The Springfield Free Public Library is pleased to welcome back the members of the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company at 2:00 PM on Sunday, April 22, for a concert performance of Princess Ida, a rarely-performed musical gem.

The only one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operettas with dialog written entirely in blank verse, Princess Ida is the story of a heroic princess who runs a women’s college and the prince who loves her. The operetta, with a larger than normal cast and lead role for a stronger soprano voice than is usually found in Gilbert & Sullivan compositions, humorously tosses about topics that were – and continue to be - newsworthy and controversial, including feminism, women’s colleges, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Those with a keen memory and a good ear may recognize the source of Tom Lehrer’s musical parody, “The Professor’s Song” as well as music heard in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers.

The Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company has been staging performances of the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan for more than 75 years. More information can be found at https://www.ridgewoodgilbertandsullivan.org/.

This performance is free and open to all members of the general public. The performance will be held in the library’s Donald B. Palmer Museum; seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis.