Hair
Louise Gold featured as a member of The Tribe on tour
around the autumn of 1974 (includes;
Many years later, Louise Gold’s own
recollection of when she joined the cast (after
rehearsals) was:
“They
were going out of their minds in Sunderland” Louise Gold, guesting on DEAD BY 12, 11 May 2006.
Prior to the tour playing
“The controversial love-rock musical Hair
comes to Brighton’s Theatre Royal for a week on Monday, bringing with it a
talented cast of young people under the direction of
Cast
Claude - Darron
O’Sullivan
Berger - Bruce
White
Woof - Christopher
Wren
Hud - Ken
Shields-Alleyne
Sheila - Kim
Goody
Jeanie - Shelagh
Stuttle
Crissy - Nicky
Croydon
The Trio - Ken
Shields Alleyne, Mona Hays, and Ewart Walters
The Tribe - Louise
Gold, Pamela Hardman, Pippa Hardman, Shawn Harris, Mona
Hays, Maarten Hoffman, Phillip Howells, Billy James, Helli
Louise, Peter Russell, Janinia Tredwell, Ewart Walters,
Jason Watts, and, Philip Morgan Williams
Production Team
Presented by
- West End Artists Ltd
Book and
Lyrics by - James Rado and Gerome Ragni
Music by - Galt
Macdermot
Original
Production - New York Shakespeare Festival Theatre
Director
-
Musical
Director - Alan Leigh
Assistant to
Mr Bridge - Robert Anthony
Stage
Director -
Assistant
Stage Managers - Philip Morgan Williams and Pamela Hardman
Production
Manager - John Maguire
Replacement
Production Manager - (three weeks into the tour) Gary Graham
Business
Manager - Michael J. Smith
Casting
Assistant to Mr Bridge -
Orchestra
Keyboard - Alan Leigh
Drums and Percussion - Darryl Reid
and Jim Holmes
Guitars
- Stephen Forrest
Saxophone and Woodwind - Patrick Kyle
While it is pretty much known that Louise Gold joined
the cast in Sunderland, and was in the cast when it played Theatre Royal
Nottingham; It seems likely that she joined the cast at or near the start of
its tour (but after most of the rehearsals had taken place), when a woman named
Victoria Seymour appears to have pulled out at the last minute (after West End
Artistes Limited’s own souvenir programme had been printed. Hence why Louise
only got listed in the programmes for specific theatres, although everyone else
was down in the souvenir programme). Louise Gold herself left when the tour
took its Christmas break. The webmaster does not know for certain whether she
was actually in the show at any of the venues listed below (other than
Nottingham, and,
Tour Dates
Definite (have seen the programme or Newspaper Review)
Kings Theatre, Southsea, Monday 21 to Saturday 26 October 1974
Theatre Royal,
Theatre Royal
According to Louise Gold herself (in interviews)
According To: The Production
Manager’s Memory
Mablethorpe
Theatre Royal,
Theatre Royal
According To:
‘The Stage’ (plus a bit of above)
Sunderland Empire (date unknown)
Wyvern Theatre
Kings Theatre, Southsea, Monday 21 to
Saturday 26 October 1974
Theatre Royal
Mablethorpe, Monday 4 to Saturday 9
November 1974
Leisure Centre,
Theatre Royal,
Theatre Royal
The Grand Theatre
There seems to be some confusion as to whether the
week of the 9 to 14 of December 1974 (which was most likely Louise Gold’s last
week in the cast) found the tour in
In The song listing the webmaster is assuming that
Chorus means The Tribe. Also in some instances there are names listed for songs
who do not appear to be characters, it is assumed these are the first names of
actors who do not have defined characters and the part named “Victoria” was
probably performed by Janinia Tredwell, although it was originally
intended to be performed by Victoria Seymour (only Miss Seymour seems to
have left the cast unexpectedly after rehearsals but before the tour, which is
why Louise Gold was brought in to round out the cast. The Trio has been
identified by Gary Graham.
Musical Numbers
Act I
1. Aquarius
- Shawn and Chorus (Shawn Harris with The Tribe)
2. Donna -
Berger and Chorus (Bruce White and The Tribe)
3. Hashish -
Chorus (The Tribe)
4. Sodomy -
Woof and Chorus (Christopher Wren and The Tribe)
5. Coloured Spade - Hud and Chorus (Ken Shields-Alleyne and The Tribe)
6.
7. I’m Black
- Hud, Woof, Berger, Claude and Chorus (Ken Sheilds-Alleyne, Christopher
Wren, Bruce White, Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
8. Ain’t Got No - Woof, Hud, Jeanie and Chorus (Christopher Wren, Ken
Sheilds-Alleyne, Shelagh Stuttle and The Tribe)
9. I Believe In Love - Sheila and Trio (Kim Goody with Ken Shields Alleyne, Mona
Hays, and Ewart Walters)
10. Ain’t Go No Grass - Chorus (The Tribe)
11. Air -
Jeanie, Helli, and, Crissy (Shelagh Stuttle, Helli Louise, and Nicky
Croydon)
12. Initial’s
- Chorus (The Tribe)
13.
14. 1930s Music - Berger (Bruce White)
15.
16. I Got Life
- Clause and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
17. Goin’ Down
- Berger and Chorus (Bruce White and The Tribe)
18. Hair -
Claude, Berger and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan, Bruce White, and, The
Tribe)
19. My Conviction - Margaret Mead (Billy James)
20. Sheila Franklin - Chorus (The Tribe)
21. Easy To Be Hard - Sheila (Kim Goody)
22. Hung Up
- Orchestra (Orchestra conducted by Alan Leigh)
23. Don’t Put It Down (Crazy For The Red And Blue And White) - Woof, Berger, and, Maarten (Christopher
Wren, Bruce White, and, Maarten Hoffmann)
24. Frank Mills - Chrissy (Nicky Croydon)
25. Hara Krishna - Chorus (The Tribe)
26. Where Do I Go - Cluade and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
Act 2
27. Electric Blues - Woof with,
28. Oh Great God Of Power - Chorus (The Tribe)
29.
30. Dead End
- Sheila (Kim Goody)
31. Black Boys
- Pippa, Helli, and, Janinia (Pippa Hardman, Helli Louise, and, Janinia
Tredwell)
32. White Boys
- Trio and Chorus (Ken Shields Alleyne, Mona Hays, and Ewart
Walters with The Tribe)
33. Walking In Space - The Company (The Company)
34. Abie, Baby
- Hud and Ewart (Ken Sheilds-Alleyne and Ewart Walters)
35. Three-Five-Zero-Zero - Chorus (The Tribe)
36. What A Piece Of Work Is A Man - Chrissy and Billy (Nicky Croydon and Billy
James)
37. How Dare They Try - Chorus (The Tribe)
38. Good Morning Starshine - Sheila and Chorus (Kim Goody and The Tribe)
39. Reprise: Ain’t Go No - Claude and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
40. The Flesh Failures (Let The Sun In) - Chorus (The Tribe)
41. Eyes Look Your Last (Reprise:
Touring in Hair was one of Louise Gold’s
first professional jobs after leaving drama school.
About two years later Louise Gold returned to Theatre
Royal Norwich in a feature role in Joseph And The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Norwich Production).
Seventeen years later Louise Gold returned to Theatre
Royal Brighton, as one of the leading ladies in a tour of the musical The Boys From Syracuse.
About 2 years later Louise Gold returned to Theatre
Royal Nottingham in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production); And More than 22 years
later she returned again, as a
touring feature actress in the RSC in The
Cherry Orchard.
Cast members Nicky Croydon and Louise Gold
both trained at the
It is perhaps worth noting that several members of the
cast almost certainly attended the same drama school. Nicky Croydon, Pamela
Hardman, Pippa Hardman, Jason Watts, and, Louise Gold
all trained at one time or another at one or other of the Arts Educational
Schools (the only thing that complicates matters is that Arts Ed has
sections in London and Tring - Louise Gold was of course trained at the
London school, but what about the others?).
It is perhaps worth noting that Arts Ed alumni Louise
Gold and Pamela Hardman were both in their first proper jobs in this
tour of Hair.
Production Manager John Maguire got ill around
3 weeks into the tour, and was replaced by Gary Graham (though the
programme listing for this post was not changed until after the Christmas cast
change).
It may be noted that Tribe-Member Helli Louise
was featured in the section ‘Show People’ in The Stage
newspaper on 18 July 1974, where it was announced that she would be joining the
cast of ‘the new national tour of Hair’ (presumably meaning this tour).
She was under personal contract to casting assistant Barrie Stacey.
Alan Leigh went on to be the musical
director of a production of Joseph And The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production), which Louise Gold
also appeared in. Elaine Gibbs and Thom Booker from that
production appeared in this tour of Hair, but after Louise
Gold had left the show.
A number of the cast members went on to appear West
End Artistes production of Glamorous Nights, also directed by
Alexander Bridge.
Louise Gold and Billy James
went on to appear in My Fair Lady
Kim Goody went on to appear in Dear
Ralph.
It would not be the last time that Louise Gold
found herself in a touring show that was scheduled to play a leisure centre,
some nine years later she was in a legendary tour of the play Bag
that should have had its gala opening night in Grantham Leisure Centre.
As a child, production manager
Louise Gold reminisced
about appearing in Hair many years later when she guested on the cabaret show Dead By 12.
Critics Comments
“
“If the story-line and the singing are
clear, so to are the more juvenile crudities of the hippy life portrayed. Best
of all are the singing and dancing: ‘Hare Krishna’, and, ‘Walking In Space’.”
HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH, Thursday 24 October 1974, p29
“Things begin ominously when the cast leap
somewhat half hearted into action and ruin Aquarius with some off key singing.
They never quite recover, in any song and dance number somebody is likely to
waver a semitone or put the wrong foot forward....Gradually the surprisingly
clean boys and girls bring out the humour pathos and gutsiness...Amazing that
such a miserably shaky beginning can build slowly but surely to such a
magnificently shaggy ending.” Jane Sullivan, THE BRIGHTON EVENING
Links about Hair
Good Hair Days: Index of all the actors who have
appeared in significant productions of Hair: http://www.goodhairdays.net/haircasts.htm
