Washington Savoyards was a professional musical theatre company based in Washington, D.C.Official "about us" page of the Savoyards
/ref> Founded in 1972, the company annually produced three fully staged musicals and operettas, usually including at least one

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

production each year. It performed at the Duke Ellington School and the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The company suspended performances in 2012.

Description of the company

The company was formed in 1972 as the Montgomery Savoyards but changed its name in 1981, since its performers, musicians and patrons were drawn from all over the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.Kennedy Center's profile of the company
/ref> For its first three decades, the company performed primarily the operas of

. It began performing in church halls and

Montgomery Blair High School Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS) is a Public school (government funded), public high school located in Four Corners, Maryland, United States, operated by Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland), Montgomery County Public Schools. The school ...

. In 1982, it moved to the Trinity Theatre in Georgetown, Washington. In 1987, it transferred to the Duke Ellington Theatre at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, also in Georgetown, which served as its home for ten years.Ponick, Terry
"Forty years and still singing, Washington Savoyards throws a gala"
DCTheatreScene.com, February 21, 2012 The first non-Gilbert and Sullivan piece produced by the company was

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''T ...

's ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play ''Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on ...

'', during the 2004–2005 season. The following season was the first with three productions, and in most seasons after that it produced at least three shows. The company cast the first of many members of

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book ...

in 2006. In late 2006, the company moved to its new home, the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Northeast Washington. The company also performed at the H Street Festival,

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

's Millennium Stage, and at the Arts Club of Washington, among other venues. Washington Savoyards attracted its singers from among opera and theatre professionals based in the Washington area, as well as music, theatre, and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

students from local universities. In 2004, the company was accepted into residency at Flashpoint, Washington's arts incubator run by the Cultural Development Corporation of Washington. The company's artistic director, from 2007 to 2012, was N. Thomas Pedersen. Audrey M. Shipp directed all of the Savoyards' productions from 1973 until 1995. The company received support from charitable foundations, such as the Fund for Maryland's Future, the Sprenger-Lang Foundation, MARPAT Foundation, the Meyer Foundation, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and individual donors, as well as from ticket sales and program advertising. The company's name was a reference to the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pal ...

in London, where the Gilbert and Sullivan operas were originally presented in the 1880s and 1890s by the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. T ...

and to aficionados and performers of the

Savoy operas Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impr ...

. In 1986,

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

(later Chief Justice of the United States) appeared with the Washington Savoyards to play the Solicitor in its production of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...

''.

Later seasons

In its later seasons, the company performed such works as '' Ain't Misbehavin, ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-sta ...

'', ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to ...

'' and ''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cerva ...

'', as well as Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Sandy Bainum brought the company its first

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

nomination for her role as Marian Paroo in the 2009 production of ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

''. During the 2009–2010 season, the Company sponsored its first educational program. In February 2012, the company held a 40th anniversary gala, celebrating Gilbert and Sullivan and their legacy to American musical theatre. During the 2012 spring season, Washington Savoyards performed Rodgers & Hammerstein's ''

A Grand Night for Singing ''A Grand Night for Singing'' is a musical revue showcasing the music of Richard Rodgers and the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. Featuring songs from such lesser-known works as '' Allegro'', '' Me and Juliet'', ''State Fair'', and '' Pipe Dream'' ...

'' and, as a Halloween production, ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

''. The company's last activity was a staged reading of the musical ''Delilah'' in January 2013."Washington Savoyards"
accessed May 19, 2021

References

External links

* ttp://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=880 2007 review of the company's ''Kiss Me, Kate''br>Press archive
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1972 American opera companies Gilbert and Sullivan performing groups Members of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington Performing arts in Washington, D.C.