Now that you're an expert on Sullivan, it's time to learn a little more about the lesser-known Grundy.  What's up with that guy?  

Five things you may or may not know about Sydney Grundy:

1. Grundy actually studied law and practiced as a lawyer for 7 years.
2. In his later career writing for theater, he became well-known for adapting German and French plays, making them more palatable to English audiences.
3. Grundy wrote the libretto for a one-act piece called Popsy Wopsy, which was described as a "musical absurdity".
4. Quite a few of Grundy's works made it to Broadway, and two of them even made it to the big screen in the early days of film (A Bunch of Violets and A Pair of Spectacles).
5. After Haddon Hall premiered, Grundy was the butt of plenty of jokes and criticism for the libretto. The theater-going public clearly preferred Gilbert's writing to his.  Grundy responded to all of this in an open letter, saying, "May I venture to suggest that a short bill be introduced into Parliament making it a penal offense to supply the Savoy Theatre with a libretto? ...I would respectfully suggest [as punishment] 'something lingering with boiling oil in it'."

And with that, you're ready for Jeopardy.  Or, if not Jeopardy, you're at least set to see Haddon Hall!  You have your tickets, right?  Just in case you don't, you can call the box office at 240-314-8690 or go online and get your tickets here. Get yours before it sells out! 

Hey, guess what?  Your first chance to catch VLOC's production of Haddon Hall is in just 5 short days!  Hopefully you're staying put in a nice, warm spot on this snowy day, so why not take this chance to get your tickets to the show?  Call the box office at 240-314-8690 or click here to purchase online!

And while you're watching the snow fall and getting your tickets, we have a little Sullivan and Grundy trivia to keep you entertained.  In this first trivia installment, we'll introduce you to a few fun facts about Sir Arthur Sullivan. 

Five things you may or may not know about Sir Arthur Sullivan:

1. Look out Mozart – Sullivan wrote his first piece of music when he was 8 years old.
2. Sullivan’s friends included Claude Debussy and Queen Victoria’s son, Alfred.
3. Sullivan was pretty darn fond of both gambling and tennis. He was reportedly a terrible tennis player (no official reports on his gambling abilities).
4. Sullivan first collaborated with Gilbert in 1871 on an operetta called Thespis. Never heard of it?  That’s because it was a flop.  
5. Queen Victoria once encouraged Sullivan to write grand opera. He finally did (Ivanhoe), but the Queen never saw it.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll spill the goods on Sydney Grundy!

Get excited - Haddon Hall opens in just over 2 weeks!  The show is coming together beautifully, and we're excited to bring this almost-forgotten work back into the limelight!

Haddon Hall first premiered in 1892, and a few pictures of the original production are still hanging around.  Check out these fancy costumes:

The costumes for VLOC's production are particularly exciting since YOU helped us meet our Power2Give campaign goal to costume both Haddon Hall and Ruddigore this season!  We're incredibly thankful for your support, and we hope you enjoy our fabulously-clothed cast of Puritans, Roundheads, and Royalists.  Don't miss the show so you can compare our costumes with those from over 100 years ago!  Call the box office at 240-314-8690 to get your tickets, or buy them here (preview performance, Feb. 26) and here (Feb. 27- Mar. 8).

Wait - aren't comic opera and opera comique the same thing?  

While the latter may simply sound like a fancier synonym for the former, they each represent very different types of operatic performances. Who knew?

In an 1892 interview with the Pall Mall Gazette, Sir Arthur Sullivan, who wrote Haddon Hall along with Sydney Grundy, gave the following warning about the show: "...the public must not come to the Savoy with the impression that they are going to see a comic opera, but to see and hear an opera comique." What does that mean?

Opera comique emerged in the 1700s in with comical Parisian performances that put new words with known music (called vaudevilles).  By the time Sullivan came around, the genre had evolved to mean any opera that contained spoken dialogue in addition to all the singing.  The opera didn't even have to be humorous - Bizet's Carmen is considered one of the most famous operas of this genre, and Carmen is no comedy.

Comic opera, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like: a humorous opera that usually has a happy ending.  Pretty much the entire Gilbert & Sullivan cannon falls under this category, which might explain Sullivan's description of Haddon Hall above - he didn't want audiences to automatically expect the same material from his collaboration with Grundy as they got from his collaborations with Gilbert.  

The good news out of all of this is that you get to decide for yourself what kind of opera Haddon Hall is!  VLOC's presentation of this rarely-performed show starts on February 26th.  Get your tickets here (Feb. 26th preview) and here (Feb. 27 - Mar. 8), then let us know what you think!