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Each lord of Ruddigore, Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse, described by its author as "An Entirely Original Supernatural Opera in Two Acts," was the 10th of the "Savoy operas" produced by Gilbert and Sullivan. Ruddigore is a parody of the so-called "Transpontine* melodramas" of the early 19th century *, which were performed at theatres south of the Thames — including their high-flown and archaic language, the extravagances of their plots, and their recurring Stock Characters: the innocent orphaned Village Maiden, the poor-but-honest Yeoman Hero, the sneering, snarling Bad Baronet, the Honest Sailor, the Good Old Servant, the Fallen Woman Driven Mad By A Dark Secret, and, of course, the Ghost — in this case, a whole Gallery of Ghosts.Despite his best endeavour, Shall do one crime, or more, Once, every day, for ever! This doom he can't defy, However he may try, For should he stay His hand, that day In torture he shall die! — Dame Hannah, Act I Synopsis Act I. In the village of Rederring in Cornwall, a group of the world's only "professional corps of bridesmaids" are urging the heroine, "sweet Rose Maybud" to marry, as none of the young men of the village will marry anyone else until she does. They urge Dame Hannah to marry Old Adam Goodheart, the servant of prosperous young farmer Robin Oakapple, but she reveals that she has sworn to marry no-one since she found out that her true love was one of the Bad Baronets of Reception Critical reception of the piece was decidedly cooler than that of the preceding operas. Hisses were heard at the initial performance on January 21, 1887; some critics commented unfavourably on the staleness of Gilbert's criticism of melodramatic conventions and "dancing Quakers" *, some thought Sullivan's music far too heavy and serious for the ghostly capers of "the dead of the night's high noon" (a view privately shared by Gilbert himself) — even the costumes, on which Gilbert and impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte had taken great pains, were criticized for inaccuracy. *Further, controversies which seem ridiculous to moderns, and were dubious even in Victorian London, attached themselves to the piece. The original title was Ruddygore; an extraordinary qualm was raised because "ruddy" was used as a euphemism for "bloody" — and "'bloody' was a dirty word!" (This led Gilbert to quip later, "we were within an ace of changing it from Ruddygore to Kensington Gore, or Robin and Richard were two Pretty Men." (Another possible subtitle was Not-Half-So-Good-As-The-Mikado). Still more bizarre was the controversy stirred up by the London correspondent of Le Figaro, a Frenchman with the unconvincing name of T. Johnson, who accused the duo of insulting the Republic with Richard Dauntless's song of the "Poor Parley-voo" — a song which tells of the flight of a British sloop from the formidable guns of a French man-o'-war! The pair responded with a flowery letter to Le Figaro, disclaiming any intention of deriding la Marine d'une nation aussi brave que chevaleresque* and pointing out that French farces regularly used such terms as " 'Rosbif' et 'Goddam' " to refer to British soldiers. Another strange qualm affected the conduct of the piece itself, when Victorian audiences showed themselves squeamish over the Pair the Spares ending which involved the "professional bridesmaids" partnering with the long-dead-but-newly-revivified ghosts of all of Robin's ancestors — so the ending was altered to resurrect only Sir Roderick and to bring back the "Bucks and Blades" of Act I to make up the numbers.The opera was not revived by the Savoyards until 1920, when it was played in a shortened and altered version, with an entirely new overture by Geoffrey Toye. More recent productions have more or less restored Gilbert and Sullivan's original (sometimes reversing even alterations made by the duo themselves). An Animated Adaptation of the opera by British animation company Halas and Batchelor appeared in 1966. There have been three Live Action Television adaptations, in 1972, 1982, and 2005; the 1982 version featured Vincent Price as Sir Despard. Ruddigore is also the focus of the Phryne Fisher novel Ruddy Gore.Tropes Associated With Ruddigore Include:
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0 reviews alternative title(s): Ruddigore
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