what makes it interesting," said production designer Janette Kennedy, OC '83.

"This is a unique experience that could never have been done before or after....There is a very small window of time here where we can have the entire history of Gilbert and Sullivan represented," said Wren.

Alice Hotopp (OC '54) was a member of the original Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan Players, back before Hall Auditorium was built, when they would perform at the old high school or at the Apollo. She played Elsie in their very first production, which was Yeomen of the Guard in 1950. Incidentally, she sings the first note in this production. Wren said that it's "particularly resonant that she's doing this...she's really got a voice."

OGASP has a somewhat inconsistent history, in that there was a period from about 1975 to 1980 when there was no group at all. In 1980, it was Gayden Wren, along with Janette Kennedy Peter Gibeau, OC '81, who actually revived the Gilbert and Sullivan Players. This show really commemorates the twenty years of the present organization, OGASP, but the 50th anniversary of the inception of the tradition.

The group's official historian, member Charlie Lermond, a resident of Oberlin, has set up a display on the history of Gilbert and Sullivan Players on the main floor of Mudd Library. Incidentally, Wren decided to come to Oberlin because the catalogue he saw erroneously listed the group as one of the organizations on campus, and only when he came here, found that to be untrue. This is how important Gilbert and Sullivan is to him. And similar sentiments exist throughout the members of the group.

"The impact Gilbert and Sullivan has had on their lives is remarkable," said Wren. This is why they take three days, or an entire week to come back to Oberlin from extreme distances, like Boulder, Colorado to participate in two days of intense practices and three showings of the production.

Gayden Wren gave major credits to both OGASP president Alison Gent, and Musical Director Bill Stevens, both juniors. He spoke of Stevens' ability to elicit the respect and attention of such accomplished graduates as Bill Curtis (OC '57), a veteran of Fantastiks in New York, and Rhonda Liss (OC '57), who drapes her sultry voice over the song of Sir Rupert Mergatroid with astounding artistry. "[His level of accomplishment is simply remarkable," he said.

The idea of this production goes beyond just a celebration of the G & S Players, it is a tribute to all the people who have ever participated in the group, past and present, present and absent.

Very Truly Yours is a show to amuse and entertain and that will promote the kind of nostalgia that abounds around the time of Commencement. But in addition to that, it is also a reunion of a half a century of lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, and extremely talented musicians who are able to put a complete show together, with music, readings, and some group choreography in minimal amount of time.

If one is interested in Gilbert and Sullivan musicals at all, this show promises a wonderful evening of entertainment, and may well leave you with a profound sense of life as a truly "pleasant institution."