The Yeoman of the Guard is a 1978 British TV version of the Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy opera The Yeomen of the Guard . [1]
It was a filmed version of a 1978 stage production which was performed in the Tower of London during the festival of the city of London, at a budget of £150,000. [2]
The film was directed and produced by Stanley Dorfman for ATV. The choreography was by Gillian Lynne. The music of Arthur Sullivan was performed by the New World Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones.
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 and ran for 423 performances. This was the eleventh collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan.
Sir Thomas Hicks, known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.
A yeoman was a member of an English social class, generally a freeman who owned his, or her, own farm. The term was also used in North America.
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.
Leo Sheffield, born Arthur Leo Wilson, was an English singer and actor best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Richard Walker, was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Between 1932 and 1939 Walker was married to D'Oyly Carte chorister Ena Martin. He married the company's principal soprano Helen Roberts in 1944.
Ann Drummond-Grant was a British singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Leonard Osborn was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his portrayal of the tenor roles in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. An accomplished actor and dancer, he later became a stage director for the company.
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.
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.
John Dean was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor 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.
The Yeomen Warders of His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle they are responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels. They have also conducted guided tours of the Tower since the Victorian era.
Thomas Fisher Morgan was a Welsh singer and actor best remembered as a principal bass-baritone with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company during the 1950s.
Frederick Henry Hobbs was a New Zealand-born singer, actor and theatre manager. After performing as a concert singer in New Zealand and Australia, and in opera and musicals in Britain, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1914. There he played leading baritone and bass-baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas for six years. After touring in Australasia with the J. C. Williamson company, he returned to England and became the stage manager for D'Oyly Carte in 1923 and its business manager from 1927 until his death.
Peggy Ann Jones is an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. During a fifteen-year career with that company, beginning at age 19, she was particularly known for her interpretations of the title role in Iolanthe, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Phoebe Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard, and Mad Margaret in Ruddigore. She later performed on television, in films and in musicals in London's West End. Jones's best-known recordings include the role of Pitti-Sing on both the 1973 D'Oyly Carte Mikado and the company's 1966 film version of The Mikado.
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.
Frederick Strafford Moss was a British tenor and actor. He appeared in the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan from 1897 to 1913, mainly in touring companies of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, following which he had a career in musical theatre on the West End stage until 1931.
Walter Glynne was a Welsh operatic and concert tenor who was also a popular recording artist.