Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Houston’s production of Ruddigore (or The Witch’s Curse) is a satirical take on the Victorian melodrama genre. Ruddigore’s zany plot has it all - ghosts, witches, curses, disguises, and reluctantly wicked villains who try to make off with the fair maiden. All of the Baronets of Ruddigore are under a curse enacted by a witch long ago - each of the successive Baronets must commit some kind of a crime every single day, or else they will die in agony.

Robin Oakapple has been living as a farmer for years, working up the courage to ask the beautiful village maiden Rose Maybud for her hand. However, he is keeping a secret--he is actually Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the Baronet of Ruddigore who has been hiding in disguise while his younger brother Despard assumed the title - and the curse.

Betrayed by his foster-brother Richard, Robin is discovered and must now commit a crime every day in order to appease the curse - and the ghosts of all his ancestors’ past, who are unhappy with his attempt to shirk his title. Robin must somehow find a way to lead the honest life he loves - but how?