The Gondoliers 2010

The show in 2010 was The Gondoliers, and was performed in the Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, from 26 to 30 October 2010 at 7:30 pm (with a matinee at 2:30 pm on Saturday the 26th) and at the Apex Theatre, Bury St Edmunds, on 5 November 2010 at 7:30 pm.

The Show

IN VENICE live two brothers, Marco and Giuseppe. They are happy being Gondoliers until one day an imposing stranger announces they are not, in fact, brothers but that one of them is the only son-and- heir of the late King of Barataria. Precisely which of the brothers is a King and which a Gondolier is unfortunately an inconvenient mystery. It is doubly inconvenient when they discover that the King, whichever he is, was married in infancy to the daughter of a Spanish Duke - as only half an hour earlier, the brothers were both married to two local Venetian girls.

Being forced to leave their new wives behind, the Gondoliers go off to Barataria, set up a republican kingdom, where all are equal, and they reign in a coalition government - but surely this can't go on forever?

The Cast

The Duke of Plaza Toro Roy Preston
Luiz (his attendant) Phil Holmes
Don Alhambra (the Grand Inquisitor) Glynn McKay
The Duchess of Plaza Toro Sara Bucknall
Casilda (her daughter) Louise Cockerill

Gondoliers

Marco Palmieri Gerry Bremner
Giuseppe Palmieri Mark Ellis
Antonio Howard Brooks
Francesco John Aldam
Giorgio Leslie Dumbell
Annibale Ewen Stamp

Contadine

Gianetta Natasha Bennett
Tessa Lesley Wittgreffe
Fiametta Rosalind Atkins
Giulia Geneva Downes
Vittoria Lucy Pakes

Chorus of Contadine

Marion Banyard
Mareth Bassett
Judy Cairns
Alison Dumbell
Carol Flatres
Greta Kerridge
Sheila Martin
Lucy Miller
Joan Parish
Judy Read
Debbie Rogers
Pascaline Sarginson
Sylvia Towell
Vanessa Westley
Jin-An Wu

Chorus of Gondoliers

David Atkins
Ralph Chapman
Jason Davis
Paul Edwards
David Fleming-Brown
David Hayhow
Ian Hunter
Peter Meredith
Bob Newton

 

Inez (the King's Foster-mother) Judy Read
Guard Margaret Follett

The Performance

Looked like this:

The cast assembled in the second half, at Barataria
The Gondoliers and Contadine have a stand-off
Tessa, Giuseppe, Casilda, Marco and Gianetta try to work out how to resolve their marital problems
Tessa and Giuseppe aren't happy
Although Marco and Gianetta are
Marco and Giuseppe beseech the Don to help
Giuseppe and Tessa have cheered up
Luiz, Casilda, the Duchess and the Duke
The Duke and Duchess - are they singing the National Anthem of Barataria?
Casilda is over-joyed to discover she's a queen
Luiz is less pleased
Tessa and Gianetta are hopeful
Marco and Giuseppe ponder
And the ice cream salesman makes his entrance again