Search - Gilbert & Sullivan - Ruddigore / Michell, Price, Trevelyan, Opera World on DVD

Excellent production

David M. Wagner | Virginia, USA | 08/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a veteran of a wonderful college production of RUDDIGORE (I was one of the ghosts in the portraits, and one of the "bucks and blades" in Act I), I think the previous reviewers are all wrong.

While some of the productions in this series show serious miscasting (e.g. Joel Grey attempting Jack Point in YEOMEN), this one makes a success of the difficult business of mixing operatic singers with singing actors. Mezzo-soprano Ann Howard's Mad Margaret would be enough to make this dvd worth owning; when she's partnered in the great "It Really Doesn't Matter" patter trio with singing-actor Keith Michell and non-singing-actor Vincent Price, the result is surprisingly smooth and completely delightful.

Michell and Price are totally charming in their portrayals, and it's a treat seeing John Treleaven, who is now a prominent Wagnerian tenor, in the oily role of Dick Dauntless. Donald Adams is a little under-powered as Sir Roderic, and the contralto who sings Dame Hannah is a better actress than singer; yet when they come together for the "Little Flower, Great Oak Tree" duet, the music carries them through it successfully.

The staging of the Ghost Scene is superb: not only do the ancestors emerge from paintings (we managed this effect on the live stage in college), but statues and suits of armor also come to life.

The production is full of semi-fantasy cutaways during the musical numbers; e.g. when Robin, Rose, and Dick sing "When Sailing O'er Life's Ocean Wide," suddenly they're in a skiff out on the ocean. Some viewers find this contrived, but it's arguably better for video purposes than simply filming a set of traditional D'Oyle Carte dance moves.

Why four stars rather than five? Only because of the (minor) cuts: the overture is severely curtailed, and Dick's "I Shipped D'Ye See in a Revenue Sloop" is omitted."