Betty Joyce Wright (23 June 1922 – 26 August 2020) was a British singer and actress, best known for her performances in the principal

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

roles of the

Savoy Operas Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which imp ...

with the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...

. She was married for a time to another D'Oyly Carte star,

Peter Pratt Peter Pratt (21 March 1923 – 11 January 1995) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his comic roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. Pratt started his career in the chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1945, ...

Life and career

Wright was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England, but grew up in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, where she attended Bearsden Academy and studied music from the age of eight. She and her family moved back to the English Midlands, where she won prizes at musical festivals and sang in choirs directed by Sir

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

and Ernest Nash. She also performed in amateur theatricals, including with the Glasgow Players. Wright also played the piano professionally for a dance orchestra.Bourne, R. F
Joyce Wright
Memories of the D'Oyly Carte, accessed 7 September 2020 She was engaged as a chorister by the

in June 1947 in their repertory of the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

comic operas. Soon thereafter, she began to play the small roles of Leila in ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' and Peep-Bo in ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', and filled in occasionally as Edith in ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'' and Lady Saphir in ''

Patience or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...

''. In 1948, she added a number of additional small roles and substituted briefly as Hebe in ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...

'', Edith in ''Pirates'', Phoebe Meryll in ''

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. This was the eleventh ...

'', and Tessa in ''

The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time t ...

''.Stone, David
Joyce Wright
Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 28 August 2020 She continued to play her small roles and to fill in as understudy for these larger roles, also substituting on occasion as Pitti-Sing in ''The Mikado'', until 1951. In 1951, Wright became the company's principal

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

, playing the

roles of Hebe, Edith, Lady Angela in ''Patience'', the title role in ''Iolanthe'', Pitti-Sing, Mad Margaret in ''

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 tog ...

'', Phoebe and Tessa. She played these roles, for the next eleven years, except that Beryl Dixon played Lady Angela for several seasons. Wright was known in these roles "for charm and daintiness, while she had plenty of attack when necessary". Wright left the D'Oyly Carte organisation in June 1962.Ayre, p. 470 She appeared in ''Yeomen'' in the 1962 Festival of the City of London at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. She later appeared on BBC television and produced Gilbert and Sullivan works throughout England for amateur companies. She also designed, painted and sold lampshades with a ''Mikado'' motif. She was married for a time to D'Oyly Carte star

. She died in August 2020 at the age of 98.

Recordings

Wright's recordings with D'Oyly Carte included Kate (1949 ''Pirates''), Giulia (1950 ''Gondoliers''), Peep-Bo (1950 ''Mikado''), Hebe (1960 ''Pinafore''), and Tessa (1961 ''Gondoliers''). She also sang Peep-Bo in a 1951 BBC broadcast of ''The Mikado'' and Tessa in a BBC production of ''Gondoliers'' in 1958 or 1959.

References

Sources

External links

Photos of Wright in ''Ruddigore''Wright as Edith in televised scenes from ''Pirates'', D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
1955
Wright singing "When a Merry Maiden Marries"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Joyce 1922 births 2020 deaths English actresses English mezzo-sopranos 20th-century British women opera singers English opera singers Actresses from Leicester Musicians from Leicester Actresses from Glasgow Singers from Glasgow