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Martins
Bank Society of the Arts (Music Section) in The Pirates of Penzance by
Gilbert and Sullivan
Staged:
21st to 25th February 1956 at the Crane Theatre Liverpool
 Performing now for the last time as the “Music Section
of the Society of the Arts”, Martins Bank’s burgeoning Operatic Society goes
from strength to strength and stages a lavish production of Gilbert and
Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” at the beginning of 1956. Be prepared for
“little thrills to go up your spine” as you swoon to the voice of the Pirate
King. Plenty of swash and a fair degree of buckle ensure that a good time is
had by all, including groups of children from several local schools.
Everything seems to be coming together for our band of players; a well stocked male chorus, some good leading voices and a
commitment from involved, both on and
offstage ensures another success.
As we shall see below in a
moment, Martins Bank Magazine has a lot to say in its article covering
“Pirates of Penzance” heaping praise upon just about everyone. It is pleasing
to note that after ten years of extremely hard work, the Society of the Arts
has really made its mark on the cultural life of so many employees of Martins
Bank. With the music and drama groups in Liverpool, and the drama groups in
London and Newcastle upon Tyne, we can look forward to at least another
decade of fantastic performances…
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 FOR
their annual show the Music Section of the Society of the Arts this year
chose “The Pirates of Penzance”, which they presented for five nights at
the Crane Theatre from February 21st to 25th. The choice proved a popular
one and for the very first time there were full houses on each night and we
were pleased to see parties of children from various schools amongst our
audiences on the different nights, one having travelled from
Newton-le-Willows. We are pleased to record that, taken as a whole, there was
no reason to feel anything other than pride in the standard of the
production. The female chorus was young, fresh and altogether delightful
and from a musical point of view it achieved the highest standard of
precision and timing we have yet witnessed in one of our shows.
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Chorus
of the daughters of Major-General Stanley
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The male chorus was as strong
and melodious as one could wish. An amateur show which can boast of three
outstanding principals is in quite a happy position, but they couldn't just
manage this time to raise a leading tenor and we are indebted to Gerard Martin
who took the part of the pirate apprentice: a serious and acceptable
portrayal, nicely sung. The stars were Mary Nelson and Valeric Parish as
Mabel and Edith, two of General Stanley's daughters and William Morris.
Mary's singing has never been better and the type of song - “Poor, wandering one . .
.”, “Ah, leave me not alone…” suited her style, personality and range of
voice perfectly. Valerie's lovely contralto is adequately matched by her
histrionic ability and her sense of theatre was excellent throughout.
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General
Stanley (Don Gilroy) and his daughters – Brenda Aked
Mary
Nelson Valerie Parish and Pamela Rooke
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William
Morris and Phyllis Ritchie as the Pirate King
and
the pirate maid-of-all-work
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She never forgot to act even when she was not the centre
of attention, and her every movement was graceful. William Morris made about
the best Pirate King we have seen and he has a voice which, as one girl put
it. “sends little thrills up my spine”.
These three were supremely good throughout. The part of
Major-General Stanley was taken by Don Gilroy, a formidable undertaking for
someone who has not previously acted a principal role. Don was very nervous
on the first night, but as he gained confidence his portrayal rapidly
improved and by the end of the show he was doing very well indeed. We shall
look forward to seeing and hearing him again. Phyllis Ritchie portrayed the
pirate maid-of-all-work with plenty of spirit: she was at her best in her
passages with the Pirate King. Frank Green took the part of the Sergeant of
Police and earned his full quota of laughs in this uproarious part which
he burlesqued in the accepted tradition
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Chorus
of Policemen – Frank Green on the left
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Mary Nelson and Gerard Martin (pirate apprentice)
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Pamela Rooke and Brenda
Aked played the parts of Kate and Isabel, the other two daughters of
Major-General Stanley. They looked as pretty as a picture and played
their parts and sang delightfully.
E. W. Gittins, very effectively disguised by a magnificent, not to
say monstrous, red beard, played the part of Samuel, the Pirate King's
Lieutenant. He was second only to his chief in formidability! The Musical
Director, Basil A. Williams, is to be congratulated on a very fine
musical accomplishment and the producer, J. Balfour Thompson, who,
surprisingly enough did not have his heart broken the last time he
produced for us, must feel as satisfied as any producer ever does or ever
can feel with the result of his efforts. If he was as pleased as we were
everyone is happy. The team spirit was excellent throughout. The orchestra, which did a splendid
job, performed a selection of music from Pineapple Poll. A clever adaptation of Sullivan's music to
the ballet of that name, by the Australian conductor Charles Mackerras,
as a prelude to the opera itself. Pineapple
Poll is now a favourite in the repertoire of Sadler's Wells
Theatre Ballet. We are glad to say that during the past twelve months we
have largely succeeded in overcoming our male chorus shortage and the
number of outside friends who helped us out this year was one third of
the total as against four-fifths last year. We thank them very much
indeed for the ready way in which they have helped us and for their
contribution to the success of the production. Mention is often
overlooked of the people who are not seen at these productions.
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We are quite sure that no one unconnected
with the production of an opera realises the huge number of people
involved. To all those mentioned on the programme and to that greater
number who are not we say thank you. You did a grand job
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Martins Bank Archive Collections 1988 to date.
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