Ohio Light Opera brings big-city entertainment to Wooster
People travel from all over to attend the Ohio Light Opera, which has brought Broadway-style entertainment like this 2023 performance of 'Arizona Lady' to The College of Wooster's Freedlander Theatre. The 2024 OLO season starts June 8 with 'Guys & Dolls.'
Summer in Wooster ‘tis the season — the Ohio Light Opera season that is.
This year the annual OLO season at The College of Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre will bring a variety of offerings. People travel from all over to attend, and locals have no need to venture to the big city for Broadway-style entertainment.
OLO is a lyric theater company producing six shows with 50 performances in a revolving repertoire format. Each week starting in June, a show will open and overlap performances of the shows until all six shows are running in July. By the end of the season, you can see all six shows in four days.
“With over 150 titles produced and close to 3,000 productions in 44 years, OLO has become the leader in promoting the lyric theater genre,” said Steven A. Daigle, OLO’s artistic director.
Additionally, the OLO is the only lyric theater repertory company producing musical theater and operetta in the United States.
“The company has historical importance as one of the few performance companies of its type to preserve the traditional integrity of the shows it produces,” Daigle said. “However, this is never at the expense of presenting the entertainment found in the stories of the shows. Lyric theater should entertain, make you laugh, sometimes cry, hum tunes and help you escape the reality of the day. Our shows are filled with merriment, humor and dancing.”
While audiences enjoy shows in the summer, the process of presenting live theater is a yearlong endeavor. Most of the hiring process and interviewing of interns begins in November for the following summer. There are about 130 company members who participate in the summer festival, and about half of them are returning.
In addition to the 30 cast members, there are another 30 members of the live orchestra who play for every performance and 50 individuals who work in technical areas and front of house.
There are several local members of the cast, crew and orchestra this year including several children in “The Sound of Music.” There also are several College of Wooster students working with the company in front of house and crew.
Daigle said this year’s collection of shows represents what has been at the heart of the OLO mission for the last 44 seasons.
“There is no other place in the country where a patron can see three Golden Age musicals and three operettas,” he said. “Our mission is to preserve the tradition of these great masterpieces.”
The season’s collection of shows is always carefully curated. “This year’s musicals — ‘Guys & Dolls,’ ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Me and My Girl’ — represent different styles in the American musical genre,” Daigle said.
He said although these shows were produced in many regional theaters 25 years ago, they are becoming more difficult to find.
Gilbert and Sullivan has been a part of the OLO since its beginning. “The Gondoliers” is this year’s offering and has not been presented at OLO for several years.
Additionally, the theater usually produces a European operetta from the German school — “The Count of Luxembourg” this season — along with a rare work seldom seen today, “The Arcadians.” All the shows are sung in English.
“Ohio Light Opera continues to be one of the highlights of a Wooster/Wayne County summer,” said Laura Neill, OLO executive director. “Our audiences and our company members come from all over the country and other countries. There’s nothing like it out there.”
The OLO 2024 season opened June 8 and will run through July 28. Tickets may be purchased online and at the box office. Run dates are as follows: “Guys & Dolls,” June 8 through July 28; “The Sound of Music,” June 13 through July 26; “Me and My Girl,” June 20 through July 25; “The Gondoliers,” June 26 through July 27; “The Count of Luxembourg,” July 11-27; and “The Arcadians,” July 18-26.
Order tickets online at www.ohiolightopera.org, in person at the box office or call the box office for credit card purchase. Individual tickets are $62, students age 16-23 are $20 and children age 3-15 are $10.
Subscriptions and group rates are available (price per ticket): Four different performances at $61, five different performances at $60, six different performances at $59, groups of 20-46 people at $60 and groups of 47-100 people at $59.
Through July 28 the box office is located at Freedlander Theatre, 329 E. University St., Wooster. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturdays beginning June 15 from noon to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays beginning July 7 from 12:30-4 p.m. The box office can be called at 330-263-2345 while the number for group sales is 330-263-2329.
For more information call the box office or go online for the 2024 season brochure. Find the OLO online at www.ohiolightopera.org and on Facebook and Instagram. On occasional days discounted tickets are available. Check social media or call the box office.
While the volunteer usher program may be full at this time, call 330-263-2090 for more information about volunteer opportunities.
Daigle said, “Our patrons come from all over the country. The company is something the local community should take great pride in. I hope we can bring in more local patrons. I promise, once they come, they will be swept away from the magic of the professional productions we produce in Wooster, Ohio. With tickets starting at hundreds of dollars to attend a Broadway production, OLO is a bargain.”
Curtain up, light the lights — it’s showtime in Wooster.