Gilbert and Sullivan Go Kosher: An Evening With Goldberg and Solomon (1970)
Book and lyrics by Roy Cowen
Sullivan's music adapted and arranged by Ian Kerr
Ian Kerr and Roy Cowan toured with an act called "The Best of Goldberg and
Solomon" in the late '60s and early '70s. Their premise was that
they were performing the Savoy Operas as they would have been written if
G&S had been Jewish. Works included Trial by Jewry,
M.R.S. Pinafore, Three Little Maids from Schule,
The Chandeliers (about a couple of interior decorators;
one of the numbers is "Take a Pair of Pizza Pies"), and
The Tailors of Poznance;
or, The Apprentice Lover Should Never Press His Suit in the Firm's Time.
Michael Walters was in the audience when this record was made, and this
is how he remembers it:
This recording contains
extracts from The Tailors of Poznance along with potted versions of
M.R.S. Pinafore, Three Little Maids from Schule and The Chandeliers.
It is alleged to have been recorded live in a theatre and to be extracts
from a full evening's entertainment. In fact it was recorded in the Pye Studios off
Edgeware Road in London, before an invited audience. I know, because I was
part of the audience, and the various extracts were recorded several times,
while our laughter was rehearsed! Sadly, I can't hear my own laughter, but
Victor Golding (whom some of you know) was there as well, and his laugh is
very distinctive. They recorded some other extracts which were never
included on the record, I think Trial by Jewry might have been one. This
would have happened about 1970, but my memory is a bit hazy after all this time.
In fact, Dan Kravetz reports that Gilbert and Sullivan Go Kosher
includes just excerpts from The Tailors of Poznance (Side 1) and
The Chandeliers (Side 2), plus a final duet by Cowen and Kerr out
of character to the tune of "He is an Englishman." (In other words, there is
nothing of Three Little Maids or M.R.S. Pinafore.) Dan imagines
that there was an earlier disc, from 1967 or so, that contained this extra
material, but details of it have not come to my attention.
There are at least two other Goldberg and Solomon albums, comprising the complete
scores of The Chandeliers and
The Tailors of Poznance respectively.
Paul McShane posted the contents of a 1971 programme that Cowen and Kerr gave
in Australia. This programme is not the same as what's on the record,
but I reproduce it here, as it's interesting in its own right:
- from "Trial by Jewry"
- "How we met"
- from "The Tailors of Ponzance"
- "I am Morry King"
- "The Oliver Sholom Psalm"
- "She's Orthodox!"
- "A Shatchan's Lot"
- "A Double Mazeltov"
-
from "The Three Little Maids from Schule"
- "Chazersher's Song"
- "Mao's Little List"
- "Little Maids from Schule"
-
from "M.R.S. Pinafore"
- "I'm Called Sarah Schmuttercup"
- "Never Mind My Why and Wherefore"
-
and from "The Chandaliers"
- "Take a Pair of Pizza Pies"
- "The Duke Platz Oratorio"
- "The Decorator's Gavotto"
-
as well as "A Pair of Grand Old Jewish Men"
Issue History
| Date | Label | Format | Number |
| 1970 |
Pye Golden Guinea |
LP |
GG 10467 |
Marc Shepherd, oakapple@cris.com
Copyright ©1995-2005. All Rights Reserved.
Last Modified: 22-Nov-00
URL: http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/mdkosher.htm
|