Cast Announced For Gilbert & Sullivan's RUDDIGORE At Wilton's Music Hall

Victorian ghosts and a sensational cast are set to Raise the Roof of Wilton's Music Hall from 14th - 25th March in Peter Benedict's unmissable production of Gilbert & Sullivan's RUDDIGORE or The Witch's Curse.

Oracle Productions is delighted to announce well-known faces and up-and-coming stars.

Director Peter Benedict, recently described by Gyles Brandreth as being "touched with genius", has assembled a stellar 15-strong cast. Peter will also be taking on the role of wicked Baronet Sir Despard Murgatroyd of Ruddigore! Watch out! Peter's West End credits include: Ithamore in The Jew of Malta (Donmar); Ascyltus in Satyricon (Phoenix & Off-Broadway transfer); Wonse in Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards! and Malvolio in Twelfth Night (UK Tours). TV includes: A Touch of Frost; I, Claudius; Eastenders; ChuckleVision, and Film: Rise of the Footsoldier II.

Rosemary Ashe is cast as Dame Hannah (Carlotta in the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of The Opera, Madame Thénardier in LES MISERABLES, Felicia Gabriel in The Witches of Eastwick for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical, and more recently, Pam Lee in the world premiere of The Great British Bake Off Musical).

Graham Stone will play Old Adam Goodheart. (Kommisar (Der Rosenkavalier) and Bartolo, Le Nozze di Figaro, Scottish Opera; Wilfred Shadbolt, The Yeomen of the Guard, and the title role in The Mikado for D'Oyly Carte).

Another fabulous addition is Charli Baptie who will appear as Mad Margaret (recent roles: Glinda in Wicked, Apollo Victoria, UK & Ireland Tour; Maria in West Side Story, UK & Ireland Tour; Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Charles Court Opera, and Phyllis in Iolanthe, National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company).

Up-and-coming stars include: Kieran Parrott as Richard Dauntless (Fanny and Stella, Above the Stag, Riff in West Side Story for the Barbican's 100 year celebration of Bernstein's music - BBC Orchestra, and Frankie Valli for The 'Jersey Guys', one of the UK's leading Jersey Boys tribute acts); Joe Winter as Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (Maria Friedman and Friends: Legacy, Menier Chocolate Factory, and Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends: A Celebration, Sondheim Theatre), and Madeline Robinson as Rose Maybud. Madeline's credits include: Bizet's Carmen at Opera Holland Park, the title role of Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Hurn Court Opera, and Gontran in Chabrier's comedy Une Éducation Manquée with Opera South.

Oracle Productions also welcomes: Max Panks (Thomas) (Marvin in Loserville, Union Theatre, M1 vocalist, Celebrity Cruises, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Open Air Tour), and Tootles in Lost Boy (Charing Cross Theatre); and Edward Watchman (Harry) whose most notable roles include Caliban and Ferdinand in Shakespeare's The Tempest (Nottingham Playhouse), and Charlie in Fridge (Hope Theatre).

Ellie Sayles (Zorah) will make her professional début in Ruddigore, having recently graduated from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where her credits included playing Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Eleanor Monaghan (Nancy in Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, King's Head Theatre, and a recent graduate from Arts Educational Schools London) takes on the role of Mercy, while Rosie Weston, another recent graduate from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, will play Ruth. Rosie has appeared in the Ensemble in Ainadamar with Scottish Opera (Tour); Vocalist and Assistant Musical Director for the TikTok awards and Huawi P30 LITE launch, and Soprano Angel Soloist in Mendelssohn's Elijah (Three Choirs Festival).

Sir Roderic Murgatroyd will be played by Steve Watts whose credits include: My Fair Lady (West End and UK Tour); Lady Be Good and The Boyfriend (Regent's Park); The Mikado (Charing Cross); Allegro (Southwark Playhouse); Into the Woods (Theatre Royal, York); Passion (Hope Mill, Manchester); Assassins (Hampstead, New End), and Merrily We Roll Along (Watermill Theatre). Steve also appeared in Pinafore Swing - yes, a swing version of H.M.S. Pinafore!

Luca Kocsmárszky (Mme Von Palmay, Guest Violinist) is a classically trained violinist, singer, actor and composer. Luca relocated to London from her native Hungary in 2009 and has been working both in classical and contemporary music settings as well as in theatre. She has recently been on stage as Baruska in the first regional revival of Once and was part of the chorus in Verdi's Macbeth produced by Uncovered Opera at Hoxton Town Hall. Luca is also working on her first solo album and a collection of choral works.

Creative Team

Directed by Peter Benedict (Mapp & Lucia - The Musical and Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!), expect all the familiar G&S elements: terrific music, cheeky social satire, comic pathos and a sensational cast singing faster than you'd think humanly possible, but with a seasoning of sinister spectres.

Wilton's Music Hall welcomes the return of Richard Baker (Musical Supervisor), a twice Olivier-nominated musical director, improviser and composer. Richard was recently MD for Sasha Regan's All Male The Pirates of Penzance (Palace Theatre and Wilton's), the All Male Iolanthe and The Mikado UK tours. Richard is an MD for Opera Anywhere, has created new arrangements for Princess Ida at the Finborough Theatre, and has conducted at Buxton Opera House.

Adam Haigh (Choreographer) joins the team. Recent credits: Soho Cinders (Charing Cross Theatre); Anything Goes (Other Palace); Grease (Italy); Brooklyn the Musical (Greenwich Theatre); Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, and Carmen (Union Theatre); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Nominated Best Off-West End Director 2018); Can Can!! (Nominated Best Off-West End Choreographer 2018); Hairspray (Singapore); Treasure Island (Middle East); The Phantom of the Opera in Concert (Sir John Loveridge Hall); Get On The Floor with Strictly Come Dancing's AJ Pritchard (UK Tour).

David Shields (Designer): David's credits include: Rose by Martin Sherman, starring Dame Maureen Lipman (Hope Mill, Park theatre and forthcoming West End run) and Heathers: The Musical (Theatre Royal, Haymarket, National Tour & The Other Palace); Pippin (Charing Cross Theatre); The Pleasure Garden (Offie 2021 Award winner, Best Set Design); But I'm A Cheerleader (Turbine Theatre).

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