The Soft Note Of The Echoing Voice

'To foeman's steel we rarely see a British soldier bend the knee,
Yet, one and all, they kneel to ye - kneel, kneel, all kneel!'
Ralph Mason implores Pauline Walesand Julia Goss to reconsider their choice while Jon Ellison and John Reed number the raffle tickets. The dragoon guards, from the left are Mark Nelson, Hugh Bishop, Arthur Jackson, David Rayson, Brian Peach, myself and John Broad.

Since the ending of G&S copyright, which commenced in the ninteen seventies, the floodgates of interpretation opened and proceeded to engulf the operas. Some productions I recall, notably 'Patience' at the ENO and the original productions of 'Iolanthe' and 'Yeomen' by the New D'Oyly Carte were very good indeed and showed that those of the old D'Oyly Carte were not the only way these wonderful pieces could be approached. (One must not forget either that all the old D'Oyly Carte productions were, almost without exception, not the originals as devised by Mr Gilbert, yet they were so loved by generations of D'Oyly Carte afficionados they may well have been. Stage business which had been making many successive families of fans laugh was deemed to have been sanctioned by Gilbert himself and any deviation was frowned upon by many. The truth is there have been many D'Oyly Carte productions over the years bringing subtle changes and sometimes drastic ones (Anthony Besch's 'Gondoliers') but all done with Gilbertian precedent in mind. I believe Pirates was the only opera to owe anything to the Gilbert original though if I am wrong I'm sure there are many people out there who will be pleased to correct me.) However it is my opinion that the operas work best when kept in a Victorian concept and lose something important when removed from it. The Broadway production of 'Pirates' by Joseph Papp, though highly enjoyable in it's own right probably owes it's fame more to the director than to G&S alone. It is after all known as 'Papp's Pirates'. Similarly, though I quite enjoyed the treatment, Jonathan Miller's 'Mikado' was still more of Miller than Gilbert and earlier attempts to update some of the operas, ie. 'The Black Mikado', 'The Hot Mikado', 'The Tax Payers' Iolanthe' were just vehicles for modernisation rather than for preserving the spirit of the original. Thankfully, the spirit is wonderfully able to withstand all this tampering, though sometimes sorely tried. Ken Russell please take note. 'Princess Ida' is still recovering from your bludgeoning. Gilbert was a satirical genius, be it of person or institution and any attempt to satirize a satire only serves to cancel out the initial intention. Sadly, many clever-clog directors don't seem to have taken this on board and G&S sometimes suffers from it across the world.

Of the many and various treatments of the operas worldwide some have served Gilbert and Sullivan with the deference due to a genre of pedigree while others have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. The New D'Oyly Carte, for instance, when it first began made it clear that it wanted nothing in it's productions that was reminiscent of the old regime. Very few of the old company made the transition to the new, but Gareth Jones was one and he was told in no uncertain manner to keep his old D'Oyly Carte ways to himself. This worked well for a time as a fine 'Yeomen Of The Guard' took shape until they came to 'Cock and Bull' when the director got stuck for ideas. He approached Gareth to see how the old Carte had resolved the exit of Point and Shadbolt. Gareth could not resist the gibe, 'I thought you didn't want anything of the old production....' to which the director retorted, telling Gareth not to be such a female genital! Having made the point (so to speak) Gareth told him it revolved around the book of jokes Wilfred was anxious to get his hands on. Problem solved, point made and taken and at least the production remained true to the spirit of G&S. Now I know the old Carte productions had become lacklustre, but this I feel was more from the malaise of a company that knew it was ailing and eventually began to appreciate that there would be no lifeline. This was a terminal sickness and it reflected in the performances as a whole, though I have to say the top flight professionals like Reed and Sandford and a few others always gave one hundred percent and were always a joy to watch. I'm not saying that the rest were poor, far from it, but towards the end it did look as though they had had the stuffing knocked out of them, as indeed they had. It is my belief, without having proof, that Miss Carte had wanted to close the company for many years which is why she instigated the D'Oyly Carte Trust, which was always severely underfunded, and left the fate of the company in the hands of financial managers who seemed bewildered by the task. I remember attending a meeting of the company and members of the Trust where they asked us, the performers, for ideas to raise funds. Either they were so inept they couldn't think of their own ideas or they were paving the way for the demise of the company a few years down the line as the financial situation never improved from thereon. I may be doing them a disservice as I know nothing of the financial world but if I was aware that the company was on the slippery slope to oblivion then everyone else must have known with the gradual erosion of standards as a result. It's not that the company didn't care, they did, with their whole being, but when the end is nigh a certain amount of indolence is bound to occur.

'And now Sir Richard, I have a boon to beg!' Fairfax with Nonsuch Opera. Attention to detail often defines the difference between a good amateur and a pro production. Here, the two Yeomen warders could do with some practice at standing to attention.

Of course part of the extraordinary endurance of G&S lies in it's appeal to the armies of amateur performers who delight in their annual productions, many of which bear a passing resemblance to the old D'Oyly Carte productions with which I am so familiar. Undoubtedly many of the production notes have been passed into the public domain by ex-D'Oyly Carte singers who extended their careers by becoming gurus to local G&S societies. I do not wish to denegrate this as these productions keep the operas going while the professional companies have had to take stock and diversify or, sadly, close down. Of the many ex-Carte colleagues engaged in this endeavour I have worked with two, Roberta Morrell and Alistair Donkin, both having a personal approach to their productions and both being very successful in result.
With Roberta, who was aided and abetted by Ken Sandford, I took part in 'Princess Ida' at Gawsworth Hall playing Hilarion while Geoffrey Shovelton played Cyril and Leon Berger played Florian. Ken Sandford played King Hildebrand and the rest of the cast was made from a very talented group of amateur singers. Taking place in the open air with the Hall as a backdrop meant there were very large distances to cover for entrances and exits and as the gardens were on two levels bridged by a large ramp the bulk of the action took place on the lower level in front of a bank of seats holding 1200 people.

Alas! I waver to and Fro...! Myself as Leonard Merryll with Judi Merri as Phoebe and John Ayldon as Sergeant Merryll

The Victorian principal could not be adhered to here except in being true to Gilbert's words and Sullivan's music and to play the piece for real. It was a truly enjoyable experience with some very fine performances and some hilarious moments especially with the high camp of the three suitors dressing in women's clothes and when the women soldiers were preparing for battle. There was a nice array of soldierly exercises, sword play, hand to hand grappling and the like which totally defeated the girls in several amusing ways. One particularexercise employed a gibbet from which hung a dummy soldier. The girls would run at it and try to stab it with a spear. This was quite funny in itself until it was sabotaged one night when a very large set of male sexual organs had been attached under an apron around the dummy. When the first girl hit it with the spear the 'tackle' suddenly appeared with hysterical result upon the girls. One, having tremendous presence of mind, grabbed the dummy from it's gibbet and threw it behind a hedge before the audience could see it. No, it was not very Victorian, but very funny it was.

The Bucks and Blades visit Rederring. To my left is Janet St Claire, Mike Tuckey, Christine Bulland John Broad.

Yeomen Of The Guard in Eastbourn, directed by Alistair Donkin and starring himself as Jack point and myself as Colonel Fairfax was more like the Victorian style of theatre with every one of the cast playing a blinder. Amateur performers often excell when given enough incentive and rehearsal. There is no lack of talent here only a lack of professional training and practice but when this talent is properly tapped and guided wonderful things can happen. This is what I call back to grass roots theatre, a very real delving into the basics of theatrical creation with sometimes splendid results. This genuine theatrical experience seems highly achievable through the medium of G&S and the numerous amateur societies keep G&S and some of the old musicals alive in Britain, with a determination to get to the heart of the original creation without too much personal elaboration, and I take my hat off to all involved in this.

The Crew Of HMS Pinafore on stage shortly before Thomas Lawlor, the Captain of the Pinafore, left the company, From the left is Brian Peach, Arthur Jackson, Brian Sharpe, Bill Palmerley, Mark Nelson, John Broad, Dennis Olsen, Mike Tuckey, Jon Ellison, Tom Lawlor, Howard Williamson, Hugh Bishop, John Ayldon as Dick Deadeye, Derek Booth, Peter Raper and me.

In the picture seventh from the left is a very fine actor/musician, Dennis Olsen, who joined the company ostensibly to take over the roles vacated by John Reed, as and when he decided to retire which he threatened to do more than once. Unwittingly, Dennis became a pawn in company politics as John called the management's bluff and stayed on leaving Dennis marooned in the chorus. He was not even able to cover any of Reed's parts as they were Howard Williamson's province, and Howard also felt that he was in line to take over from Reed, so - nice one the management. Dennis was/is a very nice man and a wonderful pianist who would often accompany Janette Kearns and myself for impromptu afternoons of songs, duets and Lieder. I saw him on TV in a couple of Australian films and also in a Video of his one-man show about George Grossmith. Dennis hasa gone on to become one of Australia's great performers, especially in G&S and latterly in a show devoted to Noel Cowerd, and I feel sorry that the Carte missed the opportunity to use him as I am certain that had he succeeded Reed he would have been yet another brilliant star in the D'Oyly Carte firmament. He is Australia's John Reed, much loved and honoured but I, for one, feel he could have been one of the D'Oyly Carte greats.

Thankfully there are still a few professional companies putting on G&S, several in Australia of course and a few in America too but here we seem to be down to the Carl Rosa and the Raymond Gubbay organisation but I think this will itself fade leaving the field mainly to the amateurs. The major opera companies will always dip into the repertoire from time to time but it looks as though the days of the full time touring company has gone. Without wishing to put a curse upon them it would seem that the modern Carl Rosa company have almost got it right, with their mixture of Viennese Operetta, Offenbach and G&S. All we need now is a proper funding structure from Government sources to make it work full time, but - hey, this is England. We don't do that sort of thing here!

But what about the Arts Council I hear you say? As I understand it an approach was made to the Art's Council to assist the Carte but they made so many stipulations which would have meant a radical change in the Carte's very nature that the Trust felt they couldn't be met. So the company remained the same and cut itself off from any financial aid the Art's Council was prepared to offer. It would have meant that the Carte would have had to include in it's repertoire operettas by other composers and even Musicals with a change in productions and performing staff the company was not prepared to do. Ohhhh Heavens to Betsy! Doesn't this sound familiar? What the Carte failed to do only succeeded in ending the Carte, but it keeps the Carl Rosa going, even as a part-time touring company!

The Finale of Trial By Jury with Jon Ellison, Sue Minshull, John Webley as the Council for the defence, Linda Ann Hutchison as the Plaintif, Howard Williamson as the Judge, Maggie Sheryll, myself, Bill Palmerley, Hilary Western, Beverley Milne, Colin Wright as the Defendant, Katherine Holding (I think, or maybe it was Yvonne Sommeling) Brian Sharpe (partly hidden), Marjorie Williams and Frances Gregory.

Still, it is a phenominal achievement for these pieces of Victorian Theatre to have found such a deep rooted place in the English syche and to have lasted all the changes for so long. I somehow think thay will have their moments again from time to time. I only know that whenever I will see a full production of any of the operas, it will always strike a chord in my memory like the soft note of an echoing voice - as someone once said.

Here's to the D'Oyly Carte, and all who sailed in her.

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