Wed 7/8 will be opening day for the fifth production of this 37th season of Ohio Light Opera.
One hundred twenty-eight years ago, when Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Ruddigore opened, the very title was considered scandalous. Why? You might well ask. Switch that ‘i’ for a ‘y’ and it was considered too close to profanity to be acceptable in society’s drawing rooms. The sub-title “The Witch’s Curse” probably didn’t help much, either. The production had a few smaller other problems, most of which were quickly worked out, and the piece settled in for some nearly 300 performances in the initial run.
An earlier ‘Bad’ Baronet of Ruddigore liked to torment witches, and was in turn cursed by one. Each Baronet must thus commit a crime a day for all eternity, or else! The else in this case being an agonizing death. Furthermore, the Baronet is mocked by the ghosts of his Bad Baronet ancestors, some of whom step out of their own gallery portraits in Act II.
With stage direction by Steven Daigle, the full orchestra will be conducted by Steven Byess, and choreography by Spencer Reese. The current Baronet, Sir Despard Murgatroyd, will be portrayed by Ted Christopher, while Nathan Brian is both his ancestor Sir Ruthven and the young farmer Robin Oakapple. Katherine Polit is the virtuous maiden Rose Maybud, and her Aunt Hannah is Julie Wright Costa. Sarah Best will no doubt chew up the scenery as Mad Margaret. Michael Benson designed the sets with lighting by Erich Keil. Adrienne Jones created the colorful costumes.
Next is a total change of pace starting Tue 7/14 with another Ohio Light Opera premiere, Friederike being the company’s seventh Austrian-style operetta by the popular Franz Lehar. (Think The Merry Widow.) Originally, Lehar wanted to write opera, but instead ended up with the sometimes lighter form.
Generally speaking, operettas were not about real people, but when two Austrian gentlemen, hopeful librettists, lawyer/songwriter Fritz Löhner-Beda and gynecologist Ludwig Herzer, suggested their newest subject for an operetta – the larger-than-life German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — to the composer, they won him over. Goethe was, after all, the renowned German poet, playwright, novelist and natural philosopher best known for his two-part poetic drama Faust. In awe of the somewhat noble poet, Lehar was able to create a somewhat more operatic score than previously. Friederike is not your ordinary fluffy Viennese operetta.
Friederike is the daughter of the Vicar of Sesenheim, who is in love with the young poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe. He is on his way to Weimar to apply for the post of poet to the Duke. However, having lost a previous poet to domestic difficulties, the Duke declares he wants an unattached gentleman for the post. Anxious not to stand in the way of Goethe’s career, Friederike sacrifices her love for him.
Stage director for this production is Steven Daigle, while the orchestra will be led by Wilson Southerland. Costumes are by Charlene Gross, with choreography by Carol Hageman. Set designer is Cassie King and lighting by Shannon Schweitzer. The setting is Sesenheim and Strasbourg in 1771.
Principal roles will be portrayed by Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar by Samus Haddad; Johann Jakob Brion, pastor of Sesenheim by Kyle Yampiro; his wife Magdalena by Olivia Maughan. Gretchen Windt is their older daughter Salomea, while their younger daughter Friederike, will be Meagan Sill. Tenor Clark Sturdevant is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; his two friends, Jakob Lenz, a theological student, by Stephen Faulk and Friedrich Weyland, a medical student, by Andrew Gilstrap.
The second of this season’s Gilbert & Sullivan operettas is Yeomen of the Guard, opening on 7/22.
Sometimes known as The Merryman and His Maid, Yeomen will be directed by Julie Wright Costa. Musical direction is by J. Lynn Thompson, with choreography by Spencer Reese. Costumes are by Stefanie Genda, sets by Tymberley Whitesel and lighting by Shannon Schweitzer. Yeomen takes place on the Tower Green in London, during the 16th century.
It is never easy to distill the plot of an opera or operetta into one paragraph, but here we go: Colonel Fairfax, a gentleman (Clark Sturdevant), has been sentenced to death on a false charge of sorcery. In an attempt to leave his estate to someone other than his accuser, he connives with the Lieutenant of the Tower (Kyle Yampiro as Sir Richard Cholmondeley) and secretly marries a strolling singer, Elsie Maynard, (played by Emily Nelson.) Although she will not have to watch the execution, she does expect to be a rich young widow very shortly afterwards. With the help of the Meryll family (Boyd Mackus is the Sergeant; his son Leonard is Stephen Faulk, and his daughter Phoebe is Olivia Maughan), Fairfax escapes! Elsie and Jack Point, the jester (played by Ted Christopher), are in despair at this turn of events. Still, Fairfax remains in the area, and pretending to be Leonard Meryll, he sets out to woo Elsie. He is successful, as she falls in love with him, leaving poor Jack Point broken-hearted.
While Yeomen may or may not have a happy ending, depending on one’s point of view, there are many comic scenes within it. The score is considered to be one of Sullivan’s best, ranging as it does between love and sacrifice, joy and despair. A musical highpoint is the Jack Point/Elsie Maynard duet “I have a song to sing, O.”
For ticket information, visit the ohiolightopera website or call the box office at 330.263.2345.
For an additional treat, to read more about and hear clips of some of the music for each of the above mentioned shows, go here.
[Written by Kelly Ferjutz]Wooster, OH 44691