Ziegfeld
Louise Gold starred as Fanny Brice and other assorted
characters at London Palladium, from: Tuesday 26 April 1988, revamped Tuesday 2
August 1988. Closed 1 October 1988.
Basically Louise Gold's job in the show was to play
the resident female comedians of the Ziegfeld shows. Geoffrey Hutchings being
her male counterpart. Like
Fanny Brice, Louise Gold has a flair for getting away with
totally ridiculous numbers, she is one of those rare talents in can make an
unusual interpretation work; which if anyone else tried to do that way,
wouldn't work, but when she does it she pulls it off.
The show had a troubled history, three months after
opening the show was extensively revamped, with endless changes, summed up by
Louise herself as:
“It’s ordeal by fire. You think ‘I’m going on
at the Palladium in front of 2,600 people with a number I’ve rehearsed for half
an hour.’ I’m halfway between a nightmare and real excitement. But the way it
happened is horrible.” Louise Gold to Tim Rayment, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 22
May 1988
But even those
rapid changes did not stop the turkey from crashing during the autumn Like many
a flop show it was nicknamed, in Ziegfeld's case "Fielding's
Follies" after its main backer Harold Fielding.
The character-actor listing below may not be entirely
accurate for every performance, the show was continually being worked on: For example, in the limited edition LP of the show, Louise
Gold and Geoffrey Hutchings sing a song by the songwriters Ed
Gallagher and Al Sheen, as Ed Gallagher and Al Sheen, so presumably
at some point during the run of the show Louise played Ed Gallagher (however, I
have not so far found a programme listing her as doing so).
Cast
On Opening (26 April 1988)
Florenz
Ziegfeld Jr, also: (singer in Dates To Remember) - Len Cariou
Goldie
(Ziegfeld's secretary), also: Madam Lillian (the millener)/Janet (the planet),
solo singer (various)/ Telephonist - Louise Gold
Writer/Narrator,
also: Solo Singer (various)/Milkman/The entire staff of the restaurant/Gangster
- Geoffrey Hutchings
The Dolly
Sisters - Jaynee and Michelle Jordan
Anna Held - Fabienne
Guynon
Lillian
Lorraine (Mary Frances Brennan) - Aiki Georgiou
Billie Burke
- Hayden Gwynne
Marilyn
Miller - Amanda Rickard
Maitre d'/
Clergyman etc - Jonathan Owen
Gangster's
moll - Susan Holland
Ensemble
(Ziegfeld Girls, Male Chorus, Reporters, Gangsters etc):
Madeline Aveson, Nicola Bacon, Miranda
Bass, Suzanne Bennett, Sonia Boddy, Karen Bruce, Terry
Cavanagh, Jacey Collins, Lisa-Marie Danby, Anna David,
Sarah Dyall, Marie Gallanghar, Emma Hendry, Stephanie
Hicks, Sallie Jay, Hannah-Jane Johnson, Helen Kelly, Jill
Marshall, Fiona McKenzie, Clare Monk, Karen Newsome, Gyanna
Oladjins, Suzanne Parker, Sandy Phillips, Catherine Rees,
Julie Shippam, Keely Ann Smith, David Ashley, Paul
Dansbury, Jason di Mascio, Richard Gough, Angus Michael
Todd, Jon Smart, and Jeremy Woolston.
Understudies:
for Amanda Rickard - Sarah Dyall and Claire
Monk
for Louise Gold - Susan Holland
for Fabienne Guyon - Julia Howson
for Haydn Gwynne - Julia Howson
for Aliki Georgiou - Susan Holland
for Geoffrey Hutchings - Jonathan Owen
Swing dancers - William Folan-Conray, Julia
Howson, Claire Lynd, Fiona McKenzie, Alexandra Moore,
and Nikki Squires
After the revamp (2 August 1998)
Florenz
Ziegfeld Jr, also: Singer (in Dates To Remember)/ Ed Gallagher - Topol
Fanny Brice,
also: Uncle Sam, solo singer (various)/ Telephonist, Miss Whoopee - Louise
Gold
Writer/Narrator,
also: Eddie Cantor, Ramone, Will Rogers,Solo Singer (various) /Gangster/Al
Sheen - Geoffrey Hutchings
The Dolly
Sisters - Jaynee and Michelle Jordan
Anna Held - Fabienne
Guynon
Lillian
Lorraine (Mary Frances Brennan) - Aiki Georgiou
Billie Burke
- Hayden Gwynne
Marilyn
Miller - Amanda Rickard
Maitre d'/
Clergyman etc - Jonathan Owen
Goldie
(Ziegfeld's secretary) - Susan Holland
Ensemble
(Ziegfeld Girls, Male Chorus, Reporters, Gangsters etc):
Madeline Aveson, Nicola Bacon, Miranda
Bass, Emma Bennett, Sonia Boddy, Karen Bruce, Terry
Cavanagh, Jacey Collins, Lisa-Marie Danby, Anna David,
Sarah Dyall, Marie Gallanghar, Emma Hendry, Stephanie
Hicks, Sallie Jay, Hannah-Jane Johnson, Helen Kelly, Jill
Marshall, Fiona McKenzie, Clare Monk, Karen Newsome, Gyanna
Oladjins, Suzanne Parker, Sandy Phillips, Catherine Rees,
Julie Shippam, Keely Ann Smith, David Ashley, Paul
Dansbury, Jason di Mascio, Richard Gough, Angus Michael
Todd, Jon Smart, and Jeremy Woolston.
Understudies:
for Amanda Rickard - Sarah Dyall and Claire
Monk
for Louise Gold - Susan Holland
for Fabienne Guyon - Julia Howson
for Haydn Gwynne - Julia Howson
for Aliki Georgiou - Susan Holland
for Geoffrey Hutchings - Jonathan Owen
for Jaynee and Michelle Jordan - Sally Jay
standby for Topol - Mark Urquhart
Swing dancers - William Folan-Conray, Julia
Howson, Claire Lynd, Fiona McKenzie, Alexandra Moore,
and Nikki Squires
Production Team
On Opening (26 April 1998)
Conceived/Directed/Choreographed
by - Joe Layton
Book - Ned
Sherrin and Alistair Beaton
Score
devised by - Michael Reed
Score
written by - (various people)
Décor - Robin
Don
Costumes - Theoni
V Aldredge
Lighting - Tharon
Musser
Musical
Director -
Sound - Edward
Fardell
Dance Music
- Marvin Laird.
After the revamp (2 August 1988)
Additional
Direction -Wendy Toye
Conceived/Directed/Choreographed
by - Joe Layton
Book - Ned
Sherrin and Alistair Beaton
Score
devised by - Michael Reed
Score
written by - (various people)
Décor - Robin
Don
Costumes - Theoni
V Aldredge
Lighting - Tharon
Musser
Musical
Director -
Sound - Edward
Fardell
Dance Music
- Marvin Laird
The cast made a very limited
edition LP recording of parts of the show, only 250 copies were printed.
Although the major revamp occurred on 2 August 1988.
There had been a mini-revamp on the 16 May 1988, when Len Cariou
resigned, and was replaced (at that afternoon’s matinee) as Ziegfeld by his
understudy Marc Urquhart (until Topol took over the role on 2
August 1988). Meanwhile on the same day, director Joe Layton was
replaced by Tommy Steele. In addition there were endless changes
throughout the show’s infamous seven month run.
According to The Guinness Book Of Records,
Ziegfeld’s losses of around £3 million are equal to those
of King (a musical about Martin Luther King that
ran for 6 weeks in London ending on 2 June 1990), and are the joint second
greatest theatrical losses. First place for this record goes to Carrie
produced in
Len Cariou, who starred in this
production when it opening is no stranger to starring in unfortunate shows, he
also starred, along with Liz Robertson (Lerner) in Alan J Lerner's
last Broadway Show, Dance A Little Closer, which lasted
precisely one night on Broadway, and was thereafter nicknamed "Closed
A Little Sooner".
In fact Len Cariou was not the only cast member
with previous experience of notable flops. Five years before Ziegfeld,
Louise Gold appeared in a tour of Bryony Lavery’s play Bag, whose gala opening night, in Grantham, was so poorly
attended a disaster, that it too got into the Guinness Book Of Records.
Louise Gold had previously appeared in
another Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton concoction Metropolitan Mikado and highlights from that
featured in Ratepayers' Iolanthe
& Metropolitan Mikado
Hayden Gwynne went on to appear as Alex
The Assistant Editor in Channel 4's Drop The Dead Donkey.
Michael Reed went on to conduct The
BBC Concert Orchestra for Sondheim At
The Barbican, and to play the piano for A
Love Letter To Dan. He recording credits include conducting on Great Duets From The Musicals, The Great Musicals - Wonderful Tales, The Great Musicals – Glamour And Majesty,
and, The Great Musicals – Laughter And Tears.
Louise Gold and Geoffrey Hutchings
both went on to appear in the film Topsy Turvy .
Len Cariou’s
recording credits include The History
Of The Musical
Ned Sherrin went on to work on Chicago & Company, Broadway To Brighton, Ned Sherrin’s Review Of Revue, The Side By Side By Sondheim 25th
Anniversary Gala, and, Side By Side By
Sondheim 30th Anniversary Gala. He may also have been involved
with Will-Aid and Comedy
Tonight.
Julia Howson went on to feature on the
album Anything Goes (recording) - Website
Recommended Album
Topol’s recording credits include The Greatest Musicals of
the 20th Century, which
While the ensemble pre and post revamp remained
largely unchanged, Suzanne Bennett appears to have become listed as Emma
Bennett in the post revamp version, whether this is the same actress I do
not know.
One of the revamp additions was the song Making
Whoopee, sung by Ziegfeld, Topol, to Miss Whoopee, Louise
Gold. This interpolation was because the song happens to be a particular
favourite of the Additional Director, Wendy Toye, who actually performed
it back in 1947 in her audition for the role of Winnie Tate in the original
One
of the songs in the show was Mister Gallagher And Mister Sheen
which was written by Ed
Gallagher and Al
Sheen for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922. As they recorded it,
they also presumably introduced it themselves in the show. The lyrics were
later rewritten by Johnny Mercer for Bing Crosby as Mister
Crosby And Mister Mercer, a number about Swing and Jazz, which of
course was sung on radio by Bing Crosby and Johnny Mercer.
The Dolly Sisters were also represented in Julia And
Company.
Five years later Ned Sherrin,
After Ned
Sherrin’s death The Company Of
Mary Poppins late night FUNdraising cabaret special was dedicated to him.
Twelve years later Louise Gold appeared in
another musical with a very Ziegfeld Follies theme, the Stephen
Sondheim musical Follies, in which she played
Phyllis Rogers Stone, an ex-Follies girl attending a reunion of ex-Follies
girls, where they stumble through a song or two - which in Louise Gold’s
case included some sensational tap dancing!
Alistair Beaton also wrote material for Spitting Image, he went on
to provide additional material for a production The Gondoliers, featuring Louise Gold (she sang some of his
additional material).
Louise Gold had previously appeared at The
London Palladium in The
Royal Variety Performance (1977), she went on to appear in another charity
concert, Kids At Heart. Sixteen years after
Ziegfeld, Louise Gold finally returned to The London
Palladium in a big hit West End show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Critics Comments
On Opening (26 April 1998)
"Spitting Image's Louise
Gold is as funny as ever" Hilary Bonner, DAILY MIRROR, 27
April 1988
"Louise
Gold is a fine comedienne who crops up in several roles" Michael
Darvell,
“Ziegfeld’s contribution to comedy, however
much he hated it, is also dealt with perfunctorily, Geoffrey Hutchings and
Louise Gold being saddled with playing both characters in the biographical
episodes and hinting at the comedy stars used as little as possible by
Ziegfeld.” Peter Hepple, THE STAGE, 5 May 1988.
"Of
the best of the women, Louise Gold sings robustly in a number of roles."
Francis King, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 1 May 1988
"As
for Louise Gold and Geoffrey Hutchings - they take on far too many characters
to establish their identities-marvellously amusing though Ms Gold briefly is as
a sentimental telephonist playing cupid between Mr and Mrs Ziegfeld." Maureen
Paton, DAILY EXPRESS, 27 April 1988
"I
was pleasantly surprised to find a damn good story-line played with convincing
emotion by the principal performers, especially Louise Gold, Geoffrey Hutchings
and of course Len Cariou" Richard Perry, Letter in THE STAGE, 5 May
1988
After the revamp (2 August 1998)
"The
trans continental telephone call between Ziegfeld his second wife Billie Burke
(Haydn Gwynne) - is 'hilariously edited' by telephone operator Louise Gold who
also doubles bravely and brassily as Fanny Brice" Paul Chand, THE
STAGE, 18 August 1988
"Louise
Gold's delightfully gauche Fanny Brice and Amanda Rickard's high-kicking blaze
of athleticism and verbal pyrotechnics - provide comic and sexual dynamism
otherwise missing." Nicholas de Jongh, THE GUARDIAN, 4 August 1988
"Louise
Gold - provokes the first ovation of the evening with "Second Hand
Rose" without resorting to Streisand imitation." Martin Hoyle,
FINANCIAL TIMES, 3 August 1988
"Louise
Gold and Geoffrey Hutchings are again way ahead on all points" Sue
Jameson
"The
talented comedians Louise Gold and Geoffrey Hutchings were completely wasted in
such a gaudy ragbag of a show" Maureen Paton, DAILY EXPRESS, 18
August 1988
“Fanny Brice was identified on the stage
but not in the programme, but that didn’t matter, because with Louise Gold we
finally got a spurt of the life which had been desperately lacking
theretofore.” John Russell Taylor, PLAYS INTERNATIONAL, September 1988
"The
rest of the cast are doubtless exhausted by working on a show that is so
dreadful it has become a parody of a parody. Only Louise Gold has a good
enough voice and presence to belt out a decent tune." Val Sampson,
TODAY, 3 August 1988
"what
comedy there was has been reduced to a shadow of a shadow leaving the talented Mr
Geoffrey Hutchings and Louise Gold - previously the professional highlights of
the entire event - with little more to do than sit backstage and polish their
nails." Jack Tinker, DAILY MAIL, 5 August 1988
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