Fiftieth anniversary seasons are uncommon in American regional theater. Long lifespans are a struggle for endangered species, and many theaters were born during a starburst of arts energy in the ‘70s and ‘80s. They have a ways to go to hit the half-century mark.

Skylight Opera Theatre artistic director Bill Theisen found a sweet symmetry in his programming choices for the close of his company's 50th. The troupe is looking forward and backward.

On successive Fridays this month, he scheduled openings of "Rent," the gritty rock musical that skews young and toward future audiences, and "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan," the title that launched the Skylight on its 50-year run.

A rousing and beautifully performed production of "Rent" opened in the Broadway Theatre Center's Cabot Theatre last Friday. It's the Midwest professional premiere of the long-running Broadway hit that was heavily inspired by the opera "La Boheme."

"An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan" debuts tomorrow in the center's Studio Theatre.

There are many things to like about this "Rent," beginning with its clarity and accessibility. The musical is typically performed in large houses with rock-concert style sound. Pieces of lyrics and dialogue get lost in the noise and rafters.

That doesn't happen in the Cabot. We hear every word, catch nuance and irony, and the show's focus tightens. It is an important advantage for a musical driven by its characters.

This "Rent" throws a hot spotlight on some local performers who merit higher theater profiles. UW-Whitewater grad Rick Pendzich has methodically been building a strong body of work in doing straight plays for the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, In Tandem Theatre Company and others, but we didn't know he could sing. Cast as aspiring indy film maker Mark Cohen, he does much more than carry a tune, displaying a natural pop voice and giving us a solid portrait of the character.

Tommy Hahn's Skylight credits go back to being a precocious singer in the mid-90s. He's worked around the Midwest and fronted the Milwaukee band Revolush.

Hahn's Roger Davis, an HIV-infected song writer, suggests there should be more leading roles in big musicals in his future. He sings the part with ease and polish.

Julia Black is back in her hometown, where she is not particularly well known, to play Joanne, a lesbian attorney who woos Mark's girlfriend from him. We should be seeing and hearing more of this Pius XI High School graduate. Black owns a major league voice and gives Joanne a crisp but likable coolness that provides some individuality to the role.

Beyond the Milwaukeeans, Kate Margaret McCann rocks the Cabot with an electric frenzy the gentle little opera house has rarely, if ever, experienced. The actress is Maureen, the self-absorbed performance artist who chooses Joanne over Mark. We are introduced to her late in the first act by a deliciously ridiculous parody of performance art called "Over the Moon."

With almost scary energy, McCann appropriately takes the rant / song way over the top but keeps the performance real. She displays a dancer's physicality and a star's compelling command of the stage.

Juan Torres-Falcon is the most feminine of the seven Angels I have seen. His portrait of the drag queen percussionist glows with an almost innocent charm and freshness, making her death from AIDS all the more touching. Parrish Collier lends his lusciously velvet voice to the role of Tom Collins, Angel's lover.

The lone disappointment here is Lili Thomas' Mimi, a teen aged exotic dancer and "Rent's" most complex character. Mimi is a complicated blend of toughness and vulnerability, and Thomas shows us neither. Her thin acting is generic and her pleasant voice lacks the firepower necessary to properly sell her big number, "Out Tonight."

Veteran director and choreographer Donna Drake, who has the distinction of being in the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line," staged this production. Music director Jamie Johns leads a smokin' rock band.

Back to Gilbert and Sullivan

The production of "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan" that gave birth to the Skylight in 1959 was a two-man revue of G&S' greatest hits. The performers switched off playing the piano.

This time around, "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan" is a book musical, written and directed by Milwaukee theater artist Dale Gutzman. The Skylight built its early reputation on its annual productions of the comic operettas -- there are 14 of them -- written by 19th century Englishmen William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The shows and their songs are witty and silly.

Gutzman's history with the Skylight goes back to the 1970s. Now the operator of the small Off the Wall Theatre on Wells Street, he has directed 23 Skylight productions, but none in the past several decades.

The new "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan" contains 20 of the duo's songs interspersed with a full story.

"It is really a play that explores the lives of the two men and the Victorian culture that made them who they were," Gutzman recently explained. "They meet in an English drawing room in heaven, and they can't get along there, just as they couldn't get along on earth.

"The songs in the show come out of their discussions. They have a context.

"Gilbert and Sullivan are the world's most famous musical theater writers," Gutzman continued. "This is a journey through time to see their world.

"I wanted to pay homage to that original Skylight show, but I wanted to write a show that stands on its own."

The new version of "Evening" has two performers, Gary Briggle and John Muriello. "They are the best patter men in the country," Gutzman said.

Gilbert and Sullivan are most known for their patter songs, a style distinguished by its fast pace and tongue-twisting rhymes.

Gutzman is thrilled to return to the Skylight after many years to create this production. "It was a dream come true," he said.

"Rent" and "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan" both run through June 20.