What is David Currie, the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor and the Arnold & Frieda Shure Scholar in the Law School, doing when he's not teaching law? He's probably singing, one of his favorite hobbies. The professor will star in the leading role in Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury to be performed in Weymouth Kirkland Courtroom beginning at 8 p.m.

Opera in the court

Most days, Law Professor David Currie presides over a classroom. But this month, Currie will preside over a courtroom–and he will sing, to boot.

Currie will star as the love-struck judge in Gilbert & Sullivan’s brief, wild romp

Trial by Jury. Performed by the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company and conducted by Martha Swisher, Trial by Jury will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12; Saturday, Nov. 14; Sunday, Nov. 15; Saturday, Nov. 20; and Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Chicago Law School’s Weymouth Kirkland Courtroom, 1111 E. 60th St.

“For years, we’ve been looking forward to presenting Trial by Jury in its natural setting, an honest-to-goodness courtroom with a proper jury box and all the trappings,” said Currie, the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor and Arnold & Frieda Shure Scholar in the Law School. “It should be 35 minutes of pure fun,” he said.

Currie, who also directs Trial by Jury, has been a member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company for 36 years. The company puts on at least one production each year, including an annual spring production in the University’s Mandel Hall.

But Currie’s involvement with the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company has not only been enjoyable for him–it has been rewarding for the law students he teaches. “When I teach civil procedure and want to explain the difference between criminal and civil cases, I sing ‘A Policeman’s Lot is Not a Happy One,’ from Pirates of Penzance. The best part is, the students’ part is the chorus–so after I sing to them, they sing back.”

Tickets are $5, $2 for students. For advance ticket reservations for Trial by Jury, call (847) 884-8709.