The Regents Park Open Air Theatre
70th Anniversary Gala
Louise Gold featured, as herself playing Adriana from The Boys From Syracuse, at The Regents
Park Open Air Theatre, on 1 September 2002
Cast
Narrators
Ian Talbot and Judi Dench
Performers In Illustrative Extracts
David
Alder (as a Major
General from The Pirates Of
Jamie
Beamish
Paul
Bentley (as Gremio
from Kiss Me Kate)
John
Berlyne
Gillian
Bevan (as Luciana
from The Boys From
Cameron
Blackeley (as
Charley from Where’s Charley)
Paul
Bradley (as one of
the cast from Pirates Of Penzance)
Steve
Bradford
Harry
Burton (as Harold
Hill from The Music Man)
Claire
Carrie (as Jennifer
Rumson from Paint Your Wagon)
Jon
Cartwright
Bernard
Cribbins (as Watty
Watkins from Lady Be Good)
John
Conroy
Daniel
Crossley (as A
Pierrot from Oh What A Lovely War)
Alison
Crowther
Benedict
Cumberbatch
Joshua
Dallas (as
Alicia
Davies
Janie Dee (as
Peter Duncan (as Denny Machin from The
Card)
Rodger
Dunklee
Fiona
Dunn
Howard
Ellis
Karen
Evans (as Mabel
from The Pirates Of
Lucie
Florentine
Peter
Forbes
Jenny
Galloway (as Luce
from The Boys From
Louise
Gold (as Adriana
from The Boys From
Dickon
Gough
Nigel
Harman
Rebecca
Hartley
Graeme
Henderson (as
Lucentio from Kiss Me Kate)
Sara
Hiller
John
Hodgkinson (as The
Drill Sergeant from Oh What A Lovely War)
Eileen
Hunter
Andrew
Hutchings
Jimmy
Johnston (as The
Pirate King from The Pirates Of
Ramin
Karimloo
Abigail
Langham
Adam Levy
Dominic
Marsh (as A Pierrot
from Oh What A Lovely War)
Jessica
Martin (as Bunny
Byron from Babes In Arms)
Caitlin
Mottram
Tam Mutu (as A Pierrot from Oh What A
Lovely War)
Audrey
Palmer
Harry
Peacock (as A
Pierrot from Oh What A Lovely War)
Su
Pollard (as Ruth
from The Pirates Of
Lucy
Quick (as Mabel
from The Pirates Of
Issy Van
Randwyck (as Bianca
from Kiss Me Kate)
Joanne
Redman
Joanna
Riding (as Susie
Trevor from Lady Be Good)
Liz
Robertson (as
Marian Paroo from The Music Man)
Mark
Roper
Clive
Rowe (as Gus Esmond
from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Jenna
Russell (as Nellie
from The Card)
Michael
Sadler
Liza
Sadovy
Tony
Selby (as Ben
Rumson from Paint Your Wagon)
Gay Soper (as Ruth from The Pirates Of
Mark
Umbers (as
Giles
Taylor (as The
Sergeant from The Pirates Of
Paul
Thornley (as
Hortensio from Kiss Me Kate)
Andrew C
Wadsworth (as
Petruchio from Kiss Me Kate)
Gary
Wilmot (As The
Pirate King from The Pirates Of
Guests
Maria
Aitken
Billy
Barker
Christopher
Biggins
Rhys
Ifans
Saeed
Jaffrey
Rachel
Kavanaugh
Natasha
McElhone
Mr Medwin
Haley
Mills
Tim
Piggott-Smith
Denis
Quilley
Carol
Royle
Samantha
Spiro
Paula
Wilcox
Production Team
Artistic
Director - Ian Talbot
Musical
Director - Catherine Jayes
Orchestrations
- Catherine Jayes, Steven Edis, William Barnett, Duncan
Lamont Jnr
Band
Members - Emma Fowler, Duncan
Lamont Jnr, Richard Hammond, Liam Kirkham, David Berry,
Robert Millett, William Barnett, Catherine Jayes
Choreography
- Gillian Gregory, Lisa Kent, Kenn Oldfield
Sound
Designer - Emma Laxton
Lighting
Designer - Daniel Lloyd
Click here
for a full review/account of
the gala
All of the performers appearing in the show had
previously appeared with The New Shakespeare Company at The Regents
Park Open Air Theatre.
Louise Gold, Jenny Galloway,
and Gillian Bevan were in The Boys
From Syracuse, as was Samantha Spiro, directed by Judi Dench
with musical direction by Catherine Jayes, for which Kenn Oldfield
did the choreography
Issy Van Randwyck, Paul Bentley, Graeme
Henderson, Paul Thornley and Andrew C Wadsworth had appeared
in Kiss Me Kate, as indeed did Rebecca
Hartley, Lucy Quick and Louise Gold, which was directed by Ian
Talbot, with musical direction by Catherine Jayes. Steven Edis
also worked on this production, and Liza Kent did the choreography
Samantha Spiro, Jenny Galloway
and Louise Gold appeared in the 1991 production of A Midsummer Nights Dream, which was directed
by Ian Talbot with choreography by Kenn Oldfield
For three weeks up until the night before this gala, Louise
Gold and Paul Bentley were appearing in Follies.
Louise Gold also reprised her The
Boys From Syracuse performance of Sing For Your Supper in
A Lost Musicals Occasion, but
without Jenny Galloway and Gillian Bevan
Comedy Tonight is one of those wonderful numbers often
incorporated into compilation shows, for example Louise Gold has been
involved in singing it in such productions as Side By Side By Sondheim and Curtain Up. She may also have performed it (with Kenn
Oldfield’s choreography) in a gala called Comedy
Tonight.
Judi Dench and Gay Soper also
appears on the JAY/TER recording of Cabaret
Paul Bentley has previously appeared
in Assassins
John Berlyne had previously appeared
in New Girl In Town
Maria Aitken, Gillian Bevan, Christopher
Biggins and Steven Edis, had previously appeared in Kids At Heart, and Jessica Martin may have
appeared in it.
Liz Robertson and Steven Edis
had previously contributed to A Time To
Start Living.
Fiona Dunn had previously appeared
in Of Thee I Sing, and, Final Chic Cabaret 2003.
Gay Soper had previously appeared in Ratepayers' Iolanthe
& Metropolitan Mikado
Gay Soper and Christopher Biggins had previously
appeared in The Soap Opera
Peter Forbes had previously appeared
in Mamma Mia, as of course have Louise Gold
and Jenny Galloway
Louise Gold and Jessica Martin
have appeared together on several occasions: Something For The Boys, and, A Lost Musicals Occasion. They also
both worked on Spitting Image and feature on
the album Spit In Your Ear. They have also
appeared on the radio on: Let’s Do The Show Right Here.
Louise Gold, Jessica Martin,
and, Abigail Langham had previously appeared in One Touch Of Venus (2000 Production)
Louise Gold, Jessica Martin,
and, Paul Bentley were all members of The Company on the radio on Ned Sherrin’s Review Of Revue.
Liz Robertson has previously appeared
in: The Royal Variety
Performance (1982), Chicago & Company,
Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It. Side By Side By Sondheim, and the Side By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary
Gala. Her recording credits include
Cole Porter - Night And Day, The Great
Musicals – Laughter And Tears and Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It. She may
have appeared in Will-Aid.
Kenn Oldfield did some of the
choreography for Will-Aid.
Liza Sadovy appeared in the film Billy The Kid And The
Green Baize Vampire.
Issy Van Randwyck has previously appeared
in: Love Life, By Jupiter,
and Hot ‘n’ Spicey 2, her recording credits
include Encore The Very Best
From The Musicals , Cole Porter -
Night And day, The Great Musicals –
Laughter And Tears and The History
Of The Musical. Her appearance in this gala is only about her second since
the memorable occasion when Louise Gold stood in for her at The
Hampstead And Highgate Arts Festival (see Louise Gold Sings Some Nice Songs)
Kenn Oldfield and Louise Gold
had appeared together on stage 26 years previously in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production).
Gillian Bevan and Louise Gold
may also have danced Kenn Oldfield’s choreography in Comedy Tonight
Janie Dee, and, Judi Dench may also have gone
on to appear in Comedy Tonight
Louise Gold and Jenny Galloway
have previously appeared together in Godspell
Denis Quilley and Louise Gold
have previously appeared in Let ‘Em Eat Cake
Giles Taylor had previously appeared
in Into Exile
Issy Van Randwyck, Jessica Martin,
and, Gay Soper went on to appear at Dress Circle Grand Reopening
Peter Duncan is of course
best known for having presented Blue Peter, during his time on the
programme, in 1983, Louise Gold once
made an appearance as a guest in an item about the film The Dark Crystal.
It is perhaps worth noting that once, when Peter
Duncan left Blue Peter (in the autumn of 1986), Clive Rowe
auditioned for, but did not get, his job. He lost out to one of the best
broadcasters to have graced British television and radio in the 1980’s and
90’s.
Janie Dee’s recording credits include Defiant Dames, which Clive Rowe was also
involved with.
Alicia Davies,
Fiona Dunn and Louise Gold have gone on to appear together in The Gondoliers and The Water Babies
Alicia Davies and Louise Gold went
on to appear in another theatre (
Paul Bradley went on to appear in Noises Off (alongside two performers from the
Janie Dee, Joanna Riding, and, Peter Forbes
had previously appeared on television on A
Week In The West End.
Christopher Biggins’s recording credits
include Simply Musicals.
Christopher Biggins, Bernard Cribbins,
Janie Dee, and, Joanna Riding
may have previously appeared in Dear Ralph, which
was also directed by Ian Talbot.
Gary Wilmot
and Christopher Biggins went on to appear (alongside Louise Gold)
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Gary Wilmot’s recording credits
include The Greatest
Musicals of the 20th Century.
Liz Robertson, and, Louise Gold went on to appear in a gala
dedicated to Denis Quilley, Happily Ever After.
Janie Dee, Judi Dench, Liz Robertson, Gay Soper,
and, Christopher Biggins went on to
appear in Side By Side By Sondheim 30th
Anniversary Gala.
Janie Dee, and, Jessica Martin went on to appear in A Love Letter To Dan.
Denis Quilley’s recording credits
include The Great Musicals - Wonderful Tales.
Gillian Bevan, Clive Rowe, and, Gay Soper’s recording credits include Centre Stage Showtime!.
Louise Gold has gone on to
sing a very different version of Comedy Tonight in a late night
FUNdraising special featuring The
Company Of Mary Poppins.
Paul
Bentley has gone on to appear, along with Louise Gold, in Mary Poppins.
Liz Robertson, Ian Talbot, and, Issy Van Randwyck went on to take part in Shopping With The Stars.
Critics Comments
“
...not least ‘Sing for your supper’ from The Boys From Syracuse, beautifully trilled
again by as good as a girls group gets - Louise Gold, Jenny Galloway and
Gillian Beavan” Mike Walters, MUSICAL STAGES, Issue 35/36, Winter
2002/2003
Links about The
Regents Park Open Air Theatre 70th Anniversary Gala
The Unofficial Chronology Of Dame Judi
Dench’s Career’s review of the evening: http://www.djdchronology2.com/openairtheatregala2002.htm
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