The Pittsburgh Savoyards close their 80th season in spring with one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most obscure operettas, The Grand Duke. This is only the second performance of this show by the company and the first production in over 40 years. Performances will be held March 2-4 and 8-11, 2018 at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, PA. (Directions and parking)
All performances are at 8pm, except for the Sunday matinees which are at 2:30pm.
Join us on opening night (March 2), and you’ll also be invited to join us for a special post-performance reception!
Imagine a little town in which the Jokers become the Kings! In W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s final topsy-turvy ace of diamonds, “The Grand Duke,” we see just that! Join us in celebrating 80 seasons of keeping the comic opera duo’s spirit alive in Pittsburgh. Being performed for the first time since 1977, this is just the second-ever Pittsburgh Savoyards production of the operetta. You don’t want to gamble away your chance of seeing it!
It’s 1750 in the tiny German town of Pfennig Halbpfennig and the Grand Duke is so stingy the actors have conspired to overthrow him. But they choose the sausage roll as their secret sign and the whole plot is given away. The leading actor desperately fights a duel with cards, as statutes require, and the actor becomes Grand Duke, where he gets more than he bargained for! Can the tiny kingdom survive an onslaught of actor politicians, legal ghosts, angry divas, champagne, sausage rolls, unexpected visitors, roulette and not one, not two, not three, but four brides all for the Grand Duke? Attend to see the hilarious answer and enjoy Arthur Sullivan’s most thrilling and adventurous music!
Click here for ticketing information
Music Director – Guy Russo
Stage Director – Robert Hockenberry
Assistant Stage Director – Shannon Knapp
| Role | Performer |
|---|---|
| Julia | Anna Lahti (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) Caryn Alexis Crozier (Mar 3, 9, & 11) |
| Ernest | Paul Yeater |
| Ludwig | Andy Hickly |
| Lisa | Sarah Nadler (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) Mia Bonnewell (Mar 3, 9, & 11) |
| Baroness | Gwendolyn R. Schmidt (Mar 3, 9, & 11) Sally Denmead (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) |
| Rudolph / Grand Duke | Michael Greenstein |
| Notary | Ryan Garbee |
| Herald | Alexander E. Policicchio (Mar 3, 9, & 11) ‡ Mark F. Harris (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) ‡ |
| Prince | Hayden Keefer (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) ‡ Matt Keefer (Mar 3, 9, & 11) ‡ |
| Princess | Thespina Christulides (Mar 3, 9, & 11) Brennan Bobish (Mar 2, 4, 8, & 10) |
| Gretchen | Christine McGrath |
| Olga | Haley Thomas |
| Bertha | Tanya Veverka |
| Supernumeraries/ensemble | Kat Bowman * Sienna Dalessandro * Kelsey Walls * Scott Gerse *‡ Nils K. Hammer Myles Zuckerman * |
| Male Ensemble | Chris Carter ‡ Don Neuhaus *‡ Gerry Neuhaus Michael Palmosina Samwise Riley * Eric Starbuck Mari Christine Storch |
| Female Ensemble | Leslie Clark * Megan Kelly Heidi Pilewski Aurora La Spada Sarah Schultz Carolee Shearer Kira Varela |
| * Featured ensemble ‡ Chamberlains |
Reviews for The Grand Duke
“[The] production was the only financial failure that Gilbert and Sullivan experienced… [but] watching the high steps and facial expressions of the on-stage talent, I was convinced that they were delivering one of the best of the Gilbert and Sullivan works”
– Tom Pollard, Popular Pittsburgh
“Theatergoers who make the trek to Carnegie are in for a fun and entertaining evening”
– Dave Zuchowski, Pittsburgh Owl Scribe
Live Music: The Grand Duke, Pittsburgh Savoyards – Saturday Light Brigade
Pittsburgh Savoyards return with ‘Grand Duke’ at music hall in Carnegie – TribLIVE