Hair
Louise Gold
featured as a member of The Tribe on tour around the autumn of 1974 (includes;
Many
years later, Louise Gold’s own recollection of when she joined the cast (after rehearsals) was:
“They were going out of their minds in
Sunderland” Louise Gold, guesting on DEAD BY 12, 11 May 2006.
Prior to the
tour playing
“The
controversial love-rock musical Hair comes to Brighton’s Theatre Royal for a
week on Monday, bringing with it a talented cast of young people under the
direction of
Cast
Claude - Darron O’Sullivan
Berger - Bruce White
Woof - Christopher Wren
Hud - Ken Shields-Alleyne
Sheila - Kim Goody
Jeanie - Shelagh Stuttle
Crissy - Nicky Croydon
The Trio - Ken Shields Alleyne, Mona Hays, and Ewart Walters
The Tribe - Louise Gold, Pamela Hardman, Pippa Hardman, Shawn Harris, Mona Hays, Maarten Hoffman, Phillip Howells, Billy James, Helli Louise, Peter Russell, Janinia Tredwell, Ewart Walters, Jason Watts, and, Philip Morgan Williams
Production Team
Presented by - West End Artists Ltd
Book and Lyrics by - James Rado and Gerome Ragni
Music by - Galt Macdermot
Original Production - New York Shakespeare Festival Theatre
Director -
Musical Director - Alan Leigh
Assistant to Mr Bridge - Robert Anthony
Stage Director -
Assistant Stage Managers - Philip Morgan Williams and Pamela Hardman
Production Manager - John Maguire
Replacement Production Manager - (three weeks into the tour) Gary Graham
Business Manager -
Casting Assistant to Mr Bridge -
Orchestra
Keyboard - Alan Leigh
Drums and Percussion - Darryl Reid and Jim Holmes
Guitars - Stephen Forrest
Saxophone and Woodwind - Patrick Kyle
While it is
pretty much known that Louise Gold
joined the cast in Sunderland, and was in the cast when it played Theatre Royal Nottingham; It seems
likely that she joined the cast at or near the start of its tour (but after
most of the rehearsals had taken place), when a woman named Victoria Seymour appears to have pulled
out at the last minute (after West End
Artistes Limited’s
own souvenir programme had been printed. Hence why Louise only got listed in
the programmes for specific theatres, although everyone else was down in the
souvenir programme). Louise Gold herself
left when the tour took its Christmas break. The webmaster does not know for
certain whether she was actually in the show at any of the venues listed below
(other than Nottingham, and,
Tour Dates
Definite (have seen the programme or
Newspaper Review)
Kings Theatre, Southsea, Monday 21 to Saturday 26 October 1974
Theatre Royal,
Theatre Royal
According to Louise Gold herself (in
interviews)
According
To: The Production Manager’s Memory
Mablethorpe
Theatre Royal,
Theatre Royal
According To: ‘The Stage’ (plus a bit of
above)
Wolverhampton Grand (26 (probably 23 to 28) September 1974)
Wyvern Theatre
Kings Theatre, Southsea, Monday 21 to Saturday 26 October 1974
Theatre
Royal
Mablethorpe, Monday 4 to Saturday 9 November 1974
Leisure
Centre,
Theatre
Royal,
Theatre
Royal
The
Grand Theatre
There seems to
be some confusion as to whether the week of the 9 to 14 of December 1974 (which
was most likely Louise Gold’s last week in the cast) found the tour in
In The song
listing the webmaster is assuming that Chorus means The Tribe. Also in some
instances there are names listed for songs who do not appear to be characters,
it is assumed these are the first names of actors who do not have defined
characters and the part named “Victoria” was probably performed by Janinia Tredwell,
although it was originally intended to be performed by Victoria Seymour
(only Miss Seymour seems to have left the cast unexpectedly after rehearsals
but before the tour, which is why Louise Gold was brought in to round
out the cast. The Trio has been identified by Gary Graham.
Musical Numbers
Act I
1. Aquarius - Shawn and Chorus (Shawn Harris with The Tribe)
2. Donna - Berger and Chorus (Bruce White and The Tribe)
3. Hashish - Chorus (The Tribe)
4. Sodomy - Woof and Chorus (Christopher Wren and The Tribe)
5. Coloured Spade - Hud and Chorus (Ken Shields-Alleyne and The Tribe)
6.
7. I’m Black - Hud, Woof, Berger, Claude and Chorus (Ken Sheilds-Alleyne, Christopher Wren, Bruce White, Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
8. Ain’t Got No - Woof, Hud, Jeanie and Chorus (Christopher Wren, Ken Sheilds-Alleyne, Shelagh Stuttle and The Tribe)
9. I Believe In Love - Sheila and Trio (Kim Goody with Ken Shields Alleyne, Mona Hays, and Ewart Walters)
10. Ain’t Go No Grass - Chorus (The Tribe)
11. Air - Jeanie, Helli, and, Crissy (Shelagh Stuttle, Helli Louise, and Nicky Croydon)
12. Initial’s - Chorus (The Tribe)
13.
14. 1930s Music - Berger (Bruce White)
15.
16. I Got Life - Clause and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
17. Goin’ Down - Berger and Chorus (Bruce White and The Tribe)
18. Hair - Claude, Berger and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan, Bruce White, and, The Tribe)
19. My Conviction - Margaret Mead (Billy James)
20. Sheila Franklin - Chorus (The Tribe)
21. Easy To Be Hard - Sheila (Kim Goody)
22. Hung Up - Orchestra (Orchestra conducted by Alan Leigh)
23. Don’t Put It Down (Crazy For The Red And Blue And White) - Woof, Berger, and, Maarten (Christopher Wren, Bruce White, and, Maarten Hoffmann)
24. Frank Mills - Chrissy (Nicky Croydon)
25. Hara Krishna - Chorus (The Tribe)
26. Where Do I Go - Cluade and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
Act 2
27. Electric Blues -
Woof with,
28. Oh Great God Of Power - Chorus (The Tribe)
29.
30. Dead End - Sheila (Kim Goody)
31. Black Boys - Pippa, Helli, and, Janinia (Pippa Hardman, Helli Louise, and, Janinia Tredwell)
32. White Boys - Trio and Chorus (Ken Shields Alleyne, Mona Hays, and Ewart Walters with The Tribe)
33. Walking In Space - The Company (The Company)
34. Abie, Baby - Hud and Ewart (Ken Sheilds-Alleyne and Ewart Walters)
35. Three-Five-Zero-Zero - Chorus (The Tribe)
36. What A Piece Of Work Is A Man - Chrissy and Billy (Nicky Croydon and Billy James)
37. How Dare They Try - Chorus (The Tribe)
38. Good Morning Starshine - Sheila and Chorus (Kim Goody and The Tribe)
39. Reprise: Ain’t Go No - Claude and Chorus (Darron O’Sullivan and The Tribe)
40. The Flesh Failures (Let The Sun In) - Chorus (The Tribe)
41. Eyes Look Your Last
(Reprise:
Touring in Hair
was one of Louise Gold’s first professional jobs after leaving drama
school.
About two
years later Louise Gold returned to Theatre Royal Norwich in a feature role
in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(Norwich Production).
Seventeen
years later Louise Gold returned to Theatre Royal Brighton, as
one of the leading ladies in a tour of the musical The Boys From
Syracuse.
About 2 years
later Louise Gold returned to Theatre Royal Nottingham in Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Touring Production);
And More than 22 years later she
returned again, as a touring feature actress in the RSC in The Cherry Orchard.
Cast members Nicky
Croydon and Louise Gold both trained at
the Arts Educational School, and
funnily enough both of them have appeared pantomime in Malvern; Miss Croydon as the title role in Cinderella in
1972, and Miss Gold as Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington. the following year.
It is perhaps
worth noting that several members of the cast almost certainly attended the
same drama school. Nicky Croydon, Pamela
Hardman, Pippa Hardman, Jason
Watts, and, Louise Gold all trained at one time or another at one or
other of the Arts Educational Schools (the only thing that complicates
matters is that Arts Ed has sections in London and Tring
- Louise Gold was of course trained at the London school, but what about
the others?).
It is perhaps
worth noting that Arts Ed alumni Louise Gold and Pamela
Hardman were both in their first proper jobs in this tour of Hair.
Production
Manager John Maguire got ill around 3 weeks into the tour, and was
replaced by Gary Graham (though the programme listing for this post was
not changed until after the Christmas cast change).
During the
early days of the tour, in Preston in particular (according to an article in
The Stage, on 12 September 1974, page 24), the tour had great difficultly in
finding accommodation, many theatrical landladies did not wish to put up people
from that musical (believing the actors to be “hippy freaks”, and also assuming them to be paid rather more than
they actually were). Janina Treadwell and Jason Watts were interviewed about this in The Stage.
It may be noted
that Tribe-Member Helli Louise was
featured in the section ‘Show People’ in The Stage
newspaper on 18 July 1974, where it was announced that she would be joining the
cast of ‘the new national tour of Hair’ (presumably meaning this tour). She
was under personal contract to casting assistant Barrie Stacey.
Alan Leigh went on to be the musical director of a
production of Joseph
And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(Touring Production), which Louise Gold also appeared in. Elaine
Gibbs and Thom Booker from that production appeared in this tour of Hair,
but after Louise Gold had left the show.
A number of
the cast members went on to appear West End Artistes production of Glamorous
Nights, also directed by Alexander Bridge.
Louise Gold and Billy James went on to appear in My Fair Lady
Kim Goody went on to appear in Dear
Ralph.
It would not
be the last time that Louise Gold found herself in a touring show that
was scheduled to play a leisure centre, some nine years later she was in a
legendary tour of the play Bag that should have had its
gala opening night in Grantham Leisure Centre.
As a child,
production manager
Louise Gold reminisced about appearing in Hair many years later when she guested on the cabaret show Dead By 12.
Critics Comments
“
“If the story-line and
the singing are clear, so to are the more juvenile
crudities of the hippy life portrayed. Best of all are the singing and dancing:
‘Hare Krishna’, and, ‘Walking In Space’.” HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH, Thursday
24 October 1974, p29
“Things begin
ominously when the cast leap somewhat half hearted into action and ruin
Aquarius with some off key singing. They never quite recover, in any song and
dance number somebody is likely to waver a semitone or put the wrong foot
forward....Gradually the surprisingly clean boys and girls bring out the humour
pathos and gutsiness...Amazing that such a miserably
shaky beginning can build slowly but surely to such a magnificently shaggy
ending.” Jane Sullivan, THE BRIGHTON EVENING
Links about Hair
Good
Hair Days: Index of all the actors who have appeared in significant productions
of Hair: http://www.goodhairdays.net/haircasts.htm
