Skylight Opera Theatre

The Skylight Opera Theatre is a professional light opera company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1959, Skylight performs in the 358-seat Cabot Theatre in Milwaukee's Third Ward District. Offering a broad spectrum of works including light opera, small-scale operas and musicals, this company is well-known in Milwaukee for its all-English repertoire.

Description

One of Skylight's specialities is the production of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Every other season, Skylight puts on a Gilbert and Sullivan show. However, the company has also established a reputation for an adventuresome repertoire, encompassing baroque opera, operetta, contemporary chamber operas and original musical revues. The mission of the company is "to bring the full spectrum of musical theatre works to a wide and diverse audience in celebration of the musical and theatrical arts and their reflection of the human condition."

Skylight's Managing Director is Eric Dillner, its Artistic Director is Bill Theisen, and its Principal Conductor is Richard Carsey. The founder of Skylight was Clair Richardson. The company gives over 80 performances each season. The 2006-07 season included five new productions, including Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel", "South Pacific", the contemporary American comic opera "Tartuffe", "Smokey Joe's Cafe", and Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience". 2007-08 included Carlson's "The Midnight Angel", Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", "La traviata", Temperley's "Souvenir" and "The Spitfire Grill". 2008-09 features "La bohème", "The Producers", "Blues in the Night", "I Do! I Do!" and "The Pirates of Penzance".

The Skylight staged its first world premiere, Richard Wargo's "Ballymore" in 1999. The premiere attracted national attention. The success of that project led to the company receiving a large grant to finance a two-year residency at the Skylight for Wargo. Another world premiere was "The Little Prince", an opera by Rachel Portman.

Skylight Opera Theatre is a non-profit organization with a $3.2 million annual budget and an endowment. In addition to ticket sales, it raises funds through the rental of sets, costumes, theatres and public spaces in its theatre center, which it owns and operates. It also receives contributions from the United Performing Arts Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Wisconsin Arts Board, CAMPAC, Theatre Communications Group, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and various foundations, corporations, and individuals.

External links

* [http://www.skylightopera.com Skylight Opera Theatre homepage]
* [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=405318 Article with information about the company's schedule and repertory]
* [http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=1 Information about a source of funding for the company]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19990527/ai_n10525235 1999 Profile of the company]