Catch My Soul (UK stage version)

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Disambiguation: for Film version see Catch My Soul

Jack Good's Catch My Soul
Rock Othello (UK stage version)
with the rock band Gass
Catch my soul original live cast recording back cover.jpg
Music Ray Pohlman
Emil Dean Zoghby
Lyrics Jack Good
Book William Shakespeare
Basis Othello
Productions The Prince of Wales Theatre, The Roundhouse, Manchester, Oxford, Birmingham

Catch My Soul is the UK stage version of the rock musical produced by Jack Good. The show was a showcase for the talents of Lance LeGault, P. P. Arnold, P.J. Proby and an introduction to the rock musician Robert Tench and the band Gass. [1] It was loosely adapted from Shakespeare's Othello [2] and the character of Iago had originally been played by Jerry Lee Lewis [3] in the US production which had closed in 1968. [4]

Jack Good (producer) British producer

Jack Good was a British television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons. As a television producer, he was responsible for the early popular music shows Six-Five Special, Oh Boy!, Boy Meets Girls and Wham!! TV series, the first UK teenage music programmes. Good managed some of the UK's first rock and roll stars, including Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Jess Conrad and Cliff Richard.

William Lance LeGault, sometimes credited as W. L. LeGault, was an American film and television actor, best known as the .44 Magnum wielding U.S. Army Colonel Roderick Decker in the 1980s American television series The A-Team.

P. P. Arnold American soul singer, songwriter, actress

Patricia Ann Cole, known professionally as P. P. Arnold, is an American soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom from the 1960s onwards.

Contents

The first UK stage performance was at the University Theatre Manchester by the 69 Theatre Company with Angharad Rees as Desdemona. The London stage version opened at The Roundhouse in 1969 and moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End in 1970. [5] The show also toured larger UK cities and closed in January 1972. [6] The original UK cast recorded Catch My Soul (1971), with music as interpreted by Gass, the show's backing band at that time. [7] A film, Catch My Soul , was released in 1974 with a different cast.

Manchester City and metropolitan borough in England

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 545,500 as of 2017. It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous built-up area, with a population of 2.8 million. It is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council.

Angharad Mary Rees, The Hon. Mrs David McAlpine, CBE was a British actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume drama Poldark.

Desdemona character in Othello

Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello. Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish man several years her senior. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the Republic of Venice, Desdemona accompanies him. There, her husband is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing she is an adulteress, and, in the last act, she is murdered by her estranged spouse.

The plot

Jack Good's Catch My Soul is based on William Shakespeare's play Othello . Good's musical contained many of the elements of Shakespeare's original work and largely mirrored its source, while the subsequent filmed version - directed by Patrick McGoohan - changed structure, setting, and songs to an extent that make it a substantially different work. The following synopsis describes the movie story.

<i>Catch My Soul</i> 1974 film by Patrick McGoohan

Catch My Soul is a 1974 film produced by Jack Good and Richard M. Rosenbloom, and directed by Patrick McGoohan. It was an adaptation of Good's stage musical of the same title, which itself was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello. It was not a critical success.

William Shakespeare English playwright and poet

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

<i>Othello</i> play by Shakespeare

Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army and his unfaithful ensign, Iago. Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatre alike, and has been the source for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.

Othello is a wandering evangelist who happens onto Iago's remote commune. There he marries the lovely Desdemona much to the chagrin of Iago, who also loves her. The conniving commune leader then manages to quietly pressure Othello until murder and tragedy ensue. [8]

Peter Knight produced the album Catch My Soul "Jack Good's Catch My Soul-Rock Othello". He was the son of another Peter Knight and produced the London version of the musical Hair (1968).

Peter Knight was an English musical arranger, conductor and composer.

Musical theatre work that combines songs, music, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

<i>Hair</i> (musical) Musical about the Vietnam war

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.

P. P. Arnold appeared as Bianca. She worked with the Small Faces and was signed to Immediate Records. Arnold also had success as a solo pop singer and backing vocalist, working with an eclectic mix of recording artists including Andy Gibb, Boy George, Roger Waters and Ocean Colour Scene. In 1984, she returned to the stage in the cast of the musical Starlight Express as Belle the Sleeping Car. In mid-2007, she released her first recorded work for several years, Five In The Afternoon. The album is a duet with The Blow Monkeys' frontman Dr. Robert.

Bianca (<i>Othello</i>) theatrical character in play "Othello"

Bianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello (c. 1601–1604). She is Cassio's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago's scheme to incite Othello's jealousy of Cassio. Bianca is traditionally regarded as a courtesan, although this occupation is not specifically designated in the drama. The character was occasionally cut from performances in the 19th century on moral grounds. Bianca is not to be confused with Bianca Minola in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Small Faces English band

Small Faces were an English rock band from East London. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's keyboardist.

Immediate Records record label

Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.

P.J. Proby appeared as Michael Cassio. Proby later became better known for his theatrical portrayals of Elvis Presley in the musical Elvis Live, a show that Good first produced in 1977. [9] In 1993, Proby appeared in Good's biographical musical Good Rockin' Tonite as himself. In 1994, he was in Only the Lonely, a musical based on the life of Roy Orbison.

Lance LeGault appeared as Iago, a role he played again in the 1974 Metromedia film version. Later on he appeared in his most well-known role, "Colonel Roderick Decker" in The A-Team . Le Gault also appeared in other successful television programs including Magnum, P.I. , Knight Rider , Airwolf and Dallas .

Original cast members

Singers
The Chorus

The house band

British rock band Gass performed as the house band during the show's initial run. They left Catch My Soul when the show moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre in February 1971. [10]

Band members

Robert Tench, better known as Bobby Tench, also performed with the band on the London club circuit [11] before joining the second Jeff Beck Group in May 1971. He later recorded with Linda Lewis and is best known for his work with Freddie King, Hummingbird, Humble Pie, Streetwalkers and Van Morrison.

Additional musicians

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Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello and devises a plan to destroy him by making him believe that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio.

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References

  1. ↑ Joynson, Vernon. The Tapestry of Delights - The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras. Borderline. p. 325.
  2. ↑ Macaisa/Bevington/Raccah/John. Othello By William Shakespeare. p. 25.
  3. ↑ Bob Dylan. "Lust of the Blood from the rock musical". www.dreamtimepodcast.com. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  4. ↑ Jerry Lee Lewis Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine . as Iago. TheEastTennessean.com
  5. ↑ Morley, Sheridan; Green, Edward; Jensen John. Review copies: plays and players in London, 1970-74. p. 63.
  6. ↑ Guernsey Jr., Hirschfeld; McNally, Genet; Miller, Van. The Best Plays of 1971-1972. p. 63.
  7. ↑ "Catch My Soul album cover". homeonline.com. Archived from the original on 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  8. ↑ Catch My Soul. A brief plot synopsis by Sandra Brennan at Allmovie.com
  9. ↑ Answers.com: I.J. Good by Bruce Eder
  10. ↑ Hjort and Hinman. Jeff's book: A Chronology of Jeff Beck's Career 1965-1980. p. 111.
  11. ↑ Leslie Fran (October 2009). Interview with Bobby Tench. Blues In Britain. pp. 18, 19, 20 Vol 1 issue 94.

Further reading

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