So now we know.   After months of rumour and speculation the programme for the recent Hi–Lights production of Calamity Jane revealed that the Society had merged with the Petersfield Operatic Society.  The move had become inevitable as most of the membership was common to both, and for the past few years they had shared the same producer and musical directors.   In fact the only real difference appeared to be that the Operatic Society restricted itself to the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and the Hi-Lights performed a wider repertoire, though in recent years this had become confined to large-scale musicals at the expense of Viennese operetta and English musical comedy.

 For eighty-five years the Petersfield Operatic Society had existed on a diet of Gilbert and Sullivan, with just a single exception, The Beggar’s Opera in 1956, though this was followed later the same year by The Yeomen of the Guard.    Strangely enough, The Beggar’s Opera was the first production I saw, and Jean Hick still enjoys telling the story of how she and other young members of the company were not allowed to take part, as it was considered too bawdy for them.    Instead they sold oranges in the foyer!

 As with so much in Petersfield, the earliest days of the Society had a strong Bedales connection    The inaugural HMS Pinafore in 1922 was produced by Moray Williams and featured Steuart Wilson as Ralph Rackstraw.   Both taught at the school and were to become famous, Williams as an archaeologist and Wilson as a tenor and musical administrator.   The musical director was Percy Whitehead, Professor at the Royal College of Music and a pillar of the Petersfield Musical Festival during the 1920s, who kept the Music Studio at the bottom of the High Street for many years.   Performances were given in the Corn Exchange, the front of which is now Cubitt and West’s, facing the Square.   Two years later The Gondoliers was dominated by two great figures from the Arts and Crafts Movement, Edward Barnsley and Basil Gimson.

Further performances were given until 1927, when the Hall was converted into retail use, and not revived until nine years later, by which time the Town Hall had been built.   Iolanthe, The Mikado and Ruddigore were performed there until war interrupted and there was another break, of twelve years this time. So, in 1950, began an uninterrupted series of distinguished performances.   Basil Gimson was still around to produce and Tim Warden Lane, almost inevitably, was the conductor.   Three years later production duties were undertaken by Anthony Gillingham, a Bedales teacher who had enjoyed a distinguished naval career.   I remember his outstanding baritone voice and a magnificent stage presence, often  alongside Leonard Springate.   He and Tim Lane remained at the helm until 1969, and it was during this period that several new singers emerged, who were to serve the Society well for many years, including Diana Harding, Eunice French, Kenneth Hick and Stuart Dandridge.

In 1970 a new team took charge.   Michael Hurd, a well-known composer, broadcaster and authority on English music, was joined by Michael Harding, who had already sung leading bass parts, as producer.   In the course of their thirty years they staged the entire Gilbert and Sullivan canon, including such rarities as The Grand Duke and Utopia Ltd., and although every production remained largely traditional, standards were high enough to receive a variety of awards.   All these productions were greatly enhanced by first, David Stevenson’s, and later Andy Tubbs’s spectacular settings.

In recent years, however, the Operatic Society and the Hi-Lights, which were founded by Kenneth Snuggs and Rosemary Swan in1968, appear to have grown closer together, sharing producer (the admirable Roger Wettone, whose up-dated Pirates of Penzance in 2003 remains a vivid memory,) and musical director.   The number of Gilbert and Sullivan operas which can attract a modern audience, yet alone draw in young performers, has fallen to about six, and it may indeed no longer be viable to stage one every year.   So perhaps the merger was inevitable.  But one thing is certain.   The new, enlarged company, as yet I believe without a name, will emerge stronger and more vibrant, and if some young men can be found to complement the wealth of female talent available, we can look forward to some fine entertainment in the coming years. Tom Muckley, June 2008

This article was originally published by the Petersfield Post

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