East Kilbride Light Opera Club - The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow - 1988

Index

History

The Merry Widow - Synopsis

cover of programme Panic reigns in the tiny Balkan Dukedom of Pontevedro. Almost all the country's limited capital has passed into the hands of the court banker Stefan Glavari, and he has done two unforgiveable things. First he has married a penniless beauty young enough to be his daughter, and secondly he has promptly died, leaving her his entire fortune. The Pontevedrian Ambassador in Paris, Baron Zeta has been warned that Glavari's widow, Anna, is on the way there. She must at all costs be prevented from marrying a Frenchman and bankrupting her native land. The Ambassador is about to give the annual ball in honour of the Duke's birthday, so he agrees to invite the Merry Widow as a guest of honour.

ACT I
Zeta's official residence. The party is in progress, and the dramatis personae are introduced; Zeta's French wife, Valencienne, young, flirtatious, previously on the Paris Stage - she is in the brink of an affair with her compatriot Camille de Rosillon, who rashly writes the words "I love you" on her fan: Njegus, an unconventional Embassy dogsbody; Cascada and St. Brioche, impoverished French noblemen anxious to marry money; and finally Count Danilo, four months at the Embassy, but more often to be found at Maxim's than in the office. This is the man, Zeta feels, who shall save the day for Pontevedro; but we soon learn that back in the old country Anna and Danilo had trodden hard on each others toes. Now, remarks Anna, whenever a man says "I love you" it is her Millions he is talking to. Danilo is needled into declaring that he will never use those words. Anna spends the rest of the piece trying to make him do so; and Danilo, not entirely selflessly, promises Zeta to preserve her from prowling foreigners.

ACT II
The following day Anna gives a Pontevedrian party at her house. She and Danilo continue to skirmish, deeply in love, but both with deeply wounded feelings. Zeta is under fierce pressure from Pontevedro to get the Widow paired off with a Pontevedrian . Valencienne's fan, with its compromising message, is causing chaos, and she and de Rosillon are all but caught 'inflagrante'. Njegus saves the day and Anna tries to turn the situation to her own advantage, but the pressure which she puts on Danilo misfires, and he storms off to the one place where he feels at home - Maxims.

ACT III
Later that evening, at Maxims, Anna's party continues. Valencienne entertains the guests by masquerading as, and dancing with, the Grisettes. Danilo has been tricked into attending the party. He is delegated to issue an ultimatum to Anna to marry a Pontevedrian, or see her country go down the drain. She is longing to marry a Pontevedrian - him - but how can she corner him into saying the forbidden words 'I love you'? Not even Lehar's most famous waltz tune does the trick. But don't worry - the happy ending is only a few twists away; for Anna, for Danilo, even for Valencienne's fan.

The Merry Widow - 1988
by arrangement with Glocken Verlag Ltd

Music by Franz Lehar
Adapted and Arranged by Ronald Hanmer
Original Book & Lyrics by Victor Leon & Leo Stein
New Book & Lyrics by Phil Park

Production Team
Producer - John Wilson
Musical Director - S. Gordon Lang
Choreographer - Irene McMillan

Cast
Anna Glavari (The Merry Widow) - Kate Schwab
Count Danilo Danilovitch (Pontevedrian Attache in Paris) - Colin Thomas
Baron Zeta (Pontevedrian Ambassador in Paris) -Jim Mooney
Valencienne (The Ambassador's Wife) - Margaret Thomas
Count Camille de Rosillon - Richard Thomas
Njegus - Tom Johnston
St Brioche - Bill Ginn
Cascada - Bill Walker
Kromov - Peter King
Olga - Elaine Anderson
Bogdanovitsch - Robbie Crawford
Pritsch - Gilbert Wedgwood
Sylvia - Rona MacGregor
Prascovia - Aileen Finlay

Lolo - Pauline Moscardini
Dodo - Margaret Hay
Jou-Jou - Hazel Armstrong
Frou-Frou - Claire Johnstone
Clo-Clo - Lori McElroy
Margot - Gillian Smith

Ladies of the Chorus
Hazel Armstrong, Alison Bennet, Catherine Bryan, Isabel Davidson, Frances Doyle, Carol Edison, Norma Fingland, Anneliese Gannon, Margaret Hay, Wendy Hayes, Shona Jenkins, Claire Johnston, Barbara McElroy, Lori McElroy, Marylin Maxwell, Eileen Montgomery, Pauline Moscardini, Elizabeth Rennie, Betty Roberts, Gillian Smith, Elizabeth Sorbie, Emma Walker, Linda Watson.

Gentlemen of the Chorus
Bruce Arthur, Alister Baird, John Cannon, lan Conroy, Robbie Crawford, Bill Crudge, Peter King, Jim Maxwell, Robert McDermott, Bill Roberts, Eric Schwab, Harry Sheridan, Bill Struthers, Gilbert Wedgwood.

Dancers
Morag Arthur, Dorothy Bedford, Julie Brown, Lesley Mackie, Sandra Mooney, Amanda Redpath, Anne Serafini, Cheryl Walker.

Performance Details
29th February - 5th March 1988
The Village Theatre,
East Kilbride

Synopsis of Scenes

Act I - A Salon in the Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris

Act II - The Gardens of Madame Glavari's Residence - Early the following evening.

Act III - "Maxim's", Later that Night

Musical Synopsis

Overture:
Act I
"Pontevedro in Paree" - Cascada, Zeta and Ensemble
"A highly Respectable Wife" - Valencienne and Camille
"So Many Men Admire Me" - Anna and Male Ensemble
"You'll Find Me At Maxim's" - Danilo and Ladies
"It Goes to Show" - Anna and Danilo
Finale, Act I - Principals and Chorus

Act II
Opening Chorus and Dance
"Vilia" - Anna and Ensemble
"Driving in the Park with You" - Anna and Danilo
"Women, Women, Women" - Danilo, Zeta, Cascada, St Brioche, Kromov, Bogdanovitsch, Pritsch and Njegus
Introduction to The Waltz Scene - Anna and Danilo
The Waltz Scene - Anna, Danilo, Ensemble and Dancers
Romance: "Flowers are Awakened in Maytime" - Camille and Valencienne
Finale: Act II Part I - Anna, Danilo, Valencienne, Camille, Zeta and Njegus
Finale: Act II Part II - Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part III - Anna, Valencienne, Danilo and Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part IV - Anna, Danilo and Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part V - Ensemble

Act III
Entr'acte - Opening Dance
The Grisette's Song - Valencienne, Lolo, Dodo, Jou-Jou, Frou-Frou, Clo-Clo and Margot
Can-Can - Dancers
Reprise: "You'll Find Me At Maxim's" - Danilo and Grisettes
The Merry Widow Waltz - Anna and Danilo
Finale Act III - Full Company

Stage Manager - Graham McFadyen
Club Accompanist - Nan McKechnie
Lighting - Carrick McGhie
Property Mistress - Susan Struthers
Wardrobe Mistress - Margaret McFadyen
Leader of Orchestra - Andrew Wilson
Prompter - Isa Hornal