In March 1947 the Bristol Light Opera Club staged Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond King, “a romantic light opera in four acts” set in fifteenth-century Paris, at the Empire Theatre, Bristol, playing nightly at 7.0 p.m. The programme, priced “sixpence”, lists the show among the club’s previous productions for 1936 and announced that “all proceeds” were “to be given to charity”. Producer A. E. Scott Piggott wrote that the piece made “heavy demands upon the versatility of principals and chorus”, with John Heming as François Villon. The Empire Theatre Orchestra was “augmented by” players from the club’s Orchestral Section under H. N. Wybourne, and “owing to restrictions” the usual list of honorary members was left out.
Cast
- François Villon — John Heming
- Katherine de Vaucelles — Eveline Ford
- Guy Tabarie — Wilfred Brokenshire
- Huguette du Hamel — Marie R. Porter
- Louis XIth — Bernard Bamber
- Captain of Scottish Archers — H. G. Harvey
- Lady Mary — Cynthia Glover
- Rene de Montigny — A. G. F. Worth
- Oliver le Dain — Cyril Wiltshire
- Tristan l’Hermite — Gordon Shotton
- Noel le Jolys — L. H. Clarke
- Toison d’Or (Burgundian Herald) — Basil Smith
- The Dancer — Pamela Maish
- Margot (Taverness) — Kathleen Houlden
- Thibaut d’Aussigny — Raymond T. Mills
- Casin Cholet — Jim Porter
- Rogati — Mark Murphy
- Isabeau — Evelyn Adams
- Jehenneton — Barbara Fryer
- Jehan le Loup — Cecil E. Richards
- An Astrologer — G. F. Steward
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sopranos — Francis Fowler, Pauline Anderson and Winifred Fry
- Church Music — Horace Adams
- The Queen — Doreen Stevens
- Bishop — G. R. Dancey