Programme 1985 – The Bartered Bride

The
BARTERED
BRIDE

A COMIC OPERA
in
THREE ACTS
by BEDRICH SMETANA

A joint production by
The Hawke’s Bay Song & Opera Workshop
and
The Napier Operatic Society

Director:   Beatrice Webster M.B.E.
Assistant Director:   Dawn Unsworth
Musical Director:   Barry Fell
Chorus Mistress:   June Armstrong
Choreographer:   Leigh Jones

Tabard Theatre
July I985

The Characters

KRUSINA   A peasant   IAN ETHERIDGE
LUDMILA  His wife   JUDITH HOWLETT
MAJENKA   Their daughter   DARYN EDMUNDSON
MICHA   A peasant   WARWICK BULL
HATA   His second wife   ELAINE GOODWIN
VASEK   Her son   MICHAEL HEWITT
JENIK   Son of Micha’s first wife   MICHAEL KYLE
KECAL   The village marriage broker   CHRISTOPHER GIBBS
THE MANAGER   Of a small circus   ERNIE STUART
ESMERALDA   A dancer   JULIE WILLIAMS
THE INDIAN   A member of the circus   TONY IRONSIDE

VILLAGERS:   MAUREEN BRADY, MARGARET SLOANE, EVE WEIR, SHIRLEY WILTON, SUE DOUGLAS, LYNNE MATHEWS, LINDA FROST, ELIZABETH GAWLER, ANNE WHEELER.

HENK van HOOJIDONK, ALEX BURNS, DARIN McDONALD, ALEX McCLELLAND, TOM GAMESON, DAVID REEFMAN, PAUL MATHEWS.

DANCERS:   MEGAN BALDWIN, ALISON GREGORY, SUSANNE JONES, JOANNA GREGORY.

CIRCUS TROUPE & CHILDREN:   ANGELA GAMESON, PHILIPPA JONES, SARAH REID, JANINE REID, KIRSTEN THOMSON, TRACEY WILSON, ANDREW BROWNE, KENDALL BROWNE.

ORCHESTRA:
Musical Director and Piano:   BARRY FELL
1st Violin:   NORMA SMITH
2nd Violin :   DALLAS KNIGHT
Cello:   FIONA CAMPBELL
Double Bass:   LEON SPEAKMAN

THE HAWKE’S BAY SONG & OPERA WORKSHOP
CHAIRMAN:   MRS JILL TOBIN
The “Workshop” is a Charitable Trust established in 1979. The objects are to promote a public appreciation of classical singing and music and to encourage the educational aspects of such music and singing. The Workshop organises schools for singers during January each year known as the National Singing School which draws students and tutors from all over New Zealand and overseas. The Artistic Director is Beatrice Webster M.B.E. The workshop also performs various types of productions in the Hawke’s Bay area during the year. If you are interested in obtaining newsletters and receiving preferential booking rights to any of these productions please write to: The Secretary, H.B. Song & Opera Workshop, P.O. Box 961, Napier.

The
BARTERED BRIDE

SYNOPSIS:
SCENE: A BOHEMIAN VILLAGE   TIME: EARLY 19th CENTURY

Act 1
Majenka loves Jenik, although she knows that her parents plan a more advantageous match for her. Jenik tells her that he is of good family but has been driven out by a jealous stepmother. Advised by the marriage broker Kecal, Majenka’s parents want her to marry Vasek, son of the landowner Micha, by his second marriage; Micha’s first son has disappeared.

Act 2
As Jenik drinks at the Inn, Kecal offers him money to foresake Majenka but is refused. Vasek, sent by his mother to woo his bride, does not realise Majenka is the chosen girl; she tells him that another village girl loves him and Vasek tries to find her. Kecal, fearing for his commission, again offers Jenik money. Jenik now agrees – on condition that Majenka marries Micha’s first son; he signs an agreement and is denounced for bartering away his beloved.

Act 3
A circus comes to the village. Vasek falls in love with Esmeralda, a circus dancer. When the Indian announces that the man who masquerades as a “real live American bear” is drunk, Esmeralda suggests that Vasek takes his place. Vasek’s parents demand that he court the bride they have chosen. Majenka is furious because Jenik has sold her, and Vasek begins to consider marrying her. Jenik treats the whole affair as a joke and tells the furious Majenka to sign the contract so that Kecal will give him the money. The village gathers to celebrate the betrothal of Majenka to “the son of Tobias Micha”. Jenik is recognised by Micha and his wife as the son of Micha’s first marriage. Majenka is asked to choose between her two suitors, and immediately chooses Jenik. The frustrated Kecal becomes the laughing stock of the village, A bear enters; panic threatens until a voice from within the skin assures everyone that is only poor Vasek.

RESUME
On the patron saint’s day of a Bohemian village, the townspeople celebrate, but Majenka is unhappy: she has been promised by her parents to Micha’s son, Vasek, who is a simpleton. Jenik, the young man she loves, deepens her despair by seeming to sign her away for money to the marriage broker, Kecal. Actually he has bargained that she marry no one but Micha’s true son. At the crucial moment Jenik steps forward and reveals that he is Micha’s son by a former marriage. Thus he can marry Majenka without breaking her parents’ pledge.

The
BARTERED BRIDE

Technical production by members of
THE NAPIER OPERATIC SOCIETY

PRODUCTION MANAGER   ROBIN JOHNSON
STAGE MANAGER   LEIGH JONES
WARDROBE MISTRESS   LOIS REEFMAN
WARDROBE DESIGN   SIAMA PRITCHARD
PROPERTY MASTER   GAVIN ETHERIDGE
MAKE-UP   TRISH GREEN
CUISINE   LYNSAY BROWNE
HOUSE MANAGER   PETER SHEPHERD
HOSTESS   MARILYN STEED
CHIEF WINE STEWARD   BILL PERRY
BOOKINGS   ELIZABETH GRANEY – La Cuisine
SUPPERS   OPERATIC SOCIAL CLUB
LIGHTING   GWYN ACE
SOUND   ROBERT LOCKYER
CONSTRUCTION STAGE CREW, WARDROBE & LIGHTING   ALAN JONES, GEORGE WARD, BRIAN NATHAN, TONY FRY, HARLEY JONES, GEOFF SOUTER, PAUL COLLIER, JOHN WILLIAMS, KATHY HAWKINS, ROBYN SIRCOMB, JEAN ALLEN
PROGRAMME   PETER SHEPHERD & BUNNY UNSWORTH
PUBLICITY   ELAINE GOODWIN

All departments supported by many members and friends of the Society.

THE NAPIER OPERATIC SOCIETY
PRESIDENT:   FRED TWYFORD
Established in 1887 THE NAPIER OPERATIC SOCIETY will celebrate its 100 years of existence during 1987. It will be producing several exciting shows plus a reunion for past and present members in that year. If you would like to enrol, please forward $5.00 to P.O. Box 3225, Napier.
The 1985 main production in September is the hit musical ‘CHICAGO’, produced by Gillian Davies and will be in the Municipal Theatre, Napier.
The Society welcomes new members so if you are interested in assisting the Society in any way, please contact
The Secretary, Napier Operatic Society,
P.O. Box 756, Napier

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
James White, Ion Brown, Kevin Bartlett, Marie Lee, Lois & David Reefman, Tony Scott, Graeme Etheridge, Colenso High School, Port School, Mrs Joan Stancomb, The Napier Women’s Club.

McMillan • Craig Limited Napier