Gilbert & Sullivan Haunt Wilton’s Music Hall

Wilton’s Music Hall with its faded Victorian grandeur lends itself to a tale of ancestral ghosts who haunt the family picture gallery, and this innovative production will provide some spine-tingling moments amidst the laughs.  Those who are familiar with Ruddigore are also in for a few visual and musical surprises.

Written as a glorious send-up of Victorian melodrama, this new staging draws on a love of classic Hammer movies, which were sometimes more fun than frightening.  Sullivan’s irresistible melodies and Gilbert’s outrageously topsy-turvy twists, barmy characters and quirky humour make Ruddigore the perfect homage to the genre.

Victorians were perturbed by the juxtaposition of musical comedy and the supernatural; many contemporary stagings have played the latter solely for laughs. Benedict’s production will be a more chilling experience, as he explains: “Wilton’s is a building whose very bricks contain the spirits of another age. I think we should summon up a few of those spirits to join in the fun.”  Expect a fast-paced show that no G&S purist should object to.

About

A family curse means a baronet must commit a crime every day or perish. In trying to escape his fate, he encounters dancing sailors, a bunch of frustrated bridesmaids and a chorus of ghosts. What could possibly go wrong?

Ruddigore is Gilbert & Sullivan’s tenth collaboration. It was first performed by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in London on 22^nd January 1887 and ran for 288 performances. Nearly three decades before Eliza Doolittle shocked audiences by saying “Not bloody likely”, the Victorian press expressed disapproval of the original title “Ruddygore” and thought the inclusion of ghosts in a farcical musical, especially when a character sings a romantic duet with one, bordered on bad taste. Benedict’s production incorporates dialogue cut after the premiere, reshaping the work but respecting Gilbert’s intentions.Oracle Productions is delighted to announce well-known faces and up-and-coming stars. 

 

Director Peter Benedict, recently described by Gyles Brandreth as being “touched with genius”, has assembled a stellar 15-strong cast.  Peter will also be taking on the role of wicked Baronet Sir Despard Murgatroyd of Ruddigore! Watch out!  Peter’s West End credits include: Ithamore in The Jew of Malta (Donmar); Ascyltus in Satyricon (Phoenix & Off-Broadway transfer); Wonse in Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards! and Malvolio in Twelfth Night (UK Tours).  TV includes: A Touch of Frost; I, Claudius; Eastenders; ChuckleVision, and Film: Rise of the Footsoldier II.

Rosemary Ashe is cast as Dame Hannah (Carlotta in the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of The Opera, Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, Felicia Gabriel in The Witches of Eastwick for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical, and more recently, Pam Lee in the world premiere of The Great British Bake Off Musical).

Graham Stone will play Old Adam Goodheart.  (Kommisar (Der Rosenkavalier) and Bartolo, Le Nozze di Figaro, Scottish Opera; Wilfred Shadbolt, The Yeomen of the Guard, and the title role in The Mikado for D’Oyly Carte).

Another fabulous addition is Charli Baptie who will appear as Mad Margaret (recent roles: Glinda in Wicked, Apollo Victoria, UK & Ireland Tour; Maria in West Side Story, UK & Ireland Tour; Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Charles Court Opera, and Phyllis in Iolanthe, National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company).

Up-and-coming stars include: Kieran Parrott as Richard Dauntless (Fanny and Stella, Above the Stag, Riff in West Side Story for the Barbican’s 100 year celebration of Bernstein’s music – BBC Orchestra, and Frankie Valli for The ‘Jersey Guys’, one of the UK’s leading Jersey Boys tribute acts); Joe Winter as Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (Maria Friedman and Friends: Legacy, Menier Chocolate Factory, and Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: A Celebration, Sondheim Theatre), and Madeline Robinson as Rose Maybud.  Madeline’s credits include: Bizet’s Carmen at Opera Holland Park, the title role of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Hurn Court Opera, and Gontran in Chabrier’s comedy Une Éducation Manquée with Opera South.

Oracle Productions also welcomes: Max Panks (Thomas) (Marvin in Loserville, Union Theatre, M1 vocalist, Celebrity Cruises, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Open Air Tour), and Tootles in Lost Boy (Charing Cross Theatre); and Edward Watchman (Harry) whose most notable roles include Caliban and Ferdinand in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Nottingham Playhouse), and Charlie in Fridge (Hope Theatre).

Ellie Sayles (Zorah) will make her professional début in Ruddigore, having recently graduated from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where her credits included playing Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.Eleanor Monaghan (Nancy in Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, King’s Head Theatre, and a recent graduate from Arts Educational Schools London) takes on the role of Mercy, while Rosie Weston, another recent graduate from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, will play Ruth. Rosie has appeared in the Ensemble in Ainadamar with Scottish Opera (Tour); Vocalist and Assistant Musical Director for the TikTok awards and Huawi P30 LITE launch, and Soprano Angel Soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Three Choirs Festival).

Sir Roderic Murgatroyd will be played by Steve Watts whose credits include: My Fair Lady (West End and UK Tour); Lady Be Good and The Boyfriend (Regent’s Park); The Mikado (Charing Cross); Allegro (Southwark Playhouse); Into the Woods (Theatre Royal, York); Passion (Hope Mill, Manchester); Assassins (Hampstead, New End), and Merrily We Roll Along (Watermill Theatre). Steve also appeared in Pinafore Swing – yes, a swing version of H.M.S. Pinafore!

Luca Kocsmárszky (Mme Von Palmay, Guest Violinist) is a classically trained violinist, singer, actor and composer. Luca relocated to London from her native Hungary in 2009 and has been working both in classical and contemporary music settings as well as in theatre. She has recently been on stage as Baruska in the first regional revival of Once and was part of the chorus in Verdi’s Macbeth produced by Uncovered Opera at Hoxton Town Hall. Luca is also working on her first solo album and a collection of choral works.

There has rarely been such a perfect match of live theatre with a performance venue. A Victorian operetta performed in a beautiful Victorian Music Hall where early performers included George Ware who wrote “The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery” to Arthur Lloyd and George Leybourne (Champagne Charlie), two of the first music hall stars to perform for royalty. A visit to Wilton’s is a truly magical, haunting experience and one that visitors never forget.

Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB from 14^th – 25^th March 2023
Box Office: 020 7702 2789
Online: www.wiltons.org.uk/whatson/774-ruddigore
Performances: Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm; matinées: Thursday and Saturday at 2:30pm
Age group: suitable for 12+