The Royal Variety Performance (1977)
-The
Silver Jubilee Royal Variety
- in
the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke Of
Louise Gold
featured as a Muppeteer (Puppeteering Big Mama), at the London Palladium on
Monday 21 November 1977, in aid of the Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund
Cast and Production Team information, from the
"Royal Variety Performance programme reproduced by permission of "The
Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund"...)
Cast
The Host - Bob Hope
Performing: Julie Andrews, Paul Anka, Pam Ayres, Harry Belafonte, Brotherhood Of Man, Tommy Cooper, Alan King, Cleo Laine with John Dankworth and John Williams, Little And Large, Shirley Maclaine, Jim Henson’s Muppets, Rudolph Nureyve
Also Appearing:
Brotherhood Of Man - Roger Greenaway, Tony Burrows (14-4-42), Johnny Goodison, Sunny Leslie and Sue Glover
Little And Large - Syd Little and Eddie Large
Jim Henson’s Muppets - Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold
Production Team
Presented by - Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont
Producers - Carry Smith and Dwight Hemion
Musical Director - Jack Parnell
Stage Director - Robert Nesbitt
Cast and Production Team information, from the
"Royal Variety Performance programme reproduced by permission of "The
Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund"...)
Note, the Cast
listing is also more or less the running order.
It really has
to be noted that Prince Charles, The Prince Of Wales, was also
amongst the Royal Party.
Surprising as
it may seem, Louise Gold appeared on The Royal Variety
again five years later, in her actress’s guise, at
The Muppet
puppeteers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard
Hunt, Dave Goelz, and Louise Gold were all puppeteers on The Muppet Show (although five months
into her puppeteering career, Louise Gold was still very much the new
girl). All six puppeteers went on to: feature in the documentary Of Muppets And Men, perform on the film The
Great Muppet Caper, and TV special The Muppets Go To The Movies and have featured on the Muppet
albums: The Muppet Show Music Hall,
The Muppet Show 2, For What It’s Worth, The Muppet Show Music Album, The Great Muppet Caper (Soundtrack
album), John
Denver & The Muppets A Christmas Together, John Denver &
The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM, Christmas For Kids, John Denver Christmas, Jim
Henson Presents Silly Songs, Favorite Songs From Jim
Henson’s Muppets, Muppet Music Sampler,
Muppet Hits 1, Muppet
Hits 2, Muppet Music Mix (although Louise
Gold was not credited), and, Music
Mayhem And More (although Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold were not
credited). Jack Parnell was also the Musical Director for The Muppet Show (and various other Lew
Grade television comedy productions), and conducted the band on tracks on
most of the above albums.
In addition
several of the other performers taking part in this Royal Variety, namely: Rudolph Nureyve, Cleo Laine, Julie Andrews,
Bob Hope, and, Harry Belafonte were Guest Stars on The
Muppet Show, mostly during the second series.
Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard
Hunt, and, Louise Gold also sang on Elmo’s Lowdown Hoedown.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise
Gold also sang on Born To Add.
Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, and, Louise
Gold went on to work on the television programme Sesame
Street (in the early 1990s), and on films
The Muppet Christmas Carol , and, Muppet
Treasure Island, and they sang on The Muppet Christmas Carol
(Soundtrack album).
As Muppeteers Louise
Gold and Jerry Nelson (with an introduction by Jim Henson)
sang on the compilation album Jerome Kern The First 100 Years
(although they were only credited as ‘The Muppets’)
Cleo Laine and Julie Andrew’s recording credits also
include: Jerome Kern The First
100 Years
Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise
Gold also appeared on stage in “a
burlesque show with some of Muppet-company”.
Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, and, Louise
Gold also puppeteered on The Dark Crystal,
for which Jerry Nelson did some voice-work.
Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and, Dave Goelz also
puppeteered on Labyrinth.
Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold went on
to puppeteer on The Animal Show, on which Frank Oz made a guest puppeteering
appearance.
Bob Hope, Julie Andrews,.Harry Belafonte, Cleo
Laine and Rudolph Nureyve have all been guest stars on The Muppet Show at one time or another.
Louise Gold, Jim Henson, and, Richard Hunt all went on to puppeteer
on Tale Of The Bunny Picnic.
Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz (besides puppeteering
on Fraggle
Rock itself) went on to do voice-work on the UK Co-Production of Fraggle Rock, on which Louise Gold puppeteered.
Cleo Laine and John Dankworth went on to appear in A Time To Start Living, and, Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary
Gala.
Cleo Laine went on to appear in the Side By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary
Gala, for which John Dankworth provided an orchestration.
Frank Oz,
Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz,
Louise Gold, and, Harry Belafonte went on to take part in
Jim Henson’s Memorial Service.
This was
probably the first time Louise Gold appeared at The London Palladium,
she has gone on to appear there in: the musicals Ziegfeld and Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang, as well as a one night charity gala called Kids At Heart.
Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold went on to puppeteer on The Secret Life Of Toys, their recording
credits include A Green And Red
Christmas.
Louise Gold and Richard Hunt went on
to puppeteer on The Ghost Of Faffner
Hall.
Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and, Louise Gold’s recording credits include
The Count’s Countdown, however there has
been some debate as to whether Louise
Gold actually sang on it.
Cleo Laine’s recording credits include 100 Hits
Musicals.
Critics Comments
.
Links about The Royal Variety Performance
The Royal
Variety’s website: http://www.eabf.org.uk/rvp1.htm
Kermitage’s
Charter Guide part B (have a look
for Big Mama on it): http://www.kermitage.com/html/characterindex/tms/characterb.html
Muppet Wiki’s entry for the show (includes a description of what The Muppets
actually performed on it): http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Royal_Variety_Performance#1977
