Registration is Now Open!
AGES: 13 - 20
WHEN: 9:00am - 4:00pm, July 8-13 and July 15-19
PERFORMANCES: July 19 - 21
COST: $450 | Includes 2 tickets to performances | Scholarships available
AUDITIONS: Sunday, May 19, 2024 2-5pm
Auditions will be held on May 19, by appointment, at The Wang Opera Center, 2408 Linwood Ave. Naples, FL 34112. Participants are encouraged to audition but are not required to audition to register for the program. Participants who do not audition will be cast in the ensemble.
A program like none other, young performers prepare and perform a comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan in the span of two weeks! This incredible program challenges and nurtures performers, building and improving vocal and theatrical skills in a demanding but supportive environment. In addition to rehearsing the production, youth participate in masterclasses and workshops focusing on vocal technique, acting, improvisation, and prop construction. All participants are accepted into the program and perform in the production regardless of experience or audition. Scholarships are available to help cover the cost of tuition. The program is led by New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players veteran, Louis Dall'Ava and Opera Naples Director of Education, Robin Frank.
For more information email Robin Frank at rfrank@operanaples.org
The Mikado is perhaps the best known of the Gilbert and Sullivan collaborations and was their last smash hit. This comical musical is set in Japan, but it lampoons the British civil service, class structure and bureaucratic red tape.
Ko-Ko, who was supposed to be executed but is now the town's top executioner, has a problem. Nanki-Poo comes to town and falls in love with Yum-Yum, who is engaged to Ko-Ko. The Mikado sends a letter saying someone must be executed soon. Nanki-Poo agrees to be executed in a month so he can marry Yum-Yum. But there's a catch: if a married man is executed, his wife has to be buried alive! Ko-Ko lies to the Mikado by pretending to execute Nanki-Poo. However, it turns out Nanki-Poo is the Mikado's son! Just in time, they find a way out of this tricky situation.
Stage Director
Louis Dall’Ava has performed 23 principal roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas with companies including The New York Gilbert & Sullivan players, Manhattan Savoyards, Sorg Opera (OH) and Mobile Opera (AL), at venues including Wolf Trap, The Garden State Arts Center, and The International G&S Festival in Buxton England. He is the 2005-2006 recipient of NYGASP's Isaac Asimov Award for Artistic Achievement. Among various other musical theater roles, he has performed Charles and the Comte de Chagny on three international tours of The Phantom of the Opera and was named Best Actor in a Musical by Bravo Pix for his portrayal of Fagin in Commonwealth Opera's Oliver. He has also been the director and costume/set designer for numerous productions throughout the country and has been involved with Opera Naples in various capacities including directing youth productions, costumes, props, and performing since 2005.
Louis Dall’Ava
Music Director
Robin Shuford Frank is Director of Education and Community Outreach, Chorus Master, and Music Administrator for Opera Naples. She manages Opera Naples professional Resident Artist Program, Student Apprentice Program, Elementary School tours, and community engagement programs. An accomplished pianist, she is Musical Director for community and youth productions, a rehearsal pianist for main productions, and performs as a collaborative pianist. Frank is the accompanist for The Festival Singers of Florida and performs with the Naples Philharmonic and The Naples Players. She is a frequently sought guest accompanist for choral festivals and has performed and taught masterclasses in China and Indonesia. Frank is also an Adjunct Professor in the Bower School of Music at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Robin Frank
Support the Summer Youth Program
Your tax-deductible unrestricted donations, large and small, make it possible for Opera Naples to continue its mission, its many artistic and educational programs and ongoing improvements to the Wang Opera Center. We couldn’t do it without you!