Ruddigore
Composed by: Sir Arthur Sullivan
Written by: W.S. Gilbert
Stage Director: David Ward
Music Director: Andrew Crust
Choreographer: Manley Gavich
Scenic Designer: Oscar Escobedo
Costume Designer: Sophia Baramidze
Lighting Designer: Angela Mantel
Principal Associate Conductor: Chase Anderson
The opera is a parody of the stock melodrama — the villain who carries off the maiden; the priggishly good-mannered poor-but-virtuous-heroine; the hero in disguise, and his faithful old retainer who dreams of their former glory days; the snake in the grass who claims to be following his heart; the wild, mad girl; the swagger of fire-eating patriotism; ghosts coming to life to enforce a curse; and so forth. But as one critic noted, Gilbert turns the moral absolutes of melodrama upside down: Good becomes bad, bad becomes good, and heroes take the easy way out.
The Baronets of Ruddigore are cursed. Anyone who succeeds to the title has to commit a crime every day — or perish in inconceivable agony.
Robin Oakapple, a young farmer loves Rose Maybud, but both are too shy to tell the other. But Robin has a secret. He is really Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the rightful Baronet of Ruddigore, in disguise. His younger brother, Despard, believing Ruthven to be dead, has assumed the title. Robin's foster brother, Richard, seeking Rose for himself, tells Despard of Robin's deception, and Robin is forced to accept his true position, losing Rose to Richard in the process.
Now the Baronet of Ruddigore, Robin is confronted by the he ghosts of his ancestors who step from their picture frames in the gallery of Ruddigore Castle to confront him for failing to conscientiously commit his daily crime. Robin eventually finds a way of satisfying his ancestors demands whilst continuing to live a blameless life...
Musical Numbers:
1. "Fair is Rose" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
2. "Sir Rupert Murgatroyd" (Hannah and Chorus)
3. "If somebody there chanced to be" (Rose)
4. "I know a youth" (Rose and Robin)
5. "From the briny sea" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
6. "I shipp'd, d'ye see, in a revenue sloop" (Richard and Chorus)
6a. Hornpipe
7. "My boy, you may take it from me" (Robin and Richard)
8. "The battle's roar is over" (Rose and Richard)
9. "If well his suit has sped" (Chorus of Bridesmaids)
10. "In sailing o'er life's ocean wide" (Rose, Richard, and Robin)
11. "Cheerily carols the lark" (Margaret)
12. "Welcome, gentry" (Double Chorus)
13. "Oh, why am I moody and sad?" (Sir Despard and Chorus)
14. "You understand? I think I do" (Richard and Sir Despard)
15. Finale Act I
"Hail the bride of seventeen summers" (Ensemble)
Madrigal, "When the buds are blossoming" (Ensemble)
"When I'm a bad Bart, I will tell taradiddles!" (Robin and Chorus)
"Oh, happy the lily" (Ensemble)
16. "I once was as meek" (Sir Ruthven and Adam)
17. "Happily coupled are we" (Rose and Richard)
18. "In bygone days" (Rose with Chorus of Bridesmaids)
19. "Painted emblems of a race" (Sir Ruthven, Sir Roderic, and Chorus of Ancestors)
20. "When the night wind howls" (Sir Roderic and Chorus)
21. "He yields, he yields" (Chorus)
22. (original) "Away, remorse!" ... "For thirty-five years I've been sober and wary" (Robin)
22. (replaced) "Away, remorse!" ... "Henceforth all the crimes" (Robin) (The original song was replaced about a week into the original run. For the history of this number)
23. "I once was a very abandoned person" (Margaret and Despard)
24. "My eyes are fully open" (Margaret, Sir Ruthven, and Despard)
25. "Melodrame"
26. "There grew a little flower" (Hannah with Sir Roderic)
27. Finale Act II (Ensemble)
"When a man has been a naughty baronet"
"For happy the lily" (reprise) (Ensemble)
Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd/Robin Oakapple .................................... Jeffery Laughrun
Richard Dauntless ....................................................................... Ian C. Weber
Sir Despard Murgatroyd .............................................................. Adam Cantor
Old Adam Goodheart .................................................................. Jack Humphrey
Sir Rupert Murgatroyd ................................................................ Andrey Vdovenko
Sir Jasper Murgatroyd ................................................................ Spencer Gonzalez
Sir Lionel Murgatroyd ................................................................. Will Paddock
Sir Conrad Murgatroyd ............................................................... Will Upham
Sir Desmond Murgatroyd ........................................................... Logan Hoy Tucker
Sir Gilbert Murgatroyd ................................................................ Jordan Harris
Sir Mervyn Murgatroyd ............................................................... Ryan Wolpert
Sir Roderic Murgatroyd ............................................................... David Young
Rose Maybud .............................................................................. Paula Berry
Mad Margaret .............................................................................. Carlyn Barenholtz
Dame Hannah ............................................................................. Amber Kiara
Zorah ........................................................................................... Gabi Gonzalez
Ruth ............................................................................................. Laura Purvis
Officers, Ancestors, Professional Bridesmaids, Villagers ............ Michael Cagnetta, Quentin Fettig, Mitchell McVeigh, Hunter Mitchell, Olivia Crouch, Jessica Edgar, Jessica Kirshner, Anastasia Lallos, Alaina Mueller, Katherine Parrish, Laura Lydia Paruzynski, Rachel Querreveld, Alisha Sheth, Audra Weathers, Eleni Hanson