Gilbert & Sullivan Austin is proud to present “Cox and Box” as our 2017 Mid-Season Special Production. First performed in 1866, it was Arthur Sullivan’s first comic opera, and this may be the first full-length production ever in Austin of this little gem. There will be two performances of this tuneful, colorful, and highly entertaining work—Saturday March 4 at 7:30pm, and Sunday March 5 at 3pm.

Sullivan cut his comic-operatic teeth on “Cox and Box” several years before he was introduced to W. S. Gilbert, and enlivened F. C. Burnand’s libretto with operatic parodies, a sendup of Victorian drawing-room songs, and other memorable musical nonsense. It makes clear that the young musician’s destiny was in composing for the comic-operatic stage.

The cast includes Julius Young as Cox, Andy Fleming as Box, and David Fontenot as Sergeant Bouncer. Ralph MacPhail, Jr. is Stage Director, with Jeffrey Jones-Ragona Music Director. Accompaniment is on the grand piano by the esteemed Jeanne Sasaki.