A
Concert Version of
The Soap Opera
Louise Gold
appeared in this one night concert staging, at The Piccadilly Theatre on Sunday
29 November 1987.
It
should be noted that most of the actors in the cast were portraying actors
playing characters in a soap opera, so both their characters names and their
characters parts in the soap opera within the show are given below.
Cast (includes)
Mercy Bleet playing
Tammy Hazel playing Nurse Crain - Louise Gold
Hildegarde Edge playing Constance Chessington - Jan
Hartley
Anita Chandos playing Nurse Mendelssohn - Gay Soper
Winthrop Roberts playing Warren - Steve Devereaux
Van Austin playing Craig Van Horn - Robert Meadmore
Simon Carp playing Wallace and Walter Chessington - Berwick
Kaler
Glen Bexley playing Brick Baxter - Dudley Stevens
Brett Forester playing The Floor Manager - Adam Wide
Hosted by - Christopher Biggins (but see below)
Production Team
Book & Lyrics by - Dudley Stevens
Music by - Martin Yates
Presented by - Associate Productions Limited
It says
on the flyer that the show was hosted by Christopher Biggins, and this
has been confirmed by Martin Yates; However according to Musical
Stages magazine Louise Gold and Christopher Biggins had
never worked together prior to Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang, and Mr Biggins apparently has no recollection of having
been in it.
This one night
concert performance of The Soap Opera is so far the only time the
show has actually been performed, so far.
Louise Gold, Christopher Biggins,
and, Berwick Kaler may have returned
to The Piccadilly Theatre a month
later to take part in Thing A Thon.
Steve Devereaux, and, Louise Gold had
previously appeared in Joseph And The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Norwich Production).
Rosemary
Ashe, Louise Gold, Robert
Meadmore and Dudley Stevens had previously appeared in The Metropolitan Mikado and the Concert Of Highlights
From The Ratepayers’
Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado.
Gay Soper and Dudley Stevens had previously appeared
in The Ratepayers’ Iolanthe and the Concert Of Highlights From
The Ratepayers’
Iolanthe & Metropolitan Mikado .
Robert
Meadmore may have previously
appeared in Will-Aid. His recording credits include,
The Great Musicals – Dashing
Heroes, Blushing Maidens
Robert
Meadmore and Christopher
Biggins went on to appear in Kids At Heart,
their recording credits include Simply Musicals
Robert
Meadmore and Louise Gold
had previously appeared together on television in Julia And Company, they went on to appear
together on stage in Side By Side By
Sondehim, the Side By Side By Sondheim 25th
Anniversary Gala, and Hubert Gregg’s Memorial Service. They also took part in Shopping With The Stars 2008.
Christopher
Biggins may have gone on to
appear in Dear Ralph.
Gay Soper and Christopher Biggins went on to appear
in Regents Park 70th
Anniversary Gala.
Gay Soper went on to appear at Dress Circle Grand Reopening, and, Shopping With The Stars 2009, her
recording credits include Cabaret, Centre Stage Showtime!, Let’s Go On With The Show – Hit Songs From
The West End & Broadway, and, The
Great Musicals - From Broadway to Hollywood.
Martin
Yates’s recording credits
include: Stop The World I Want
To Get Off , The Best Of
Broadway Musicals, Encore The Very Best From The
Musicals, Great Duets From The
Musicals, Cole Porter - Night And
Day, The History Of The Musical,
Simply Musicals, The Greatest Musicals of
the 20th Century, Centre
Stage Showtime!, The Great Musicals -
Wonderful Tales, The Great
Musicals – Dashing Heroes, Blushing Maidens, The Great Musicals – Glamour And Majesty, The Great Musicals – Laughter And Tears, Magic Of The Musicals, The Best Of The Musicals, 100 Hits Musicals, and, The Great Musicals - From Broadway to
Hollywood.
Louise Gold went on to return to The Piccadilly Theatre,
this time for a month, in Noises Off where funnily
enough she also played an actress playing a character.
Louise
Gold and Christopher
Biggins went gone on to appear together in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baroness and Baron Bomburst
respectively.
Louise Gold, Robert Meadmore, Gay Soper,
and, Christopher Biggins went on to
appear in Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary
Gala.
Jan Hartley, and, Robert Meadmore
went on to appear in A Love Letter To Dan.
Rosemary Ashe went on to originate the role of
Miss Andrew in the stage version of Mary
Poppins, a role
which Louise Gold took over in the
Gay Soper, and, Rosemary Ashe’s recording credits include Magic Of The
Musicals.
Steve Devereaux, and, Robert Meadmore’s
recording credits include 100 Hits Musicals.
Links about The Soap Opera
Composer
Martin Yates’s company
