In February 1938 the Bristol Light Opera Club staged The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria, at the Victoria Rooms, Clifton, “by permission of Mr. Rupert D’Oyly Carte”. It was the Club’s fifth production, and the programme lists the four before it, from Cox and Box and The Pirates of Penzance in 1934. A note signed “H. M.” reports “an evident desire on the part of members to break away from Gilbert and Sullivan for the next production” and says the growing list of subscribers shows “the Club is now firmly established”. Musical director H. L. Winston Hurst thanks chorus, principals and orchestra for their “unfailing cheerfulness”, and his own arrangement of the National Anthem was played before each performance.
Cast
- The Duke of Plaza Toro — F. J. Tanner
- Luiz — S. Foster Tanner
- Don Alhambra del Bolero — Bernard Bamber
- Marco Palmieri — Cyril Wiltshire
- Giuseppe Palmieri — A. Symon
- Antonio — W. E. Leonard
- Francesco — A. K. Houlden
- Giorgio — Eric Stone
- Annibale — J. H. Porter
- Drummer Boy — John Meacham
- The Duchess of Plaza Toro — Hilda Greenslade
- Casilda — Kathleen Gill
- Gianetta — Eveline W. Ford
- Tessa — Kathleen Houlden
- Fiametta — Marie Porter
- Vittoria — Gwen Parfitt
- Giulia — Olga Sendall
- Inez — Gladys Massey