RGS High Wycombe Gilbert & Sullivan Operas

1970 Trial By Jury

Scans provided by Bill Barksfield   Return to main Opera page

Bill Barksfield writes:-

I was in the Chorus of Nobles in “The Mikado” in 1968. If memory serves, that was the last one that “Jack” Dawes did. He was replaced as head of music by Geoffrey Holmes who, I seem to recall, thought that G&S was a bit infra dig. Hence no performance in 1969.

Under pressure to bring back G&S he at first agreed to do “Trial by Jury”, as the second half of a concert. I was in the jury and I think that must be the missing 1970 performance. Under his direction that went very well and I think it was then a less difficult decision to mount “The Gondoliers” in the December of 1971 in which I was a Gondolier and a cardinal in the second half.

David Lowe who I remember very well as the Duke of Plaza-Toro in the Gondoliers, the judge in Trial by jury and Ko-Ko in the Gondoliers is, I notice, one of the missing Old Wycombiensians on the OW site.