Brian Yeakley Brings Operatic Flair to a Revamped Iolanthe

If you ask Brian Yeakley why he keeps coming back to the Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society, his answer is as layered as the operettas themselves.

“I started out as a music theater major, actually before I went into opera. Before that, I was a cello player for 10 years. Classical music was the way I functioned for a long time,” he shares. “The first show I ever saw, actually, was the one we’re doing this year, Iolanthe. It combines my old life of music-theater love. We even have choreography. Nowadays, it’s more me putting all of my talents in one, and it’s really fun.”

That fusion of music, movement, and melodrama is precisely what makes the Society’s upcoming staging of Iolanthe a summer standout. Staged originally in 1882, the comic opera remains surprisingly timely, especially with Yeakley playing Lord Tolloller, one of the peers who spar with a cadre of fierce, magical fairies.

“It’s basically a battle of the sexes—men versus women,” Yeakley explains. “However, there’s a complete transformation of gender norms and everything like that. The fairies are all very tough and scary, and the kings and peers are all very cowardly and maybe a little bit gay.”

If you think an operetta that’s over 140 years old might feel stale, Yeakley is quick to reassure skeptics. “Like most performances of all the old stuff today, it’s completely revamped, completely renewed,” says Yeakley. “It still has a nod to the traditions that it’s based upon, but you definitely will be pleasantly surprised.”

“It’s much more like a musical than an opera,” he adds. “That’s the beauty of operetta. It’s really accessible.”

In this production, accessibility also comes by way of clever staging. “Our director, she has all these crazy, cool little circus-isms that are happening throughout,” Yeakley teases. “You’ll want to definitely check it out for the fun staging and choreography we’ve got going on.”

For Yeakley, who previously portrayed the romantic lead Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, Lord Tolloller represents a shift into comic territory. “This time it’s more one of my bread-and-butter roles,” he says of playing the comedic sidekick. “Tolloller in this instance means ‘so-so.’ So he’s okay at everything. There’s nothing he’s super good at. But of course, I’m going to be adding high notes all over the place because that’s what I do.”

Working closely with his scene partner (playing Lord Mountararat), Yeakley describes their dynamic as “exactly” like Lumière and Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast. “It’s just so satisfying,” he adds. “We just came up with a little dance yesterday, a little soft-shoe. Our director gave us a cane and said, ‘You two split this cane, come up with something.’ So we did a little bit of choreography with a little cane.”

Despite the lighthearted tone, Yeakley also sees deeper value in the show’s themes. “The hijinks that the men get up to all by themselves, it’s so funny. And honestly, it’s paralleling and making fun of current political climate things on a very subtle scale,” he says.

The playful yet pointed subversion of traditional gender roles and performance is what Yeakley thinks will resonate with queer audiences in particular. “At the very beginning, all of the fairies, played by all the girls in the show, sing this light and fairy-like music,” he explains. “But, at the end, they sing ‘We are dainty little fairies,’ but it sounds almost masculine.” But the masculine energy of the fairies doesn’t end there. “They kick our butts throughout the entire show,” he adds. “It’s really entertaining that way.”

Ultimately, Iolanthe is more than just escapist fun. “It’s making us take everything with a little bit more grace and allowing us to make fun of ourselves,” notes Yeakley. “We can be content in the socio-political progress that we’ve made, and we still acknowledge that we have a long way to go, but we can also laugh about what we currently have.”

That sense of balance, of honoring tradition while still moving the needle forward, is something Yeakley also brings to his own work beyond the stage. As the founder of the nonprofit Operativo Houston, he’s committed to expanding access to opera performance roles. “I wanted even more opportunities for operatically trained young singers who are right in between going full professional, where you get the calls versus the auditioning,” he explains. “You get the experience, but you don’t have all of the pressure of leading a big house.”

“Currently,” he continues, “how young artists figure this all out is they go through a young-artist program track.” Those tracks offer non-livable wages, which is not a way that artists can afford to live unless they have a sponsor or parents that are wealthy enough to subsidize their livelihoods. “We just need more and more arts organizations that are on the smaller side, providing more performance opportunities for people who aren’t quite at the A-house level.”

Yeakley credits Houston’s vibrant arts scene as one of the reasons he remains based in the city. “There’s just so much variety here, and it’s all really good stuff,” he says. “That’s the reason I haven’t decided to live on the East Coast.”

“Basically, I want this to just scream in their face and have them remember it for a really long time,” he says, laughing, about what he hopes audiences will take away from this production of Iolanthe. “It’s such a joyous show, and there’s so much energy and life. Also, our chorus is full of really talented young people this year, so all of us old people should watch our backs a little bit!”

WHAT: Houston’s Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s Iolanthe
WHEN: July 19–27, 2025
WHERE: Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
INFO: gilbertandsullivan.org/iolanthe