Gilbert & Sullivan's
Ruddigore
or, The Witch's Curse

Oct. 9, 10, 16 & 17, 1992 at 8pm
Oct. 11 & 18, 1992 at 2pm

Directed by Andrew Joffe
Music Directed by Victoria Gau

Cast

Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, disguised as Robin Oakapple - John Perine
Richard Dauntless, his foster brother - Joel Sorensen
Sir Despard Murgatroyd, a wicked baronet - Larry Garvin
Old Adam Goodheart, Robin's servant - Larry Bostian
Rose Maybud, a vilIage maiden - Rose Drance
Mad Margaret - Xina Lowe
Dame Hannah, Rose's aunt - Shirley Friedman
Zorah, a professional bridesmaid - Diana Veilleux
Ruth, a professional bridesmaid - Leta Hall
Sir Rupert Murgatroyd, first baronet - Himself
Sir Jasper Murgatroyd, third baronet - Himself
Sir Lionel Murgatroyd, sixth baronet - Himself
Sir Conrad Murgatroyd, twelfth baronet - Himself
Sir Desmond Murgatroyd, sixteenth baronet - Himself
Sir Gilbert Murgatroyd, eighteenth baronet - Himself
Sir Mervyn Murgatroyd, twentieth baronet - Himself
Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, twenty-first baronet - Gordon Brigham

Chorus of Officers, Ancestors, Bridesmaids, Villagers -
    Stephanie Brigham, Lynne Claflin, Mattie Condray, Janet de Lyon, Joy Foust, Gaye Freese, Tom Fuchs Virginia S. Garber, Jack Goldklang, Rebecca Green, Donna Jaffe, Lyle Jaffe,Bob Jacobson, David King, Robert Kinney. Jon Klein, Edith Livingstone, Walton Moody, Gail Okunski, Victor Hugo Porras, Maureen Roult, Judith Rubinstein, Eileen Scott, Kathryn Scott, Charles Sens, Sharon Stewart, John Veilleux, Martha White, Laura Whitmore, Kent Woods

Orchestra

Violin - Cecilie Jones (CM), Catherine Thompson, Louise Hyde,
            Allie Laban, Gail M. Henderson
Viola - Otto Willim, Amanda Laudwein
Cello - Liz Luck, Barbara Shellenberger
Bass - Dave Ross
Oboe - Mary Ann Ruehling
Flute - Pauline Summers, Louise Hill
Clarinet - Gene Sober, Steve Tretter, Kirt Vener (sub)
French Horn - Lorin Krusberg, Don Hunter
Bassoon - Bill Sniffin*, Paul Chassy**
Cornet - Bernie Rappaport, Les Elkins
Trombone - Earl Zastrow, Michael Steadman
Percussion - Tom Christy, Bonny Hildith

* 2nd weekend
** 1st weekend

Production Staff

Producers - Pamela P. Hodges & Leta M. Hall
Lighting Designer - Jonathan Lawniczak
Assistant Lighting Designer - Scott Lord
Set Designer - Fred Hetzel
Costume Designer - Edith Livingstone
Technical Supervisor (Rockville Civic Center) - Lew Dronenburg
Stage Manager - Pamela Hodges
Assistant Stage Manager - Christopher Beach
Technical Crew - Scott Lord. Mimi Clark, Tony Dwyer, David Kaysen, Erica McLean
Rehearsal Pianists - Jenny Bland, Judy Gardner
Make-Up - Malinda Lloyd, Rusty Suter
Properties - Tony Dwyer
Box Office - Barry Grinnell, Caroline Hummel, Isabella Sneary
Program - Leta Hall, Pamela Hodges
House Manager - Georgia Townsend
Set Construction and Painting - Tim Briceland-Betts, Lynne Claflin, Fred Hetzel, Donna Jaffe
Videotaping - Fairfax Cable Television
Photography - Tom Fuchs
Refreshments - Wooden Shoe Pastry Shoppe
Costume Storage -Donna & Lyle Jaffe
Set Storage - Gordon & Stephanie Brigham, Harry Leet,
                     Rockville Civic Center

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Director's Note

Ruddigore is the perfect show for Halloween, not only for its complement of ghosts and spirits, but also because its initial run
was something of a nightmare for its creators.

Shortly after Ruddygore (the original spelling) premiered in 1887, an acquaintance of Gilbert angered the author by using the word "Bloodygore" interchangably with the show's title. "By that reasoning," snapped Gilbert, "my remarking that I admire ruddy complexion is the same as saying I like your bloody cheek. Well, it isn't, and I don't!" The very name of the piece was thought tasteless and unfit for decent society. (Gilbert insisted that it merely meant "red blood".) But this was the least of it.

Coming after the huge success of The Mikado, Ruddigore was considered a disappointment. In fact, when Gilbert and Sullivan took their bows on opening night, they were greeted with cries of "Bring back The Mikado!" (Gilbert angrily threatened to change the show's subtitle to "Not So Good As The Mikado".)

If Ruddigore is not as good as The Mikado (and what is?), it has many merits, including a full ration of what one of our company members refers to as "Gilbertian requirements": that is, the need the characters feel to act by compulsion. (Here, the love philtre, the exaggerated sense of duty, and the Mikado's laws of earlier operas are replaced by a witch's curse and a book of draconian etiquette.) Sullivan's score is marvelously atmospheric; the tenor's exhilarating first entrance contains sea music surpassing even that in H.M.S. Pinafore; there are two lovely duets; and the first act finale madrigal is better than its counterpart in The Mikado. Ruddigore has arguably the best female role of the whole series, Mad Margaret, and is unusual in that it is the only time the patter baritone gets the ingenue. And finally, Ruddigore contains possibly the single best scene Gilbert & Sullivan ever wrote, the "dead of the night's high noon."

And then again, who can resist a wicked baronet, an evil curse, and an entire portrait gallery of ghostly ancestors who step from their frames to torment their poor descendant? Gilbert's mordant humor runs wild here, and Sullivan's music matches him. So enjoy -- after all, it is Halloween.