Young Vic Archives
The Yeomen of the Guard
2025
Overview
Our 2025 production of The Yeomen of the Guard exceeded expectations on all fronts. Audiences praised the performers on stage and musicians in the orchestra pit. Our two matinee pre-show events were very well attended and box office sales topped previous years, including two full-capacity matinees. Along with a couple of great reviews (see below) 2025 was a banner year for Young Vic. Thanks to everyone in the company and all of our patrons for making it so successful.
Selected Images
Show Program
Download a PDF version of our printed 2025 patrons program (click here).
2025 Post Card Mailer
WBJC Interview
Young Vic Artistic Director Catrin Rowenna Davies was interviewed by WBJC’s Jonathan Palevsky to talk about The Yeomen of the Guard, Gilbert & Sullivan and Young Vic's unique place in Baltimore, listen below.
Reviews
MD Theatre Guide called our 2025 Yeomen “funny, fun, enthralling, and touching.” Maggie Ramsey wrote in Opera Today, Young Vic “specializes in the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, and reliably not only creates great productions but also regularly casts great performers. This Yeomen was no exception.” And WYPR's theatre critic J Wynn Rousuck said Young Vic's The Yeomen of the Guard was a “top-quality production that brings Gilbert & Sullivan fans, and newcomers, to their feet.” Click below to listen to the Midday excerpt.
Show Synopsis
Act I
The Tower of London
Colonel Fairfax, once a soldier of outstanding bravery, is imprisoned in the Tower of London under sentence of death for sorcery. Phoebe, daughter of Sergeant Meryll of the Yeomen, has fallen in love with him. When the Tower’s head gaoler Wilfred appears, she ridicules him. He loves Phoebe; knowing of her love for Fairfax, he gleefully conveys the news that Fairfax is to be executed later that day. The citizens and Yeomen Warders arrive.
Dame Carruthers, the Tower’s housekeeper, dismisses Phoebe’s protestations of Fairfax’s innocence. Annoyed by Phoebe’s criticisms of the Tower, she lauds its merits. After everyone leaves, Meryll tells Phoebe that her brother Leonard has been appointed a Yeoman. He is on his way from court and may bring with him a reprieve for Fairfax. However, when Leonard arrives, he has only a dispatch for the Lieutenant of the Tower.
Meryll is anxious to save Fairfax to repay him for saving his own life in battle on more than one occasion. The Sergeant formulates a plan: Leonard will hide and Fairfax, sprung from his cell, will assume Leonard’s identity. Phoebe must distract Wilfred and obtain the key to Fairfax’s cell.
Fairfax enters, escorted by the Yeomen. The Lieutenant of the Tower greets him sadly, as they are old friends. Fairfax bears his impending execution philosophically. He makes a request of the Lieutenant: the charge of sorcery was the doing of his wicked cousin, a government minister, who will inherit his estate if he dies unmarried. He therefore wishes to be married to any available woman – it matters not whom – who will receive a financial reward for her trouble. The Lieutenant agrees.
The strolling players Jack Point and Elsie Maynard are pursued by a noisy crowd that demands entertainment. Point manages to quieten the crowd, and he and Elsie perform a song. When the song is over, the crowd grows unruly again, and violence is averted only by the Lieutenant’s arrival.
Point and Elsie explain that Elsie’s mother is poorly, and they need money to buy her medicine. The Lieutenant offers Elsie the opportunity to earn a substantial sum if she marries a condemned gentleman immediately.
Point, who intends to marry Elsie himself, is assured that the groom will be executed immediately after the ceremony. Elsie consents, and, blindfolded, is led off to the secret ceremony. The Lieutenant tells Point he has a vacancy for a jester, and Point tells him of his skills and tries out some jokes. They go off to discuss the position further.
Wilfred leads Elsie back from her anonymous meeting in Fairfax’s cell. While he wonders what they were up to, Elsie reflects on her impending widowhood. Phoebe arrives, distracts Wilfred, and steals his keys, which she gives surreptitiously to her father to release Fairfax. She distracts Wilfred until she can return the keys to Wilfred’s belt, leaving the gaoler confused but entertaining hopeful fantasies of marrying her.
Meryll disguises Fairfax as his son, Leonard. The Yeomen greet ‘Leonard’, who insists that stories of his bravery are exaggerated. He falters when he meets Phoebe, but Wilfred explains who she is, pretending to Fairfax that he (Wilfred) is betrothed to her.
The Headsman enters in readiness for Fairfax’s execution. Wilfred, ‘Leonard’ and two Yeomen go to fetch Fairfax but return to announce his escape. The Lieutenant blames Wilfred, and declares his life forfeit instead, at which Wilfred protests his innocence. Point is distraught at Fairfax’s disappearance, Elsie faints, and all rush off to hunt for Fairfax.
Act II
Two days later
Dame Carruthers berates the Yeomen for letting Fairfax escape. Point, now in the Lieutenant’s employ, bitterly reflects on his profession and taunts Wilfred. When Wilfred says he’d rather be a jester than a gaoler, Point has an idea. He reveals the secret wedding and agrees to teach Wilfred the jester’s art if Wilfred will publicly swear that he (Wilfred) shot Fairfax dead as he tried to escape. Wilfred agrees.
Meanwhile, Fairfax, still disguised as Leonard, regrets his marriage to a bride he cannot identify, for her face was concealed throughout the ceremony. Elsie, who fainted at the thwarted execution, and who is now in Meryll’s care, has recovered. However, her illness gave Dame Carruthers an excuse to move into his house while she nursed the girl. Carruthers has been making overtures to Meryll for years, though he has always spurned her. Carruthers returns and reveals that her niece heard Elsie talking in her sleep about her secret wedding.
Alone, Fairfax discloses how pleased he is that his mystery wife is the beautiful Elsie. He decides to test her fidelity by pretending to woo her but disguised as Leonard. Elsie rejects his advances.
A shot resounds, and everyone rushes in. Wilfred pretends that he discovered Fairfax in hiding, and after a struggle Fairfax dived into the Thames, whereupon Wilfred shot him dead.
Now Elsie is a widow, Point asks her to marry him. Fairfax, still disguised as ‘Leonard’, tells Point that he doesn’t know how to court a woman, and he therefore gives Point a lesson in this art with a most effective demonstration on Elsie. Point is slow to realise that Fairfax is wooing the girl for himself and that she has fallen for ‘Leonard’. On seeing her adored Fairfax pledged to another, Phoebe bursts into tears; Point, shocked by the turn of events, wishes he was dead.
Phoebe inadvertently discloses Leonard’s true identity. She desperately buys Wilfred’s silence by agreeing to marry him (after a long engagement). The real Leonard returns and announces that Fairfax’s reprieve has finally arrived. Phoebe admits to her father her folly, whereupon Dame Carruthers threatens to expose the three schemers who had freed Fairfax illegally. Meryll reluctantly buys Carruthers’s silence with a marriage proposal.
Elsie arrives for her wedding to the man she still knows as ‘Leonard’, but the Lieutenant announces that her husband Fairfax is still alive. Fairfax arrives dressed for the wedding. Elsie, distraught over the loss of ‘Leonard’, does not turn to see his face. Elsie begs him to free her to go to ‘Leonard’, but Fairfax won’t be moved. Finally, she turns to see his face, and recognises him. Everyone celebrates Fairfax and Elsie’s marriage – all, that is, except the broken-hearted Jack Point.
Synopsis courtesy of the English National Opera
Cast Bios
Joey Wilson
Sir Richard Cholmondeley
Joseph Wilson (he/him) is so excited to join the cast of Young Victorian Theatre’s The Yeomen of the Guard! This past spring, he worked as a swing on Prologue Theatre’s production of Muffed! His most recent operatic appearance was as Guglielmo in Puccini’s Le Villi with Opera Festival of Niagara. Other operatic credits include: Carmen (Bel Cantanti); Il tabarro (Opera Niagara); La rondine, La bohème (Operavision Academy); Il barbiere di Siviglia, The pirates of Penzance (Loudoun Lyric Opera); I pagliacci (Maryland Lyric Opera); and Ruddigore (Victorian Lyric Opera). Other theatre credits include: Strange Tales VI (COIL Project); MEDEA Ben Power (Songs of the Goat); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare Opera Theatre); and By the Seashore (Arts on the Horizon). He is an alumnus of Studio Acting Conservatory, Montclair State University, and studies privately with Dr. Maria Vetere. @joseph.michael.wilson
James Rogers
Sergeant Meryll
James last appeared with Young Vic in 2023's The Gondoliers. He has performed as a soloist in opera, oratorio, concert and recital in the Washington/Baltimore area with ensembles including Cantate Chamber Singers (Curlew River, Noye's Fludde), the Fairfax Choral Society (Lord Nelson Mass), Opera AACC (Don Giovanni), the New Dominion Chorale (Bach Magnificat), Inscape Chamber Orchestra (Façade, Trouble in Tahiti, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), Urban Arias (The Filthy Habit), the Washington Savoyards (The Merry Widow), the Arts Chorale of Winchester, the Annapolis Chorale, the Reston Chorale, the City Choir of Washington (The Creation), the Chesapeake Orchestra (Songs of Travel) and the Reston Community Players (A Little Night Music). National appearances include concerts and recitals in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Dallas, and Honolulu.
Joseph Regan
Colonel Fairfax
Joseph Regan is thrilled to be joining the Young Victorian Theater Company this season. Mr. Regan is a highly sought-after performer whose singing has taken him all over the Eastern Seaboard and parts of Europe. Recent highlights from the opera stage include a turn as Azaël from Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue for Lyric Opera of Baltimore, Don José in Opus Concert Theater’s production of Carmen, and Pinkerton from Madame Butterfly with Loudon Lyric Opera. Mr. Regan is frequently engaged as a tenor soloist. He is particularly well known for his singing of Bach and Handel, with numerous performances of Handel’s Messiah as well as Bach’s Passions and Cantatas to his credit. Recent highlights include reprising his role as the Evangelist in Bach’s Saint John Passion, the regional premiere of the concert oratorio Barbara Allen with Shepherd University Masterworks, and Gerald Finzi’s A Farewell to Arms with Live Arts Maryland. He earned his BM and MM from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and his DMA from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Jietong Fu
Leonard Meryll
Dr. Jietong Fu is a lyric tenor from Xiamen, China. He came to the United States in 2019 and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from Texas Tech University in 2022. He also holds a Graduate Performance Diploma in Voice Performance from the Peabody Conservatory.
As a performer, Dr. Fu has sung operas and cantatas in renowned venues across Asia and the United States, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts (China), Minnan Grand Theater (China), Fujian Grand Theater (China), Petronas Philharmonic Hall (Malaysia), Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (Singapore), the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Brunish Theater (Portland, OR), and the Lubbock Civic Center (TX). His operatic roles include Kamegoro in Shizue: An American Story, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. He has also appeared as the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, and Rachmaninoff's Vespers.
As a teacher, Dr. Fu has provided voice instruction to undergraduate students at Xiamen University and Texas Tech University and has directed scenes from several Mozart operas. He also served as a Lyric Diction Tutor at the Peabody Conservatory, guiding both undergraduate and graduate students in operatic diction in German, French, Italian, and English. Dr. Fu is currently based in Baltimore with his wife, pianist Dr. Xin Wu. Together, they focus on teaching and performing classical music.
Thomas Hochla
Jack Point
Baritone Thomas Hochla is excited to be embarking on his 8th season with Young Vic, having first sung Strephon (Iolanthe) and most recently the Judge (Trial by Jury). With a ballet and classical music background, Thomas has over a decade of local performance, teaching, and accompaniment experience at a variety of venues, including the Lyric Opera House, Baltimore Theatre Project, Maryland Hall, Towson University, and the Baltimore School for the Arts, to name a few.
This year, Thomas joined the faculty of Gilman School as the Middle School Director of Music, teaching General Music, conducting two choruses, and serving as Music Director of the Upper School Musical, Merrily We Roll Along. The Gilman Choir program and vocal music faculty toured the south of France as well as Barcelona this spring, with musical highlights including singing at Saint Pierre Basilica in Avignon, Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, and La Sagrada Familia. Favorite roles include Dick McGann (Street Scene), Major General (Pirates of Penzance), Matt/the Boy (The Fantasticks), and Edmund (Mansfield Park- US Premiere). Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College as well as a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
Spencer Adamson
Wilfred Shadbolt
Mr. Adamson’s recent performances include leading and comprimario roles in local and national opera houses as well as many other classical music venues. As an alum of Young Vic, he made his role debut as Giuseppe in The Gondoliers and Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore the past two summers. Highlights from this and previous years include small roles in Washington National Opera’s production of The (re)volution of Steve Jobs and La Bohème at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and his role debut of Prince Charles in the world premiere of the original musical, Queen of the People’s Hearts in Istanbul, Turkey.
His recent oratorio engagements include Pilatus in St John Passion with Annapolis Chorale, bass soloist in Schubert’s Mass in G with the East Berlin Singers in New Cumberland, PA, and bass soloist in Telemann’s Magnificat in C with the Harford Choral Society. He is often engaged as a chorister with Washington National Opera and Washington Concert Opera. He continues his ministry in various churches in the DMV area, serving as soloist, cantor, and choral member. Mr. Adamson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College with graduate work at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Henry Hubbard
First Yeoman
Henry Hubbard, a versatile tenor with experience in opera, art song, choral, and contemporary music, is pleased to return to Young Vic as First Yeomen after singing with the company in 2023. He has performed on stage throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and internationally, including the roles of Laurie (Little Women), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Cosi fan Tutte), and Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia).
He currently performs as an Outreach Artist for Maryland Opera and previously served as a Vocal Fellow for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, where he was featured as a soloist at the historic Berliner Philharmonie and Vienna Konzerthaus as part of the BCAS EuroTour 2022. Henry holds Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy and Musicology from Peabody Conservatory, and bachelor’s degrees in voice performance and finance from James Madison University. Henry currently lives in Baltimore, where he works in higher education and engages in political organizing.
David Adeleye
Second Yeoman
David Adeleye is a baritone vocalist from Prince George’s County, Maryland, known for his warm and refined tone. In May, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Music from Towson University, where he showcased his vocal talents in various productions. His performances include the role of Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and Robert Browning in The Brownings Go to Italy. He also achieved second place in the Friedman-Gordon Music Competition. David has been an integral member of the Young Victorian Theatre Company for the past three years, contributing as a chorus member and covering multiple roles. He is deeply grateful to his family and loved ones for their unwavering support in his artistic endeavors.
Emily Casey
Elsie Maynard
Described by Opera Canada as “a red-haired vixen with a sparkling voice,” soprano Emily Casey has been making waves as an emerging talent in the international opera scene. With a rapidly growing reputation, Ms. Casey is known for her specialization in the dramatic coloratura soprano and bel canto repertoire. This season features exciting new debuts and projects, including the lead role of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette by Gounod with Bel Cantanti Opera, as well as Miss Wordsworth in Britten's Albert Herring with Opera Baltimore, as well as the soprano soloist in Bach's St. John's Passion with Live Arts Maryland and the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale. She is thrilled to return to Young Vic this year as Elsie in Yeoman of the Guard.
With a string of notable roles under her belt, Ms. Casey has quickly garnered international acclaim and recognition. Past highlights include debuts as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Gulnara in Verdi's Il Corsaro, Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Michaëla in Bizet's Carmen.
Ms. Casey has had the privilege of collaborating with numerous opera companies and symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, performing both operatic and concert repertoire. Highlights include performances with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony and as a soloist in performance with His Majesty’s Royal Marine Band Plymouth.
She has placed in several prestigious competitions, including The George & Nora London Foundation Competition (semi-finalist), the London Classical Music Competition (first place), the Partners for the Arts Competition (second place), and the Alexander & Buono International Vocal Competition (third place). Emily has appeared in concert with The Richmond Symphony Orchestra, The Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, Maryland Lyric Opera, Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Orchestra, Trinity Chamber Orchestra, and the Frederick Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with some of the most famous names in opera, including Aprile Millo, Richard Bonygne, Marco Gandini, Renée Fleming, and Sherrill Milnes. Information on her schedule can be found at www.emilycaseysoprano.com or on social media platforms at @emilycaseysoprano.
Ann Fogler
Phoebe Meryll
Praised for her “flexible, very warm, and crystalline” instrument, mezzo-soprano Ann Fogler is an accomplished performer based in Washington, D.C. Recent appearances include Frauenliebe und Leben at the Make Music Upper Perk Festival, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio as alto and mezzo-soprano soloist at St. Patrick’s Church (Washington, D.C.), and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Dickinson College Orchestra throughout the 2024 season. Upcoming engagements include a featured soloist role in Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra (September 2025).
Ms. Fogler has appeared with Central City Opera as the Announcer in Gallantry (2017) and as a featured soloist in Encore: A Musical Revue (2018), earning both the Williams Award and Studio Artist Award. Other notable credits include Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus (MassOpera), Lepido in Silla (Cambridge Chamber Ensemble), and Global Hope in Keepers of the Light (Nahant Music Festival). She has also performed with the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and was recognized with a Meistersinger Encouragement Award and a grant from the Anna Sosenko Trust Fund.
Ms. Fogler holds degrees from Dickinson College (B.M. ’15) and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (M.M. ’17), and continues her studies with Rosa Lamoreaux.
Rebecca Sacks
Dame Carruthers
Rebecca Sacks, mezzo-soprano, is known for her dynamic stage presence, smart musicality, and stylistic versatility. With a voice described as “powerful” and “extraordinary” (Operawire), she has recently been heard as Mad Margaret in Young Victorian Theatre Company’s 2024 production of Ruddigore and in her role and company debuts as Mrs. Anderssen with St. Pete Opera’s production of A Little Night Music. Other roles include Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Fricka (Das Rheingold), Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos), Queen Alkmene (Die Liebe der Danae), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Baba (The Medium), and Grimgerde (Die Walküre).
A champion of new music, in 2025, Ms. Sacks created the role of Elizabeth Barrett-Browning in Patricia Wallinga’s The Sisters with Liberty City Arts and joined City Lyric Opera for the New York premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s Savior. She has also premiered works with the Oregon Composers’ Forum, the Tai Hei Ensemble, and both the University of Oregon and Stanford University composition departments.
She holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Georgia and has received awards from the American Prize in Opera, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Orpheus Competition, Opera Connecticut, and NATSAA. Rebecca currently resides in Philadelphia with her partner and her beloved cat.
Sara Neally
Kate
Sara Nealley, soprano, is a native of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, USA. She completed her undergraduate studies in Vocal performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and her graduate studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.
She is currently pursuing a GPD at the Peabody Institute, where she studies with Randall Scarlata. Her previous roles include: Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Peabody Opera Theatre; Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Ohio Light Opera; Violetta in La Traviata, Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival; Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Opera in the Ozarks; Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, College Light Opera Company; Constance in The Sorcerer, College Light Opera Company. Sara was a finalist in the Elgar/Spedding Memorial Lieder Competition and the Ye Cronies Opera Award at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is a recipient of an Encouragement Award in the Arkansas District of the Metropolitan Opera Competition.
