|
Derek Oldham (29 March 1887 – 20 March 1968) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After performing in concerts as a boy soprano and working as a bank clerk, Oldham began a professional performing career in 1914. With the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Scots Guards, serving with valour. After the war, he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, singing the tenor leads in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas for three years. He then starred in musicals and operettas in the West End in the 1920s, including ''Madame Pompadour'', ''The Merry Widow'', ''Rose-Marie'' and ''The Vagabond King''. He returned to the D'Oyly Carte for brief periods from 1929 to 1937. Oldham continued singing, recording and acting through the 1940s, also appearing in several films. He concentrated on legitimate theatre in the 1950s, acting until the age of 70. He maintained a lifelong interest in Gilbert and Sullivan, serving as an officer of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society. He finally retired to Hampshire during the last ten years of his life. ==Life and career== Oldham was born John Stephens Oldham in Accrington, Lancashire, the son of Thomas Oldham and his wife Harriett, ''née'' Stephens. He had an elder brother, George, and a sister. As a child, Oldham was a boy soprano in demand for over five years in oratorios (including Sullivan's ''The Golden Legend'' and ''The Prodigal Son''), concerts (including "Neath My Lattice" from Sullivan's ''The Rose of Persia''), and pantomimes. As a young man, he worked as a bank clerk and sang in amateur operatic societies.〔Gaye, pp. 1028–29〕〔Taylor, Roy. ("Derek Oldham Remembers" ), at the ''Memories of the D'Oyly Carte'' website, accessed 21 December 2009〕 He debuted on the professional adult stage in 1914, as Julien in ''The Daring of Diane'', an operetta by Alfred Anderson and Heinrich Reinhardt, presented at the London Pavilion. He made an immediate mark: ''The Observer'' said that he "has an exceptionally charming tenor voice, uses it with fine art, and acts with engaging simplicity and sincerity."〔''The Observer'', 26 April 1914, p. 9〕 Later that year, at the Lyric Theatre, he played Bumerli in ''The Chocolate Soldier'', in which he also won excellent notices.〔''The Observer'', 6 September 1914, p. 5; and ''The Times'', 7 September 1914, p. 12〕 At the end of that year, after the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Scots Guards, a year later was commissioned in the East Lancashire Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in Macedonia in 1918.〔 During the war, he formed a concert group to entertain his fellow servicemen, also producing ''The Chocolate Soldier'' not far from enemy lines.〔Taylor, Roy. (Derek Oldham ) at the ''Memories of the D'Oyly Carte'' website, accessed 21 December 2009〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Derek Oldham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|