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

Feb. 16, 17, 23 & 24, 2007 at 8pm
Feb. 18 & 25, 2007 at 2pm

Directed by Alicia Oliver-Krueger
Music Directed by Joseph Sorge


This program is supported in part by funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County

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Cast

Robin Oakapple aka Sir. Ruthven Murgatroyd - Harv Lester
Richard Dauntless - Peter Oliver-Krueger
Sir Despard Murgatroyd - Robby Thomson
Old Adam Goodheart - David Dubov
Sir Roderic - Tom Goode
Rose Maybud - Laura Wehrmeyer
Mad Margaret - Pamela Butler
Dame Hannah - Patricia George-Houser
Zorah - Wanda Flinn
Ruth - Arthuretta Martin

Chorus - Felicity Ann Brown, Ed Byrdy, Rick DuPuy, Ashley Edmiston, David Flinn, Tara Hockensmith, Rand Huntzinger, Lyle Jaffe, Ralph Johnson, Marianna Martindale, Carlton Maryott, Jane Maryott, Don Mitchell, Sherry Mitchell, Jim Noone, Julie Repeta, Lynn Ritland, Maureen Roult, Candace Smith, Nancy Shneiderman, Julie Stevens, Clyde Wright

Orchestra

Violin 1 - Steve Natrella (CM), Bonnie Barrows, Carolyn Larson, Audrey Maxwell
Violin 2 - Martin Brown, Erin Grace, Peter Mignerey, Edwin Schneider
Viola - Amanda Laudwein, Victor Ontiveros
Cello - Andrew Schneider, Laurie Brown, Sheryl Friedlander
Bass - Pete Gallanis, Alice Mignerey
Flute - Jackie Miller, Louise Hill
Oboe - Lori Guess
Clarinet - Laura  Langbein, Laura Bornhoeft, Jim Bensinger
Bassoon - Robin Gelman
Horn - James Kocsis, Kathleen Bartolomeo
Trumpet - Bernie Rappaport, Curt Anstine
Trombone - Steve Ward, Alan Potter
Percussion - George Huttlin

Production Staff

Producer - Denise Young
Choreographer - Alicia Oliver-Krueger
Assistant Music Director - Jenny Craley Bland
Assistant Choreographer - Felicity Ann Brown
Stage Manager - Michael Galizia
Assistant Stage Manager - Tony Dwyer
Lighting Designer - Andrew Griffin
Set Designer - Andrew Berry
Scenic Artist - Becky Meushaw
Costume Designer - Denise Young
Costume Construction - Denise Young, Andrea Schewe, Donna Jaffe, Sherry Mitchell, Maureen Roult, Gaye Freese
Master Carpenters - William Kolodrubetz, Ed Byrdy, James Douglass
Set Construction - Tony Dwyer
Rehearsal Pianists - Jenifer Craley Bland, Judy Gardner, Deborah Jacobson
Olio Musical Preparation - Alicia Oliver-Krueger, Jenny Bland
Olio Accompanist - Jenny Bland
Program - Denise Young
Graphic Design - John Boulanger
Publicity - Sandy Rovner
Properties - Tara Hockensmith
Educational Outreach programs - Debbie Niezgoda & Kiersten Whitehead
Technical Director (Rockville Civic Center) - Kim Haug
Theater Supervisor - Joseph Palamara
House Management - Merle Haber
Set Storage - Rockville Civic Center

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Director's Note

Gilbert and Sullivan wrote Ruddigore to parody the stock melodrama popular in the Victorian era. All of the usual suspects are represented: the hero and heroine; the heroine's maiden aunt and the hero's faithful retainer; the villain in black; the patriotic British tar; the wild, mad girl. However, Ruddigore neatly skewers Victorian melodrama's simplistic black-and-white morality. Here, characters are "good" or "bad" not due to personal conviction, but because they've been told to act a certain way. They strive to fill the roles others have laid out for them. Rose earnestly plays the good girl, slavishly following the rules of etiquette to such an extreme that she unthinkingly courts disaster. Despard and Margaret play out the roles of "villain" and "abandoned woman," then try to repress their passionate natures to fit into society. Robin initially tries to escape the role set down for him. When forced to comply, he tries to be a good villain and fails comically. Ruddigore demonstrates the limitations of melodrama's rigid code, as well as the inherent contradictions and false piety spawned by melodrama's facile morality. Richard vows to follow the dictates of his heart--a seemingly heroic sentiment that lets him do whatever he wants without personal responsibility. Robin finally triumphs only when he can manipulate the very rules of morality that bind him to find a contradiction favoring his desires.

Yet even as Ruddigore parodies melodrama, it gives us a sincere love story and a character or two who truly embody their melodramatic archetypes. In Dame Hannah, we have not just the heroine's maiden aunt, but also a faded heroine of an earlier generation. In Sir Roderic, both forbidding ancestor and yesteryear's young heroic villain. While Rose, Robin, Despard and Richard play at their roles, Hannah and Roderic truly filled those roles in their day: Hannah the virtuous young maid who has since made peace with her choices, and Roderic the hero who took up the villain's mantle. In their faded love, we see the genuine article to which their younger counterparts aspire, and the pure ideals and sweet sentimentality that inspired Victorian melodrama.