Notes from the Archives of Peter Zavon: Ruddygore '71

As was the case with some other shows, the desire to do Ruddygore grew and gained strength within the membership over a period of years. One major reason for not choosing to produce the show had been the technical requirements of the ghost scene in act two, where an entire portrait gallery must come to life. During the summer of 1970, the College Light Opera Company, based in Falmouth, included Ruddygore in its season. Many Savoyards saw this production, and the desire to produce Ruddygore achieved a solid base. Paul Seltzer had a burning desire to direct Ruddygore, and all during the following year he talked it up as the choice for the fall of '71. It began to seem that the technical resources of the Savoyards were sufficient to meet the requirements, and word arrived of a novel production at Northwestern University which had gotten around the ghost scene in an unexpected manner. As a result, Ruddygore began to seem like the natural choice for the fall of 1971. The week after Pinafore closed, Marc Kelberman, Paul Seltzer, Mimi Vincent, and Peter Zavon drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan to see Ruddygore performed by the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society. They there became convinced of the ability of the Savoyards to produce Ruddygore , and , because of their positions within the group, this greatly increased the possibility that Ruddygore would be chosen. There, they met Shelly Kassman, who was performing in the production, and who later came to BU and exerted a noticable influence on the Savoyards. While there, they attended the general meeting of the Society. This produced one final result of the expedition; for Mimi Vincent, then Treasurer of the Savoyards, Peter Zavon, soon to be member-at-large on the Board, and Paul Seltzer, soon to be stage director, saw an older and apparently well organized group in action. Upon returning to Boston, they were able to use this experience as a basis upon which to begin improving the production organization of the Savoyards. That same weekend, a fire in SFAA destroyed, among other things, the Concert Hall and the Savoyards found themselves without a home. Diligent work on the part of Mimi Vincent finally resulted in the Savoyards obtaining permission to perform in Hayden Hall in November. It was now necessary to vacate the costume shop in the Sherman Union, in accordance with a previous agreement. At the same time, it was necessary to find a location to build the set for the coming production. At this time, a location request which had been before the space allocation committee for some time resulted in the Savoyards being given, in conjunction with the Stage Troupe, the use of the garage at 22 Babbitt Street. A small room was set aside for a Savoyard costume shop and the rest of the building was to be shared by the two groups and used for rehearsal and set construction and storage. The first production meeting was held in early August in Westchester, New York at the home of Linda Hirsch. The technical problems of the ghost scene were met by painting the portraits on door flats which were opened during a blackout to reveal the chorus. For the first time, the program was more than eight pages. It had a considerable amount of advertising as well as a few articles. Phyllis Karr, the world's greatest authority on Ruddygore has described that program as the best G&S program she has ever seen. Because of the move to a new hall, at no time did the audience exceed fifty percent of capacity. However, they were most enthusiastic, especially on those nights when the ghost scene worked. After the production, the portraits were sold to the cast, with first chance to buy going to the subject of each portrait.

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