Louise Gold (born 1956) is a British singer, actress and puppeteer.
She was a puppeteer for The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and various other Muppet films and specials, and for the satirical television show Spitting Image from 1984. She is also known as an actress in musical theatre, having starred in numerous shows on the West End since 1982, playing such roles as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Tanya in Mamma Mia!, Phyllis in Follies, Baroness Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins.
She is currently appearing in Oliver!, as Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
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Biography
Gold was born in London, England, to parents who were active with Unity Theatre in London. Her father was John Gold, and her mother is a retired actress, Una Brandon-Jones. Her brother, Max Gold, is also an actor.[1][2] Gold trained at The Arts Educational Schools from age 11.[3]
Early career, television and puppeteering
Gold made her professional debut in 1973, while still in her last year of school, in the Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat, as Fairy Bowbells, at the Malvern Festival Theatre.[1][4] She played in the musical Hair on tour in Britain in 1974. In 1975–76, she played Rachel in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at York Theatre Royal and then on tour (as Rachel and Potiphar's Wife).[5]
In 1977, Gold joined The Muppet Show during the show's second season and was quickly trained by Jim Henson as a puppeteer, becoming the only British puppeteer regularly employed on the show. She played several characters during her four seasons with the show, the best-known of which was Annie Sue Pig. She also sang on several of The Muppets' albums[6] and was often paired vocally with Jerry Nelson. She was a puppeteer in the films The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Dark Crystal (1982), and she appeared in various other Muppet series and specials. Muppet chronicler Christopher Finch wrote that Gold was "the most versatile female puppeteer to work on The Muppet Show [and] the only British member of the cast."[7] During these years, she continued to appear in musicals and plays in between her commitments to The Muppets. Among her non-puppeteering television appearances, Gold was featured as Mrs Tyler, a Goodwife, in the first series episode "Witchsmeller Pursuivant" of Blackadder (1983). The same year, she appeared as Maureen Bedford in episode two of For 4 Tonight, a talk-show spoof. In 1991, she played the domineering Private Elsa Bigstern in two episodes of 'Allo! 'Allo![8]
From 1984 to 1986, and occasionally thereafter, Gold was a lead puppeteer and voice on the satirical television show Spitting Image and was the lead singer (as Nancy Reagan) on their first single, "Da Do Run Ron", a pastiche of The Ronettes' "Da Do Run Run", released in 1984.[9] Gold was the first puppeteer hired for the show and "helped out with the Spitting Image pre-pilot, so she naturally became the 'consultant' for the hiring [and training] of the rest" of the puppeteers].[10][1] Peter Fluck, a creator of the show, commented, "Louise Gold always did the Queen and the mannerisms and facial expressions she put into it were wonderful. It was very exciting because this lump of clay we modelled with a fairly neutral expression came to life."[11]
Gold's later puppeteering work includes the 1985 film Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, in which she played the reporter, Miss Sullivan. In 1989, she played the title character, Fughetta Faffner (and others), in The Ghost of Faffner Hall, a Muppet music education TV Series.[12] She played several of the characters on Roland Rat The Series broadcasts in 1986 and 1988. She also played several characters on Sesame Street in the early 1990s, on Mopatop's Shop in the early 2000s, and in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and Muppet Treasure Island (1996). In 1992, Gold played Sally Spook in The Spooks of Bottle Bay.[13] In 1995 and 1997, she played characters on series 2 and series 3 of Jim Henson's Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, including Tizzy Bee, an early example of a computer generated image puppet.[14][15] Gold is featured as a guest puppeteer, portraying the character of Babs (the female termite), on Transmission: Impossible with Ed and Oucho on BBC 2 television. She has appeared in episodes 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 24, broadcast from May to August 2009.[16]
Stage roles
Beginning in 1982, Gold began to appear in West End musicals. The first of these was as Isabel in the Joseph Papp production of The Pirates of Penzance (1982–83; playing the slightly larger role of Kate in the 1983 film adaptation of the production).[17] Her other stage roles in the 1980s included Divine Dixie Diva in Mrs Cole's Music Hall at The Mill at Sonning (1984–85); Katisha, Countess of Grantham, in MetroPolitan Mikado, adapted from The Mikado by Ned Sherrin and Alistair Beaton at Queen Elizabeth Hall (1985); Bev in Angry Housewives at the Lyric Hammersmith Studio (1986); Mrs Johnston in Blood Brothers at Watermill Theatre (1986);[18] Maggot Scratcher in Sink the Belgrano! at Mermaid Theatre (1986);[19] Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense at Fortune Theatre (1987; and singing on the original London cast album);[20] Fanny Brice and other comediennes in Ziegfeld (1988) at the London Palladium (which held the record, according to the Guinness Book of Records, for "Greatest Theatrical Losses");[21][22] and Dick Whittington in Poppy at Half Moon Theatre (1988–89).[23]
Gold next starred as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes at Prince Edward Theatre (1990, replacing Elaine Paige; and on the 1995 studio cast album).[24][25] In the summer of 1991 at Open Air Regents Park she played Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream[26] and Adriana in The Boys from Syracuse (then toured as Adriana; "[W]hen the gleefully statuesque, not-so-pure Gold ripped into the splendid trio of "Sing for your Supper", we would have believed anything").[27] She was Gussie in Merrily We Roll Along at Haymarket Theatre (Leicester) (1992; and on the 1993 cast album).[28] She next played Sara Jane Moore in Assassins at Donmar Warehouse (1992–93)[29] and toured in Noël/Cole: Let's Do It, a Cole Porter and Noël Coward revue (1994 and 1995, beginning in Memphis, Tennessee; and on the cast album).[30] She then played the title role in the stage musical adaptation of Calamity Jane at the Leicester Haymarket (1994-95).[2]
In 1996, she toured as Mrs Silvia Tebrick, the title character (who transforms into a fox in full view of the audience) in the musical adaptation of Lady into Fox.[31][32] After this, she starred as Dunyasha the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Cherry Orchard at Albery Theatre in London and on tour (1996–97),[31] followed by another summer in Regents Park as the title character in Kiss Me, Kate (1997). Paul Taylor, writing in The Independent, declared, "Louise Gold is a comically commanding figure – outdoing herself in campy gorge-rising revulsion and contentious, drop-dead postures on each successive verse of 'I Hate Men'. This is... delivered here by performers who really know how to pace the song".[33] She was back at the Fortune Theatre as Lizzie Curry in 110 in the Shade (1999; one of Ian Marshall-Fisher's "Discovering Lost Musicals" series). The Stage commented, "Louise Gold also shines in the role of Lizzie, revealing her emotional torment in 'Old Maid', and an overwhelming joy in 'Is It Really Me?'"[34] Throughout the 1990s, Gold had been a regular performer in the Discovering Lost Musicals concert productions, taking roles in fifteen of them and singing in associated BBC radio broadcasts. One of these was the British première of Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus at the Barbican Centre in 1992, in which Gold sang the title character, which she reprised in another Lost Musicals production at The Lindbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, in 2000. These productions included four Cole Porter musicals in which Gold starred in roles that had been written for Ethel Merman. The last of Gold's roles in the series was as May Daly/Mme Du Barry in DuBarry Was a Lady at Her Majesty's Theatre in November 2001 (which she had also played as part of the series in 1993)[35][36]
She played Tanya in Mamma Mia! for two years at Prince Edward Theatre (2000–02)[37][38] followed by Phyllis in Follies at the Royal Festival Hall (2002). The Observer wrote, "Louise Gold's Phyllis is versatile and formidable: injured queen one moment, vamp the next."[39] The Guardian found her "wonderfully acerbic".[40] During the summer of 2003, she performed at Chichester Festival Theatre, playing the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers[41] and starring as the fairy characters in The Water Babies.[42][43][44] She then starred as Dotty Otley in Noises Off at the Piccadilly Theatre (2003). This was followed by Baroness Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium (2004–05). Critics noted, "Gold always gives excellent value in musicals: she’s talented, funny and energetic";[45] and "The highlight of the show for me has to be Christopher Biggins and Louise Gold as Baron and Baroness Bomburst. If they are not the funniest and most outrageous double act in the West End, I would love to see who could outdo them."[46] She had another long run as the tyrannical Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins at Prince Edward Theatre (2006–08).[47][48] In February 2008, she was the stoic widow O'Brien in Next Door's Baby.[49] Since December 2008, Gold has been appearing in Oliver!, as Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[50] She sings on the cast album.[51]
Other performances; personal life
Gold appeared in the 2000 film Topsy-Turvy, as Rosina Brandram, one of the original Gilbert and Sullivan performers, who plays Katisha in The Mikado during the course of the story.[52] Gold has also done a significant amount of radio and recording work and performs in her own cabaret show, which includes some puppeteering.[53][54][55]
Gold lives with the actor James Vaughan.[1] They have one son.[56]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Shane, Emma. "Loud, Left-handed and Lovely", an interview with Gold, Muppet Central Articles, 19 February 1999, accessed 7 April 2009
- ^ a b Gilbey, Liz. Review of Calamity Jane, 23 November 1994, p. 41; interview on 18 November 1994, p. 10, both in Leicester Mercury
- ^ Louise Gold website fact file
- ^ "Panto is bright and attractive", The Malvern Gazette, 27 December 1973
- ^ "York", The Stage, 15 January 1976, p. 31
- ^ See, e.g., The Muppet Show 2 (1978), Arisa AB 4192 (US) and PYE NSPH 21 (UK)
- ^ Finch (1993), p. 100
- ^ Louise Gold at the Internet Movie Database, accessed 26 June 2009
- ^ Shane, Emma. "Da Do Run Ron" page at Shane's Louise Gold website. The 45rpm single is on Elektra E9713.
- ^ Chester, p. 40
- ^ Johnston, Ian. "Headcases? We were miles better", The Independent, 6 April 2008
- ^ "The Ghost of Faffner Hall", Muppet Wiki, Wikia Entertainment
- ^ Shane, Emma. "The Spooks Of Bottle Bay", Louise Gold website, accessed 16 June 2009
- ^ Shane, Emma. Jim Henson's The Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, Louise Gold website,
- ^ "The Animal Show", Muppet Wiki, Wikia Entertainment
- ^ Shane, Emma. "Transmission: Impossible With Ed And Oucho", Louise Gold website, accessed 16 June 2009
- ^ Theatre Record, 19 May 1982 to 2 June 1982, p. 278
- ^ Martin, Roy. "Pungent Humour from Russell", The Reading Evening Post, 16 August 1986
- ^ Theatre Record, 22 October to 4 November 1980, p. 1206
- ^ Theatre Record, 12-25 March 1987, pp. 345–48
- ^ See, e.g. Guinness Book of Records, 1998 edition, p. 152
- ^ Rayment, Tim. "Touch of Steele puts a new spring in the old Ziegfeld routine", The Sunday Times, p. A-11, 22 May 1988; Theatre Record, 22 April to 8 May 1988, pp. 544–52 and 29 July to 11 August 1988, pp. 1029–33
- ^ Shane, Emma. Listing of roles at the Louise Gold Website
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. All Music Guide review, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ The album was released by Music Theatre Hour CDTEH6011
- ^ Theatre Record, 21 May to 3 June 1991, pp. 646–49
- ^ Coveney, Michael. The Observer, 28 July 1991, reprinted in Theatre Record, 16 to 29 July 1991, pp. 869–72
- ^ Theatre Record, 8-21 April 1992, pp. 482–86.
- ^ Shuttleworth, Ian. Assassins review, City Limits magazine, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ Hewitt, Phil. "It's Party Time", Chichester Observer, 21 July 1994.
- ^ a b "Chekhov's richest and last play", Interview of Gold by Helen Taylor, Richmond and Twickenham Times, 14 March 1997
- ^ Theatre Record, 25 March to 7 April 1996, pp. 413–15
- ^ Taylor, Paul, The Independent, 31 July 1997, quoted in Theatre Record, 16-29 July 1997, pp. 912–15 and p. 994
- ^ Martland, Lisa. "Fortune - 110 in the Shade", The Stage, p. 14, 22 July 1999
- ^ "Atlantic Overtures", Show Music, Spring 1997, pp. 25–28
- ^ Shane, Emma. Louise and Lost Musicals at the Louise Gold website
- ^ Spencer, Charles. Review in The Daily Telegraph, 22 March 2000
- ^ Shane, Emma. "A Week in the West End", BBC 2, February 2002, accessed 7 April 2009
- ^ Kellaway, Kate. "Bring on the chorus girls", The Observer, 11 August 2002
- ^ Costa, Maddy. Follies review, The Guardian, 8 August 2002
- ^ Jerram, Barrie. Review of The Gondoliers, Musical Stages, pp. 30–31, issue 30, Autumn 2003
- ^ "Water Babies Goes in at the Deep End", Interview with Gold in Chichester Observer, 24 April 2003, p. 43
- ^ Water Babies page at the composer's website
- ^ Hewitt, Phil. Interview with Gold in Chichester Observer, 24 April 2003, p. 3
- ^ Shuttleworth, Ian. Review of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 2004, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ Tinker, Vicky. Musical Stages, p. 37, Issue 44, Winter 2004
- ^ Somensky, Amy. "Cast change for Mary Poppins", 6 April 2006, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ "Mary Poppins posts closing notices", Indie London, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ Mountford, Fiona. "Street of Broken Dreams", Evening Standard, 11 February 2008
- ^ Herman, Judi. "Has Lionel Bart’s Oliver! stood the test of time?" All About Jewish Theatre, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ First Night Records, Cast CD 105
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. "Topsy-Turvy (1999)", A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 20 November 2009
- ^ Louise Gold... by Appointment, LouiseGold.com
- ^ Nelson, Paul. "Be sure to catch an appointment with Louise Gold", Indie London, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ Other recordings include Stop the World I Want to Get Off, cast CD CDTER1226
- ^ Hartley, Emma. "Mamma Mia! Cut the curtain calls, the fan waiting backstage wants his feed", The Evening Standard, 8 June 2000, p. 24
References
- Chester, Lewis. Tooth & Claw - The Inside Story of Spitting Image, Faber and Faber, 1986 ISBN 0-571-14557-4
- Finch, Christopher. Of Muppets and Men: The Making of the Muppet Show, Michael Joseph: London, 1982 ISBN 0718121120
- Finch, Christopher. The Muppet Show: Jim Henson - The Works, Random House, 1993 ISBN 0-679-41203-4
- Finch, Christopher. The Making of The Dark Crystal, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983 ISBN 0-03-063332-X
- Hillard, Christopher. Voices Faces Characters, Cavalier Productions, 2001 ISBN 0-646-40854-2
External links
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