Left Photo: Left to Right –
Simon Cratchit – Landon Kurland, Tiny Tim Cratchit – Hanna Roth, Scrooge – Chris Diamond, Sarah Cratchit – Ireland Hill, Belinda Cratchit – Eirini Stavropoulos
Right Top Photo: Left to Right –
Tiny Tim Cratchit – Hanna Roth, Scrooge – Chris Diamond
Right Bottom Photo: Left to Right
Ghost of Christmas Past – Patricia Gallagher, Ghost of Christmas Present – Terry Hochler, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – Delaney R. Page, Scrooge – Chris Diamond
About
‘A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol’ is an adaptation of the classic Dicken’s tale set to the incomparable music of Gilbert & Sullivan with words by Gayden Wren.
First performed in 1994, by our own GaSLOCoLI, it has been performed worldwide and has even made its way as far as Off-Broadway.
It is a festive treat for the senses and hopes to bring the warmth of the season to the hearts of all, even the tiniest amongst us.
Performance Dates
Please visit each venue’s respective website or call their office for ticketing and purchase information.
Friday, 13 December
7:30 p.m.
St. Mark’s Church
754 Montauk Highway, Islip
Phone: (631) 581-4950
Website Link: www.stmarksislip.org
Saturday, 14 December
7:30 p.m.
Westbury United Methodist Church
265 Asbury Avenue East, Westbury
Phone: (516) 333-0874
Website Link: https://wumcny.org/
Sunday, 15 December
2 p.m.
St. Stephen’s Church
9 Carlton Avenue, Port Washington
Phone: (516) 767-0363
Website Link: www.ststephenspw.org
Friday, 20 December
7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Oceanside
2701 Oceanside Road, Oceanside
Phone: (516) 766-5916
Facebook Link: http://facebook.com/fpcoceansideny
Saturday, 21 December
7:30 p.m.
Freeport United Methodist Church
46 Pine Street, Freeport
Phone: (516) 378-0659
Website Link: www.freeportumc.net
Roles
Narrator – Farah Chandu
Balladeer – Meaghan Mahoney
Ebenezer Scrooge – Chris Diamond
Bob Cratchit – Jordan Breslow
Mrs. Emily Cratchit – Roseanne Rodriguez
Martha Cratchit – Lilly Chase
Peter Cratchit – Landon Kurland
Belinda Cratchit – Eirini Stavropoulos
‘Tiny Tim’ Cratchit – Hanna Roth
Sarah Cratchit – Ireland Hill
Uncle Tim – Stanley Bergman
Aunt Eadie – Patricia Gallagher
Ms. Kindheart – Terry Hochler
Mr. Goodman – David Aubrey
Ghost of Marley – Paul Landon Dial
Ghost of Christmas Past – Patricia Gallagher
Ghost of Christmas Present – Terry Hochler
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – Delaney R. Page
Fred Hanscom – Gerald Quigley
Dora Lincoln – Claudia Arroyo
Mr. Fezziwig – Paul Landon Dial
Mrs. Fezziwig – Terry Hochler
Young Scrooge – Gerald Quigley
Young Marley – John Benvenudo
Belle – Kara Vertucci
Titus Burton – Michael O’Malley
Gossips –
Claudia Arroyo, Meghan Mahoney, Gerald Quigley, Roseanne Rodriguez
Cheapside Jackie – Lilly Chase
Pooh-Bah – Ron Roth
Director – Gayden Wren
Musical Director – Steve O’Leary
Cast Bios
Claudia Arroyo (Dora, Gossip) has been performing with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island since her debut in 2019 in The Gondoliers. She has performed with the Red Stocking Revue Group since 2017 and with the Long Island Cabaret Theatre since 2018. She also performs with the Billboard Players, having made her debut in 2024 in Caught in the Net. Claudia loves to sing and is delighted to be a part of GaSLOCoLI’s 2024 production of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, in which she makes her fifth appearance with the Company.
David Aubrey (Mr. Goodman) is in his third season with GaSLOCoLI, having appeared in Princess Ida and Iolanthe, in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Previous opera credits include Isaac Harris in Leonard Lehrman’s Triangle Fire, Hannah, Sacco and Vanzetti and Dargomizhsky’s Rusalka. He has sung with the Great Neck Choral Society, the Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus, the Amend Choir, the Harvard Chorus, the Queens College Choral Society and the Temple Isaiah Choir. When not singing, he gives lectures on film history, writes plays and program notes, and enjoys gardening, travel and collecting lint.
He is currently researching his thesis on why none of our bald presidents were Whigs.
John Benvenuto (Ghost of Samuel/Young Marley) started his acting career with a commercial for CUNY Leads after graduating from Queens College. He has done several shows with the Long Island Cabaret Theatre, and starred in Caught in the Net with the Billboard Players. His GaSLOCoLI debut came as Guron in Princess Ida, in 2023. He’s happy to join in, enjoys both singing and acting, and is sure that this is going to be a fun show.
Stanley Bergman (Uncle Tim) has been a member of the Company since 2007. During that time he has played several standout roles, including Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance and Uncle Tim in the 2019 production of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, as well as being a stalwart tenor in the chorus. Lately Stan has moved into another branch of the arts by co-authoring Mini Stories & Poems by Him and Her, a book of poems and short stories written with his wife, Carol Bergman. If you enjoy reading fun and uplifting stories, you should contact Stan at CandS@gmail.com and purchase their book. You will not be disappointed!
Jordan Breslow (Bob Cratchit) has been with GaSLOCoLI since 2011, being seen in both principal roles in Iolanthe (Lord Mountararat), Princess Ida (Florian), The Mikado (Pish-Tush), Patience (Major Murgatroyd) and, in 2014, a previous outing as Bob Cratchit in A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, as well as ensemble appearances in The Sorcerer, Ruddigore, Thespis, HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers and The Pirates of Penzance. He had previously performed with the Suburban Players of Wantagh in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun and Girl Crazy, and as the title character in a Camp Kinder Ring production of The Wiz. Jordan was a member of the Binghamton Crosbys, the only TTBB a-cappella singing ensemble at Binghamton University, and serves as the group’s alumni coordinator. He has served on the GaSLOCoLI Executive Board as publicity chairperson, business manager and treasurer.
Farah Chandu (Narrator) is a choral conductor, soprano, and teacher who has been on the faculty of Queensborough Community College and The Ideal Montessori School. She is the founder and director of The Willow Interfaith Choir, and has performed with that group widely through the past 25 years. Chandu has been a soloist with the Symphonic Pops Orchestra, the Band of Long Island, the NYPD Ceremonial Unit and several productions with the Bronx Opera company. She made her company debut in 2024, playing Leila in Iolanthe.
Lilly Chase (Martha Cratchit/Cheapside Jackie) is extremely excited to be making her Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island debut. Lilly has been performing since she was 7, when she was cast as the mischievous Max in Where the Wild Things Are. Her other credits include Catherine in Pippin; Sandy Cheeks in The Spongebob Musical; Marty Maraschino in Grease the Musical; Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka Jr.; and Ancestor in The Addams Family. She also had the opportunity to perform at the Queens Borough Arts Festival in 2023. Lilly is currently a freshman in high school and is a member of the school’s chorus and a-capella group. When not onstage, she loves listening to music, torturing her little brother and hanging out with her friends. Above all else, Lilly’s favorite thing to do is obsessing over her biggest love, the New York Mets!
Paul Dial (Ghost of Marley/Mr. Fezziwig) … is returning to GaSLOCoLI after nearly 15 years, having previously been seen in The Pirates of Penzance (as Major-General Stanley), the revue Ladies & Gentlemen, Gilbert & Sullivan and a previous production of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol (as Cratchit). His other G&S appearances have been in Patience (in Manhattan), and The Gondoliers (in London). He has also been quite busy during past Christmas seasons with eight other productions of the A Christmas Carol (including one on the radio), four productions of The Nutcracker, two Messiahs, appearing in the re-make of Miracle on 34 th Street (although, if it were at all possible, he wishes he could have been in the original), 15 years with The Christmas Revels at Symphony Space … and a partridge in a pear tree!
Chris Diamond (Scrooge) grew up in Texas, wandered his way to Long Island, stumbled through the doors of GaSLOCoLI and has been all the better for it. He debuted with the company as a chorus member and as Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe, making his return to the stage after far too long away. In the before times, Chris studied as a vocal major, and quickly found work in fields having nothing to do with music. He’d like to thank his wife, for her years of constant support, and got her boundless patience living with a tenor. He would also like to thank his daughter, whose constant eye rolling and sighing gives him the strength to continue finding new ways to embarrass her, like calling her out in a bio.
Patricia Gallagher (Ghost of Christmas Past/Aunt Eadie) has sung with the company in nearly every main show since 1994, as well as in many revues and fundraisers as well. She’s a lifetime honorary member of the Company for her extensive work on the board and backstage, all while performing on stage too. Her first company role was as Josephine in HMS Pinafore, which was followed by many soprano roles to follow and even a few mezzo roles such as Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard—which is her favorite G&S show, though Princess Ida and The Gondoliers are also contenders. She Is delighted to sing in the company, as a principal or in the chorus with longtime and newer friends too. Such a pleasure! Her undergraduate degree is in voice from Peabody Conservatory, and she loves singing Gilbert & Sullivan, which to her is akin to Mozart. She also enjoys singing show music, jazz and a bit of pop karaoke!
Ireland Hill (Sarah Cratchit) is extremely excited to perform in A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, her first production with GaSLOCoLI She is a 10-year-old performer who first appeared as Sardine in The Rainbow Fish and Amy in Captain Louie the Musical at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts. Other performances include King Sextimus the Silent in Once Upon a Mattress (Usdan), Molly in Thirteen: The Musical (Usdan) and Sprit in Finding Nemo (WES). She is also a member of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Treble Choir and has performed with them at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall and Adelphi University. In her free time Ireland loves to Irish dance and sing in her school choir. She would like to thank the wonderful cast for their support during this production. Most of all, she would like to thank her voice teacher, Mrs. Hug, and her choral teacher, Mrs. Marinis, for all their time and encouragement, which gave her the confidence to audition for this memorable production.
Terry Hochler (Mrs. Kindheart, Ghost of Christmas Present, Mrs. Fezziwig) was lucky enough to be brought up in a G&S-loving household, although – truth be told – her family owned recordings of only a handful of the operas – one of them being Iolanthe, for which she has a particular soft spot. Terry has played numerous mezzo roles in the full-company shows since joining GaSLOCoLI right out of college, and has sung the mezzo part in many of the company’s revue shows as well. She is happy to be part of such a talented and fun-loving cast.
Sayer Holliday (Graphic Designer/Understudy Swing) has been a member of the company since 1997, serving (at different times) as lead soprano, music director, all-purpose understudy, website designer, movie producer and all-around technical wizard. A native of Arlington, Texas, she has degrees in vocal performance and religious studies from Oberlin College. Her favorite role with the company was as Bob Cratchit in the 2019 production of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol.
Janette Kennedy (Set Designer) has a degree in technical theater from Oberlin College, and was the company’s set designer and technical director from the late 1980s to 1998, and has continued to work with the group from afar since relocating to Tennessee in 1998, most recently as the wandsmith in its 2024 production of Iolanthe. She lives with her family in Seymour, Tennessee, where she takes pride in the fact that “Seymour” was Arthur Sullivan’s middle name.
Landon Kurland (Peter Cratchit) is making his debut with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island. He has recently performed at the Jazz Hands Children’s Theatre in Matilda Jr. and Beauty & the Beast Jr), at USDAN in Magic Treehouse and Free to Be You and Me, and at Glenwood Landing Elementary School in Aladdin and The Lion King.
Landon has a passion for the performing arts, including acting, singing, ballet, jazz and hip-hop dance. He has a great love for Broadway and has attended more than 20 shows.
Meaghan Mahoney (Balladeer/Edwina) began training in classical opera at age 9 and in her early teenage years was a three-time winner of Carnegie Hall’s annual Golden Key Competition. In college she was a featured soloist in the Columbia/Juilliard Chorus, Chamber Choir and its official classical music a-capella group, Vivace, and a participant in the New Opera Workshop at Columbia.
After college she took a bit of an extended hiatus from vocal performance, but now she’s back and ready to plant her feet firmly into the world of Gilbert & Sullivan. She has been a longtime Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiast—one of her earliest productions was a youth performance of H.M.S. Pinafore at age 14, but her true love will always be The Pirates of Penzance. “Poor Wandering One” is her favorite song of all time, and her dream is to one day play Mabel on the big stage.
Stephen O’Leary (Music Director) has been involved with eight productions of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol. This is his fifth time as music director, the first having been the Off-Broadway production of 2001; he has also played the characters of Fred and Old/Young Marley. Besides being music director or performer for several G&S revues, he has also been seen as Ludwig and the Herald in The Grand Duke, Tarara in Utopia, Limited, Grosvenor in Patience, Guron in Princess Ida and John James Box in Cox and Box.
Michael O’Malley (Titus Burton/Arthur) is a relative newcomer to performing. His first outing was at the Herricks Community Center’s Herricks to Broadway (2018), performing with the ensemble cast. In 2019 he played Duke Frederick in Shakespeare’s As You Like It for Theater Box in Floral Park, and in 2023 Richard Noaks in Arcadia with the Ivy Lane Players in Levittown. He’s also been seen doing stand-up comedy in open-mic nights at various venues on Long Island. Some of his comedy shorts can be viewed on his YouTube channel, @MichaelOMalley-xv5kh.
Delaney R. Page (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) is delighted to make her second appearance as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol. It is her seventh production with GaSLOCoLI, and her second repeated production with the company, having previously performed the roles of Celia and the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe, respectively in 2016 and 2024.
Her other GaSLOCoLI credits have been as Understudy to Lady Blanche and Lady Psyche in Princess Ida, as Peep-Bo and Understudy to Katisha in The Mikado: A Long Island Fantasy, as Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, and as Vittoria in The Gondoliers. She is also a member of the cast of Very Truly Yours, Gilbert & Sullivan. Other credits include the role of ‘The Mother’ in Amahl and the Night Visitors. She also often performs with the Long Island Cabaret Theatre and recently won third place in the 2024 Anime Boston Sing Competition with a self-arranged operatic rendition of “Mononoke Hime.” She wants to deeply thank all her family, friends, and everyone for coming to see the production!
Gerald Quigley (Fred/Young Scrooge) is extremely excited to be part of his first production with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island, and with such a talented cast. Some of his favorite roles have included The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, Motel the Tailor in Fiddler on the Roof, Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man and Greg in It Shoulda Been You. Gerald would like to thank all his friends and family for their support over the years.
Roseann Rodriguez (Emily Cratchit/Gossip) is in her third year performing with the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island, having previously been seen in the chorus of Princess Ida and as understudy to the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe. She also sings with the Long Island Choral Society, and perform in shows with the Long Island Cabaret Theatre.
Hanna Roth (Tiny Tim) is making her second outing in A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol, having played Belinda Cratchit in 2019. Her other credits with the company include Ada in Princess Ida (2023) and Fleta in Iolanthe (2024). Hanna is a 13-year-old actor and vocalist who made her stage debut at 7 as Smee in Peter Pan (USDAN 2019); subsequent credits include Bobby in A Chorus Line (Cultural Arts Playhouse 2020), Maui in Disney’s Moana (Cultural Arts Playhouse 2021), Mrs. Pew in Annie (Stagedoor Manor 2022), ensemble in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Stagedoor Manor 2022), Alice in Shattered Alice (Friends Academy 2023), ensemble in No, No, Nanette (Stagedoor Manor 2023), Mrs. Doris MacAfee in Bye, Bye, Birdie (Stagedoor Manor 2023), Mrs. Fox in The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Friends Academy 2024). Her vocal credits include performances at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Citi Field (singing the National Anthem), The Tilles Center and Adelphi University. She is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Nassau Concert Choir and an All-Nassau County Vocalist with NYSSMA. Hanna is currently in eighth grade at Friends Academy in Locust Valley, and lives in Oyster Bay with her parents (Claudia and Ron) and her brother, Zachary.
Ron Roth (Pooh-Bah) is excited to be making his third appearance with GaSLOCoLI in this production of A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol. He made his stage debut with the company as a member of the ensemble in Princess Ida (2023), and last spring played a haughty Peer in Iolanthe. Ron lives in Oyster Bay with his incredible wife, Claudia, and children Zachary and Hanna. It was his daughter Hanna, who has been performing with GaSLOCoLI since 2019, who encouraged Ron to join the company—a decision he has never regretted.
Eirini Stavropoulos (Belinda Cratchit) is a 12-year-old honor student at Buckley Country Day School. She loves languages, music, acting and travel, is fluent in Greek and is learning Chinese. She has been training in voice and piano for six years with Jennifer Grimaldi Toohey at the Long Island Studio of Music.
She has participated in NYSSMA; several musicals at Buckley, including as Pocahontas in Disney through the Ears in 2022; Mean Girls at the Cultural Arts Playhouse in 2023; Nassau All County Honor Chorus in 2023 and 2024; and the ECPSM Queens Academy Musical Theater Summer Workshop in 2024. As part of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra (MYO) Nassau Treble choir, she opened the season premiere of the Rockettes with a Christmas medley in November 2023. She was also a MYO concerto and voice competition finalist in 2024 with “Caro Mio Ben,” and was lead singer with the Buckley ensemble in the New York Concert Festival International Competition, which won the Best Ensemble Award for the song “Jerusalem of Gold,” performed at the winners’ recital at Carnegie Hall in 2023 and earned a scholarship to participate in the Concert Festival International Summer Tour into Vienna this past Summer. She is very excited to participate in this version of A Christmas Carol, because her favorite Christmas movie is the Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge.
Sam Trested (Stage Manager) is a 2024 graduate of Manhattanville University with a BFA in musical theater). Recently Sam made her Off-West End debut performing in Winner: A New Musical. Her stage-management credits include Broadway Bound, The Green Bird and The Lifespan of a Fact. Either onstage or in the tech booth, you can always find Sam in the theater.
Kara Vertucci (Belle) is a Long Island based soprano and music educator, classically trained at the University of North Texas. Last seen with GaSLOCoLI performing the lead soprano role of Phyllis in Iolanthe, she is equally comfortable performing on both the operatic and musical-theater stage.
Favorite opera and musical theater roles include Sharon Graham in Master Class, Tuptim in The King and I, Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music, Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Patience in Patience, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, Erste Knabe in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Prima Cercatrice in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. An avid singer of oratorio, she has been featured as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem in D Major, Haydn’s The Creation, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Faure’s Requiem.
Gayden Wren (Author/Director) was born in Manhattan, and lived there until 1971, when his family moved to Long Island, where he came into contact with what was then the Gilbert & Sullivan Workshop of Long Island. He joined the company’s chorus in the fall of 1976, and has essentially never left. He’s directed roughly 30 productions for the company since 1986, and dozens more for other companies, and is also the author of A Most Ingenious Paradox: The Art of Gilbert & Sullivan (Oxford University Press, 2002) and the plays A Gilbert & Sullivan Christmas Carol and Very Truly Yours, Gilbert & Sullivan, as well as the upcoming book Only in Theatrical Performances: The Art of ‘The Mikado.’ To learn more about his work as a country singer/songwriter, visit TennesseeWalt.com.
Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island 