Witness the laughter and excitement as a group of eighty young performers stage an opera in only ten days at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival!

Pamela Leighton-Bilik, an American stage director is a staple at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. Every year she arrives in England with her producers and they stage a Gilbert and Sullivan opera starring children and teenagers.

49-North Productions, a small film crew from America, set out to document the exciting process, starting with the auditions. A flood of talent swept the stage for the morning hours, and after casting the opera, rehearsals started a few moments later. This intense process is captured in the film, as the leads, chorus, director and crew keep things moving at a clip as they learn the music, staging and choreography.

A section of each of the ten days of rehearsal is featured in the film. Day One focuses on the auditions and the immediate plunge into rehearsals. Day Two features the first gathering of the chorus as the leads explain what the opera is all about. Day Three reveals some of the thoughts of the actors as they work on an ensemble number. The first meeting of all the chorus and leads as the work on a complicated finale is depicted in Day Four.

On Day Five the camera takes a deeper plunge into the process and follows around the lead actor for an entire day, as he rehearses, eats lunch, chats with friends, argues with his sister and generally shows off. Day Six takes us out into the Buxton community with a young chorus member as he skateboards with friends and explains life in Buxton and his involvement in the chorus. Day Seven depicts a laid back staging of a complex madrigal. While the adults reflect on the futures of the children on Day Eight, the production starts to come together. At the Palace on Day Nine the young actors reveal their personal thoughts on the production, share stories about their lives and put the final touches on the production.

The dress rehearsal passes in a flash of nerves and excitement as it leads straight into the final production on Day Ten, when The Mikado is finally set before an audience of over nine-hundred people.

A Source of Innocent Merriment is a tale of excitement, amusement, music and inspiration for both young and old.