(Harrow County School production, 1967)
Original Sound Recordings from the HCS Production (please excuse the quality - these are experimental and will eventually be replaced by better ones- JMM):
I'm Called Little Buttercup (Martin Steele)
I am the Captain of the Pinafore (Andrew Carruthers)
When I was a Lad (Nigel Rogers) (coming soon)
Mr. George Baker, the celebrated singer was delighted with the presentation of "H. M. S. Pinafore" in July. He has himself recorded many of the songs from the opera, and was particularly impressed by the performance of his pupil, Nigel Rogers, as Sir Joseph Porter.
Many of this years principals were taking leading roles for the first time, but Andrew Carruthers gave a particularly lively and humorous portrayal of the difficult part of Captain Corcoran, especially in his dignified backward descents of the companionway. Howard Friend, though finding the part rather difficult vocally strikingly conveyed the grotesque caricature of Dick Deadeye. Mr. Tyler, as Ralph Rackstraw, portrayed his hero with such ease and panāche, that one was often unaware of the difficulties involved. Despite his performance being obviously more mature than the rest of the cast, he managed to act so naturally with them that there was never any sense of incongruity.
In his third Gilbertian part in the school, Nigel Rogers was much more restrained than usual: by acting the part rather than the fool, he successfully conveyed the hypocritical and snobbish Sir Joseph excellently, and his singing was as delightful and rounded as ever.
But it was Stephen Gilbert's amazing performance as Josephine that deservedly received most acclaim. The vocal part is extremely difficult and female sopranos have qualms about tackling the aria, "The hours creep on apace". Yet Gilbert not only reached the high notes but sang with a character and beauty of tone that is rarely heard in schoolboy's voices. His zealous attempts at reaching perfection were perhaps responsible for a slight sense of strain on the last night, and his imposing appearance captivated the audience in spite of his rather rigid stance.
Musically, the opera was a triumph for Mr. Haley and his accompanists, Mr. Waller and Gary Findon; the choruses were handled with great delicacy and the Parent's Union chorus sang with verve and obvious enjoyment. Mr. C. P. O'Donoghue's production showed careful though and ingenuity, and he handled his cast skilfully. The chorus of sisters, cousins and aunts were well marshalled by Mrs. Ghaleb, although one aunt was so outstanding that he has been chosen as the leading lady for "Patience" next year. Another youngster who attracted attention was Martin Steele, whose sweetly sentimental opening song not only broke the ice but was still being sung by many on the way home. One of the most impressive parts of the whole opera was the colourful spectacle of the costumes, made by Mrs. Findon, Mrs. Haley, Mr. Mees and parents: we have seldom seen better. Chris Kinman's set was generally effective, too, except when entering with swords! We look forward with impatience to the next offering.
(Gaytonian 1967)