A
Concert Version of
The Soap Opera
Louise Gold appeared
in this one night concert staging, at The Piccadilly Theatre on Sunday 29
November 1987.
It
should be noted that most of the actors in the cast were portraying actors
playing characters in a soap opera, so both their characters names and their characters
parts in the soap opera within the show are given below.
Cast (includes)
Mercy Bleet playing
Tammy Hazel playing Nurse Crain - Louise Gold
Hildegarde Edge playing Constance Chessington - Jan Hartley
Anita Chandos playing Nurse
Mendelssohn - Gay Soper
Winthrop Roberts playing Warren - Steve Devereaux
Van Austin playing Craig Van Horn - Robert Meadmore
Simon Carp playing Wallace and Walter Chessington
- Berwick Kaler
Glen Bexley playing Brick Baxter - Dudley Stevens
Brett Forester playing The Floor Manager - Adam Wide
Hosted by - Christopher Biggins (but see below)
Production Team
Book & Lyrics by - Dudley Stevens
Music by - Martin Yates
Presented by - Associate Productions Limited
It says on
the flyer that the show was hosted by Christopher Biggins,
and this has been confirmed by Martin Yates; However according to Musical
Stages magazine Louise Gold and Christopher Biggins had never worked together prior to Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang, and Mr Biggins
apparently has no recollection of having been in it.
This one night
concert performance of The Soap Opera is so far the only time the
show has actually been performed, so far.
Louise Gold, Christopher Biggins, and, Berwick
Kaler may have returned to The Piccadilly Theatre a month later to take part in Thing A Thon.
Steve Devereaux, and, Louise
Gold had previously appeared in Joseph And The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Norwich Production).
Rosemary
Ashe, Louise Gold, Robert
Meadmore and Dudley Stevens had previously
appeared in The Metropolitan Mikado and
the Concert Of Highlights From The Ratepayers’ Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado.
Gay Soper and Dudley
Stevens had previously appeared in The Ratepayers’ Iolanthe and the Concert Of
Highlights From The Ratepayers’
Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado .
Robert Meadmore may
have previously appeared in Will-Aid. His recording
credits include, The Great
Musicals – Dashing Heroes, Blushing Maidens
Robert Meadmore and Christopher
Biggins went on to appear in Kids At Heart, their
recording credits include Simply Musicals
Robert Meadmore and Louise
Gold had previously appeared together on television in Julia And Company, they went on to appear
together on stage in Side By Side By Sondehim, the Side By
Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary Gala, and Hubert
Gregg’s Memorial Service. They
also took part in Shopping With The Stars 2008.
Christopher
Biggins
may have gone on to appear in Dear Ralph.
Gay Soper and Christopher
Biggins went on to appear in Regents Park 70th Anniversary Gala.
Gay Soper went on
to appear at Dress Circle Grand
Reopening, and, Shopping With
The Stars 2009, her recording credits include Cabaret,
and, Centre Stage Showtime!.
Martin
Yates’s recording credits
include: Stop The World I Want
To Get Off , The Best Of
Broadway Musicals, Encore The Very Best From The
Musicals, Great Duets From The
Musicals, Cole Porter - Night And
Day, The History Of The Musical,
Simply Musicals, The Greatest Musicals of
the 20th Century, Centre
Stage Showtime!, The Great Musicals -
Wonderful Tales, The Great
Musicals – Dashing Heroes, Blushing Maidens, The Great Musicals – Glamour And Majesty, The Great Musicals – Laughter And Tears, Magic Of The Musicals, The Best Of The Musicals, 100 Hits Musicals.
Louise Gold went on to return to The Piccadilly Theatre,
this time for a month, in Noises Off where funnily
enough she also played an actress playing a character.
Louise
Gold and Christopher
Biggins went gone on to appear together in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baroness and Baron Bomburst respectively.
Louise Gold, Robert Meadmore, Gay Soper, and, Christopher Biggins went on to appear in Side By Side By
Sondheim 30th Anniversary Gala.
Jan Hartley, and, Robert Meadmore went on to appear in A Love Letter To Dan.
Rosemary Ashe went on to originate the role of
Miss Andrew in the stage version of Mary
Poppins, a role which Louise
Gold took over in the
Gay Soper, and, Rosemary Ashe’s recording credits include Magic Of The
Musicals.
Steve Devereaux, and, Robert
Meadmore’s
recording credits include 100 Hits Musicals.
Links about The Soap Opera
Composer
Martin Yates’s company
