Ian Belsey

Last updated

Ian Belsey (born 1962) is an English singer and actor specialising in baritone opera roles of the bel canto period, but he is best known for his performances in light music and operetta, particularly the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Contents

Biography

Belsey was born in Bromley, making his stage debut in 1970 at the age of 8 at the Pier Theatre, Bournemouth in The Sooty Show . He studied at the Royal Academy of Dancing, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at the Royal College of Music, both in the Opera School and as a post-graduate. [1]

Early career

Belsey has appeared in opera and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan at theatres and concert halls throughout the United Kingdom and in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New York, Bermuda, the Far East and aboard the QE2 on the World Cruise. [1]

He was a principal baritone with the Regency Opera Company in Tosca and The Marriage of Figaro (1986), English Festival Opera's La boheme (1995) [2] and Pimlico Opera's tour of La Traviata , as well as baritone soloist in the Magic of Broadway in Yarmouth and Iolanthe for Opera Options at Hever Castle. He also performed Mountararat in Iolanthe and Mentchikoff in The Count of Luxembourg in the 1990s for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He has been a guest artist for the Welsh National Opera and the Northern Sinfonia and has given vocal master classes at leading drama schools in England. He has also appeared in the International Covent Garden Festival's productions of Trial by Jury . [1]

His musical theatre work includes productions of Evita (Opera House Manchester), Cats (Opera House Blackpool), the national and international tour of Chess , Passarino & Mousieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre, London 1998) [3] and an extensive national tour of King's Rhapsody . [4] His other work includes Stairway to the Stars, Hello, Dolly! , My One and Only (all at the London Palladium), the Cole Porter Centennial Gala at the Prince Edward Theatre, Mr Wonderful at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the Italian Singer in Around the World in Eighty Minutes at the Royal Albert Hall, all of which have been recorded for radio and on CD. [1]

He was a baritone soloist with Hinge and Bracket, appearing at their Prom Nights, culminating in their 21st Anniversary Gala at The Royal Festival Hall in 1995. [1]

Later projects

Belsey has appeared with Opera della Luna as Captain Corcoran in several of their productions of H.M.S. Pinafore since 2001. [5] [6] Since 2004, he has appeared as the Sergeant of Police in Opera della Luna's productions of The Parson's Pirates , as the title role in The Mikado , [7] [8] as Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in The Ghosts of Ruddigore , [9] La Belle Helene , [10] and The Tales of Hoffmann . He appeared in the company's 2008 productions of Moonstruck and The Amorous Goldfish. [11] [12]

He has also played Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance , Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe at The Sevenoaks Festival.[ citation needed ] He was Papageno in The Magic Flute with New Devon Opera in 2005 ("quite superb throughout"). [13] He appeared at the Wigmore Hall in the children's entertainment, The Magic Flute & The Broomstick, written by Simon Butteriss.[ citation needed ] In 2008, Belsey played Apollo in Thespis at the Normansfield Theatre, Teddington, [14] which was the first professional British production since 1872. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert and Sullivan</span> Victorian-era theatrical partnership

Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Pratt</span> British opera singer and actor

Peter Pratt was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his comic roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D'Oyly Carte Opera Company</span> British theatre company

The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and since 2013 it has co-produced four of the operas with Scottish Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Temple (bass-baritone)</span> English opera singer, actor and stage director

Richard Barker Cobb Temple was an English opera singer, actor and stage director, best known for his performances in the bass-baritone roles in the famous series of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Sandford</span> English actor and singer

Kenneth Sandford was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Adams</span> English opera singer and actor (1928–1996)

Charles Donald Adams was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his own company, Gilbert and Sullivan for All.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Round</span> English opera singer (1915–2016)

Thomas Round was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the leading tenor roles of the Savoy Operas and grand opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Granville</span> British singer and actor

Sydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opera della Luna</span>

Opera della Luna (OdL), founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce Il mondo della luna. The company presents innovative, usually zany and irreverent, small-scale productions and adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan, Offenbach and other comic opera and operetta, in English. OdL is a registered British charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Cook (opera singer)</span> English opera singer and actor

George Cook was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the bass and bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ayldon</span> English singer and actor

John Ayldon was an English opera singer and comic actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Leonard</span> English opera singer (1936–2010)

Patricia Leonard was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Pauline Wales was an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Barry Clark is an English opera singer and actor. Beginning in the 1970s, Clark played tenor roles in the Savoy Operas for over a decade with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He then sang in various opera companies, including New Sadler's Wells and Scottish Opera, and played in musicals on the West End. Later, Clark concentrated on oratorio and, in recent years, appeared with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Suart</span> British opera singer and actor

Richard Suart is an English opera singer and actor, who has specialised in the comic roles of Gilbert and Sullivan operas and in operetta, as well as in avant-garde modern operas. He is probably best known for his numerous portrayals of Ko-Ko in The Mikado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakeshore Light Opera</span> Canadian amateur theatre group

Lakeshore Light Opera (LLO) is an amateur community theatre group that performs Gilbert and Sullivan operas in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada. The company produced its first show in 1955. Early in its history, the group was directed by former D'Oyly Carte Opera Company member Doris Hemingway, and briefly conducted by her husband, former D'Oyly Carte conductor Harry Norris. The group was known as St Paul's Operatic Society until 1980, when it changed its name to Lakeshore Light Opera. For over 35 years, proceeds from its annual production have been contributed to the Lakeshore General Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Lawlor (bass-baritone)</span> Irish opera singer

Thomas F. Lawlor was an Irish opera singer. In the 1960s, he became known for his performances in mostly baritone roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed over 60 operatic roles, usually as a bass-baritone, with various British opera companies. He was also a director in the opera department of the Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College of Music. In later years, he moved to the US, where he continued to perform, direct and teach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company</span>

The National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company is an English professional repertory company that performs Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. Founded in 1995 to perform at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, the company generally stages three or four productions each summer, giving up to 16 performances in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and also touring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Federici</span>

Frederick Federici was an Italian-born British opera singer known for his work in the bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. He is also remembered as a reputed theatre ghost in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Rayner</span> English opera singer

Michael Rayner was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ian Belsey [ permanent dead link ] on the FourSquareProductions website
  2. ↑ "Other UK Opera Productions" Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Rob Wilton Theatricalia website
  3. ↑ "Cast lists for Phantom". Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  4. ↑ [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Beale, Robert. "Superb HMS Pinafore Is Enormous Fun", CityLife.co.uk, 2 March 2009
  6. ↑ Belsey profile Archived 23 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine on the Opera della Luna website
  7. ↑ Ian Belsey at the Internet Movie Database website
  8. ↑ The Mikado, Manchester Evening News , 2004
  9. ↑ Review of The Ghosts of Ruddigore,[ dead link ] The Independent , 2004
  10. ↑ "The Stage / Listings / Opera della Luna - la Belle Helene". www.thestage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Belsey profile on the Opera and Music Forum website
  12. ↑ Moonstruck and The Amorous Goldfish, Archived 22 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Opera della Luna
  13. ↑ Buttall, Philip R. "The magic of Mozart is brought to life", Evening Herald, 24 July 2005
  14. ↑ "Russell's Theatre Reviews: Thespis - Normansfield Theatre, Sunday 9th March 2008". Russells-theatre-reviews.blogspot.com. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Crowther, Andrew. "Thespis at Normansfield", W. S. Gilbert Society Journal, vol. 3, issue 23, Summer 2008, pp. 731–32
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.