The Grand Duke (2010)

Gilbert & Sullivan's
The Grand Duke
or, The Statutory Duel

Feb. 26, 27 & Mar. 5, 6 at 8pm
Feb. 28 & Mar. 7 at 2pm

Directed by Kate Huntress-Reeve
Music Directed by Joseph Sorge

Cast

Rudolph, Grand Duke of Pfennig Halbpfennig - John Perine
Ernest Dummkopf, a Theatrical Manager - Rick DuPuy
Ludwig, his Leading Comedian - Guillaume Tourniaire
Dr. Tannhäuser, a Notary - Philip McLeod
The Prince of Monte Carlo - Blair Eig
Herald - Tom Goode
Viscount Mentone - Lyle Jaffe
Ben Hashbaz - Don Mitchell
Julia Jellicoe, an English Comedienne - Alexandra Boulé-Buckley
Lisa, a Soubrette - Ann Coffman
Baroness von Krakenfeldt, betrothed to Rudolph - Andrea Schewe
The Princess of Monte Carlo, betrothed to Rudolph - Caroline Shaul
Olga - Caroline Shaul
Gretchen - Pamela Sears-Rogan
Bertha - Marianna Martindale
Elsa - Maureen Roult
Martha - Debbie Peetz

Orchestra

Violin 1 - Steve Natrella (CM), Bonnie Barrows, David Friedlander, Carolyn Larson
Violin 2 -Martin Brown, Peter Mignerey, Edwin Schneider, Naomi Zajic
Viola - Amanda Laudwein, David Zajic
Cello - Michael Stein, Laurie Brown, Sheryl Friedlander
Bass - Pete Gallanis
Flute - Jackie Miller, Louise Hill
Oboe - Gwen Earle
Clarinet - Laura Langbein, Laura Bornhoeft, James Bensinger
Bassoon - John Hoven, Steve Rennings
Horn - Joe Cross, Adam Watson, Lora Katz
Trumpet - Curt Anstine, Les Elkins, Tom Gleason
Trombone - Steve Ward, Frank Eliot, Al Potter
Percussion - George Huttlin

Production Staff

Producer - Denise Young
Assistant Music Director - Jenny Craley Bland
Stage Manager - G. Stephen Stokes
Choreographer - Kate Huntress-Reeve
Set Design - Kate Huntress-Reeve. Dave Kaysen
Scenic Artist - Rebecca Meushaw
Costume Designer - Denise Young
Lighting Designer - Peter Caress
Make-Up & Hair Designer - Renee Silverstone
Audition Pianist - Jenifer Craley Bland
Rehearsal Pianist - Jenifer Craley Bland
Master Carpenter - William Kolodrubetz
Senior Carpenters - Peter Finkel, Pete Sylvia, Bill Wiesnewski
Carpenters - Tony Dwyer, Les Elkins, Ernst Harmse, Dave Kaysen, James Douglass, Bill Rippey, Ray Caron, Dave Bradley
Paint Consultant - Fran Levin
Set Painting - Rand Huntzinger, Lyle Jaffe, Carlton Maryott, Tony Dwyer, Douglas Maryott, Jane Maryott, Ed Vilade, Alice Drew
Props - Carlton & Jane Maryott
Photography - Harvey Levine
Program - Denise Young
Surtitles - Douglas Maryott
Graphic Design - Denise Young
Publicity - Ed Vilade
House Management - Jim Beckett
Set Storage - Rockville Civic Center

Special Thanks to: Fran Levin, City of Rockville, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, and all those who helped who may have been inadvertently left out of the program.

Director's Note

The Grand Duke is generally considered to be below the standard of the other Savoy operas. It is Gilbert’s worst work, “they” say, and Sullivan wasn’t at his best either. Poor last child of a failing creative partnership, its parents didn’t even give it the tweaking and polishing bestowed on all the others. They pushed it out of the nest and went their separate ways.

If this is the case, why is VLOC producing the piece, and don’t you have something better to do tonight?

No, as it happens, you don’t. As we’ve worked on The Grand Duke we’ve discovered it to be a lovely show, containing Sullivan’s sunniest and most touching tunes. Oh, well then, you say. What about Gilbert’s convoluted and incomprehensible plot?

The plot turns out to be the best part. As in their first collaboration, G&S crafted a story of actors running the government. But this plot differs from that of Thespis by being what author Gaydon Wren call “meta-theater” (that is, theater about theater) and when viewed in this way, all the so-called “oddities” in the libretto make perfect sense. Although the plot ostensibly concerns a theatrical company’s conspiracy to depose the Grand Duke, the piece is really about how theater works.

It’s about role-playing: the leading lady insists on marrying a man she doesn’t love, because the Grand Duchess, of course, is the leading role in the new regime. The head of a theatrical company fancies himself a Grand Duke.

It’s about gamesmanship: the statutory duel on which the plot hinges is a card game. One of the plot threads is resolved by another game. Ludwig and Lisa talk about doing the right thing as “playing the game.”

It’s about confusing the stage with real life: posts at Court are distributed according to each person’s position in the theater company. The prince of Monte Carlo arrives in rented attire, with six supernumeraries as his attendants. Ludwig covets the company’s new Troilus and Cressida costumes both for his wedding and for the new grand ducal court.

And it’s about satirizing the theater itself: Gilbert pokes fun at theatrical contrivances ranging from people who appear to have died, but didn’t, through strange accents and forced rhymes, to a nice tidy ending. Ernest Dummkopf’s aria, “The man who would rule a theatrical crew,” probably Gilbert’s most autobiographical lyric, bemoans the difficulty of keeping a group of temperamental actors working together. (I wonder how Richard D’Oyly Carte felt about the impresario in this show being named “Dummkopf?”)

It is for all these reasons that we have chosen to set our production in the 1930’s, that most self-consciously theatrical of decades.

Our wonderful cast has braved wind and snow to bring this piece to life. Our technical crew is beyond dedicated; neither snow nor sleet stay their hammering, painting, wiring, sewing, and props collecting. Jenny Bland, our accompanist, tickles the ivories until she must blow the smoke off her fingers. They all, and I, thank you for coming out tonight. Enjoy the show!

Musical Selections

Act I

Won’t it be a pretty wedding (Chorus, Else, Bertha, Olga, Gretchen)
Pretty Lisa, fair and tasty (Ludwig & Lisa)
By the mystic regulation of our dark association (Ludwig, Chorus)
Were I a king in very truth (Ernest, Chorus)
How would I play this part (Julia, Ernest)
My goodness me! What shall I do (Ludwig, Chorus)
About a century since (Notary)
Strange the views some people hold (Julia, Lisa, Ernest, Notary, Ludwig)
Now take a card and gaily sing (Julia, Lisa, Ernest, Notary, Ludwig)
The good Grand Duke of Pfennig-Halbfennig (Chamberlains)
A pattern to professors of monarchical autonomy (Rudolph)
As o’er our penny roll we sing (Baroness, Rudolph)
Come hither all you people (Company)
Oh, a monarch who boasts intellectual graces (Ludwig, Chorus)
Ah, pity me, my comrades true (Julia, Chorus)
Oh, listen to me, dear (Julia, Lisa)
The die is cast (Lisa, Chorus)
For this will be a jolly court (Ludwig, Ensemble)

Act II