1981 a season of gilbert sullivan

For Two Weeks Commencing Monday, November 16th, 1981

RATHMINES & RATHGAR MUSICAL SOCIETY

presents

A Season o f Gilbert and Sullivan Operas

A GAIETY EVENING FIRST ACT M e e t in the G aie ty. H ave a d r in k in c o m fo r t b e to re the s ho w .

B ars o p e n 7.3 0 p.m . O rd e r a n d p a y fo r d r in k s fo r th e in te rva l.

INTERVAL Y o u r d r in k s are re ady a n d w a itin g fo r y o u at y o u r ta b le.

Y o u 'r e s a v e d tim e an d tr o u b le .

ENCORE R e la x a ft e r th e s h o w .

H a v e a d r in k . T h e b a rs a r e a lw a y s o p e n fo r h a lf an h o u r a fte r c u r ta in fall.

PTM A T P

W e trust you enjoyed your Gaiety evening come again!

Licenced Bars on all Floors. liil?HII;i:il)>!!llllUIIIIHIIIIIiI!IIIIIIII

G A IE TY

THEATRE

SOUTH KING STREET, DUBLIN 2 Telegram s: G aiety Theatre

Telephone: 771717

Directors: Eam o nn A ndrew s, Lorcan Bourke.

D erm od Catferky. Joe Kearns.

R e side nt M anager: Jo e Kearns

Commencing Monday, November 16th, 1981 RATHMINES & RATHGAR MUSICAL SOCIETY

presents

The Mikado Tuesday, 17th November Thursday, 19th November Saturday, 21st November (Matinee) Saturday 21st November (Evening)

Monday, 23rd November Wednesday, 25th November Friday, 27th November Saturday, 28th November (Matinee)

Princess Ida Monday, 16th November W ednesday, 18th November Friday, 20th November

Tuesday, 24th November Thursday, 26th November Saturday, 28th November (Evening)

Musical Director: Gearoid Grant Chorus Master: Heather Hewson Design Consultant: Bronwen Casson Design Associate: Robert Lane Costumes: The M ikado: Messrs. Barretts of Bath.

Princess Ida: Messrs. S. B. Watts & Co., Manchester.

Assistant to Director: Dolores Delahunty Entire Production Directed by NORMAN MEADMORE

Princess Ida Princess Ida was first presented at the Savoy Theatre on January 5, 1884. G ilbert was then living in Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, w here he was established for the next seven years. H ere he also wrote four other operas, comfortably ensconced in an armchair in his study.

This house was to become the Mecca of all true Gilbertians.

The story o f Princess Ida is based on a play he had written four years earlier, entitled The Princess, which was itself a parody of Tennyson’s poem .

G ilbert apparently never liked to waste anything and we are told ‘he lifted chunks of dialogue from the earlier work and transferred it bodily to Princess Ida, which thus became a blank verse opera’.

T here were many stormy scenes during rehearsal, as some of the actors did not take kindly to the blank verse and Gilbert was frequently forced to correct them.

Sullivan completed the music only four days before the opening night, and the inevitable reaction from overwork on brain and body then set in.

H e was in severe pain as he mounted the rostrum, but a terrific reception from the audience served to revive him sufficiently to get through the evening successfully. H e collapsed, however, having taken his bow with G ilbert at the end of the performance.

Princess Ida has a comparatively short orchestral introduction leading straight into the opening scene. T he opera ran for almost a year, and engendered in Sullivan the idea of composing a grand opera, which however, was not completed for another seven years. It was entitled Ivanhoe and with its production the composer attained the ambition of his life.

Princess Ida was last produced by the R & R in 1973.

G. MacN.

The Mikado According to ecstatic reviews in London papers following the first production of The Mikado in the Savoy Theatre on March 14, 1885, there were three encores for Three Little Maids and seven (which could have been twelve!) for The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring.

They continue ‘Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan must be familiar with success by this time, but never in their brilliant partnership of sprightly music an d fantastic fun has a more unanimous verdict of approval been passed upon their labours than when the curtain fell on Saturday l ast. . . . ’ The partnership was never stronger.

W hat they could not know was that in The Mikado, they had written a musical piece that was to be accounted the most valuable property in the world for the next seventy years.

Fine words and how true they have proved to be. Now, more than ninety years have passed since that long ago evening, and the opera (its 28th presentation by the R & R ), still holds its place in the hearts and minds o f actors and audiences all over the world, for the power of its dramatic music, lovely songs and brilliant sense of fun.

O ur last production was in 1979.

G. MacN.

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PRINCESS IDA DRAM ATIS PERSONAE King H ild e b ra n d ..................................................... BRENDAN McSHANE Hilarion ........................................................................................T E D RYAN (his son)

C y r i l ................................................................... CAMILLUS MOUNTAINE F lo r ia n ................................................................................. FRED G R A H A M (Hilarion s Friends)

King G am a ........................................................................ PAT CAMPBELL Arac ...................................................................... A R T H U R MacGAURAN G u ro n .........................................

HENRY KENNEDY Scynthius ........................................................................... JOHN C O U LTER (his sons)

Princess Ida ..............................................................BAR BA RA G R A H A M (Gama's Daughter)

Lady Blanche ............................................................ H E A T H E R HEWSON (Professor o f Abstract Science)

Lady Psyche ..................................................................JOAN CAVANA GH (Professor o f Humanities)

Melissa ........................................................................... D O LO RES B ARRY (Lady Blanche’s Daughter)

Sacharissa ................................................................... MICHELE O ’BYRNE C h l o e ........................................................................................... PAT M OORE A d a ................................................................................ CATHY O'M ALLEY (Girl Graduates)

Chorus o f Soldiers, Courtiers, “Girl Graduates” and '‘Daughters o f the Plough”.

Misses: Eva Staveley, Maura Cox, Marie Culliton, Nuala Kealy, Dympna Egar, Joan Brittan, Margaret McAllister, Zinda FitzGerald, Dodo O ’Hagan, A nn Crossan, Sally Young, Miriam Connor, Paula Hannan, Olive Brennan, Janet White, Roisin McKenna, Ena Boylan.

Messrs: Pascal Walshe, Larry Shelley, Denis Deasy, Brendan Galvin, R. A . Ryan, Patrick Garton, Joe Bevan, John Ryan, Jack Kelly, Sean Hogan, Robin FitzGerald, Denis Leahy, Paul Kermode, Dom Carroll, Campbell G rant, John O ’Rourke, Owen Walsh.

Act I: Pavilion in King Hildebrand’s Palace Act II: Within the Walls of Castle Adamant Act III: Same as Act II » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »» » »» » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »

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THE MIKADO DRAM ATIS PERSONA E The Mikado o f Japan .............................................. R O B ERT McKEVITT Nanki-Poo ............................................................................ BRYAN HOEY (his S o n , disguised as a wandering m instrel, and in love with Y u m -Y u m )

K o - K o ............................................................................................ ED BRADY (L o r d H igh E xecu tio n er o f Titipu)

P o o h -B a h ............................................................ M AURICE O ’SULLIVAN ( L o r d H igh E veryth in g Else)

Pish-Tush .................................................................... H EN R Y KENNEDY (a N o b le L o rd )

Yum-Yum ................................................................. EVELYN DOWLING P itti-S ing...................................................................... PATRICIA H O U G H Peep-Bo ............................................................................... JU N E M O L L O Y (T h ree Sisters — W ards o f K o -K o )

Katisha ........................................................................................LUCY LANE (an elderly L a d y , in love with N a n k i-P o o )

Ko-K o’s Attendant .......................................................... NIGEL SALMON Chorus o f Schoolgirls, Nobles, Guards and Coolies: Misses: Marian Mullins, Michelle Foynes, Joan Brittan, Pauline Woods, Jenifer Patterson, Margaret Dickson, Bronach Kelly, Michele O ’Byrne, Zinda FitzGerald, Germaine Carlos, Cathy Lyons, Cathy Vard, Grainne Walsh, Cathy O'Malley, Alison Edge, Cathy Corby, Sheila Nolan, Fidelma Allen.

Messrs: Seamus Greene, Patrick Garton, Dom Carroll, Frank Jacob, Robin FitzGerald, Noel Byrne, Robert Daly, John Moran, Larry Shelley, Raymond Ryan, Michael McAuliffe. Denis Boothman, Barry Freeney, Roddy McLennan, Martin Galvin, Ciaran Ryan, Martin Griffith, Ted Ryan, Chris Bruton, Noel Lawlor.

Act I: C o u rty ard o f Ko-Ko’s Official Residence.

Act II: Ko-Ko’s G arden. « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « «« «

F o r Rathm ines & R a th g a r Musical Society

Honorary General Secretary, Patrick Campbell Honorary Treasurer, Michael Forde Honorary B ooking Secretary, Fred Taylor Honorary Wardrobe Master, A rthur Salmon Honorary Wardrobe Mistress, Cynthia Taylor Honorary Business Secretary, Sean Hogan Stage Director, Daphne Millar Assisted by Clodagh Foley and Nora O'Rourke Public Relations, Gladys MacNevin Block B ooking Enquiries: M r. Fred T aylor, “ D artry� , A rdtona A venue, Dublin 14. Phone: 981249

For G aiety Theatre

Stage Manager, Paddy Jones Assistant Stage Manager, George McFall C hief Electrician, Sean Burke Lighting Equipm ent by Bourke Strand Electric

DUBLIN GRAND OPERA SOCIETY

Winter Season 1981 THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Rossini)

CARMEN (Bizet)

NORMA (Bellini)

Monday 30 November to Saturday 12 December, 1981

NOW BOOKING

Gaiety

Po V

IRELAND’S GREATEST PANTOMIME

Tony Kenny and All Star Cast COMMENCING 26TH DECEMBER 1981 Produced by Eamonn Andrews Studios

PALM GROVE

D e lic io u s Ice Cream

W N o w on Sale in this T h eatre

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If yo u need p ro g ra m m e s p rin te d , d o n 't stall, join the c ir c le and queue up fo r an a u d ie n c e w ith us

ELO PRESS LTD T E L E P H O N E 751257

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When the curtain falls, call in to The Coffee Shop.

Complete the night in style. Come along to the Coffee Shop in the Shelboume.

Choose from a superb selection of starters, fish dishes, omelettes, salads, grills and sweets. Extensive Wine List.

Full bar facilities available.

OPEN Monday to Saturday 10.30 a.m .—11.30 p . m . d a s t orders

11.15 p . m . )

Stop ...the place to go after the show

SHELBOURNE HOTEL. St. Stephen's Green, D ublin 2. Tel: 766471.

P rinted by the Elo Press L td ., Dublin 8.