The Seventh Season (2008)

A selection of pre-production photos is available on this website. Please follow this link to view them.

A selection of production photos is available on this website. Please follow this link to view them.

Some of the Murgatroyd family stage portraits from the original 1887 production of are believed to have been preserved, ranged on the back wall of an "amusement hall" (a small theatre) at the Normansfield Hospital in South London, completed in 1879 by Doctor John-Langdon Down for a class of patient now known as "Down's Syndrome". From these remaining portraits, as well as from D'Oyly Carte production records of the day, scholar, Terence Rees, has been able to do a credible analysis of which actors were featured in each portrait, together with their voice type.

The six surviving portraits at Normansfield feature a cavalier, a falconer, a soldier of the James I period, a gentleman of the time of Queen Anne, a Scottish gentleman and a late eighteenth century gentleman. Production sketches in contemporary theatrical revues allow us to see all the gentlemen of the chorus in their regimental costumes, which Gilbert arranged to be authenticated by the Deputy Quarter-Master General of the British Army. The costumes and positions of the performers in these sketches, as they march around the prostrate Robin in the big Act 2 animation scene of , allowed Rees to identify which actor portrayed which ancestor, as well as the lineage of Gilbert's named baronets covering a roughly 200-year historical period.

It is clearly impossible for us to recreate exactly Gilbert's deceased Murgatroyd family line-up. He had twenty men in his chorus, split between ten tenors and ten baritone/basses, whereas we have only six tenors and eight baritone/basses. Our stage is smaller and we don't have Gilbert's costume budget. But we are attempting to preserve the author's scenic intent by ranging our ancestors as he did in their approximate historical lineage (and voice type) on each side of the stage, numerically back from the proscenium, with the 1st baronet, Sir Rupert, at the front and the 21st, Sir Roderic, in the central back position. As far as possible we are also respecting historic costume chronology.

For reasons that are not clear, Gilbert identified by name only seven of his twenty ancestors (plus Sir Roderic), whereas later productions of have traditionally featured eight in frames plus Sir Roderic (other ancestors presumed to be entering from portraits in side galleries out of the audience's sight). We have retained Gilbert's names and invented one – that of Sir Richard. In addition, four of the eight framed chorus members share the several throw-away lines for ancestors that figure in the first-night text, of which some were deleted in subsequent performance.

The Trust is delighted to have had such enthusiastic support from Set Designer Kari Morseth, Costume Designer Andrea Thomlinson, Lighting Designer Kim Garrett, Makeup Director Emma Frew, and Wig and Hair Stylist Lorna Mercer, as we attempt to get close to Gilbert and Sullivan's first-night theatrical intentions in Ruddygore's big transformation scene.

You can see this production's framed ancestors in the pre-production photo gallery. Please follow this link to view them.

In accordance with its mission to respect as far as possible the creative intentions of author and composer, the has decided to perform the original first night text of [initially spelled with a 'y'] in a scholarly edition by David Russell Hulme. David has been an enthusiastic and generous supporter of the Trust in its long-term project to perform the entire canon in historic sequence and he has helped supply us with numerous authentic musical passages deleted or thought lost from some of the operas we have already staged. This is the first time, however, since that we will have been able to perform a scholarly edition of one of the operas.

Among other advantages, David's edition restores to the work as traditionally performed a number of original textual and musical passages which were deleted either by Gilbert and Sullivan themselves during post-first-night reworking or by the D'Oyly Carte production team of the 1920s who thought that the text needed even further tightening. In particular, we are now able to perform some stirring yet unfamiliar Act 2 music for the Ruddygore ancestors after they step out of their picture frames.

As a result of considerable public criticism of the original title of this opera, which to Gilbert had meant no more than 'red blood' and which had seemed to him very much in accord with his satirising of good old-fashioned melodrama, the author did change the spelling of the title to the currently familiar not long after the season opened. Since we shall be performing the original first-night text, however, we think we are justified in restoring the original spelling, so that our audiences may well be seeing for the first time in New Zealand as Gilbert and Sullivan first intended it.

Alan Jefferson in his neatly sums up the flavour of this opera.

It has been called a parody of the traditional, popular melodrama, with its truly villainous villains and gallant heroes ... the wicked are reformed and the pious are forced to be party to corruption. Rose Maybud, reared strictly on her book of etiquette and – by her speech – the Bible, becomes unwittingly betrothed to Richard Dauntless, a reckless bounder; while Mad Margaret and Sir Despard, the relentless wrongdoers, turn to religious reform ... Margaret is ... (in Gilbert's words) a 'typical character of theatrical madness' ... Sir Roderic, the spokesman of the accursed ancestors, sadistically tortures his innocent – yet guilty – nephew. His villainous image is completed with vampire outfit and gloating description of the ghosts' midnight socials. On the other hand, the would-be Lotharios, the Bucks and Blades of the evil Sir Despard's company, surprisingly appear in the smart guise of army officers, and as such they are above reproach. In similar vein the power of the Union Jack is invoked to ward off evil.

Robin Oakapple, a young farmer, loves village maiden, Rose Maybud, but because of her obsession with womanly manners, she can't reciprocate his timid approaches as her heart would really wish. Unbeknown to her, Robin is actually Sir Ruthven Mugatroyd, baronet of Ruddygore, who has disguised himself as Robin to escape a curse placed on his title. Dame Hannah, who had been sought in marriage by a former baronet, reveals that a witch roasted on the village green has decreed through her curse that the baronets of Ruddygore should commit a daily crime or perish. Sir Ruthven's younger brother, Sir Despard, has inherited the baronetcy, believing his older brother to be dead. Richard Dauntless, Robin's half-brother, knows about the deception and, having just returned from sea, agrees to plead Robin's love to Rose but in the process he falls for her himself. Knowing through Richard that Robin does love her, however, Rose agrees to marry him. But just as their marriage is about to be celebrated, Sir Despard exposes his brother as the true Ruddygore heir. This revelation causes Robin to flee, leaving Richard to approach Rose and Sir Despard to accept the love of Mad Margaret who is hopelessly smitten by him.

Robin and his servant, Adam Goodheart, have taken up residence at Ruddygore Castle but without much enthusiasm. Robin refuses to allow Richard and Rose to marry and appeals to his ancestors, whose ghostly forms step from their picture frames in the gallery, to release him from his obligation to commit his daily crimes. Chief ancestor, Sir Roderic, insists that Robin kidnap a woman or perish and Robin has no choice but to send Old Adam off to carry out the deed. When Adam returns with his captive, Robin is aghast to discover that his servant has carried off the elderly Dame Hannah whom Sir Roderic is even more amazed to recognise as his former lover. When Robin realises that a baronet can only die by refusing to commit a daily crime, which is the same as suicide – itself a crime - the curse is lifted. Three weddings can now take place, to the great delight of the village's chorus of professional bridesmaids.

Michael Gray

Robin Oakapple/Sir Ruthven

Justin Freind

Richard Dauntless

Geoff Patton

Sir Despard

Bruce McMillan

Old Adam/ Gideon Crawle

Roger Wilson

Sir Roderic

Frances Moore

Rose Maybud

Claire Barton

Mad Margaret

Sandra Shaw Bennett

Dame Hannah

Laura Harvey

Zorah

Glenda Wallace

Ruth

Professional Bridesmaids:

• Deborah Bell
• Barbara Bloemsaat
• Bethany Bowers
• Julia Brown
• Cher Da-Rin
• Malia Ellison
• Larna Jensen
• Sarah Levings
• Nancy Miller
• Lisa Sutherland
• Heidi Thompson

Villagers, Officers, Ancestors:

• Andrew Body
• Russell Clark
• Paul Dijkmans
• John Dorking
• Martin Kidd
• Simon McLean
• Stephen Murphy
• David Peacock
• John Satterthwaite
• Cyril Schafer
• Ray Sheppard
• Anthony Skegg
• Geoff Swift
• Campbell Thomson

Justin is considered to be one of Perth's leading performers. He gained a Certificate in Classical Music, a Diploma of Performing Arts and a Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music and he has sung as a soloist with numerous choral, orchestral and theatre groups in Western Australia. Musical and opera performances have ranged from and to and , as well as from to . In the repertoire he has played lead roles in , , , , , , , , , and .

In 2001 he performed the lead role of Jean Valjean in at the Regal Theatre to much acclaim and was also the conducting intern for West Australian Youth Orchestra. In 2004 he released his first CD entitled . He appeared in the UK in 2004 and 2005 at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, performing lead roles in , , and . In 2007 he performed the title role in for Opera in the Park with West Australian Opera, for which he will also sing the role of Goro in in 2008.

As a Musical Director/Conductor he has conducted a wide range of Perth's performance groups and has been President of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of WA since 2001.

Justin is a very versatile performer and enjoys performing repertoire from Baroque to Broadway. He feels equally at home whether on the stage or concert platform. The Trust is delighted to have the opportunity to feature him as Richard Dauntless in .

Frances has recently completed her Honours in Vocal Performance at Victoria University. She also has a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance and musicology and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Victoria. She is currently working towards her Masters in Musicology. She studies with Margaret Medlyn. A keen performer, Frances has enjoyed much success in singing competitions. In 2006 she was a finalist in the Raymond Opie Aria competition and named the ‘Most Outstanding Competitor’ as well as winning the French prize; in 2006 she won the Napier Computer Systems Aria; more recently she was the youngest finalist in the 2007 Lexus Song Quest. She was a member of the Festival Chorus singing in the performances of and James MacMillan's in the 2006 New Zealand International Arts Festival and she is currently a member of the Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus. As a soloist, Frances has appeared with the Taranaki Youth Choir, Ars Nova Choir, the Taranaki Orchestra, the Kapiti Chorale, the Kapiti Orchestra, Wellington Capital Choir and the contemporary art music ensemble Stroma. She played the role of Papagena in Opera Victoria's production of and the role of Jenny Diver in the New Zealand School of Music's production of . Earlier this year she played the role of the daughter in NIMBY’s production of – a one act opera by the New Zealand Composer Lyle Cresswell.

Roger Wilson has been in the theatrical profession for decades and has played a great variety of characters, all too often monarchs and priests, but this is the first time he has had to impersonate someone already long dead. After graduating from the University of Otago, he studied in Zürich, Detmold and Cologne during the 1970s and began his professional career in Germany. He is one of New Zealand’s most experienced resident singers in opera, concert and recital. Some recent performances include , , and for NBR NZ Opera, Wagner’s , Handel’s , Stravinsky’s , Beethoven’s , Bach’s and . His 50th is coming up in December. Though resident in Wellington for 30 years he is a 4th generation Dunedin man and has performed here many times over the years, most recently in and for the University of Otago and and for RAGSPT.

I have always had a fondness for melodrama. One of the earliest productions that I was involved with at the Fortune Theatre was , playing Mrs Lovett, the pie maker. So when I was invited to direct , I was intrigued to re-aquaint myself with the genre. I soon discovered, however, that in the wonderful world of Gilbert and Sullivan all is not what it seems.

is a parody of the stock melodrama, which would have been a very familiar genre for Victorian audiences. The villain carrying off the maiden; the priggishly good-mannered poor-but-virtuous-heroine; the hero in disguise, and his faithful old retainer who dreams of their former glory days; the snake in the grass who claims to be following his heart; the wild, mad girl; the swagger of fire-eating patriotism; ghosts coming to life to enforce a curse; and so forth. All these would have been characters very easily identifiable.

But Gilbert turns the moral absolutes of melodrama upside down: all characters in experience and exhibit good and bad. Morals and expectations are turned on their heads and audiences are left to work out for themselves who to cheer for and who to boo. As a director who is drawn to naturalistic theatre, I have found an intriguing challenge. I must retain the fun and style of melodrama whilst helping the performers to find the truth behind what motivates their characters. I am struck by the fact that, although the bad baronets commit heinous crimes, there is sadness and regret at their fate; they play with our sympathetic emotions and then become un-redeemably wicked - great fun for actors and singers to portray. Even the so-called good characters behave in unforgivable ways and, in the end, despite the appearance of stereotype, all are actually very human. Which is of course why we love them so much.

As when I directed , I find myself challenged to hone new directing skills. This is made so much easier when I have a top-notch cast. These talented singer/actors are a mixture of those I have worked with before and those who are new to me as a director. I could not have asked for better; they have given their all and made rehearsals very exciting and challenging for me. I want to make particular mention of the chorus members. So many come back year after year and it is like meeting old friends again. This year there are many new people and somehow the mix of old and new has brought special magic to the group who are the background yet mainstay of the production.

I am very lucky to be working with such a high-class production team. We have had to solve challenges such as pictures coming to life and here I am particularly grateful to Kari Morseth, an ingenious set designer, and Kim Garrett, a highly talented lighting designer. Between us we hope we have created a piece of stage magic for our audiences to be surprised and delighted by. I have a wonderfully creative costume designer in Andrea Thomlinson and she and I had great fun deciding how our ghosts should be attired and which age each belonged to. I am in awe of choreographers and it has been a great pleasure to work with Brian Johnston in this capacity; his unflagging energy and sense of fun have been invigorating and inspiring. Many thanks also to my old friend and respected colleague, Glenda Roberts; we have been very lucky to have her experience and expertise in the South. As ever, most thanks goes to Michael Andrewes; without his dedication the project would falter and die. But more than anything, thank you for the long talks, support and cups of coffee - the stuff that keeps theatre going!

Hilary Noris

is the Savoy opera which suffered more changes to its text and music than any other in post-first-night tinkering, although many scholars question whether cuts made by the authors themselves, along with other changes or contractions made by D'Oyly Carte production personnel in the 1920s, really worked to its long-term benefit. This opera has always appealed to connoisseurs for its remarkable artistic and stylistic integrity and I, for one, think that its satirising of melodramatic convention works better when the authors' first thoughts are retained.

Sullivan's rhythmic inventiveness is triggered by Gilbert's bright, metrical lyrics, frequently designed as dancing numbers. A delicate little waltz tune for Rose and her etiquette book sets the tone, along with the simple duet of charming meekness which she shares with Robin straight after. The tang of the sea shines through in Dick's hugely agile song about British and French frigates avoiding mutual conflict at sea, in which of the day commented that the composer “deliberately joined the jolly sailor's mean sentiments to a dashing and vigorous nautical air. The cynicism in such juxtaposition of tune and words is very funny, when once grasped.” Richard's ensuing hornpipe is always a show-stopper. A beautifully lyrical early duet for Richard and Rose was inexplicably cut by D'Oyly Carte personnel from the traditional edition and we are proud to restore it. The sparkling Act 1 trio “In Sailing O'er Life's Ocean Wide” has some gloriously interweaving lines for the three romantic leads, with the soprano voice “sailing” above the others in a legato up to and through a top A. Mad Margaret's stunning Act 1 entrance gives Sullivan the opportunity to parody the mad scene of with its delightful flute solo and charming woodwind effects, one of the several atmospheric or poetic moments which the composer beautifully enhances when they occur; similarly quirky instrumental colour contributes to the comedy of Margaret's popular and cleverly laborious little “blameless dances” duet with Sir Despard in Act 2. Prominent in the Act 1 finale is a hugely attractive enriched 19th century version of an old English madrigal which gives the chorus a moment to shine before they launch into an elegant gavotte.

It is in the extended Act 2 ghost scene involving the re-animation of the Murgatroyd family ancestors that Sullivan's dramatic side best emerges in this opera. The writing is variously stark and thrilling, with instrumentation that is strikingly picturesque and key modulations and chromaticism used to weirdly atmospheric effect. Gilbert thought that some of it was rather too dark for a supposedly comic opera, but when we restore the long-lost march for the revived dead ancestors and some other eerily spooky vocal lines for these same ghosts, we can better admire the breadth of Sullivan's musical palate. Chief ghost Sir Roderic's chilling three-verse aria “When the night wind howls in the chimney cowls” is perhaps the musical highlight of , even when it loses (sadly!) its non-authentic tubular bell! It is what our edition editor, David Russell Hulme, calls “a tour de force of orchestral ingenuity, with unexpected shifts of tonality and harmony adding to the effect.”

We are performing in this production a rarely-heard but characteristic Act 2 first-night patter song for Robin in the usual mould. It was replaced soon after the premiere by another song of no better character and so metrically similar that one wonders why the authors bothered to change it. The famous patter trio heard later in the act – probably the most demanding patter ensemble in the entire repertoire - leaves no room for breathing and is notoriously difficult to deliver convincingly in live performance, at least for the mezzo and bass-baritone. To end the opera, we perform Sullivan's original Act 2 finale with its jaunty little ditty about settling in the town of Basingstoke and its repeat of the brilliant little end-of-Act-1 dance tune in triple time “Oh happy the lily when kissed by the bee”. If you applaud long enough, we may let you hear Sullivan's revised Act 2 finale which cleverly converts that dance tune to common time in a much more satisfying and thrilling conclusion to the production.

If you miss as I do the familiar and, I think, better 1920s overture by Geoffrey Toye that many of us have come to love, do remember that we are performing in this season 's first-night text and that Hamilton Clarke's original overture contains a number of musical themes subsequently deleted in the traditional Savoy edition.

Michael Andrewes

On Saturday 23 August 2008, from 6.00pm to 7.30pm, a Gala Function for FROGS members, cast complimentaries, and all first-night ticket-holders will be held in the Mayfair Theatre Green Room, prior to the performance of . Please note carefully that the opera will start at 8.00pm.

Jocelyn Harris, will speak on the topic of '. The function will have a Gothic flavour, portraits painted by local artists will be on display and for sale and light refreshments will be served.

If you wish to attend this function, you will need to obtain your ticket separately in advance (telephone Kay 03 455 2529 after 5.00pm or leave a message). The cost is $15.00 per person. Cheques in payment should be made out to RAGSPT and sent to the Trust at PO Box 5058, Dunedin, after which tickets will be forwarded to you.