ABOUT THE CAST
Stefan Bednarczyk
At the Finborough Theatre, Stefan appeared in The Killing of Mr Toad (2009).
Theatre includes Forever Young (Nottingham Playhouse), The Importance Of Being Earnest (Riverside Studios), The Picture (Salisbury Playhouse), The Game Of Love And Chance (National Theatre and Tour), Laughter On The 23rd Floor (Queen's Theatre and National Tour), The LA Plays (Almeida Theatre), The Devil Wears Tweed, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Young Dick Barton (Warehouse Theatre, Croydon), ZIP! (National Tour), The Glee Club (Bush Theatre), Semi-Monde (Lyric Theatre), The Jermyn Street Revue (Jermyn Street Theatre), Whenever (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), Five O'Clock Angel (Edinburgh Festival, Hampstead Theatre and King's Head Theatre).
Film includes Composed, Sea Change, Friends Pictured Within, and Topsy-Turvy.
Television includes EastEnders, Crocodile Shoes, Crown Prosecutor, Love Hurts, Harry Enfield and Chums.
Solo Cabaret Performances include seasons at The Pheasantry Pizza on the Park, King's Head Theatre, New End Theatre, Jermyn Street Theatre and overseas in Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Barbados, Vienna and Adelaide.
Victoria Byron
Trained at The Royal Academy of Music (Opera Course and Musical Theatre Course).
Theatre includes Iolanthe (Chichester Festival Theatre and Buxton Opera House), Ruddigore (National Tour and Buxton Opera House), The Yeoman of the Guard (Tower of London, Buxton Opera House and Gawsworth Hall), H.M.S Pinafore (Buxton Opera House), The Mikado (National Tour and Buxton Opera House), Patience (Buxton Opera House), The Gondoliers (Buxton Opera House), The Sorcerer (Buxton Opera House), The Pirates of Penzance (Buxton Opera House), Princess Ida (Buxton Opera House), La Belle Helene (Iford Opera Festival, The Bridewell Theatre and National Tour, Carmen Theatre Alberes, France, and The Grand Opera House, Belfast), Cosi Fan Tutte (Queen Elizabeth Hall) The Rape of Lucretia (Queen Elizabeth Hall), The Rakes Progress, Lotario, Matilde (Britten Theatre) and A Chorus Line (Sir Jack Lyons Theatre).
Film includes Chasing Liberty (Warner Bros).
TV includes A Motley Pair (Sky Arts).
Forthcoming productions include The Gondoliers and The Grand Duke (Buxton Opera House).
Sylvia Clarke
Studied in Sydney at the Conservatorium of Music Opera School.
Theatre includes The Mikado, HMS Pinafore (Carl Rosa Opera Company USA and UK Tours), The Pirates of Penzance (Carl Rosa Opera Company USA and UK Tours 2009), Iolanthe (Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Chichester Festival Theatre) and The Sorcerer (Opera della Luna UK Tour).
Sylvia was a member of Opera Australia and resident Mezzo with the West Australian Opera Company. Since coming to Britain, Sylvia has sung with various opera companies including Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Carl Rosa Opera Company and Opera della Luna. She regularly sings as a soloist with Choral Societies throughout the country and performs Classical Recitals in Australia and the UK. Sylvia regularly performs the Contralto roles in all the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire.
Curtis Dabek
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes The Black and White Minstrel show (National Tour and the Victoria Palace Theatre), Smilin' Through (Prince of Wales Theatre and National Tour), The Dancing Years (National Tour), Lilac Time (National Tour), The Desert Song (National Tour), The Danny la Rue Show (National Tour, Great Yarmouth season and O'Keefe Centre, Toronto), Perchance to Dream (Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich), Oklahoma! (Palace Theatre and National Tour), The Wind in the Willows (National Tour), The Sound of Music (Connaught Theatre, Worthing), Just a Verse and Chorus (National Tour), Gilbert and Sullivan seasons (Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Gielgud Theatre and Tower of London, National Tours in UK and USA), Aladdin and Dick Whittington (Middlesbrough Theatre), ninety operas and operettas with Opera de Nice, France, Princess Ida, The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, Iolanthe, The Gondoliers, The Yeomen of the Guard (Buxton Opera House) and Cinderella (London Palladium).
Television includes War and Peace, The Black and White Minstrel Show, 'allo,'allo, Dr Who and Swallows and Amazons.
Radio includes Friday Night is Music Night.
Tammy Davies
Trained at Northbrook College, West Sussex, and the Royal Academy of Music.
Theatre includes two seasons of the Thursford Christmas Spectacular (Thursford), Iolanthe, The Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, The Yeoman of the Guard, The Gondoliers, Princess Ida and Utopia Limited (The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), Anthems - The Concert (Royal Albert Hall), Chess - in Concert (Royal Albert Hall), Solo artist (Beach Break Live, UK Student Music Festival), Solo Artist (Gilbert and Sullivan Nile Cruise, Osiris Ship, Egypt), The Mikado and Iolanthe (Carl Rosa Opera Company), The Wizard of Oz (Welsh Tour) and Concert for Diana (Wembley Stadium).
Bruce Graham Notary
Studied at the University of Edinburgh.
Theatre includes Camelot (Apollo Victoria Theatre), Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre), Follies (Shaftesbury Theatre), Budgie (Cambridge Theatre), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre), She Loves Me (Savoy Theatre), Sunset Boulevard (Adelphi Theatre) and Cats (New London Theatre and National Tour).
Bruce joined the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1978 and, since then, Bruce has appeared in over two thousand performances of Gilbert and Sullivan worldwide, and is a frequent visitor to the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton.
Further commitments in Bruce’s varied schedule have included work with the major British opera companies and concert promoter Raymond Gubbay, as well as film, television, pantomime, and music hall engagements and a recent foray into the Verdi repertoire. By appearing in The Grand Duke, Bruce will have made appearances in all thirteen operas in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon.
Martin Lamb
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Opera includes The Marriage of Figaro (English National Opera), The Money Man, The Letter, The Marriage of Figaro, La cenerentola (Scottish Opera) Jenůfa, Tosca (English Touring Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos, The Rake’s Progress (Garsington Opera), The Barber of Seville, Così fan tutte, The Merry Widow (Opera UK), HMS Pinafore, The Yeomen of the Guard (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company), The Sorcerer (Opera della Luna) and Spilt Milk (Arcola Theatre).
Theatre includes Peter Pan: The Return of Captain Hook, A Christmas Carol (Brewery Arts Centre), Possessed (Oxford Playhouse), W.S. Gilbert’s Eminent Victorians (written and performed for the VandA).
Directing includes Aladdin (Brewery Arts Centre), Annie Get Your Gun and Our House (Bloody Bones).
Mark Lawson
Trained at Guildford School of Acting.
Theatre includes Health and Safety (Old Vic Tunnels), The Bakers Wife (Union Theatre), Kid Arthur (The Space), Slay it with Music (Greenwhich Playhouse), Songs For A New World (Battersea Barge), La Boheme (Soho Theatre), Thursford Christmas Spectacular (Thursford), Calamity Jane (Upstairs at the Gatehouse) and Pericles Prince of Tyre (Ballerby Studios).
Film includes The Art of Life (Short, Munsch Productions) and Royal Flush (Met Film School).
Philip Lee
Studied Music at Lancaster University and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatre includes The Mikado (Charles Court Opera), La Boheme (Soho Theatre), The Coronation of Poppea (King’s Head Theatre), The Magic Flute (Mantissa Opera), Robin Hood (Charles Court Opera), H.M.S. Pinafore (Carl Rosa Opera Company at Chichester Festival Theatre), The Pearl Fishers (UK Tour), The Barber of Seville (UK and Eire Tour) and The Yeomen Of The Guard (Carl Rosa Opera Company)
Forthcoming productions include covering Mr Snow in Carousel for Opera North and tenor soloist in Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle. www.phillee.co.uk
Matthew Markwick
At the Finborough Theatre, Matthew appeared in The Painted Lady - The Tale of Princess Caraboo, part of Vibrant – An Anniversary Festival of Finborough Playwrights (2010).
Trained at the Central School Of Speech and Drama.
Theatre includes - Patience (Union Theatre), Royal Cunard Singers (Queen Mary II), West Coast - A Celebration Of The Beach Boys (National Tour), The Painted Lady - The Tale of Princess Caraboo (Bristol Old Vic), Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi (Union Theatre) and Robin Hood (National Tour).
Film includes Nuestra Madre, The Special Relationship.
Guy Mott
Trained at Birmingham School of Acting.
Theatre includes Thursford Christmas Spectacular (Thursford), Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter (Earls Court Festival), Sleeping Beauty (King’s Theatre, Glasgow), Joseph (UK Tour), Ruddigore, The Yeoman Of The Guard, Iolanthe, The Mikado (The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), The Pirates of Penzance (USA and Canada Tour), H.M.S Pinafore The Yeomen Of The Guard, Patience, The Pirates of Penzance (Carl Rosa Opera Company National Tour) and The Jungle Book (National Tour).
Film includes The Corpse Wore White (Mica Films) and Dies With Me (Squelen Productions).
Television includes Break A Leg! (Break A Leg Productions) and Songs of Praise (BBC).
Ciara O'Connor
Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes Grande Messe des Morts (Wratislavia Cantans Festival, Poland), Albert Herring (Guildhall School of Music and Drama Theatre), Verdi’s Requiem (Barbican Hall), Cavalleria Rusticana (Barbican Hall), Trial by Jury (The David Josefowitz Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London) and The Pirates of Penzance (Waterford International Festival, Ireland).
Stiofàn O'Doherty
Trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Theatre includes Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (National Tour), Salad Days (Bristol Old Vic), Keeping the Faith (Embassy Theatre) and Patience (Union Theatre). Theatre while training includes Victory, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Sweeney Todd, A View from the Bridge and Romeo and Juliet.
Charlotte Page
Studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Joy Mammen.
Theatre includes Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre), Follies (London Palladium), A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory), Peter Grimes (Royal Opera at Savonlinna Festival, Finland), Pelleas et Melisande (Atelier Lyrique, Orleans, France), The Merry Widow (Opera Holland Park), Street Scene (The Opera Group at The Young Vic, and Opera de Toulon, France), La Belle Helene (Court Opera for Holland Park Opera), Hansel and Gretel (Welsh National Opera and Opera Northern Ireland), Don Pasquale (Crystal Clear Opera), L’elisir D’amore (Bernini Ensemble and Chichester Festival), The Beggars Opera (First Act Opera), The Threepenny Opera (The Opera Group), Candide (The Opera Group), Die Fledermaus (Crystal Clear Opera and Opera Holland Park), Acis and Galatea (English Bach Festival Royal Opera House), Cosi Fan Tutte (Bernini Ensemble), Don Giovanni (Pimlico Opera), The Magic Flute (Opera of the South), Le Nozze Di Figaro (Stowe Opera), Lucia Di Lammermoor (Haddo House Opera), Vera of Las Vegas and Erismena (Opera Theatre Company, Ireland), La Duenna (English Touring Opera), La Boheme (The Opera Project), The Mikado (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company at Royal Festival Hall and Savoy Theatre), Iolanthe (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company tour and at the Savoy Theatre; and a Carl Rosa Opera Company tour and at the Gielgud Theatre), The Pirates of Penzance (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, Savoy Theatre; and Carl Rosa Opera Company US and UK tours; and The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), Patience (Carl Rosa Opera Company at Normansfield Theatre and tour), Yeomen Of The Guard (Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Tower of London and tour, and The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), HMS Pinafore (Carl Rosa Opera Company US tours), Trial By Jury (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company Public workshops), Ruddigore (The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), Roswell Incident (Music Theatre Wales), Watch Your Step (Batignano Festival, Italy), The Moon On A Stick (Genesis Project at the Royal Opera House,), Let’s Make An Opera, a new play by Simon Butteriss, and The Little Sweep (Aldeburgh Festival).
Jane Quinn
At the Finborough Theatre, Jane appeared in Florodora (2006).
Studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Holloway, University of London.
Theatre includes Lend Me a Tenor (Gielgud Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth), The Sound of Music (UK tour), Little Women (Lost Theatre), Company (Union Theatre), Iolanthe, The Pirates of Penzance (Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Gielgud Theatre, UK and USA tours), My Fair Lady (Esplanade Singapore at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre), Enchanted Evenings (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Merry Widow, Lakme (Opera Holland Park), Grease (UK tour), Eloquent Protest (Trafalgar Studios), We’ll Gather Lilacs (Bridewell Theatre), The Magical Rhythms of Ireland (European tour), West End Gala (Queen’s Theatre), Fanny (Sadler’s Wells Theatre), Oh! What A Lovely War (Theatr Clwyd Cymru), Lady Diana (German tour), and as a Guest Singer at Jermyn Street Concert - showcasing the work of new award-winning composers, Pan European Voice Conference, Monaco Grand Prix and Lord’s.
Film includes De-Lovely (MGM) and Enduring Love (Paramount).
Television includes Y Factor (Sky).
Recordings include De-Lovely (MGM) and City Travellers album (MM Productions).
Jane also has her own cabaret show Jane Quinn in Cabaret. www.janequinn.biz
Robin Rayner
Trained at the Arts Educational Schools.
Theatre includes Peter Pan (Abu Dhabi), The Thing About Tom (Workshop), Respect La Diva (Workshop), Constance and Sinestra (Edinburgh Festival), A Clockwork Orange (Edinburgh Festival and Camden Peoples Theatre), DEFECT (Perfect Pitch), A Slice Of Saturday Night (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Iolanthe (Union Theatre), Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (UK Tour), A Spoonful of Stiles and Drewe (Her Majesty’s Theatre) and Barbara Cook and Friends (London Coliseum).
Film includes Lost Boy (Met Film School) and Break A Leg (Break A Leg Productions).
Ben Newhouse Smith
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music.
Theatre includes Thursford Christmas Spectacular, (Thursford), H.M.S Pinafore (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company National Tour) and The Pirates of Penzance (D’Oyly Carte Opera Company Savoy Theatre), The Gondoliers (Carl Rosa Opera Company Company National Tour), The Mikado (Barbican, Theatre Royal Bath, US and Canada Tour), H.M.S Pinafore (Carl Rosa Opera Company US and Canada Tour), The Pirates of Penzance (Carl Rosa Opera Company US and Canada Tour),The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S Pinafore, The Gondoliers, Iolanthe, Patience, The Sorcerer, Ruddigore, Utopia Limited (The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company at Buxton Opera House), Cosi Fan Tutte, Merry Widow, Lakme, The Barber of Seville, Il Trovatore, Magic Flute, Tosca, La Gioconda, La Boheme, Orpheus in the Underworld, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Rondine (Opera Holland Park).
Television includes Popstar to Operastar (ITV) and Songs of Praise (BBC).
Richard Suart
Studied at St John’s College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music where he was recently elected Fellow.
Theatre includes Candide (LA Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl), After Life (Opera de Lyon, The Netherlands Opera and the Barbican), Playing Away (Bregenz and St Polten Festivals), Of Thee I sing and Paradise Moscow (Opera North and Bregenz), The Merry Widow, Agrippina, The Mikado and Die Fledermaus (English National Opera), Iolanthe (San Francisco Symphony), The Duenna (English Touring Opera), The Tell-Tale Heart (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Salad Days (Riverside Studios), After Life (Barbican), The Pirates of Penzance (Queens Theatre), Patience and Princess Ida (The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival Buxton), The Parson’s Pirates (Opera della Luna, Bridewell Theatre), The Marriage of Figaro (Garsington Opera),
As a member of D’Oyly Carte Opera Company since 1988, he has sung many of the Savoy Operas, as well as Orpheus in the Underworld and La Vie Parisienne.
Future engagements include Trial by Jury in Vancouver, After Life in Melbourne and the return of The Mikado to English National Opera.
www.richardsuart.co.uk
Matthew James Willis
Studied in Sydney at the Conservatorium of Music Opera School and NIDA's Actor’s Studio.
Theatre includes My Fair Lady (Opera Enterprises for Australian Tour), Floyd Collins (City Recital Hall), Tannhäuser (Opera Australia), Christmas at the House (Sydney Opera House), Titanic the Musical (Theatre Royal Sydney), The Withered Arm (Tête à Tête at Riverside Studios), Cinderella (King’s Head Theatre), The Pirates of Penzance (Kilworth House Theatre), Thursford Christmas Spectacular (Thursford), Patience (Union Theatre), La Boheme (Soho Theatre) and Iolanthe (Union Theatre).