Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow
Produced by Opera North Youth Company
7:00pm – 7:45pm | Tuesday 25 July 2017
Robin Howard Dance Theatre, The Place, 17 Duke’s Rd, London, WC1H 9PY
The Opera North Youth Chorus (ONYC) was launched in 2013 and has given young people aged 14–19 opportunities to develop their singing voices, to work with professional directors and conductors and to perform regularly with the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North. Last summer, the group joined forces with Scottish Opera Connect Company to produce a double bill of Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley and Der Jasager, which was performed as part of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
For 2017, the production chosen was Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Road Show. Written by composer Stephen Deazley, this one act opera was inspired by Hilaire Belloc’s classic Cautionary Tales. It follows Dr Ferret and his Sweetheart as they set out to discover just how mischievous today’s children really are and to sort out the well-behaved ones from their naughty contemporaries. As the couple’s adventure unfolds, the doctor tells the curious story of Matilda whose compulsive lies led to a terrible fire, Henry King who ate too much string, and George, a boy who, although small in stature, manages to cause a large amount of trouble. On this occasion, the Opera North Youth Chorus is joined by an ensemble of young musicians, drawn from across the north of England, who have been working with highly experienced tutors and members of the Orchestra of Opera North in preparation for these summer performances.
Featuring the Opera North Youth Chorus & Orchestra.
Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow
Opera North Youth Company
Music: Stephen Deazley Words: Martin Riley
Director: Matthew Eberhard
Conductor: Timothy Burke
Designer: Alex Doidge-Green
Orchestra Leader and Coach: Tom Greed
Wind and Brass Coach: Colin Honour
Violin: Cristina Ocana Rosado
Viola: Katie Stables
Accompanist: Jenny Martins
Technical Manager: George Doyle
Stage Manager: James Clare
Assistant Costume Supervisor: Erin Phillips
Producer: Marie Lemaire
With special thanks to Oliver Rundell, Chorus Master at Opera North.
Cast:
Whitaker Mills, Frankie Bounds, David Taylor, Kieran Ragan, Ailsa McTernan, Isabelle Graham
Opera North Youth Chorus:
Josie Fraser, Isabelle Graham, Ailsa McTernan, Sarah Pemberton, Alana Wan, Alex Wilkinson, Hannah Wilkinson Maleka Akuany, Holly Brown, Georgia Lee-Donaldson, Kate South, Helen Taylor, Eve Waddington, Anya Weston-Shaw, Frankie Bounds, Dan Coxon, Henry Etherington, Gabriel Jones, Jakub Packo, Daniel Simpson, David Taylor
Opera North Youth Orchestra:
Sarah Bush, Lizzie Maymon, Alex Hedge, Ava Brule-Walker, Matthew Johnson, Anne Jessop, Emily Carr, Hannah Shimwell, Alice Wriglesworth, Sam Rees, Thomas Edwards, Lauren Rosborough, Sophie Smith
Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow
Opera North Youth Company
Music: Stephen Deazley Words: Martin Riley
Director: Matthew Eberhard
Conductor: Timothy Burke
Designer: Alex Doidge-Green
Orchestra Leader and Coach: Tom Greed
Wind and Brass Coach: Colin Honour
Violin: Cristina Ocana Rosado
Viola: Katie Stables
Accompanist: Jenny Martins
Technical Manager: George Doyle
Stage Manager: James Clare
Assistant Costume Supervisor: Erin Phillips
Producer: Marie Lemaire
With special thanks to Oliver Rundell, Chorus Master at Opera North.
Cast:
Whitaker Mills, Frankie Bounds, David Taylor, Kieran Ragan, Ailsa McTernan, Isabelle Graham
Opera North Youth Chorus:
Josie Fraser, Isabelle Graham, Ailsa McTernan, Sarah Pemberton, Alana Wan, Alex Wilkinson, Hannah Wilkinson Maleka Akuany, Holly Brown, Georgia Lee-Donaldson, Kate South, Helen Taylor, Eve Waddington, Anya Weston-Shaw, Frankie Bounds, Dan Coxon, Henry Etherington, Gabriel Jones, Jakub Packo, Daniel Simpson, David Taylor
Opera North Youth Orchestra:
Sarah Bush, Lizzie Maymon, Alex Hedge, Ava Brule-Walker, Matthew Johnson, Anne Jessop, Emily Carr, Hannah Shimwell, Alice Wriglesworth, Sam Rees, Thomas Edwards, Lauren Rosborough, Sophie Smith
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Timothy Burke studied at Exeter College, Oxford, the GSMD and the National Opera Studio before joining the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House. Recently, he has conducted for ETO, Opera North, Scottish Opera, WNO and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, as well as Les enfants terribles for The Royal Ballet.
Matthew Eberhardt’s directing credits include Steve Reich’s video opera Three Tales (IMAX Cinema, Science Museum), the musical Legally Blonde (Putney Arts Theatre), Monteverdi’s Orfeo (Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate), and a new opera These Things Happen (The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton). He has recently worked as assistant director for Opera North on Hansel and Gretel, Billy Budd, Pleasure and Kiss Me, Kate! He was associate director on Opera Holland Park’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In the autumn he will be directing Trouble in Tahiti for Opera North as part of The Little Greats season.
Alex Doidge-Green is a set and costume designer and a model maker. He worked as the Associate Set Designer on the West End Musical Loserville at the Garrick Theatre, and as Assistant Designer on a wide range of productions ranging from opera, musicals, pantomime and straight plays. He has also designed Out There, a new musical written by James Bourne and Elliot Davis for Youth Music Theatre UK.
Tom Greed is a freelance violinist who works with professional symphony orchestras, opera companies, chamber ensembles and also in music education. He has worked with orchestras including Opera North, Sinfonia Viva, Manchester Concert Orchestra, the Heritage Orchestra and Northern Chamber Orchestra and works as an instrumental tutor at Yorkshire Young Musicians in Leeds.
Whitaker Mills graduated from the Royal Academy of Music and the RSAMD. He has covered the roles of Pietro Fleville and Fouquier-Tinville in Opera North’s production of Andrea Chénier as well as Second Gunman in Kiss Me, Kate. He has also previously performed Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley with the Opera North Youth Chorus. Most recently, he has sung the role of Sharpless in Opera Bohemia’s production of Madama Butterfly.
Cristina Ocana Rosado has been a member of the Orchestra of Opera North since 2014. She studied a master of music in London with Clare Thompson after completing her undergraduate degree in Spain. She is a passionate orchestral and chamber musician and has performed with various orchestras and ensembles around UK.
Katie Stables studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Roger Bigley. In 2002, she joined the Orchestra Do Algarve in Portugal as co-principal viola. In recent years, she has been pursuing a busy freelance career, performing regularly with Opera North, BBC Philharmonic, Welsh National Opera, Manchester Camerata, and many others.
Supporters
Opera North’s education programme is generously funded by the Opera North Future Fund and The Whitaker Charitable Trust. The Opera North Youth Chorus is supported by The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation and the Backstage Trust.