THE GRAND DUKE (Gilbert & Sullivan) Act I (with subtitles)

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Rudolph, Grand Duke of Pfennig Halbpfennig: Christian Mendenhall
Ernest Dummkopf, a theatrical manager: Richard Tappen
Lisa, a soubrette: Laura Grazyna Kafka
Julia Jellicoe, an English comedienne: Jennifer Wynne Post
Ludwig, leading comedian: Bradley Hayes
The Baroness von Krakenfeldt: Catherine Huntress-Reeve
Dr. Tannhauser, a notary: John Barclay Burns
The Prince of Monte Carlo: Dennis Blackwell
The Princess of Monte Carlo, his daughter: Marianna Ferris

Herald: Dirk McCoy
Ben Hashbaz, a costumier: Blair Eig
Gretchen: Cindy Williams
Olga: Pamela Leighton-Bilik
Martha: Nairi Checkosky Balian
Bertha: Linda Schwab Deutsch

Set Designer: Robin Stapley
Lighting Designer: David Sislen
Costume Designers: A.T.Jones & Sons Inc.
Make-up Designer: Renee Silverstone
Wigs Masters: Idella Fletcher, Sandy Ferrell
Property Master: Susan Chong
Assistant Music Director: Victoria Gau
Repetiteurs: Victoria Gau, Molly Newton, Donna Lyn Roman
Orchestra Managers: Bernice From & Frank Pellegrino

Stage Director: Roberta Morrell
Conductor: John Burrows

The Washington Savoyards
Duke Ellington Theater, Georgetown, Washington DC
May 1996

Performing edition by John Burrows

Historical note:
'The Grand Duke' or 'The Statutory Duel', the final collaberation of librettist, W. S. Gilbert, and composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan, was first performed at the Savoy Theatre in London in 1896. Dan Rothermel, a reliable authority on the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, notes that in this work "we find Sullivan in fine form, eager to vary his approach and experimenting in a number of distinct ways. The somewhat racier Parisian idiom of Offenbach and LeCocq is adopted in the opening chorus, the Act II galop, and the roulette song. The galop, a dazzling little piece also recalls Victor Herbert in his more gallic mood, while Ernest Dummkopf's rousing theatrical manager song suggests that Sullivan was not entirely deaf to the siren song of musical comedy. The dance at the end of the Baroness/Duke duet is a palpable habanera, with a fascinating cross-rhythmic collision between 2/4 and 6/8. The beginning of the overture - and the entrance of the Grand Duke from which it is derived - is an obvious Wagnerian parody, wryly suggesting a facetious reference to the opening of 'Der Fliegender Hollander'. On the other hand, the Vienesse waltz, which follows the opening chorus, is a genuine pastiche of Suppe, Millocker and the Austrian operetta school... The Greek chorus which opens Act II has a breadth and expansiveness that has long been admired, while Julia's lengthy scena in the same act is an 'aria with cabaletta' in the tradition of Italian opera." Rothermel also points out that "Sullivan explores some new harmonic paths, especially in enharmonic modulation ... and in slight changes of harmonization in repetition, with which he might not have bothered in his more freewheeling 'Pinafore' days. The texture of chamber music is here and there adopted, ... and the exquisite passage in the Act I finale ('Oh listen to me, dear') is very much a return to Sullivan's youthful 1860s style, even to its melodic contour and ornamentation. But despite intense interest in these technical aspects ... it is the quality of the melodies by which his operas stand or fall. And in this all-important aspect, 'The Grand Duke' triumphantly stands. Those who experience this ebullient score for the first time in the present production are in a truly enviable position."