William Powers

With apologies to a beloved children’s story, the Wichita Grand Opera might well be referred to as “The Little Opera Company That Could.” Friday was the opening night of the WGO’s final production for the 2015 season – Jacques Offenbach’s “The Grand Duchess” – and this little-known comic gem did not disappoint. Offenbach’s operettas inspired and influenced the works of Johann Strauss, Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. So, even though his works are less familiar in the United States, fans of “Die Fledermaus” or “The Pirates of Penzance” will likely find this amusing work familiar territory.

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Adapted from a novel by Larry Evans, Once to Every Man tells the tales of Danny Bolton, a pugnacious, hard-drinking country boy.

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The story of a young woman living in the wilderness.

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John Keefe, a gambler, shoots and kills Robert Barrington in an argument over a card game. Keefe steals Barrington's papers and forges a bill of sale to himself for Barrington's stable of race horses back east. The stable includes the prize filly, Wildfire. Meanwhile, Barrington's daughters, Henrietta and Myrtle, are becoming worried about their father's long absence in the West. John Garrison, the sheriff of the town in which Barrington was killed, goes East to investigate. He suspects Keefe (now called John Duffy) and begins to build a case, causing Henrietta to become suspicious. Keefe, realizing that the game is almost up, tries to get Wildfire's jockey to throw the big race, but Henrietta saves the day and Wildfire wins.

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A woman, with the aid of her police officer sweetheart, endeavors to uncover the prostitution ring that has kidnapped her sister, and the philanthropist who secretly runs it.

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