J. M. Gordon
Encyclopedia
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, stage manager and director, best known as the influential long-time director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
following the death of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
.
Life and career
John McRobbie Gordon was born in AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and died in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. Early in his career, he sang with the Dan Godfrey Quartet in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
.
Gordon joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1883 on tour in Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
as a member of the chorus. In 1884, he played the part of Colonel Calverley in Patience on tour. He remained with the D'Oyly Carte company until 1890, playing Piscator in The Carp
The Carp (opera)
The Carp is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Alfred Cellier. It was first produced at the Savoy Theatre from 13 February 1886 to 19 January 1887, as a companion piece to The Mikado. It was then revived as companion to Ruddigore from 21 February 1887 to 5...
(a one-act curtain raiser
Curtain raiser
*A United States Air Force missile combat competition called Curtain Raiser, held in 1967*Curtain raiser - A short play or entertainment given before the main entertainment or event to fill out the bill or programme....
) when it accompanied Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
, and Mr. Harrington Jarramie in Mrs. Jarramie's Genie
Mrs. Jarramie's Genie
Mrs. Jarramie's Genie is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Alfred Cellier and François Cellier. The piece was first presented at the Savoy Theatre on 14 February 1888, as a curtain raiser to the revival of H.M.S. Pinafore...
(another curtain raiser), when it accompanied The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
, in each case at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in London. In the 1890s, Gordon managed, and acted in, his own touring company of four performers, playing a series of short pieces including Mock Turtles
Mock Turtles (opera)
Mock Turtles is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by Frank Desprez and music by Eaton Faning. It was first produced at the Savoy Theatre on 11 October 1881 as a curtain raiser to Patience, then from 26 November 1882 to 30 March 1883 with Iolanthe. The piece also toured from December 1881...
.
In 1907, Gordon returned to D'Oyly Carte as a stage manager. He appears to have left the company for a time but returned by 1911. Following the death of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
earlier in 1911, Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948....
sought a stage manager who could maintain the company's production standards and preserve Gilbert's traditions and style. Gordon's skills, experience with the company directly under Gilbert, attention to detail, and notorious tenacity were exactly what the company desired.
Gordon stage managed and then directed D'Oyly Carte productions for the next twenty-eight years. He coached new artists on the blocking, dances, and line readings for each part, and maintained strict quality control over the productions. He was named Stage Director for the company in 1922 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1939. He was responsible for making the textual revisions to Ruddigore when that opera was restaged in December 1921, as well as the extensive revision (with music director Harry Norris
Harry Norris (conductor)
Harry Norris was a New Zealand-born conductor best remembered as musical director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1919 and 1929. After leaving that company, Norris emigrated to Canada to teach but returned to retire in England in the 1960s.-Life and career:Norris was born in...
) to create the Savoy Edition of Cox and Box
Cox and Box
Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...
, and he approved any changes to stage business, such as Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt
Darrell Fancourt was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances and recordings of the Savoy Operas....
's introduction of the Mikado's famous laugh.
A photograph of Gordon and D'Oyly Carte colleagues with the huge recording horn used in the acoustic recording process can be seen here. Gordon's daughter Lilian preserved many of his papers with information about the company's productions.
Anecdotes about Gordon
Many members of D'Oyly Carte wrote anecdotes about Gordon's dedication and the value of his instruction, including Martyn GreenMartyn Green
William Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,...
, in his Treasury. Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham 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....
described Gordon as:
a tiger for knowing and getting what he wanted! He was only really happy when he was rehearsing. He loved rehearsing.... He was the everlasting secret joke of the Company... and there were some funny tales.... But he had that company on its toes. It is sometimes said that the vintage years of [the company] were from 1919 and the six years following. Well, they were all due to old man Gordon.... Later, as he became older and tired, it showed itself in the fact that he was not so flexible. He became a martinetMartinetThe martinet is a punitive device traditionally used in France and other parts of Europe. The word also has other usages . It is also a term for a type of hammer in French, a diminutive of marteau , "hammer".-Object:...
in tiny little things of "business" and tradition, and would not allow the individuality of the actor to colour a part, as he used to in my time ... making for a dull uniformity. But what a producer when at his best.... Gordon gave me diction, much solid stage technique, and nursed the passion and sincerity for my job.
Viola Wilson, who served briefly near the end of Gordon's career, wrote this typical description in her memoir:
He worshipped Gilbert and this was reflected in his own productions. Although a stickler for tradition, he believed first and foremost in building up an intelligent performance. Short and slight, James Gordon kept a small step ladder [to see over the heads of the chorus] near the prompt corner so he could stand on it, peer through his pince-nez spectacles at us and not miss a single movement. He knew the exact spot where we should stand and no one dared be half an inch out of place. From the stage we could see his luminous pen jotting down notes which he later handed to us. Some of these I still have: "You took three steps too close to Strephon during the duet." "Keep your arms steady during song and sing with more feeling" and so on.
External links
- J.M. Gordon at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
- Reminiscences of Derek Oldham about Gordon
- Recollections of Harry Norris