THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Glyn Adams

Glyn Adams (1956-69)

[Born 15 May, 1934, died Sidcup, Kent 10 May 1997]

Glyn Adams joined the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in September 1956, after auditioning the previous month when the Company was in Liverpool. A tenor chorister, he played small named parts from time to time and understudied most of the principal tenor leads. He remained with the D’Oyly Carte through the 1968-69 season. His named parts were Second Citizen (1956-57 as an occasional substitute for John Reed), First Citizen (1957-60), Leonard Meryll (1960-61), and First Yeoman (1965-68) in The Yeomen of the Guard; and Francesco in The Gondoliers (1960-61, 1964-68).

From the fall of 1960 through summer of 1968, he occasionally substituted as Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Prince Hilarion in Princess Ida, Francesco and Marco in The Gondoliers, Richard Dauntless in Ruddigore, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe, and Leonard Meryll and Colonel Fairfax in The Yeomen of the Guard. He appeared in the chorus in D’Oyly Carte’s 1966 film version of The Mikado.

After leaving the D’Oyly Carte in August 1969, he sang with Gilbert & Sullivan for All, recording the roles of Leonard Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard and Luiz in The Gondoliers. He also appeared in The Great Waltz and Gone With the Wind at Drury Lane, and later joined the ENO chorus, appearing in several revivals of the Jonathan Miller Mikado. He also sang at a Savoy Chapel Sullivan Service and the Donald Adams Memorial Concert at the Coliseum.

His death in May 1997 is reported to have occurred while playing golf. He was married to fellow D’Oyly Carte chorus member Elizabeth Mynett.

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