'Ruddigore' is a ghost story with spirit

BY SARAH D'ESTI MILLER
Press & Sun-Bulletin

Initially, Ruddigore or The Witch's Curse did not have an easy go of it.

To start with, it opened in 1887, three days after Gilbert and Sullivan's phenomenally successful The Mikado, certainly a tough act to follow. And Victorian society was less than thrilled with the title's spelling at the time, Ruddygore ("Ruddy" being a half step away from the British profanity "bloody" and "gore" meaning, well, gore). Some French nationals felt insulted by one of the musical numbers, and many accounts say Ruddygore was the first G&S production to get booed (although, to be fair, it received mixed reviews). So, Gilbert (who wrote the words) and Sullivan (who wrote the music) did some editing and changed the dreaded "y" to "i" and managed to get 288 performances out of the show, which was considered a decent run (although nowhere near The Mikado's 672).

The years have been kind to Ruddigore -- the public's capacity for such horrors as the word "bloody," has most likely grown. And we still love a good ghost story, and that's what the Binghamton Summer Savoyards hope to give audiences at Binghamton University's Anderson Center Chamber Hall today through Sunday.

And does Ruddigore ever have ghosts -- eight of them, all portraits of the dead baronets of Murgatroyd, who come to life, stepping out of their frames to torment the current baronet, who must carry on their unfortunate legacy. Each baronet in theunlucky line of Murgatroyds was doomed to perform one crime a day or suffer a torturous death. Perhaps a heavy-duty plot for Victorians, even as a spoof on melodrama, but one contemporary audiences can handle just fine.

Summer Savoyards has something new planned for this year's production, too. This is the first time in a very long time, or at least that anyone can remember, that a show has not been double cast.

"This is one of the best casts I have ever worked with, and I am sure you hear that from a lot of directors, but we have had the great luxury of being single-cast and with very talented people," director Tina Opie said. "We've had some extra time to put [on] some polishing and extra touches."

The cast includes Savoyards regulars Kevin Lash, Andrea Gregori, Steven Nanni, Gregory Keeler, Stephen M. Dell'Aversano (who also is costumier), William Clark Snyder and Julia Mahar. Newcomers include Patricia Raube-Wilson, Barbara DeShane and Jenny Gac. And, of course, a men's and women's chorus and a live orchestra, conducted by Barbara Fuller.

Opie said initially, budget constraints created the need for single casting, but she doesn't see that as a problem.

"It's turned out to be quite a blessing," she said.

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© 2004 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin