NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd. (http://www.bht.org), the only musical theater group in New York City to donate its net proceeds to charity, presents the flagship production of its 85th season: a fresh take on Gilbert & Sullivan's first full-length collaboration, The Sorcerer.
The Sorcerer will play for eight performances, April 17-25, 2009, at Teatro Heckscher of El Museo del Barrio (1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street), as follows:
April 17, 22, 23, 24 & 25 at 8:00 pm
April 18 & 19 at 3:00 pm
April 25 at 2:00 pm
Tickets are available online now at http://www.bht.org or by calling 866-811-4111 and range in price from $25-$65.
Magical mix-ups and mayhem ensue in The Sorcerer, a giddy, "upstairs, downstairs" confection of mismatched lovers and love potion-spiked tea. Blue Hill Troupe's novel production gives the Midsummer Night's Dream-like plot a contemporary spin, while presenting Sullivan's buoyant, festive score with the first-class musical values audiences have come to expect.
Proceeds from The Sorcerer will benefit Inwood House (http://www.inwoodhouse.com), a leader and innovator in youth development, teen pregnancy prevention, and family support, serving nearly 5,000 young people in New York City and New Jersey.
The Sorcerer is directed by Gary Slavin, recently represented Off Broadway by Show Choir! - The Musical and the hit political revue Bush is Bad. Musical direction is by Zachary Schwartzman, an associate conductor with New York City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera.
Since 1924, the Blue Hill Troupe has produced a large-scale Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every spring, with lavish production values and full orchestra. Each year, the net proceeds benefit a different New York City charity, with the impressive total donated topping $3 million. Prior charities include Covenant House New York (2008), New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (2007) and The Doe Fund (2006).
The all-volunteer Blue Hill Troupe has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. For fourteen years, they have presented a concert in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Concerts and Lectures series.
Over its 85-year history, the Blue Hill Troupe has produced the entire Gilbert & Sullivan canon, including Thespis, the pair's first collaboration, to which Sullivan's score has been lost. In June 2008, the Blue Hill Troupe presented a concert version of Thespis, with a new score by Grammy Award-winning composer and record producer Thomas Z. Shepard. In 2005, the Blue Hill Troupe was honored with three awards at the 12th Annual International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, UK, for their innovative production of the G&S rarity, The Grand Duke.
The Blue Hill Troupe logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4767
For more information about the Blue Hill Troupe, Ltd., contact Joanne Lessner at (212) 222-7436 or visit www.bht.org.