“Oh, better far to live and die…under the brave black flag I fly.”

— Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.”

The Arts Council of Moore County is presenting an ARTour to attend a performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan epic, at Stevens Center, Winston-Salem, on Tuesday, April 10!

Cost per person, including transportation, pre-performance dinner at Southbound Grill and theater ticket, $130, for ACMC members and $145, non-members. A $40 deposit is required at registration, with balance due, March 9.

A feast for the eyes and ears, the amusing romp through operatic parody concerns the coming of age of Frederic, the Pirate King’s apprentice, who is faced with the choices and decisions which will affect his future.

The Piedmont Opera presentation features Terry Hodges as the Pirate King. Hodges has sung in over 2,000 performances of “Phantom of the Opera,” and has been associated with the Operas of Pittsburgh, Omaha; San Francisco, Tulsa, and Virginia as well as Opera Theater of St. Louis. His operatic career also includes the roles of Tevye in “Fiddler on the Rood” and Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”

Soprano Elizabeth DeGrazia, sings the role of Mabel. Her operatic associations include Opera Omaha and Glimmerglass Opera. DeGrazia has concertized with the New York Philharmonic, the Naples (FL) Philharmonic and the Symphonies of Portland and Toronto as well as singing in “Phantom of the Opera” and “Jane Eyre.”

George Dyer appears as Frederic. and the role of Ruth is sung by mezzo soprano Marion Pratnicki.

Director Dorothy Danner’s varied career includes dancing, acting and working as stage director. She is well known for inventive staging of comic works. Her direction of Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” is memorable. Danner is responsible for the staging of “An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan” for the Boston Pops, which was internationally televised over PBS.

Last, not least, conductor Jeffrey Huard has been associated with Opera Omaha and Opera Chautauqua, the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Theater of St. Louis and Wolf Trap Opera. He has conducted world premieres of “Showboat,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and the Canadian premiere and Broadway production of “The Phantom of the Opera” as well as the world premiere of “Ragtime” in Toronto.

Plan to join the Arts Council to see and hear the “Pirates of Penzance,” an outstanding musical entertainment presented by the talented singers and staff of the eminent Piedmont Opera Company.