Wilton residents Jim Cooper and Jennifer Wallace will take stage at the All Saints School, 39 West Rocks Road in Norwalk, on Nov. 5 and 6, when the Troupers Light Opera performs a new version of the operetta Thespis.
Thespis was the first collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan that tells the story of aging Greek deities who trade places with a traveling theater company and face disastrous consequences.
After it first opened in 1871, the operetta was considered lost for years. Although the show’s dialog survived, all but two of its musical scores had been lost.
The Troupers Light Opera will perform a new version of Thespis that was reconstructed by opera designer and director Anthony Baker and conductor and composer Timothy Henty.
In the Troupers’ Northeast premiere of the Baker-Henty version of Thespis, Cooper will conduct the production and Wallace, a soprano, will sing the lead role of Pretteia.
A member of the Troupers for 16 years, Cooper serves as the company’s treasurer and has been its webmaster since 2001. He has also served as its technical director for a number of years, as well as one term as president.
Cooper played roles in several Troupers Light Opera productions, including The Red Mill, Yeomen of the Guard, The Gondoliers, The Mikado and The Sorcerer. Last fall, he musically directed its production of Patience.
The 20-member Troupers cast will present the full, semi-staged comic operetta at 7:30 on Nov. 5, and 2:30 on Nov. 6.
Tickets are available at trouperslightopera.org.