The crazy history of Haddon Hall

Copyright: Rob Bendall

Yes, Haddon Hall is the title of VLOC's next fully staged production written by Sullivan and Grundy, but Haddon Hall is so much more than the title of an opera!  Haddon Hall is, in fact, a real place.  Wikipedia describes it as an "English country house", but that's quite an understatement, because the real Haddon Hall is downright enormous.  


Built nearly 1,000 years ago in the county of Derbyshire in England, Haddon Hall has attracted international fame thanks to an old legend about its inhabitants in the 16th century.  The owner of the hall, Sir George Vernon, had a daughter named Dorothy that fell head-over-heels with a young man named John Manners.  Sir George, himself, was not at all pleased with this circumstance, though no one is exactly sure why.  As the legend goes, Sir George told Manners to stay the heck away from his daughter, but everyone knows that such commands never work (Romeo and Juliette, anyone?).  During a fancy ball that her dear old daddy gave, Dorothy snuck out of Haddon Hall and ran off with Manners to get married.  

The legend doesn't end in tragedy, though.  Due to more unknown reasons, Dorothy and her new husband somehow managed to get back in Sir George's good graces, because they inherited Haddon Hall from him when he passed away a couple of years later.  It's a happy ending for everyone!  Except Sir George.

By the 1700s, the Hall was barely being used, and it fell into a state of neglect.  200 years later, a descendent of John Manners decided to restore the hall, and he did such a good job that television and filmmakers came knocking at the door to use it as the backdrop for stories on the small and large screen.  By this point, the legend of Dorothy and John Manners had already spawned published stories, novels, a Broadway play, and the Sullivan and Grundy opera.  Now that the hall has been restored, it has been featured in movies including The Princess Bride, Elizabeth, Pride and Predjudice, Jane Eyre, as well as in multiple television shows.

Now that you're an expert on Haddon Hall, you don't want to miss out on your chance to see VLOC's fantastic production, do you?  Get your tickets today!  Call the box office at 240-314-8690 to secure your tickets!

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