NEW YORK, May 6, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- On June 16, the award-winning Blue Hill Troupe (http://www.bht.org) will present the concert premiere of a brand new version of Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, Gilbert and Sullivan's long-lost burlesque about a troupe of hapless actors who trade places with the world-weary gods. Thespis was the pair's first collaboration in 1871, but Sullivan's music was lost with his effects and only two songs endured: "Little Maid of Arcadee," a hit single of the day, and "Climbing Over Rocky Mountain," which was recycled in The Pirates of Penzance.
Twelve-time Grammy Award-winner Thomas Z. Shepard has composed an entirely original score to Thespis, using Gilbert's opening night libretto and retaining the two surviving tunes by Sullivan. The Blue Hill Troupe will present Shepard's Thespis as a semi-staged concert on Monday, June 16 at 8:00 pm, at Teatro Heckscher of El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street.
Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door. They can be purchased in advance through Theatermania at (866) 811-4111 or http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/142916.
Thomas Z. Shepard has produced numerous classical and original Broadway cast albums, including Sweeney Todd, Forty-Second Street, La Cage aux Folles, and Sunday in the Park With George. The composer of several musicals and operas, Shepard received two Emmy Award nominations for songs he composed for the PBS television show Between the Lions. He was commissioned by the Carnegie Hall Explorers Division to write The Children's Symphony to teach the instruments of the orchestra to second and third graders. He is also a producer of live concert events, including the New York Philharmonic's Follies in Concert, My Fair Lady last year and the upcoming Camelot with Gabriel Byrne, Marin Mazzie and Nathan Gunn.
Now in its 84th season, the internationally recognized Blue Hill Troupe supports local charities through its highly acclaimed annual productions. This year's productions of Princess Ida and Mame raised money for Covenant House New York Infant/Toddler Center. In addition to producing a large-scale Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every spring and a more intimate musical in the fall, the Blue Hill Troupe offers winter concerts that have included the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Concerts and Lectures series for fourteen years running. They have been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and appeared twice with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.
Thespis is not the Troupe's first attempt at polishing up the rarer gems of the G & S canon. In August 2005, the Blue Hill Troupe presented their revised edition of the Gilbert & Sullivan rarity The Grand Duke at the 12th Annual International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England, where it received awards for Best Male Performer, Best Female Performer and Best Musical Direction.
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