Olive Sarah Gilbert (22 November 1898 – 19 February 1981) was a British singer and actress, who, in a career spanning seven decades, performed first in opera and then in many of
Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.
He was born into a musical ...
's musicals in London's
West End.
After the First World War, Gilbert sang
contralto
A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...
and
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 with the
Carl Rosa Opera Company for more than a decade. She moved into
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
in 1935, appearing in Novello's ''
Glamorous Night''. She also had roles in his ''
Careless Rapture'' (1936), ''
Crest of the Wave'' (1937), ''
The Dancing Years'' (1939), ''Arc de Triomphe'' (1943), ''
Perchance to Dream'' (1945) and ''
King's Rhapsody'' (1949).
From 1961 to 1966, she played Sister Margaretta in ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'', and she appeared as the housekeeper in ''
Man of La Mancha
''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervan ...
'' in 1968. She continued to perform into the 1970s.
Biography
Gilbert was born in
Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. By 1919, she began her professional career in
contralto
A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...
and
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 with the
Carl Rosa Opera Company, such as Carmen, Delilah, Mignon, Nicklaus and Suzuki. She performed for many years with that company,
["Miss Olive Gilbert", ''The Times'', 20 February 1981, p. 16, col. G] receiving warm reviews. Of her Fricka in
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's ''
The Valkyrie'' in 1929, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' wrote, "The greatest individual performance last night was that of Miss Olive Gilbert, who conveyed the cold fury of Fricka in spirited singing which always remained full-toned".
Gilbert debuted in
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
in May 1935, in Ivor Novello's ''
Glamorous Night'' at London's
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...
. She remained with Novello, taking featured or starring roles in all of his musicals thereafter until his death in 1951. She also acted as his personal assistant and housekeeper, living in the flat below his.
[Wright, Adrian]
Chapter 2: "Delusions of Grandeur"
''A Tanner's Worth of Tune: Rediscovering the Post-war British Musical'', p. 41, Boydell & Brewer (2010) At Drury Lane, she starred in Novello's ''
Careless Rapture'' (1936), ''
Crest of the Wave'' (1937) and ''
The Dancing Years'' (1939). She was the contralto voice in the unusual female duet from ''The Dancing Years'', "The Wings of Sleep".
Mary Ellis sang the
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
part. She later repeated the role of Frau Kurt in the
1950 film adaptation of ''The Dancing Years''.
[
Next, Gilbert appeared in his musical '']Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...
'' (1943) at the Phoenix Theatre, '' Perchance to Dream'' (1945) at the London Hippodrome
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survi ...
, and '' King's Rhapsody'' (1949) at the Palace Theatre. One of her most famous performances was in the long-running ''Perchance to Dream'', in which she sang " We'll Gather Lilacs in the Spring". She sang the song at Novello's cremation.[
In 1961 at the Palace Theatre, she first played Sister Margaretta in '']The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'', remaining in that show for its entire five-year London run. She played the housekeeper in ''Man of La Mancha
''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay '' I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervan ...
'' in 1968 at the Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus, in the City of Westminster, London. It opened in 1928.
In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of ...
. In the early 1970s, she toured in '' Bless the Bride'', as Ernestine in ''Perchance to Dream'', and as Countess Vera in ''King's Rhapsody''.[
Gilbert died in 1981, in ]Hove
Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
, Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, at the age of 82.
Notes
References
*Tanitch, Robert. ''London Stage in the 20th Century'', Haus Publishing
*Jackson, Arthur. ''The Book of Musicals'', Mitchell Beazley
External links
"Wings of Sleep"
a recording of Gilbert
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Olive
Singers from Carmarthenshire
Welsh musical theatre actresses
Welsh film actresses
20th-century Welsh women singers
1898 births
1981 deaths
20th-century British actresses
British mezzo-sopranos
20th-century British women opera singers