Ruddigore

Everyone has a favorite Gilbert and Sullivan, Ruddigore (1992) is not mime. However, it is well designed and well-acted. I will not go into detail as the fun is watching the story unfold for the first time than watching again for missed details. Each production is unique bringing with it different nuances and that goes for this production also. We can take advantage of the abilities of T. V. that cannot be produced on the stage. Opera World made this possible bringing Gilbert and Sullivan to television and DVD.

There is an introduction by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. And he returns for an update on information after the first act. The recording clarity leaves something to be desired; however, soon you will not notice the worn-out copy that there was no attempt to clean up.

The story has all the G & S twists and ironies. Who is the good guy, the bad guy and does anyone get the girl?

Keith Michell as Robin Oakapple, Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd steals the show. But the surprise is how well Vincent Price as Sir Despard Murgatroyd adapts to singing and dancing in this production.

Despite some nice singing, especially by Sandra Dugdale as Rose Maybud and Donald Adams as Sir Roderic Murgatroyd, this is a perfectly dreadful production. The girls ham it up, something which Gilbert warned against ever doing in the G&S operettas. Their early scenes, moreover, have suggestions of Lesbianism which could not be more out of place. Most of the singers are fair to middling, with Vincent Price apparently imitating Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady - good actor, no voice at all. Most of all, nobody takes the story seriously - no matter how absurd a G&S plot is today, and most were pretty absurd even while Victoria lived (and loved them), it is essential that they be played straight. As done here, a young person seeing Ruddigore for the first time would have to wonder what all the fuss is about. Better to just listen to it on an old D'Oyly Carte recording.

Usually, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas are supposed to be light, funny, witty, ironic, and entertaining. But this production is none of those things. Even Vincent Price can't save it. There's a lot of bad singing, heavy-footed dancing, and people sort of standing around doing nothing. The costumes are uninteresting. The sets are dull. Characters that should be fun and silly and memorable are flat and tired.

There's a lack of joy and fun. Plodding, that's the word. Plodding. I couldn't wait for it to be over. If you showed this DVD to someone unfamiliar with Gilbert & Sullivan, they would never go see another operetta during the whole rest of their lives.

Ruddigore is rarely performed anymore, but I don't know why because it's a lot of fun. A spoof on Gothic melodramas, it also contains some wonderful music by Sir Arthur Sullivan.

The story (in case you didn't already know) is about the Bad Baronets of Ruddigore, who because of a witch's curse must commit a crime a day or else perish in agony themselves. To avoid the curse, the current Baronet faked his own death and has lived in hiding for 10 years. Now he wants to marry, but on his wedding-day the truth comes out.

His younger brother (the character played so delightfully by Vincent Price) was left holding the title, so to speak. He has been bad for the past decade, and is relieved to be able to give up his wicked ways and live respectably, while the hitherto blameless Robin must now assume the handlebar mustache and opera cape of the Victorian stage villain.

I thoroughly enjoyed this production--very energetic and lively performances. Vincent Price was a hoot as Sir Despard Murgatroyd, and his performance alone was enough to make this a keeper. The whole cast was great, including Keith Mitchell as Robin/Sir Ruthven, Sandra Dugdale was a charming Rose Maybud, and Donald Adams was terrific, as usual.

I've always loved Gilbert and Sullivan. The stories of their operettas are on the silly side, but that has always been part of the fun to me. Besides the lyrics and dialogue are delightfully witty and the music itself is just lovely. I have seen better productions of Gilbert and Sullivan before such as the Eric Idle version of The Mikado and as far as this particular series of G&S operettas go this Ruddigore is not as good as Iolanthe, The Sorcerer or Patience but not as dull as (disappointingly as it is my personal favourite operetta of theirs) Pirates of Penzanze. This production of Ruddigore is not perfect by all means. Any fans of the score(not my absolute favourite but as I am with all G&S I am very fond of it) will be disappointed by the abridging of the Overture and numbers such as I Shipped D'Ye See in a Revenue Sloop are omitted. The production leaves something to be desired technically, I liked the Gothic yet charming look of the costumes and sets but thought the picture quality seemed rather grainy(then again my copy, I have the complete series on video, is very old), and the sound could have been clearer. Also, some of the humour does fall flat sadly, due to some badly overdone mugging from the chorus especially. However, it is wonderful musically, with sprightly orchestral playing and a vocally well-balanced chorus. The principals are generally great. Vincent Price's singing is by no means great, in fact it is rather rudimentary(though not as problematic as Peter Allen in Penzanze or Joel Grey in Yeomen), but judging from his acting he looks as though he is having the time of his life. Keith Michell aside from the music was the only outstanding asset about Penzanze, and his entertaining performance as Robin Oakapple is no exception. John Treleaven is suitably oily in his role of Dick Dauntless, Donald Adams really shines in the gloriously creepy When the Night Wind Howls, Sandra Dugdale is lovely as Rose and Ann Howard is delightful as Mad Margaret especially in the patter trio It Really Doesn't Matter. The staging does have its contrived moments like with When Sailing O'er Life's Ocean Wide, but there are several delightful scenes such as the superbly done Ghost Scene and the start of Act 2 between Sir Ruthven and Old Adam. All in all, has a lot of problems but not a bad Ruddigore. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox