Gilbert & Sullivan's
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Cast
Sir Richard Cholmondely, Lieutenant of the Tower - Russ Reiff
Colonel Fairfax, under sentence of death - Daryl Landis Sergeant Meryll, of the Yeomen of the Guard - James Felten Leonard Meryll, his Son - Robert Kimball, Jr. Jack Point, a Strolling Jester - Larry Garvin Wilfred Shadbolt, Head Jailer and Assistant Tormenter - Gordon Brigham The Headsman - Jim Fanell First Yeoman - Jamie Zavitz Second Yeoman - Lyle Jaffe First Citizen - Christopher Beach Second Citizen - Kate Lawniczak Elsie Maynard, a Strolling Singer - Linda Kirk (February 7, 8, 9), Jennifer Robertson (February 14, 15, 16) Phoebe Meryll, Sergeant Meryll's Daughter - Diana Fortuna Dame Carruthers, Housekeeper to the Tower - Linda Lynch Kate, her Niece - Lynn Loskamp Yeomen - Peter Beach, Don Benson, Kevin Caughlan, David Doheny, Ron Lloyd, Tom Morris, Charles Sens, Kent Woods Townspeople - Stephanie Brigham, Lynne Claflin, Erin Dahlberg, Fran Fleming, Joy Foust, Gaye Freese, Tom Fuchs, Virginia Garber, Leta Hall, Janet Horwitz, Jim Hummel, Donna Jaffe, Louisa Kwan, Edith Livingstone, Malinda Lloyd, Brii-anna Mason, Barbara Naleszkiewicz, Gina Nowacki, Victor Hugo Porras, Rusty Suter, Georgia Townsend Townschildren - Alexandra Alper, Joanna Foucheux, Meredith Kinner, Bobby Lawniczak, Max Nelson, Morgan Nelson, Lauren Wagner Orchestra
Violin - Bonnie Barrows*, Carolyn Larson, Susan Berkery, Alice Laban
Viola - Amanda Laudwein, Otto Willim, Lynn Allen Cello - Andy Rice, Liz Luck, Virginia Gardner Bass - Dave Ross, Paul Hettich Oboe - Carl Gardner Flute - Pauline Summers, Louise Hill Clarinet - Gene Sober, Susan Braun Bassoon - Donald Vogler French Horn - Don Hunter, Lorin Krusberg Trumpet - Bernie Rappaport, Tom Gleason, Les Elkins, Glenn Snyder Trombone - Earl Zastrow, Don Allen Percussion - Tom Christy, Bonny Hilditch |
Production Staff
Producer - Lyle Jaffe
Artistic Director/Associate Director - Rosalie Santilhano Choreographer/Associate Director - Dee Hoffman Assistant Musical Director - Elizabeth Greene Stage Manager - Pamela Hodges Set Design - Fred Hetzel Lighting Design - Lew Dronenburg Costume Design - Edith Livingstone Technical Director (Rockville Civic Center) - Lew Dronenburg Technical Crew - Jason Grove, Leta M. Hall, Debbie Hansen, Melissa Lillie, Scott Lord, Ken Lovingood, Gilly Powers, Buffy Warren Rehearsal Pianists - Jenny Bland, Nancy Ferguson, Judy Gardner, Louisa Kwan Make-up - Pat Sexton, Ed Wiot Properties - Gaye Freese, Jamie Zavitz Publicity - Tim Briceland-Betts, Diana Fortuna, Barry Grinnell, Lyle & Donna Jaffe Tickets - Caroline Hummel Program - Pamela Hodges, Leta M. Hall House Manager - Hannah Lieberman Assistant House Manager - Jackie Sanders Set Construction - Tim Briceland-Betts, Gordon Brigham, Fred Hetzel, Warren Houghteling, Erik Kreil, Eric Trueblood Set Painting - Gaye Freese, Tom Fuchs, Debbie Hansen, Donna Jaffe, Lyle Jaffe, Judith Rubinstein Costume Construction - Edith Livingstone Videotaping - Fairfax Cable Television, Syril Kline Photography - Tom Fuchs Refreshments -The Wooden Shoe Pastry Shoppe Reception Committee - Barry Grinnell Costume Storage - Donna & Lyle Jaffe Set Storage - Harry Leet, Rockville Civic Center |
Program Notes
For their eleventh collaboration, Gilbert & Sullivan turned to a more serious subject than they had used before. Gilbert sought to get away from the established formula that made his partnership with Sullivan so popular. When he hit on the setting of the Tower of London for his next opera, he found something that Sullivan liked very much. Here was a chance for Sullivan to write music verging on grand opera, and a chance for Gilbert to explore less whimsically drawn characters, against a somber background.
Though The Yeomen of the Guard is a serious work, its characters derive from the sense of absurdity and topsy-turveydom that had motivated Gilbert in the earlier operas. Sergeant Meryll and Dame Carruthers make a pair of lovers not too far removed from Ko-Ko and Katisha. The blase Colonel Fairfax greets death with the heroic respect that only an operetta tenor can, but once free he behaves like a real scoundrel, playing a game of deception with the naive Elsie (while quietly ignoring the heartbreak of Jack Point)
In the character of Jack Point, Gilbert's work rose to the level of true drama. Point avoids sentimentality precisely because he must attempt humor throughout the opera -humor which nearly always fails. In the rare moments when he reveals his true feelings, they have real poignancy because they are so concisely expressed.
Though The Yeomen of the Guard is a serious work, its characters derive from the sense of absurdity and topsy-turveydom that had motivated Gilbert in the earlier operas. Sergeant Meryll and Dame Carruthers make a pair of lovers not too far removed from Ko-Ko and Katisha. The blase Colonel Fairfax greets death with the heroic respect that only an operetta tenor can, but once free he behaves like a real scoundrel, playing a game of deception with the naive Elsie (while quietly ignoring the heartbreak of Jack Point)
In the character of Jack Point, Gilbert's work rose to the level of true drama. Point avoids sentimentality precisely because he must attempt humor throughout the opera -humor which nearly always fails. In the rare moments when he reveals his true feelings, they have real poignancy because they are so concisely expressed.
