PANTALOON, HE WHO GETS SLAPPED

Libretto by Bernard Stambler Music by Robert Ward

Based on the play by Andreyev

Directed by Nancy Rhodes Musical Director Jack Gaughan

“I want to thank you and Nancy and the entire company for the splendid performance you have given our work – it is moving, funny, and alive with the spirit in which we wrote the work.” - Robert Ward, Composer, Letter, Feb. 15, 1978

“The Encompass production, conceived and directed by Nancy Rhodes is tasteful and evocative.” - Jack Hiemenz, The News World

“The Encompass Theatre has proved itself a vigorous adjunct on New York’s lyric theatre scene. This performance, full of subtlety and detail, gave opera a dramatic sturdiness it rarely enjoys. Under musical director Jack Gaughan, this agreeable texture had bite and transparency; so did Nancy Rhodes’ staging. Her circus characters, never caricatures, traipsed through their exaggerated paces realistically and with wit.” - Stephen Wadsworth, Opera News

“It is easy to agree with all of the praise which the company has been receiving in the press. I thought the performance, particularly the direction and staging, was truly remarkable.” - John C. Wessel, Regional Coord. National Endowment For The Arts

Scenic Design Michael Smith
Costume Design Dan L. Wilhelm
Lighting Design Pat Moeser

ACT II Chorus
Choreographed by Dalienne Majors

CAST (in order of appearance)
Tilly (Francois de La Giroday)
Polly (Betsy Julia Robinson)
Count Mancini (Robert Williamson)
Briquet (Dennis English)
Zinida (Johanna Albrecht)
Pantaloon (Raymond Hickman)
Consuelo (Valerie Pell)
Bezano (Jan Jones)
Baron Regnard (William Wagner)
Juggler (Terry Kirwin)
Acrobat (Faye Pollock)
Custodian (Dennis Banks)

Assistant Musical Director-Pianist John Klingberg

MUSICIANS
Percussion Linda J. Brownell
Trumpet Steven J. Reid
Cello Leslie Rogers
Clarinet Lisa Klevit, Susan Wahling
Flute Mary Cherney, Anne H. Pollack

STAFF FOR THE ENCOMPASS THEATRE
Stage Manager (Carol Howard)
Technical Director (Sheldon Rieke)
Box Office Manager (Emily Kirby)
Assistant to the Producer (Tom McCarthy)
Production Assistants (Cheryl Francis, Jane Perkel)
Properties by (Kathleen Phelan, Wendy Dean)
Play and Opera Development (Rosemary Moore)
Costumes Executed by (Elena Pellicciaro)
Assisted by (Karen Gaynor, Emily Kirby, Elaine Morgan)

ACT ONE
Paris 1910 – Backstage of the Circus

ACT TWO
Two weeks later

ACT THREE
One week later

With special thanks to The Costume Collection, The Cultural Council Foundation, the Theatre Development Fund; Michael J. Cesario, Midtown North Mounted Patrol; and Craig Sturgis and Chuck Gillette of Radio City Music Hall.

The Encompass Theatre programs are made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.