East Kilbride Light Opera Club - The Merry Widow 2001

The Merry Widow - 2001

Index

History

The Cast

The Merry Widow - Synopsis

cover of programme Panic reigns in the tiny Balkan Dukedom of Pontevedro. Almost all the country's limited capita] 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.

Some Pictures

The Merry Widow - 2001
by arrangement with Glocken Verlag Ltd

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

Production team
Director - Billy Love
Musical director - Cameron Merriweather
Choreographer - Sally Riley

Cast
Anna Glavari - Frances Taylor
Count Danilo Danilovitch - Jim Rutherford
Baron Zeta -Jim Robertson
Valencienne - Eileen Montgomery
Count Camille de Rosillon - Kevin Finlayson
Njegus - Ken Lawton
St Brioche - Bob Mills
Cascada - Craig Lundie
Kromov - Bill Ginn
Olga - Anneliese Gannon
Bogdanovitsch - Steven Forbes
Pritsch - Bruce Arthur
Sylvia - Elizabeth Porter
Prascovia - Carole Alston
Lolo - Carol Edison
Dodo - Angela Williamson
Jou-Jou - Carol Meldrum
Frou-Frou - Pauline Moscardini
Clo-Clo - Claire Johnston
Margot - Hazel Hampson

Ladies of the Chorus
Morag Arthur, Dorothy Bedford, Patricia Bovil, Jean Cook, Sandra Crawford, Gillian Dunker, Carol Edison, Hazel Hampson, Diane House, Claire Johnston, Maureen McDermott, Christine McIntyre, Margo McTaggart, Carol Meldrum, Pauline Moscardini, Ann Shields, Angela Williamson.

Gentlemen of the Chorus
Bruce Arthur, Robbie Crawford, Stephen Forbes, Bill Ginn, Jim Kirkpatrick, Peter King, Jim Lamb, Harry Sheridan, Bill Struthers, Walter Thompson.

Dancers
Allison Bennie, Angela Boyle, Linsey Meldrum, Jackie McGrory, Michelle Saleh, Caroline Thomson, Jennifer Thomson.

Sadly, this year's programme included an obituary for our Honorary President, Hugh C. Gray. You can read it here.

Musical Synopsis

Overture:
Act I - A Salon in the Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris
"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 - The Gardens of Madame Glavari's Residence - Early the following evening.
Opening Chorus and Dance - Chorus and Dancers
"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
The Waltz Scene - Anna, Danilo and Dancers
Romance: "Flowers are Awakened in Maytime" - Camille and Valencienne
Finale: Act II Part 1 - Anna, Danilo, Valencienne, Camille, Zeta and Njegus
Finale: Act II Part 2 - Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part 3 - Anna, Valencienne, Danilo and Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part 4 - Anna, Danilo and Ensemble
Finale: Act II Part 5 - Ensemble

Act III - "Maxim's", Later that Night
Opening Dance - Chorus
The Grisette's Song - Valencienne, Lolo, Dodo, Jou-Jou, Frou-Frou, Clo-Clo, 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 - William J Porter
Assistant Stage Manager - Graham McFadyen
Lighting - Carrick McGhie
Stage Director - Jack Tait
Club accompanist - Carol Hannigan
Property mistress - Susan Struthers
Wardrobe mistresses - Margaret McFadyen, Anna McGillivray
Leader of Orchestra - Andrew Wilson
Prompter - Frances Baird

Hon. Vice-President - W. Gordon McNay, OBE
President - Ann M. Struthers
Vice-President - J.Bruce Arthur
Secretary - Pauline Moscardini
Treasurer - Elizabeth Struthers
Committee - Robbie Crawford, Jack Tait, Ken Lawton, Morag Arthur, Peter King, Hazel Hampson