The Light Opera Company of Southern Maryland, now in its third season, will present Victor Herbert’s “Naughty Marietta” this summer at venues in Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties. Set in French New Orleans of the mid 1700’s, “Naughty Marietta” features dashing pirates and an Italian countess in disguise, young French ladies looking for husbands among the rough American sailors and frontiersmen, a governor kidnapped by his own son, and much more outrageous fun and frolic.

The enormous success of last summer’s “The Merry Widow” production has encouraged the company to expand performance venues into St. Mary’s County as well as Calvert County. The première of “Naughty Marietta” this year will take place in St. Mary’s Ryken High School’s Romuald Hall Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, July 29. The following weekend, August 4 and 5, the production will move to Huntingtown High School in Calvert County.

Conductor Shawn Burke-Storer, the dynamic young music director behind the acclaimed success of “the Merry Widow”, will return this year to conduct “Naughty Marietta”. This year’s production will also feature many of the company’s soloists from its past two operettas, “The Pirates of Penzance” and “The Merry Widow”, as well as new voices from the Southern Maryland region. All singers are professionals with experience on the operatic stage. They bring a commitment to fostering appreciation and love for light opera and musical comedy in southern Maryland.

Three years ago Sandra Jarrett, DMA, herself a professional opera singer and voice teacher, founded the Light Opera Company of Southern Maryland. Dr. Jarrett wished to create a performing company that would enliven the cultural scene in Southern Maryland, as well as offer opportunities for local professional singers to appear on stage closer to home. The company became incorporated in 2006, and is a nonprofit charitable organization. The Light Opera Company of Southern Maryland receives funding from the Calvert County Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Those interested in contributing to this year’s production, either as a performer or a volunteer; or by making a donation of money, goods, or services, are encouraged to contact the director, Sandra Jarrett, at 410-586-2802, or sandrajarrett@comcast.net.