An engrossing evening of entertainment showcasing the true virtues of Gilbert & Sullivan at their best: Ruddigore at Opera North – Planet Hugill

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Dominic Sedgwick – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor: Amy Freston, Claire Pascoe, Dominic Sedgwick, Henry Waddington, Xavier Hetherington, Helen Evora, John Savornin, Stephen Page, Director: Jo Davies/James Hurley, Conductor: Anthony Krauss; Opera North at the Grand Theatre, Leeds
Reviewed October 26, 2024

A pure treat from start to finish as the first-rate cast unleash the musical delights and comic potential of one of G&S’s finest operas, ensuring we all left the theater with a smile on our faces

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Rudigor presents several challenges, notably the technical one of extracting the ghosts of the ancestors from their portraits, and the more philosophical one that Victorian melodrama, one of the main flaws of Gilbert’s humor in opera, is a rather forgotten genre. Jo Davies’ 2010 production of the opera for Opera North successfully overcame these challenges, so it was heartening that the production returned well for the 2024 autumn season, with three of the lead roles taken by Opera North choir members .

Gilbert & Sullivan’s Rudigor opened at the Grand Theatre, Leeds on Saturday 27 October 2024 as part of Opera North’s Autumn Season. It was directed by Joe Davies with James Hurley as director and Anthony Krauss conducting. Sets were by Richard Hudson, costumes by Gabriel Dalton, lighting by Anna Watson, choreography by Kay Shepherd. Amy Freston was Rose Maybud, Gillen Butterfield was Dawn, Claire Pascoe was Dame Hannah, Dominic Sedgwick was Robin Okapple (aka Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd), Henry Waddington was Old Adam, Xavier Hetherington was Richard Dauntless, Helen Evora was Mad Margaret, John Savornin was Sir Despard and Stephen Page was Sir Roderick.

It was set back to the 1920s and the production really went for it with a silent film during the overture that explained the backstory of Dame Hannah and Sir Roderick, with their love thwarted by the curse. The dialogue was tweaked somewhat with additional lyrics by Richard Stillgow, but the result felt like cute tweaks rather than a complete reinvention. Act One moves from Rose Maybud’s bedroom to the shore, in the church, while Act Two is in the gallery of Rudigore Castle. We never saw the small Cornish village and the use of a very traditional falling act (of a flower garden) allowed for smooth transitions between scenes.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Xavier Hetherington – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

I was impressed with the way the drama unfolded in the first act. This performance can sometimes fall flat, feeling like just a collection of pretty songs, but here we were transported. It helped that we had a top-notch all-singing-and-dancing cast, and for once Xavier Hetherington’s Richard felt like a real anti-hero and part of the drama, rather than seeming like an oddity thrown in because Gilbert felt like he was satirizing sailors.

Amy Freston was a poised, very self-absorbed Rose Maybud. Freston was brilliant in handling Rose’s penchant for twisted, old-fashioned language, while her performance leaned towards the idea of ​​a silent film. Her idiotic penchant for relying on the etiquette book comes across well in her delightful opening number, and Freston prepared Rose for her adventure of constantly swapping men, not following her heart but the dictates of the book, which was linked to her almost clap-like image.

It helped that as Robin (aka Sir Ruthven), Dominic Sedgwick made for such an appealing character, managing to bring out the character’s combination of immense self-respect and shyness. His early scenes with Freston’s Rose simmered well, while his transformation into a rather pathetic Sir Ruthven was the funniest. Sedgwick’s good boy, public school demeanor and slightly brooding demeanor meant that this Sir Ruthven really struggled and was entertaining.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Helen Evora, John Savornin – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

In the role of the dastardly Richard Dauntless, Xavier Hetherington really banked on the charm of the jack-katana and created the kind of performance, along with his dancing, that won the audience over. He had a way of almost breaking the fourth wall, instilling the trust of the audience. The crucial scene in which Richard of Hetherington reveals to John Savornin’s Sir Despard that Sir Ruthven is not dead but Robin Oakapple manages to be both dramatic and funny.

Of course, it helped that for most of the first act, John Savornin was a mantle-twirling delight as the evil baronet, Sir Despard, but Savornin also brought great style to the role, and you felt Sir Despard’s respect for his character. Savournin is an experienced Gilbert & Sullivan performer, but his number is incredible, but he has more operatic experience, so there was music to appreciate in his musical performance. In dialogue he managed to say more (or less) than the text meant, this was well done in the finale of act one and in act two, effectively redefining Sir Despard’s relationship with Mad Margaret.

Helen Evora was a remarkably mad Margaret. A delightfully over-the-top crazy scene was followed by a performance that Evora brought real fun to the character. Evora had a slightly lighter voice than the cast often does with this character, and it never felt like she was a crazy old lady. In her second-act scene with Savornin, the two had great fun with their exotic dance sequences, while Savornin’s reactions to Évora’s over-representation of Margaret’s madness gave the scene great power.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Xavier Hetherington, Dominic Sedgwick – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

Stephen Page gave a nice upper lip to Sir Roderick Murgatroyd in his First World War uniform and Page sang the ghost scene in Act Two with great gusto, but made his reconciliation with Claire Pascoe’s Dame Hannah quite touching. Pascoe had introduced Dame Hannah’s performance with an expository solo with great feeling that made real sense when he returned at the end. Like Evora’s Mad Margaret, Pascoe’s Hannah was mature, but nowhere near the adult caricature, thankfully.

Jillene Butterfield provided great support in the small role of Zora, the main bridesmaid, with Butterfield making her a real character. Henry Waddington produced some vivid performances as Old Adam Goodhart, particularly enjoying the character’s transformation from nice old tickle to evil henchman.

The first act finale was set in the church, with a series of failed weddings that managed to articulate the drama brilliantly, and the music was complemented by some vivid stagecraft. For the ghost scene, the main chorus was kept offstage, but seven key antecedents really popped out of their portraits (the illusionist who worked on the effects was Paul Kieve) and they too were rich in character.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Amy Freston – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

The main chorus was really hard; although there were three dancers, much of the choral work involved music and movement (choreography by Kay Shepherd). The women made the slightly annoying eternal bridesmaids into a total delight, while Richard Dauntless’ colleagues were dancers and the male chorus remained money and blades; here men in bombshells, who in their first scene in the first act immediately began to undress and put handkerchiefs on their heads on the beach.

Overall, the musical values ​​were strong and all rose to the particular challenge that G&S presented with their combination of music and lyrics. The delivery of the text was clearly paramount and the various pater numbers were really skillfully executed, although in the pater trio, “My Eyes Are Wide Open,” I was amused to note that for the last verse, sung by John Savornin, Kraus increased the tempo without any apparent interference with Savornin’s skills.

In the box, Anthony Kraus conducted with real love and it was a pleasure to be able to hear Sullivan’s score in its full orchestration, and the players brought delight and style to Sullivan’s remarkably rich score. The ghost scene is perhaps the most serious Sullivan gets in a G&S opera, but there was plenty more to enjoy.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Rudigor – Stephen Page, Dominic Sedgwick – Opera North, 2024 (Photo: © Richard H Smith)

It was one of those G&S shows where we were drawn into the upside-down world of Gilbert and Sullivan without any thought of directorial thoughts. Everyone on stage and in the box seemed to be enjoying themselves and the result was an engrossing evening of entertainment showcasing the true merits of Gilbert & Sullivan at their best.