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THE 2026 SUMMER FESTIVAL SEASON

Brigadoon, 2025

As the Ohio Light Opera moves closer to its Golden Jubilee, there is much to celebrate. The attendance and support of the tens of thousands of loyal patrons who have watched our company grow into America’s premier lyric theater festival have been critical to OLO’s steadfast commitment to producing its works with historical integrity. Even the more recognizable titles in the 2026 season are rarely produced in theaters today, and when they are, it is often in heavily revised and re-orchestrated versions that lose the spirit of the originals. Don’t miss the chance to experience these timeless masterpieces as they were meant to be seen and heard.

Laura Neill Executive Director

Steven A. Daigle Artistic Director

Michael Borowitz Music Director

Jacob Allen

Associate Artistic Director

Wilson Southerland

Associate Music Director

As the Resident Professional Company of The College of Wooster, OLO preserves and celebrates the tradition of operetta and musical theater through engaging, historically informed, and accessible productions that uplift and entertain diverse audiences. The company is attracting new patrons and a younger generation who are becoming faithful followers of OLO’s mission.

In addition to 50 performances of six show titles in the 2026 festival season, the company is offering several special events (page 21) for its patrons. These concerts, lectures, and presentations are included in the season to entertain and inform our audience about the creators, the historical context of the titles being produced, and the lyric theater tradition. Beyond the many performances you might attend this season, we hope to see you at these events.

This year marks a transition—an expected and smooth transition. It was announced in May of 2025 that, as of the end of this 2026 season, Jacob Allen, OLO’s Associate Artistic Director, will assume the role of Artistic Director. Jacob has been with the company for 20 years. He brings a wealth of performance and directing experience, leadership, knowledge, and genuine enthusiasm for this company and the lyric theater tradition. Over the years, OLO has grown and evolved, taking artistic risks while remaining rooted in its historical mission. We look forward to having Jacob guide this unique lyric theater company well beyond our approaching 50-year celebration.

Artistic Director

Executive Director e-mail: sdaigle@wooster.edu e-mail: lneill@wooster.edu

Some of the finest young instrumentalists in the country perform in The Ohio Light Opera Orchestra. In addition to accompanying all productions, they will again be featured in a special holiday event. The Company announces the 24th annual Pops Concert, to be performed on the evening of July 4th. This is a free concert on the public square in Downtown Wooster and has become a very wellattended annual event.

Production photography in this brochure by Matt Dilyard

MY FAIR LADY

(1956)

Music by Frederick Loewe Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion

Its literary source, setting, and original stars were thoroughly Irish or British, its composer was born in Germany, its librettist educated in England—and yet My Fair Lady could only have been a creation of Broadway. From its 1956 opening to its close more than six years later as the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the show captured the hearts of theatergoers as no musical before or since. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins accepts a bet from his friend, Colonel Pickering, that he cannot coach a bedraggled Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and pass her off to his society friends as a lady. When, after months of lessons, “the rain in Spain” falls eloquently off her tongue, the transformation is complete, as Eliza impresses Higgins’ socialite friends at Ascot and at the Embassy Ball. But she rails against her mentor for turning her into something that she is not. She returns to Covent Garden, unrecognized by her father and friends and thoroughly disenchanted. Only now does Higgins realize his true feelings for her. But maybe too late—Freddy Eynsford-Hill has asked for her hand. Almost every song achieved hit status: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”

Conductor: Michael Borowitz

Director: Jacob Allen

Scenic Design: Daniel Hobbs

Costume Design: Carly Holzwarth

Lighting Design: Brittany Shemuga

Sound Design: Christopher Plummer

Show illustrations in this brochure by Daniel Hobbs

DAMN YANKEES (1955)

Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross

Book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, based on Wallop’s 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant

With almost 160 titles in its repertoire, you might think that OLO has covered all the bases … but not quite! This season the company follows up its blockbuster 2018 hit The Pajama Game with the second (and sadly, last) Adler and Ross hit, Damn Yankees. When Ross passed away at age 29 soon after the show’s opening, it closed the book on a team that seemed destined to join the ranks of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe. Middle-aged baseball fan Joe Boyd would give anything to see his hapless Senators beat the Yankees and claim the pennant. The Devil appears, accepts his offer, and in eventual exchange for his soul—but providing an escape clause—transforms Joe into a first-rate slugger. He joins the Senators and leads them to the season’s final two games, needing only a single win against the Yankees. To ensure that he “cashes in” on his deal, however, the Devil has called on his seductive “assistant” Lola to derail Joe from appearing in these games. The ebullient score features “Heart,” “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo.,” “Whatever Lola Wants,” and “Those Were the Good Old Days.”

Conductor: Wilson Southerland Director: Steven Daigle

Scenic Design: Kiah Kayser

Costume Design: Michelle Souza

Lighting Design: Rachel Aho

Sound Design: Christopher Plummer

THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE

(1938)

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Book by George Abbott, adapted from Shakespeare’s play The Comedy of Errors

“This is a drama of ancient Greece. It is a story of mistaken identity. If it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for us.” With these opening words, Rodgers and Hart’s The Boys from Syracuse ushered in a sequence of seminal shows (Kiss Me, Kate; West Side Story; Two Gentlemen of Verona) that brought the Bard front and center to the Broadway musical stage. The plot centers on identical twins, Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, who were separated by a shipwreck shortly after birth and who, accompanied by their also separated twin servants— both named Dromio—find themselves together in Ephesus. Confusions, to put it mildly, erupt when Adriana and Luce, wives of Antipholus E. and Dromio E., mistake the men’s Syracusan twin counterparts for their own spouses. Add to this mix Adriana’s younger sister Luciana, who falls hard for Antipholus S., who she believes is her sister’s husband, and you have the makings of a zany day in the theater. The musical score captures Rodgers and Hart at the top of their game: the girl’s show-stopping trio “Sing for Your Supper,” the exuberant “This Can’t Be Love,” the unsparingly acerbic “What Can You Do with a Man?” and Adriana’s heavenly waltz “Falling in Love with Love.”

Conductor: Michael Borowitz Director: Jacob Allen

Scenic Design: Daniel Hobbs

Costume Design: Jaysen Engel

Lighting Design: Rachel Aho

THE MERRY WIDOW

(Die lustige Witwe) (1905)

Music by Franz Lehár Libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein

Translation and performance edition by Steven Daigle

What more need be said?—it is the most popular, most recorded, and most performed operetta of all time. The Merry Widow brought sensuality to operetta and broke new ground in probing the psychological motivations of its characters. The story, set in Paris at the turn of the previous century, centers on desperate efforts by Baron Zeta of Pontevedro to find a Pontevedrian husband for the recently widowed, but now fabulously wealthy, Hanna Glawari, who is being chased by throngs of admiring and avaricious males. He engages fellow countryman and womanizer Count Danilo, who once loved Hanna, but whose family forbade his marriage to a commoner. Their passions rekindle, but Danilo’s hopes are seemingly shattered when he catches her in a pavilion rendezvous with the dashing Camille, who has been courting Zeta’s wife Valencienne. From Hanna’s tale of “Vilja” to Danilo’s tribute to Maxim’s to the swinging septet “Girls, Girls, Girls” to the sensuous “Merry Widow Waltz,” Lehár’s score is a revelation that effectively jump-started the Silver Age of Operetta in Vienna and led to the future show gems of Emmerich Kálmán, Oscar Straus, and Leo Fall, to say nothing of his own future hits.

Conductor: Michael Borowitz

Director: Steven Daigle

Scenic Design: Daniel Hobbs

Costume Design: Michelle Souza

Lighting Design: Rachel Aho

THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD

or The Merryman and His Maid (1888)

Music by Arthur Sullivan Libretto by William Gilbert

In its combination of comedy and pathos, and the human, rather than farcical, qualities of its characters, The Yeomen of the Guard holds a unique place among the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In an inheritance scam by a scheming relative, the bearded Colonel Fairfax has been condemned to death and is to be executed at the Tower of London. Sergeant Meryll, of the Yeomen of the Guard, concocts a plan whereby his son Leonard, arriving to join the Yeomen, will go into hiding and be impersonated by a beardless, unrecognizable Fairfax, thus providing time to seek a pardon. In order to thwart his unscrupulous kinsman, Fairfax begs the Tower Lieutenant to find him a wife. Meanwhile, jester Jack Point and his intended bride, the strolling singer Elsie Maynard, have arrived in town. The Lieutenant confronts Elsie and, with the promise of 100 crowns and an assurance to Jack that her new husband will soon be dead, Elsie is blindfolded, whisked away, and married to Fairfax. But the plan goes awry…. Both Gilbert and Sullivan felt that Yeomen was their finest collaboration. There are few, if any, songs in the operetta repertoire as sincere and emotionally grabbing as Jack and Elsie’s “I Have a Song to Sing, O!”

Conductor: Wilson Southerland Director: Steven Daigle

Scenic Design: Charlene Gross

Costume Design: Renee Surprenant

Lighting Design: Brittany Shemuga

THE RED MILL

(1906)

Music by Victor Herbert

Libretto by Henry Blossom

Historical reconstruction by Steven Daigle

In none of his 44 produced musical theater works did Victor Herbert kick it into melodic high gear as engagingly as in The Red Mill. Billed as a musical comedy, but with the composer’s expected romantic operetta elements, the storyline centers on two penniless Americans, Kid Conner and Con Kidder, who find themselves stranded in the Dutch port town of Katwyk-aan-Zee. They become entwined in the romance between the Burgomaster’s daughter Gretchen and sailor Captain Van Damm. When they try to help the couple elope, the Burgomaster—who is pushing to wed Gretchen to the governor of Zeeland—gets wind of the scheme and locks his daughter in the local, and reputedly haunted, windmill. Through some clever windmill antics, Kid and Con help Gretchen escape. Her father—needing his now-missing daughter for the imminent wedding— sends away for the best sleuth he knows: Sherlock Holmes. Kid and Con waste no time in assuming the identities of Holmes and Dr. Watson. The wedding eventually takes place, but with a surprise or two. Song hits abound: “Moonbeams,” “Every Day Is Ladies’ Day with Me,” “Because You’re You,” “The Isle of Our Dreams,” and “The Streets of New York.”

Conductor: Wilson Southerland

Director: Spencer Reese

Scenic Design: Reiko Huffman

Lighting Design: Brittany Shemuga

America’s Premier Lyric Theater Festival

OUR MISSION

Vision

As a resident professional company of The College of Wooster, the Ohio Light Opera seeks to preserve the tradition of operetta and musical theater with engaging and accessible productions that uplift, educate, and entertain a diverse present-day audience.

Mission

For 46 seasons, The Ohio Light Opera (OLO) has dedicated itself to exploring and producing the best of traditional operetta and musical theater. Although the repertoire has evolved over the past decades, “Light Opera” in our title reflects the rich tradition of OLO’s origin. The company was founded by James Stuart as a Gilbert and Sullivan repertory summer festival and has grown to encompass all forms in the light opera canon. This includes the complete Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire and both the recognized treasures of Viennese, French, German, British, and American operetta and the rare gems of artistic value that were popular in their day but have long since been forsaken. In recent years, the company has expanded its offerings to include traditional musical theater—its forgotten musical gems and popular Broadway titles that are nevertheless being produced less often today.

The historical performance practices of each work are delicately balanced with the resources of a state-of-the-art theater, audience accessibility, and engaging performance values. A revolving repertoire season with at least six titles and 50 performances allows patrons, throughout the summer, to attend performances of a specialized grouping of titles: three operettas or three musicals in two days, or all the titles of a summer season in four days. No other company offering a similar repertoire can provide this unique performance opportunity.

Between 15 and 20 thousand patrons each season see productions in The College of

Wooster’s intimate Freedlander Theatre. Over 100 company members from throughout the United States are selected each year to participate in our residency program. The 35 performing artists who make up the vocal ensemble are chosen for their abilities to perform and work at the highest level in all disciplines demanded by the company’s specialized repertoire: singing, acting, and dancing. The 30 members of OLO’s orchestra perform full and original orchestrations of each season’s historical titles.

The Ohio Light Opera has built and earned a reputation for producing these historical titles in the spirit of fidelity and faithfulness to the original material. This commitment over 40plus years has brought over 800,000 patrons to our festival seasons. OLO balances past artistic practices with the sensitivities expected from today’s society. Whereas the music and orchestrations remain sacred, modifications to lyrics and dialogue and elimination of blatant stereotypes are at times undertaken to mitigate prejudices prevalent at the time of a work’s creation. To completely ignore these prejudices would be the same as not acknowledging or recognizing that they existed.

With 158 titles produced, and over 2900 performances, the Ohio Light Opera has become the forerunner in promoting the lyric theater genre. The company’s contribution to the preservation and promotion of traditional lyric theater has received recognition in prominent national and international publications, and its work is frequently cited by leading scholars of operetta, light opera, and musical theater. In residency on The College of Wooster campus, the summer festival offers a country setting with an inviting community that is proud of the unique service that this company has given to its many patrons and the art form.

—Steven A. Daigle, Artistic Director

Carousel, 2025

2025 season photos by Matt Dilyard

Patience

The Cousin from Batavia

Tip-Toes

Carousel

Patience

Brigadoon

Bitter Sweet

Tip-Toes

Bitter Sweet

Brigadoon

Patience

Bitter Sweet

Carousel

The Cousin from Batavia Tip-Toes

Jacob Allen Melanie Athens Ris Bland Sam Brown Connor Burns Madeleine Christopher

Ted Christopher Grant Dombach

Cameron Duggins

Lydia Dunlap

Shannon Dunning Camryn Finn

Adam Griffiths Jordan Haas

Mark Hosseini Lily Jenkins

Safin Karim Jordan Knapick

Helen Knudsen Amia Korman

Jack Murphy

Kelly O’Shea Asher Ramaly

Spencer Reese Nathaniel Richard Noah Sickman Niko Theriault

Jonathan Trimble Natalia Turchin

Juan Johnston-Chavez

Thomas Valenti Rachel Weinfeld Spencer Wilde

Leah Finn

THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER

Independent Minds, Working Together

The College of Wooster is a community of Independent Minds, Working Together to prepare students to become leaders of character and influence in an interdependent global community.

Wooster offers a comprehensive liberal arts education in a vibrant, residential setting that culminates in a senior capstone project of in-depth research inquiry or creative expression. Working one-on-one with a faculty mentor, every student creates and presents new knowledge in their field of interest. Through this distinctive program, Wooster students develop abilities valued by employers and graduate schools: independent judgment, analytical ability, creativity, project and time management, problem-solving, and

strong written and oral communication. Students can be themselves at Wooster, discover and pursue their passions, and connect academic learning to the real world through internships, research fellowships, career pathways, and other experiential opportunities. They forge lifelong bonds with one another, faculty, coaches, and staff in an environment that fosters community.

In his book The Price You Pay for College, New York Times columnist Ron Lieber praises Wooster for its exceptional combination of quality faculty, affordability, and undergraduate research. Lieber devotes an entire chapter to answering “How the College of Wooster Puts It All Together,” highlighting Wooster’s up-front attitude in helping prospective students understand the financial package they will receive, and the satisfaction students get from faculty mentorship.

Academics, research, experiential learning, community service, social activism, athletics, the arts, environmental sustainability, and a community of belonging all play an important role in a Wooster student’s life. Learn more about the College at wooster.edu.

Friday: 7am-10pm Saturday: 8am-10pm Sunday: 9am-3pm for Brunch Hours

Monday- Thursday: 7am-9pm

STAY OVERNIGHT

THEATER AND INN PACKAGES

Experience the best of the Wooster area. With one phone call to your chosen lodging, you can arrange an incredible package—complete with gracious accommodations and great theater.

BLACK SQUIRREL INN

636 College Avenue

Wooster OH 44691

330-317-6627

blacksquirrelinn.com

An Acorn’s Throw Away from the Theater

MARKET STREET INN

356 N. Market Street

Wooster OH 44691

330-262-4085

marketstreetinnwooster.com

A Short walk to the Theater and Downtown Restaurants

Inn and Opera Package—10% off Room Price

when you book two nights with a show!

u Choice of 2 Ohio Light Opera performances for $110 ($136 ticket value)

u Explore and experience Wooster & wonderful Wayne County!

u Good Monday-Thursday. Contact for details and availability.

Inn and Opera Package—$310 (a $336 value)

A True B&B

u Overnight stay with Private Bath

u Choice of 5 rooms

u Lovely four-course breakfast for 2

u 2 tickets to an Ohio Light Opera performance of your choice ($136 ticket value) Offer valid Monday – Thursday (subject to availability)

OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS

Ohio Light Opera also recommends these hotel/motel accommodations that support Ohio Light Opera.

Best Western Hotel – see ad on page 23

Comfort Suites – see ad on page 15

Hilton Garden Inn – see ad on page 10

Quality Inn – see ad on page 10

St. Paul Hotel – see ad on page 2

l d e J a o l S t e a k h o u s e a n d T a v e r n

Available

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691

215 N. Walnut Street

330-262-3333

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691

Wooster, Ohio 44691

330-262-3333

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691

330-262-3333

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691 330-262-3333

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

330-262-3333

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691 330-262-3333

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691 330-262-3333

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

215 N. Walnut Street Wooster, Ohio 44691 330-262-3333

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm) Steaks, Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Lamb

Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm)

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm)

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm)

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm)

www.oldejaolrestaurant.com

Available on Open Table (Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm)

(Monday-Saturday 4:30pm-9pm, Closed Tuesday)

Our History

Steaks, Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Lamb

and service.

The Olde Jaol facility was built in 1865, and was claimed to be the finest sheriff facility of its kind.

Subsequently, the old jail was registered as a historical landmark in 1980 and in 1995 The Olde Restaurant was given life. We have an excellent reputation for

Olde Jaol facility was built in 1865, and was claimed to be the finest sheriff facility of its kind. 1977 the Wayne County Sheriff’s

The Olde Jaol facility was built in 1865, and was claimed to be the finest sheriff facility of its kind. 1977 the Wayne County Sheriff’s department was relocated across the street to a new facility. Subsequently, the old jail was registered as a historical landmark in 1980 and in 1995 The Olde Jaol Restaurant was given life. We have an excellent reputation for quality and service.

In 1977 the Wayne County Sheriff’s department was relocated across the street to a new facility. Subsequently, the old jail was registered as a historical landmark in 1980 and in 1995 The Olde Jaol Restaurant was given life. We have an excellent reputation for quality and service.

330.263.2345

Steaks, Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Lamb

Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Lamb

Pasta, Chicken,

STAY FOR THE DAY THEATER AND DINING PACKAGES*

Combine great dining with superb Ohio Light Opera performances —convenient, fun and an unbeatable value.

*Call the Box Office at The Ohio Light Opera, 330-263-2345, to purchase your package. Theater tickets and restaurant gift card will be sent to you upon confirmation of purchase.

BROKEN ROCKS CAFÉ & BAKERY

123 E. Liberty, Wooster

330-263-2949

brokenrockscafe.com

Casual dining with an upscale appeal

THE CITY SQUARE STEAKHOUSE

148 S. Market St., Wooster

330-262-2489

citysquaresteakhouse.com

A truly exceptional dining experience in a traditional Chicago-style steakhouse

TJ’S RESTAURANT

359 W. Liberty, Wooster

330-264-6263

tjsrestaurants.com

Fresh seafood, steaks, great salads, gourmet burgers, and a selection of vegan options

OLDE JAOL STEAKHOUSE AND TAVERN

215 N. Walnut St., Wooster

330-262-3333

oldejaolrestaurant.com

Steak, Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Lamb

MARIOLA ITALIAN

365 E Liberty St, Wooster (330) 845-8889

mariolaitalian.com

From our family, to yours

Dining and Opera Package—$145 (a $176 value)