THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Deidree Thurlow (1949-51)

[Born c.1927]

Deidree J. Thurlow joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a soprano chorister in February 1949. During the two seasons spanning 1949-51 she appeared regularly as Kate in The Yeomen of the Guard. She also filled in for Joyce Wright as Peep-Bo in The Mikado (1949-50) when Miss Wright was deputizing as Pitti-Sing, and substituted on occasion for Enid Walsh as Fiametta in The Gondoliers (1950-51). Miss Thurlow left the Company briefly after the 1950-51 American tour, for she was not with them for the subsequent six-week tour of England (March-May 1951). She returned on May 7, however, for the 13-week London season at the Savoy, leaving for the second and final time when that season ended in August 1951.

Miss Thurlow may be heard as Kate on the D'Oyly Carte's 1950 recording of The Yeomen of the Guard, and as Zorah on the Company's 1950 Ruddigore, though she never appeared in the latter role on stage. She was married to D'Oyly Carte baritone Donald Harris.

Deidree Thurlow later took several parts with Sadler's Wells Opera between 1954 and 1959.



Page modified August 24, 2007 © 2003-07 David Stone