My Fair Lady
Louise Gold appeared as a servant, at The Derby
Playhouse, from around 20 September 1975
Cast
Buskers
- Kate Lock & John Cogan
Mrs Eynsford
Hill - Andree Evans
Eliza
Doolittle - Cookie
Freddy-Ensford
Hill - Ted Merwood
Colonel
Pickering - George Woolley
Henry
Higgins - John Humphrey
Hoxton Man -
Leo Dove
Camberwell
Man - Stephen Hartford
A Cockney - Adam
Richardson
Another
Cockney - Jane Gurnett
George, A
Bartender - Stephen Hartford
Harry - Clive
Carter
Jamie - Billy
James
Alfred P.
Doolittle -
Mrs Pearce -
Joan Ryan
Mrs Hopkins
- Pamela Scott
Children - Phillipa
Van Hamel, Kevin Parkes & Mark Ruston
Servants - Zelah
Clarke, Louise Gold & Stephen Hartford
Mrs Higgins
- Judith Fellows
Charles, A
Chauffer - Stephen Hartford
Mrs.
Higgins’ Maid - Paula Tinker
Constable - Billy
James
Zoltan
Karpathy - Stephen Hartford
Queen of
All other
parts played by members of the Company
Production Team
Book
& Lyrics by - Alan Jay Lerner
Music by - Frederick
Lowe
Adapted from
the play “Pygmallion” by George Bernard Shaw
Original
production - 15 March 1956,
This
production Directed by - Mark Woolgar
Choreography
and Musical Staging by - Michael
Vernon
Musical
Direction and Orchestrations by - Malcolm Sircom
Musicians
Flute/Piccolo/Clarinet - Ian Herbert
Oboe - Thelma Marion
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet - Peter Cook
Trumpet -
Trombone - David Bentley
Percussion - John Webster
Piano - Malcolm Sircom
Sets
designed by - Joe Vanek
Costumes
Designed by - Caroline McCulloch
Lighting
Designed by - Stephen Hocking
Rehearsal
Accommodation -
Stage
Manager - Ian Hesketh
Deputy Stage
Manager -
Assistant
Stage Manager - Barbara Mates & John Downman
Please note, the webmaster has used some guess work in
listing the minor performers in the song listing. For example it is assumed
that whenever either the “maids” or “servants” appear in the song listing in
the programme, then that presumably refers mainly to Zelah Clarke and Louise
Gold. When “Cockneys” are listed as singing it is assumed one means a chorus or
cockneys, although there are performers (Adam Richardson and Jane Gurnett who
are listed specifically as Cockneys). There appears to be some confusion over
the Street Entertainers, the running order states there are three but only
lists two in the cast list. However, it has been confirmed that most actors in minor
listed parts, as one would expect, also doubled as members of the chorus
whenever required.
Musical Numbers
Act 1
Street Entertainers
- The Three Buskers (Kate Lock, John Cogan & ?)
Why Can’t The English
- Higgins (John Humphrey)
Wouldn’t It Be Loverly
- Eliza and Cockneys (Cookie
With A Little Bit Of Luck
- Doolittle, Harry and Jamie (
I’m An Ordinary Man
- Higgins (John Humphrey)
With A Little Bit Of Luck (Reprise)
- Doolittle and Ensemble (
Just You Wait - Eliza
(Cookie
The Rain In
I Could Have Danced All Night
- Eliza, Mrs Pearce and Maids (Cookie
On The Street Where You Live
- Freddy (Ted Merwood)
The Embassy Waltz
- Higgins, Eliza, Karpathy and Full Ensemble (John Humphrey, Cookie
Act 2
You Did It -
Higgins, Pickering, Mrs Pearce and Servants (John Humphrey, George
Woolley, Joan Ryan, Zelah Clarke, Louise Gold and Stephen
Hartford)
Just You Wait (Reprise)
- Eliza (Cookie
On The Street Where You Live (Reprise)
- Freddy (Ted Merwood)
Show Me - Eliza
and Freddy (Cookie
Wouldn’t It Be Loverly (Reprise)
- Eliza and Cockneys (Cookie
Get Me To The Church On Time
- Doolittle, Harry, Jamie and Ensemble (
A Hymn To Him -
Higgins (John Humphrey)
Without You - Eliza
and Higgins (Cookie
I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face
- Higgins (John Humphrey)
This production was actually the inaugural production
for the current Derby Playhouse building, which was opened by The
Duke Of Devonshire on 20 September 1975.
.
Louise Gold and Billy James
had previously appeared in Hair.
Louise Gold and John Cogan
went on to appear in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production)
Louise Gold, John Cogan, Adam
Richardson, and, Clive Carter went on to appear in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (York Production), which also had
choreography by Michael Vernon.
Louise Gold’s fellow maid Zelah
Clarke has also gone on to achieve some success in her career, most notably
playing the title role in a television adaptation of Jane Eyre.
Arnold Peters has gone to play Jack
Woolley in The Archers
Louise Gold and Jane Gurnett
(along with Felicity Steel) subsequently formed an alternative comedy
group called Anna Rexic And The Compulsives.
Clive Carter may have gone on to
appear in Dear Ralph, and, Comedy Tonight
Having very likely been one of the backing singers in this
production for the number I Could Have Danced All Night, Many
many years later Louise Gold may
have the lead vocal in a parody of the song, I Could Have Counted All
Night, on Sesame Street, the performance
has made it onto the album The Count’s Countdown; which
credited her as singing it, however their is some doubt as to whether she
actually was the singer. Apparently, also on Sesame
Street she sang, along with Carroll
Spinney, a parody of Wouldn’t It Be Luverly as Wouldn’t
It Be Yucky.
I’m An Ordinary Man, in which Higgins vows
that he will never let a woman in his life is probably one of the most ironic
or “don’t believe a word of it”. It was originally introduced by a leading man
who was married several times, while the lyricist managed in the course of his
life to marry eight times, the last being Liz Robertson. About 19 years
after appearing in this production of My Fair Lady, Louise
Gold found herself on stage at an arts festival in
One is moved to wonder whether The Stage critic’s
comment about Cookie Weymouth’s singing voice might have been
accentuated by the presence of a rather powerful singer not only in the chorus
itself but as a backing singer on two numbers that did not involve the full
chorus.
Critics Comments
.
“Notable also is Cookie
