Top C's and Tiaras

Last updated
Top C's and Tiaras
Top C's and Tiaras.png
Created byNeil Anthony
Directed byBryan Izzard
StarringMarilyn Hill Smith, Peter Morrison, Julia Migenes and Benjamin Luxon
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Production
ProducersNeil Anthony and Bryan Izzard
Production location Wrotham Park
Running time55 minutes
Production companyThe Bright Thoughts Company
Original release
Network Channel 4
Release10 April 1983 (1983-04-10) 
3 June 1984 (1984-06-03)

Top C's and Tiaras is a television program, featuring operetta and musical comedy, that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom between April 10, 1983, and June 3, 1984. It featured performers such as Julia Migenes, Marilyn Hill Smith, Peter Morrison and Benjamin Luxon. [1] It was devised and produced by Neil Anthony, [2] and made by The Bright Thoughts Company. [1]

Contents

Production

Most of the programme was recorded on location at Wrotham Park, in Hertfordshire. [3] Both the house and grounds were used for performances, and singing was accompanied by a live orchestra, under the musical direction of Harry Rabinowitz and Burt Rhodes. All performances were sung live, without the use of dubbing, and without an audience. [4] The director for the series was the television entertainment veteran, Bryan Izzard. [5] Other performers involved in the series included Laurence Dale, Della Jones, Harry Nicoll, Jill Washington, Jean Bailey, Hugh Hetherington, Neil Jenkins, Eirian James, David Fieldsend, Linda Ormiston, and Ramon Remedios. [1] All episodes ran to 55 minutes in length.

Episodes

Specials:

  1. Top C's and Tiaras (10 April 1983)
  2. Top C's and Tiaras II (31 October 1983)

Series 1:

  1. "This Will be my Shining Hour" (29 April 1984)
  2. "The Best of All Possible Worlds" (6 May 1984)
  3. "One Night of Love" (13 May 1984)
  4. "Dance Little Lady" (20 May 1984)
  5. "Play to me Gypsy" (27 May 1984)
  6. "When Vienna Sings" (3 June 1984)

Reception

Neil Jenkins, Jean Bailey, Marilyn Hill Smith and Peter Morrison. Top C's and Tiaras 2.png
Neil Jenkins, Jean Bailey, Marilyn Hill Smith and Peter Morrison.

The programme was regarded within Channel 4 as being a popular success. The 1983-1984 Channel 4 Annual Report noted that the programme "won the channel's most enthusiastic response by phone and letter for its stylish rediscovery of the middle ground of operetta" [6] It has been argued that Channel 4 "revived the music of Johann Strauss, Franz Lehar, Rudolph Friml, Sigmund Romberg and other light classical composers in Top Cs and Tiaras, with the help of a singer with a remarkable voice and great style, Julia Migenes-Johnson". [7]

Peter Lewis, writing in The Times, commented that "Top Cs and Tiaras pioneered a new, relaxed, unstuffy approach tonight music on television...no tiaras, not much evening dress, no old-fashioned pomp and hand-clasping - and no audience...they let their hair down together, not in a studio or theatre but a country house, singing around a piano to one another or wandering through the gilded rooms or the grounds. The artists help to choose their songs, miming is banished - it is shot as it is sung - and they give every appearance of really enjoying themselves". [4] Sean Day-Lewis, writing in the Daily Telegraph, expressed the view that the programme was a "slickly assembled and more or less uncorrupted sequence of melodies from operetta and musical comedy", and that "it was an excellently finished video which would have won a high rating indeed on one of the senior channels". [8] The Listener magazine noted that "the programme conveys a sense of fun, and at least it resuscitates some sparkling operetta tunes" [9]

Former Channel 4 Chief Executive Jeremy Isaacs wrote about Top C's and Tiaras in his 1989 memoir, Storm Over 4. He quoted examples of the influx of appreciative telephone calls from viewers for the first edition, that were logged in the Duty Officer's report for April 10, 1983, and said that Top C's and Tiaras, "though made on a shoestring, went down a treat with the fans". [10]

Commercial releases

An accompanying tie-in book, Top C's and Tiaras: Songs from the Channel 4 Series, [11] was published in 1984. A number of CDs based on the program, Treasures of Operetta, featuring Marilyn Hill Smith and Peter Morrison, were released by Chandos Records between 1985 and 1989. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Young Talent Time</i> Television series

Young Talent Time is an Australian television variety program produced by Lewis-Young Productions and screened on Network Ten. The original series ran from 1971 until 1988 and was hosted by singer-songwriter and record producer Johnny Young for its entire run. The show was briefly revived by Network Ten in 2012 and was hosted by singer and actor Rob Mills.

<i>Whose Line Is It Anyway?</i> (British TV series) British TV improvisational comedy series

Whose Line is it Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy television series created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, presented by Clive Anderson, and produced for Channel 4 between 23 September 1988 and 4 February 1999. The programme's format was on a panel of four performers conducting a series of short-form improvisation games, creating comedic scenes per pre-determined situations made by the host or from suggestions by the audience. Such games include creating sound effects, performing a scene to different television and film styles, using props, and making up a song on the spot. The programme originally began as a short-lived BBC radio programme, before the concept was adapted for television.

<i>The Young Ones</i> (TV series) British sitcom

The Young Ones is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, starring Adrian Edmondson, Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, and Alexei Sayle, and broadcast on BBC Two for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included anarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Planer</span> British actor, comedian and writer (born 1953)

Nigel George Planer is a British actor, writer and musician. He played Neil in the BBC comedy The Young Ones and Ralph Filthy in Filthy Rich & Catflap. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He has also appeared in Hairspray. He won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage and BAFTA awards.

Peter Murray James,, known professionally as Pete Murray, is a British radio and television presenter and actor. He is known for his career with the BBC including stints on the Light Programme, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4. In the 1950s, Murray became one of Britain's first pop music television presenters, hosting the rock and roll programme Six-Five Special (1957–1958) and appearing as a regular panellist on Juke Box Jury (1959–1967). He was a recurring presence in the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Murray returned to broadcasting for a Boom Radio special on Boxing Day 2021, over 70 years after his career began. He returned to the station on Boxing Day 2022 where he presented a two-hour show alongside his friend, David Hamilton.

Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs is a Scottish television producer and executive, opera manager, and a recipient of many British Academy Television Awards and International Emmy Awards.

<i>Solid Gold</i> (TV series) American music countdown and dance TV series (1980-1988)

Solid Gold is an American syndicated music television series that debuted on September 13, 1980, and ran until July 23, 1988. The program was a production of Brad Lachman Productions in association with Operation Prime Time and Paramount Domestic Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn (singer)</span> English singer and songwriter (born 1962)

Peter Antony Robinson, better known as Marilyn, is an English singer. He is known for his 1983 hit "Calling Your Name" and his androgynous appearance.

<i>Fame</i> (1982 TV series) 1982 TV series

Fame is an American musical drama television series based on the 1980 film of the same name. It followed the lives of the students and faculty at New York City's High School of Performing Arts. Most interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood, California. In all seasons except the third, the show filmed several exterior scenes on location in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Migenes</span> American soprano

Julia Migenes is an American soprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to parents of Irish and Puerto Rican descent. She is sometimes credited as Julia Migenes-Johnson. She attended The High School of Music & Art in New York City.

"Summer Holiday" is the twelfth and final episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones. It was written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall, and Lise Mayer, and directed by Paul Jackson and Ed Bye. It was first aired on BBC2 on 19 June 1984.

Minipops is a television series broadcast in 1983 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Designed primarily for younger viewers, it consisted of music performances on a brightly coloured set featuring preteen children singing then-contemporary pop music hits and older classics. The children were usually made to look like the original performers, including clothing and make-up. Controversy over children singing songs that often contained a subtext of adult content led to the show's cancellation after one series.

Saturday Live is a British television comedy and music show, made by LWT and initially broadcast on Channel 4 from 1985 to 1988, with a brief revival on ITV in 1996. A few one-off editions have also been screened sporadically, including a contribution to the BBC's 1993 Comic Relief telethon. It was based on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live but otherwise had no direct connection to the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)</span> 1983 single by Eurythmics

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by the British new wave music duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name in January 1983. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US.

Kenneth Levine is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and author. Levine has worked on a number of television series, including M*A*S*H, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker and Dharma and Greg. Along with his writing partner David Isaacs, he created the series Almost Perfect.

Della Jones is a Welsh mezzo-soprano, particularly well known for her interpretations of works by Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, and Britten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Altman (composer)</span> British film composer

John Altman is an English film composer, music arranger, orchestrator and conductor.

Harry Rabinowitz MBE was a South African-British conductor and composer of film and television music. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was the son of Israel and Eva Rabinowitz. He was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan and Marilyn Bergman</span> American lyricists and songwriters

Alan Bergman and Marilyn Keith Bergman were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated television, film, and stage productions. The Bergmans enjoyed a successful career, honored with four Emmys, three Oscars, and two Grammys. They are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Harry Isaacs was a British pianist. Born in Finchley, he began piano lessons with his great aunt, Miss Selina Pyke, from the age of seven, and three years later he took lessons from Sidney Rosenbloom. In 1916 he entered the Tobias Matthay Pianoforte School, studying with Hedwig McEwen. The following year he won the MacFarren Scholarship for composition at the Royal Academy of Music, and went there to study composition with Frederick Corder. He became pianoforte professor there in 1922 at the age of 20.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Top C's and Tiaras (TV Series 1983-1984) - IMDB".
  2. "Neil Anthony". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  3. "Top C's & Tiaras - BRIGHT THOUGHTS".
  4. 1 2 Lewis, Peter. "A singer prepared for all songs". The Times (61813): 9.
  5. "Bryan Izzard". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  6. Channel Four Television Company Limited Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st March 1984, page 6.
  7. Bonner, Paul (2002). Independent Television in Britain Volume 6: New Developments in Independent Television 1981-92: Channel Four, TV-am, Cable and Satellite. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 130.
  8. Day-Lewis, Sean. "Television - The Language Loathers". The Daily Telegraph (39929): 15.
  9. Morrison, Richard. "Music". The Listener: 34.
  10. Isaacs, Jeremy (1989). Storm over 4: a personal account. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 172–173. ISBN   978-0-297-79538-4.
  11. Top C's and Tiaras: Songs from the Channel 4 Series. London: International Music Publications. 1984. ISBN   9780863591143.
  12. "Chandos Records".