The Merry Widow
by Franz Léhar

To be performed at The Little Theatre: Monday 20 March - Saturday 25 March 2006

 

Our 2006 production is the English language version of the classic Léhar operetta The Merry Widow. Curiously perhaps, given the show’s well-known standing, we have never performed it before.  When the society members voted on the shortlist, it was an overwhelming winner and so we have now started rehearsal for it going on stage next March.

 

Production team:
Director: ROBERTA MORRELL
Musical Director: DAVID TOFT

 By arrangement with Glocken Verlag Ltd

SETTING

Late in the 19th century. Paris.

Act 1: The Pontevedrian Embassy in Paris
Act 2: The Garden of Anna Glawari’s house
Act 3: The same, later at night

SYNOPSIS

ACT 1

Before the curtain rises, a number of important events have already occurred in the impoverished Balkan Dukedom of Pontevedro.  The love-affair between the dashing Count Danilo Danilovitch and Anna, the beautiful daughter of a commoner, has been ended by Danilo’s aristocratic family who found the proposed match unsuitable.  Anna was caught on the rebound by the wealthy State banker Glawari, who married her and obligingly died just one week later, leaving her the heiress to twenty million crowns.  The loss of this money through Anna’s remarriage to a foreigner would wreck the Pontevedrian economy and leave the State bankrupt.  Small wonder, then, that Baron Zeta (the Pontevedrian Ambassador to Paris) is concerned that her attendance at the party he is holding to celebrate the Grand Duke’s birthday may lead to her falling for one of the many attractive, penniless and fortune-hunting Parisians and diplomats among the guests.  Not knowing of the past attachment between Danilo and Anna, Zeta’s plan is to encourage Danilo, now the Paris Embassy’s First Secretary, to marry the Widow.  He despatches the Embassy factotum Njegus to haul Danilo away from the champagne and girls at Maxim’s nightclub and bring him – suitably sobered up – to the party.  Meanwhile Zeta is oblivious to the infatuation of Camille de Rossignon, one of the guests, with Zeta’s own wife Valencienne.  The attraction is mutual but Valencienne stays cool and dutiful. 

Anna arrives and is duly courted by all the men, even a reluctant Camille, who Valencienne is determined to get married off to stop herself falling for him.  When Danilo arrives he and Anna spar for a few minutes, Danilo promising that she will never hear him say “I love you” to her.  He promises Zeta, however, that he will keep the Parisians from marrying Anna and to this end auctions off the “Ladies Choice” dance she has given him.  When he sets the price at ten thousand francs the other men beat a hasty retreat, leaving Danilo to sweep the reluctant Anna off her feet in a waltz.

(Click on thumbnails for larger photographs)

 

ACT 2

Anna is hosting a Pontevedrian party at her Parisian villa during which national dances and songs are followed by her singing the legend of the Vilia wood-nymph.  Valencienne has unwisely allowed Camille to write an endearment on her fan and then lost the fan; she and Camille are hunting everywhere for it only to find that Zeta has already picked it up.  However he does not recognise the fan as his wife’s and appoints Danilo to find out who the two lovers may be.  During the course of his investigations Danilo flushes out a number of extra-marital relationships that send the unmarried men concerned scurrying for cover before the aggrieved husbands can challenge them to a duel.  This suits Danilo admirably: the number of potential suitors for the Widow is steadily reducing.  Anna continues her attempts to win Danilo over, without success, while Valencienne finally weakens and allows Camille to take her into a summerhouse in the garden.  Njegus spies them through the keyhole but, soul of discretion that he is, says and does nothing until Zeta arrives intending to use the summerhouse for some quiet diplomatic discussions.  Zeta also sees his wife through the keyhole and, apoplectic with rage, hammers on the door demanding the lovers come out.  While Zeta is at the front door, Njegus quietly spirits Valencienne out the back door and replaces her with Anna.  Zeta is astonished when Anna and Camille come out of the summerhouse – while Danilo’s explosion of jealousy is music to Anna’s ears as she announces her “engagement” to Camille.

 








ACT 3

Anna decorates her villa to look like Maxim’s nightclub and imports a number of Grisettes to add to the party atmosphere. Valencienne enters into the spirit of things and dresses up like a Grisette too, to her husband’s dubious approval.  The missing fan is finally identified as hers but, as she sweetly points out to her husband, she wrote beneath Camille’s endearments “I am a highly respectable wife” and is therefore irreproachable.  Anna casually mentions that should she remarry, she loses all her money and at this news Danilo finally is able to express his true feelings and declare his love for her, as he cannot now possibly be accused of hunting her money.  Anna laughs and tells him that she becomes penniless because all the money goes to her new husband.  Danilo admits defeat and confesses that he would have married Anna even if she had forty million crowns!








 

CAST

                                                                 BARON ZETA (Pontevedrian Ambassador to Paris)         Ron Smith

                                                                                              VALENCIENNE (his wife)         Alexandra Hopewell

                                               COUNT DANILO DANILOVITCH (Embassy First Secretary)         David Lovell

                                                          ANNA GLAWARI (The “Merry Widow”)         Judy Dodd

                                                                                                                                    CAMILLE         Alan Gale

                                                                                                              CASCADA (a Diplomat)         Brian Moore

                                                                                                       ST. BRIOCHE (a Diplomat)         Philip de Voil

                                                                                                NJEGUS (an Embassy Secretary)         Paul Nicholls

                                                                                        KROMOV (Pontevedrian Councillor)         Peter Charleston

                                                                                                                           OLGA (his wife)         Clare Townend

                                                                                BOGDANOVITCH (Pontevedrian Consul)         Keith Goode

                                                                                                                   SYLVIANE (his wife)         Jo Holroyd

                                                                                              PRITSCH (Pontevedrian Attaché)         Richard Blackman

                                                                                              PRASKOWIA (an Embassy guest)         Josie Childs

                                                                                                                      LO-LO (a Grisette)         Janette Faulkner

                                                                                                                     DO-DO (a Grisette)         Natalie Faulkner

                                                                                                                  JOU-JOU (a Grisette)         Jane McDonald

                                                                                                           FROU-FROU (a Grisette)         Emily McDonald

                                                                                                                 CLO-CLO (a Grisette)         Helen Rae

                                                                                                                MARGOT (a Grisette)         Elaine Taylor

 

Chorus of Pontevedrians, Diplomats, Guests & Parisians

Louise Bridges, Pauline Brimble, Anne Charleston, Sue Cross, Janette Faulkner, Natalie Faulkner, Jo Holroyd, Gill Horton,
Christl Hughes, Sarah Keen, Emily McDonald, Jane McDonald, Pam Meade, Helen Rae, Ann Smith, Elaine Taylor, Clare Townend.

Alan Bullas, Rob Palmer, Ben Pick, Daniel Prior, David Robinson,
 Geoff Root, Richard Smithson, Barry Taylor, Frank Timson, Frank Williams.

PRODUCTION TEAM

                                                                                                                                         Director            Roberta Morrell

                                                                                                                           Musical Director            David Toft

                                                                                                                                 Accompanist            Gill Hawkes

                                                                                                                              Stage Manager            Ron Billings

                                                                                                                                    Assisted by            Penny Charles

                                                                                                             Technical Stage Manager            John Hendrie