Walter Passmore
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Walter Passmore (May 10, 1867 – August 29, 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
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[edit] Life and career
[edit] Early career
Walter Henry Passmore was born in London and became a choirboy at All Saints Church in Notting Hill. On Christmas morning 1881 he sang in The Messiah, and the following day he made his first professional stage appearance at the age of fourteen at Sunderland as a page in the pantomime Cinderella.[1] He was soon apprenticed to Cramers, the piano maker, and at the end of the apprenticeship, he returned to the stage, working as a pianist with traveling concert parties and performing in farcical comedies. He made his London debut at the Standard Theatre, Bishopgate, in May 1890, in The Flying Scud and performed in musicals for the next three years.
Passmore joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1893, creating the small part of Greg in the unsuccessful Jane Annie at the Savoy Theatre (libretto by J. M. Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle; music by Ernest Ford). He next created the part of Tarara, the public exploder, in Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited (1893–94) and appeared as Bobinet in Mirette (1894). Bobinet was Passmore's first real starring part. In the autumn of 1894, Passmore named his new daughter "Mirette", perhaps in acknowledgement of his success in this his breakout role. He also performed in Utopia in the role of King Paramount on tour that year. Passmore next created the role of Peter Adolphus Grigg in Sullivan and Burnand's The Chieftain (1894–1895). He then toured as Bobinet and Grigg.
[edit] Principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte
In 1895 Passmore returned to the Savoy, where he played Ko-Ko in revivals of The Mikado (1895–97) and, in between revivals, created the role of Grand Duke Rudolph in The Grand Duke (1896). In 1897, he created the part of Boodel in His Majesty, earning good notices, then appeared as Jack Point in the first revival of The Yeomen of the Guard (1897), General Boum in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1897–98), and Don Alhambra in revivals of The Gondoliers (1898). In 1898, he was The Devil in the first production of The Beauty Stone.
Passmore subsequently appeared at the Savoy as the Usher in Trial by Jury, John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer (1898), King Ouf I in The Lucky Star (1899), and Sir Joseph in H.M.S. Pinafore (1899). While rehearsing this last role, Passmore suggested to W. S. Gilbert that he might walk around with his nose in the air "as though raising it above an unpleasant smell." Gilbert quipped, "Unpleasant smell? Well, you're the best judge of that, Passmore." (Ayre, p. 260).
Passmore then created the role of Hassan in The Rose of Persia (1899–1900) and played the Sergeant of Police in the second revival of The Pirates of Penzance (1900) and Reginald Bunthorne in the first revival of Patience (1900–01). He created the role of Professor Bunn in The Emerald Isle (1901), was Ping-Pong in The Willow Pattern (1901), and the Lord Chancellor in the first revival of Iolanthe (1901–02). He created the role of Walter Wilkins in Merrie England (1902, and on tour), and played Puck in A Princess of Kensington (1903, and on tour).
Passmore's theatrical performances were famous for their visual humour. George Baker remembered Passmore's Sergeant of Police as being "obstreperously funny."[2]
[edit] Later years
When the D'Oyly Carte company went on tour in 1903, Passmore remained in London where he began a career in musical comedies, plays, and pantomimes in London's West End and toured for many years. He first transferred to the Adelphi Theatre, where he appeared as Jim Cheese in The Earl and the Girl (1903), then to the Lyric Theatre as Jerry Snipe in The Talk of the Town (1905) and as Private Charlie Taylor in The Blue Moon (1905).[3] His pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane included Cinderella (1905), Sinbad (1906), and Babes In The Wood (1907), [4] At the Apollo Theatre, Passmore appeared in The Dairymaids (1906), and at the Queen's Theatre, he played Baptiste Boubillon in The Belle of Brittany (1908). In 1910, Passmore played Frosch, the prison governor, in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus in Thomas Beecham's first opera season at Covent Garden. The production – one of the few works in the season not to lose money – "depended for its popularity in part upon Walter Passmore, the celebrated D'Oyly Carte droll".[5]
Next, Passmore toured in Merrie England again in 1911. He appeared as Alphonse Bouchotte in Oh! Oh! Delphine in 1913 at the Shaftesbury Theatre,[6] and as Jericho Mardyke in Our Nell in 1924 at the Gaiety Theatre.[7] He also appeared in Madame Pompadour (1924). After a long career, his last role before retirement in 1933 was Count Theodore Volney in The Damask Rose.
Passmore was married to fellow D'Oyly Carte artist Agnes Fraser in 1900 who frequently appeared with him on stage. They had four children: Henry, a general manager of Hammer films 1935-37; Nancy, who married to tenor Joseph Hislop; John; and Isobel.[citation needed]
Passmore died at Golders Green, London at the age of 79.
[edit] Recordings
Passmore recorded over a dozen of individual songs from the Gilbert & Sullivan operas between 1900 and 1913 for Odeon. Many of these have been re-issued by Pearl on LP and CD ("The Art of the Savoyard," Pearl GEMM CD 9991).
Passmore also sang the part of Ko-Ko in an historic 1908 recording of The Mikado for Odeon that was reissued by Pearl on LP (GEMM 198). This recording is nearly complete and is a rare opportunity to hear an artist who recorded a role that he played under Gilbert's and Sullivan's personal direction.[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Article about the London musical stage in 1894
- ^ Baker's quote from the Memories of the D'Oyly Carte website
- ^ Listing of casts at London theatres from 1902-1909
- ^ Article on Drury Lane pantomimes
- ^ Reid, p. 107. Sullivan's Ivanhoe was also staged by Beecham during this season, but Passmore was not in the cast
- ^ Listing of casts at London theatres from 1910-1919
- ^ Listing of casts at London theatres from 1920-1929
- ^ Article about the 1907 Odeon Mikado recording at The G&S Discography
[edit] References
- Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd. Introduction by Martyn Green.
- Reid, Charles (1961). Thomas Beecham – An Independent Biography. London: Victor Gollancz.
- Walters, Michael. "Walter Passmore". The Gaiety (Winter 2005). (pp. 22-44)
[edit] External links
- Walter Passmore at "Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
