This summer, NewLOG will return to Louth with a brand new production of Ruddigore, one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular operas, packed with great music, unforgettable characters, and a story of young love and ancient curses. The production’s staging director is Tony Bannister, and the musical director is Alex Carpenter.

The performances will take place at our home-from-home – the Riverhead Theatre in Louth, Lincolnshire – on Thursday 22, Friday 23 and Saturday 24 June at 7.30pm. All cast will be expected to be in Louth from lunchtime on Wednesday 21 June for technical and dress rehearsals. We are also looking for tech and set build crew to join us in Louth to take part in the backstage operations of the show and to build and paint the set. If you are interested in joining the crew, please email takepart@newlondonoperagroup.org – any cast members who are able to come up to Louth early to help build/paint are always welcome too! Please also get in touch if you’re interested in playing in the orchestra.

An introductory meet and greet for Ruddigore will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2BA on Wednesday 8 March from 7pm. This will be your opportunity to meet the newLOG team and have a glass of wine and some nibbles while you find out about our plans for the production, and then have a bit of fun singing some of the music and getting a feel of some of the choreography. Then, of course, we shall head pubwards! Find the Facebook event page for the meeting here.

Auditions for principal roles will take place on Wednesday 8 March (after the intro meeting) at Holy Trinity and on Sunday 12 March from 1pm at the humble abode of our musical director, near London Bridge (address details will be made available to auditionees). Audition information is available for download here. You will need to prepare a song of your choice from the G&S canon that is appropriate for the vocal range and vocal type of the role/s you wish to audition for, and there are also dialogue extracts to prepare for each character, included in the audition information. Music and dialogue does not have to be off-book, but please be prepared to perform your dialogue rather than merely reading from the sheet. We are not expecting a final, polished performance, but characterisation will be looked on positively. Audition slots are bookable by emailing takepart@newlondonoperagroup.org with your preferred date and whether you would prefer a slot early, mid-way, or late in the audition session (if you have a preference). Please note we can’t guarantee you’ll get the time you want, but we will do our best to jiggle things around as necessary if we can. You can also sign up for an audition slot at the intro meeting. As always there are no auditions for chorus.

IMPORTANT: Please bring a copy of the music for your chosen song for the pianist as well as one for you to sing from, and please bring your own copy of the dialogue.

Rehearsals will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7.00 – 10.00pm and Sunday afternoons, generally from 2.00 – 6.00pm, at Holy Trinity. There will be supplementary rehearsals for principals by mutual arrangement. Please note that all principals will be expected to be off book for dialogue relevant to each rehearsal.

There will be a show fee of £60 payable by all cast members.

If you have any comments or questions please email me at tony@newlondonoperagroup.org or bend my ear at the intro meeting.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the meeting, and at auditions!

Tony, Alex, Fay, Chris and Steve
The newLOG board