James Conroy-Ward

Last updated

James Conroy-Ward (born 12 April 194?) [1] is a retired English actor, singer and music publisher best known for performing the Gilbert and Sullivan principal comic roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Contents

Biography

Conroy-Ward was born at Timperley in Cheshire, England. His grandparents had been entertainers, and Conroy-Ward was exposed to the theatre early on. As a child, he performed puppet shows at children's parties. [2] He was head choirboy at his local church and attended the all-boys Altrincham Grammar School, where he performed female roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas [3] and won the Drama Prize. [4] At the age of 12, Conroy-Ward was able to join the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Manchester playing the juvenile roles of the Midshipmite in H.M.S. Pinafore and Ko-Ko's assistant in The Mikado . [3] He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, winning the Imperial League of Opera Prize. [4] He then gained experience on stage at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, in amateur productions, and at York Repertory, Granada TV, and The London Opera Centre. In 1968, he was engaged by the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where he sang for four and a half years in the chorus and in small principal roles. [3]

In 1973, Conroy-Ward joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the chorus and also understudied John Reed in the principal comedian roles. As was customary in that company, the understudy was also given the small principal roles of Major Murgatroyd in Patience , the Foreman of the Jury in Trial by Jury , the First Citizen in The Yeomen of the Guard , and both Antonio and Annibale in The Gondoliers . [1] He was also given the principal comic role of Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance . In the 1975 centenary season, Conroy-Ward played Lord Dramaleigh in the company's only revival of Utopia, Limited . [5] In 1977 he added the role of Guron in Princess Ida to his repertory. [1]

During a 1978 U.S. tour, the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter commented, "James Conroy-Ward... handled the role of Major General Stanley in Pirates better than anyone I can remember." [6] Beginning in 1973, as Reed's understudy, he appeared frequently in all the principal comic roles: [7] J. W. Wells in The Sorcerer , Sir Joseph Porter in Pinafore, Reginald Bunthorne in Patience, the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe , King Gama in Princess Ida, Ko-Ko in The Mikado, Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore , Jack Point in Yeomen, and the Duke of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers. [1] Of these, Conroy-Ward most enjoyed playing Jack Point and Gama but least enjoyed playing Robin. [7]

In 1979, after the D'Oyly Carte company toured Australia and New Zealand, [8] Reed left the company, and Conroy-Ward inherited the principal comic roles, except that he yielded the roles of General Stanley to his understudy Alistair Donkin and Robin Oakapple to Peter Lyon. [9] He continued as the principal comedian of D'Oyly Carte until it closed in 1982, after which he joined a music publishing company. [1] Conroy-Ward said of the last years of the company, "I think we could have had better producers [stage directors]. I think if we'd had a few more of the Anthony Beschs coming in a little bit earlier I don't think any harm would have been done." [10]

Recordings

Conroy-Ward participated in four recordings with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1976, he sang the Herald in The Grand Duke and Lord Dramaleigh in Utopia, Limited. In 1977, he sang the role of Antonio and also spoke the role of Annibale in The Gondoliers. In 1982, he was a soloist on "The Last Night". [11]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Stone, David. "James Conroy-Ward", Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte, accessed 27 December 2021
  2. ↑ Gaiety, p. 18
  3. 1 2 3 Interview with Conroy-Ward, Memories of the D'Oyly Carte, accessed 27 December 2021
  4. 1 2 Conroy-Ward's profile at the Memories of the D'Oyly Carte website
  5. ↑ Walters, Michael. Review of Utopia, Limited, Gilbertian Gossip, No. 3, January 1976. He also sang in the chorus for the concert performance of The Grand Duke. "Centenary Week Casts", The Savoyard, Vol XIII no. 3, January 1975, p. 5.
  6. ↑ Bay Area Reporter, June 22, 1978
  7. 1 2 Gaiety, p. 23. Conroy-Ward said that he often did a show per week for Reed, in addition to General Stanley, to give Reed a day off, but that he rarely went on as Bunthorne, since that was Reed's favourite role.
  8. ↑ Wilson, p. 209
  9. ↑ Donkin has stated that Conroy-Ward "suffered considerable ill health so I was playing all the patter roles ... more often than he did. See Patter magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 2, p. 4, Winter 2012, International Gilbert and Sullivan Association.
  10. ↑ Gaiety, p. 21
  11. ↑ Shepherd, Marc. Links to Conroy-Ward's D'Oyly Carte recordings", Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 July 2010, accessed 9 January 2022

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Baker (baritone)</span> English singer (1885–1976)

George Baker was an English singer. He is remembered for singing on thousands of gramophone records in a career that spanned 53 years, beginning in 1909. He is especially associated with the comic baritone roles in recordings of the Gilbert & Sullivan operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Reed (actor)</span> English actor, singer and dancer

John Lamb Reed, OBE was an English actor, dancer and singer, known for his nimble performances in the principal comic roles of the Savoy Operas, particularly with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Reed has been called "the last great exponent" of the Gilbert and Sullivan comedy roles.

<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">Martyn Green</span> English singer and actor

William Martin Green, known by his stage name, Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is remembered for his performances and recordings as principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in the leading patter roles of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas in the 1930s and 1940s, and for his career in America from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Dennis Hans Olsen AM is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist. His performances include opera, musical theatre, cabaret, radio, television and film. He is best known as an exponent of "patter" roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and his performances of Noël Coward songs.

<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 which, 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">Henry Lytton</span> British actor and singer (1865–1936)

Sir Henry Lytton was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the starring comic patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1909 to 1934. He also starred in musical comedies. His career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company spanned 50 years, and he is the only performer ever knighted for achievements in Gilbert and Sullivan roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles H. Workman</span> English singer and actor (1872–1923)

Charles Herbert Workman was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He was variously credited as Charles H. Workman, C. Herbert Workman and C. H. Workman.

<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">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">George Thorne (actor)</span>

George Tyrell Thorne was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, especially on tour and in the original New York City productions. He married D'Oyly Carte chorister Geraldine Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ella Halman</span> British opera singer and actress (1906–1995)

Ella Louise Halman was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She married another D'Oyly Carte performer, L. Radley Flynn, in 1940.

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

J. Ivan "Jimmy" Menzies was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Britain in the 1920s and the J. C. Williamson Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company in Australia the 1930s and 1940s.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Russell (tenor)</span> British opera singer and actor

Harry Henry Russell, better known as Scott Russell, was an English singer, actor and theatre manager best known for his performances in the tenor roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He was the brother-in-law of D'Oyly Carte contralto Louie René.

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.

Anna Bethell was an English actress, singer and stage director. She is best known for her performances in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After playing other small mezzo-soprano parts, she played the role of Mrs. Partlett in The Sorcerer for many years. She also occasionally played some of the larger contralto roles. She later became stage director of the company from 1947 to 1949 and also directed the J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Walenn</span> English singer and actor (1867–1948)

Charles Roby Walenn was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with touring companies of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1887 to 1909 and later, off and on through the 1920s, with J. C. Williamson in Australia. Later in his career, he became known for London engagements in the title role of Rev. Spalding in The Private Secretary, which he first played at the Savoy Theatre in 1917, where he had never performed in the Savoy operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Field</span> Welsh operatic soprano

Pamela Field is a Welsh operatic soprano best known for her performances in principal soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1970s and 1980s, including as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Phyllis in Iolanthe, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard and the titular character in Patience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairns James</span> British actor, dancer and educator (1865–1946)

Lewis Cairns James was a Scottish-born baritone, actor, educator and opera producer most prominent during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. From 1887 to 1891 he performed with a D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring company performing the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan before embarking on a successful career on the West End stage and as a teacher of elocution.

References

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.