Hinge and Bracket
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Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket were the stage names of George Logan and Patrick Fyffe respectively. The characters of Hinge (somewhat brittle and acerbic) and Bracket (more flamboyant) were elderly, intellectual, female musicians; in these personae the male Logan and Fyffe played and sang songs to comic effect. They made many appearances on television and radio.
A genteel English inter-war world of cucumber sandwiches, bell ringing, church fetes and old-fashioned values was recalled through the act, although their work was frequently decorated with double entendres. The ladies shared a house (The Old Manse) in the fictional village of Stackton Tressel in Suffolk, where they amused themselves with recitals of Gilbert & Sullivan, Noel Coward and Ivor Novello. They employed the services of an eccentric housekeeper, Maud, played in the radio series by English character actress Daphne Heard.
Hinge and Bracket made their first appearance in 1974 at the Edinburgh Festival. They toured their double act for years, before appearing on the radio. Their first radio series, The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket, ran on BBC Radio 4 for three series from 1977 to 1979. The series was a mix of period songs and situation comedy, in the form of a musical evening with jokes. The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket, which ran for 68 episodes on BBC Radio 2 from 1982 to 1989, put the stars more firmly in a sitcom setting. Another radio series, At Home with Hinge and Bracket, had more of a chat show format and ran for a single season in 1990. Certain radio episodes have been re-broadcast on BBC 7.
Hinge and Bracket appeared in 3 series of their own BBC TV show Dear Ladies on BBC 2, between 1983 and 1985. Locations were filmed in picturesque Cheshire towns and villages, including Knutsford, Great Budworth and Nantwich.
The two also made stage appearances: Dame Hilda as 'Katisha' in The Mikado; and Doctor Hinge as Miss Marple in Murder at the Vicarage in 1994. The characters appeared together in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest for a West End run, followed by a nationwide tour; and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in a New Year’s Eve performance of Die Fledermaus, conducted by Plácido Domingo and starring Kiri Te Kanawa. They toured the UK with the Peter Shaffer play Lettice and Lovage, as well as continuing to appear in their variety act (touring with the variety show Palladium Nights until 2001).
Fyffe (Dame Hilda) also toured a one-woman show entitled By Kind Permission, which saw Dame Hilda perform new songs (written by Fyffe himself, and Barrie Bignold), and perform several sketches as different characters.
Patrick Fyffe was born on 23 January 1942 and died on 11 May 2002 from spinal cancer. He is outlived by his sister, the soprano Jane Fyffe, who was a performer with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the late 50's. Miss Fyffe also played the leading role in the 1964 production of the musical Robert and Elizabeth, at the Lyric Theatre,[1] which Patrick Fyffe also appeared in as one of the brothers; and he also appeared in another production at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow, in 1971 [2].
[edit] DVD Release
- Series One of Hinge and Bracket's television series Dear Ladies is currently available on DVD.
- Hinge and Bracket Gala Evenings will be released in February 2008, featuring over 6 hours of material.
