Louise Gold
Encyclopedia
Louise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.
From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show
and Sesame Street
, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials. She was a founder and lead puppeteer for the satirical television show Spitting Image
from 1984 to 1986. She is also known as an actress in musical theatre
, having starred in numerous shows on the West End
since 1982, playing such roles as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes
, Tanya in Mamma Mia!
, Phyllis in Follies
, Baroness Bomburst
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
, Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins
, and Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin in Oliver!
.
in London. Her father was John Gold (1920–1998), a journalist, and her mother was an actress, Una Brandon-Jones (1916–2010). Her brother, Max, is also an actor. Gold trained at The Arts Educational Schools
from age 11.
Dick Whittington and his Cat
, as Fairy Bowbells, at the Malvern
Festival Theatre. She played in the musical Hair
on tour in Britain in 1974. In 1975–76, she played Rachel in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
at York
Theatre Royal and then on tour (as Rachel and Potiphar's Wife).
In 1977, Gold joined The Muppet Show
during the show's second season and was quickly trained by Jim Henson
as a puppeteer, becoming the only British puppeteer regularly employed on the show. She played several characters during her four seasons with the show, the best-known of which was Annie Sue Pig
. She also sang on several of The Muppets
' albums and was often paired vocally with Jerry Nelson
. She was a puppeteer in the films The Great Muppet Caper
(1981) and The Dark Crystal
(1982), and she appeared in various other Muppet series and specials. Muppet chronicler Christopher Finch wrote that Gold was "the most versatile female puppeteer to work on The Muppet Show [and] the only British member of the cast." During these years, she continued to appear in musicals and plays in between her commitments to The Muppets. Among her non-puppeteering television appearances, Gold was featured as Mrs Tyler, a Goodwife, in the first series episode "Witchsmeller Pursuivant
" of Blackadder
(1983). The same year, she appeared as Maureen Bedford in episode two of For 4 Tonight, a talk-show spoof. In 1991, she played the domineering Private Elsa Bigstern in two episodes of 'Allo! 'Allo!
From 1984 to 1986, and occasionally thereafter, Gold was a lead puppeteer and voice on the satirical television show Spitting Image
and was the lead singer (as Nancy Reagan
) on their first single, "Da Do Run Ron", a pastiche of The Ronettes
' "Da Do Run Run", released in 1984. Gold was the first puppeteer hired for the show and "helped out with the Spitting Image pre-pilot, so she naturally became the 'consultant' for the hiring [and training] of the rest" of the puppeteers. Peter Fluck
, a creator of the show, commented, "Louise Gold always did the Queen and the mannerisms and facial expressions she put into it were wonderful. It was very exciting because this lump of clay we modelled with a fairly neutral expression came to life."
Gold's later puppeteering work includes the title character, Fughetta Faffner (and others), in The Ghost of Faffner Hall (1989), a Muppet music education TV Series. She played several of the characters on Roland Rat
The Series broadcasts in 1986 and 1988. She also played several characters on Sesame Street
in the early 1990s, on Mopatop's Shop
in the early 2000s, and in The Muppet Christmas Carol
(1992) and Muppet Treasure Island
(1996). In 1992, Gold played Sally Spook in The Spooks of Bottle Bay
. In 1995 and 1997, she played characters on series 2 and series 3 of Jim Henson's Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, including Tizzy Bee, an early example of a computer generated image puppet. She lent her voice to an Australian puppet television programme in 2006, Five Minutes More
. Gold is featured as a guest puppeteer, portraying the character of Babs (the female termite), on Transmission: Impossible with Ed and Oucho on BBC 2 television. She appeared in episodes 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 24, broadcast from May to August 2009.
musicals. The first of these was as Isabel in the Joseph Papp
production of The Pirates of Penzance
(1982–83; playing the slightly larger role of Kate in the 1983 film adaptation of the production
). Her other stage roles in the 1980s included Divine Dixie Diva in Mrs Cole's Music Hall at The Mill at Sonning
(1984–85); Katisha, Countess of Grantham, in MetroPolitan Mikado, adapted from The Mikado
by Ned Sherrin
and Alistair Beaton
at Queen Elizabeth Hall
(1985); Bev in Angry Housewives at the Lyric Hammersmith
Studio (1986); Mrs Johnston in Blood Brothers at Watermill Theatre
(1986); Maggot Scratcher in Sink the Belgrano!
at Mermaid Theatre
(1986); Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense
at Fortune Theatre
(1987; and singing on the original London cast album); Fanny Brice
and other comediennes in Ziegfeld (1988) at the London Palladium
(which held the record, according to the Guinness Book of Records, for "Greatest Theatrical Losses"); and Dick Whittington in Poppy
at Half Moon Theatre
(1988–89).
Gold next starred as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes
at Prince Edward Theatre
(1990, replacing Elaine Paige
; and on the 1995 studio cast album). In the summer of 1991 at Open Air Regents Park
she played Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream
and Adriana in The Boys from Syracuse
(then toured as Adriana; "[W]hen the gleefully statuesque, not-so-pure Gold ripped into the splendid trio of "Sing for your Supper", we would have believed anything"). Throughout the 1990s, Gold was a regular performer in the Discovering Lost Musicals concert productions, taking roles in fifteen of them and singing in associated BBC radio broadcasts. One of these was the British première of Kurt Weill
's One Touch of Venus
at the Barbican Centre
in 1992, in which Gold sang the title character, which she reprised in another Lost Musicals production at The Lindbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, in 2000. These productions included four Cole Porter
musicals in which Gold starred in roles that had been written for Ethel Merman
.
Gold was Gussie in Merrily We Roll Along
at Haymarket Theatre (Leicester)
(1992; and on the 1993 cast album). She next played Sara Jane Moore in Assassins
at Donmar Warehouse
(1992–93) and toured in Noël/Cole: Let's Do It, a Cole Porter
and Noël Coward
revue (1994 and 1995, beginning in Memphis, Tennessee
; and on the cast album). She then played the title role in the stage musical adaptation of Calamity Jane at the Leicester Haymarket (1994–95). Gold appeared in Our Country's Good
in 1995 as Lieutenant Will Dawes and Liz Morden, together with her brother Max Gold as Captain Arthur Phillip and John Wisehammer, at Edinburgh
's Royal Lyceum Theatre
. Later that year, with the same cast,at the same theatre, the two performed in The Caucasian Chalk Circle
, with Louise as Tractor Driver and Grusche, and Max as Soldier, Executioner, Blockhead, Lavrenti, Trooper, Blackmailer and Groom.
. After this, she starred as Dunyasha the Royal Shakespeare Company
's production of The Cherry Orchard
at Albery Theatre
in London and on tour (1996–97), followed by another summer in Regents Park as the title character in Kiss Me, Kate
(1997). Paul Taylor, writing in The Independent, declared, "Louise Gold is a comically commanding figure – outdoing herself in campy gorge-rising revulsion and contentious, drop-dead postures on each successive verse of 'I Hate Men'. This is... delivered here by performers who really know how to pace the song". She was back at the Fortune Theatre as Lizzie Curry in 110 in the Shade
(1999; one of Ian Marshall-Fisher's "Discovering Lost Musicals" series). The Stage commented, "Louise Gold also shines in the role of Lizzie, revealing her emotional torment in 'Old Maid', and an overwhelming joy in 'Is It Really Me?'" The last of Gold's Discovering Lost Musicals roles in the series for almost a decade was as May Daly/Mme Du Barry in DuBarry Was a Lady
at Her Majesty's Theatre
in November 2001 (which she had also played as part of the series in 1993).
She played Tanya in Mamma Mia!
for two years at Prince Edward Theatre (2000–02) followed by Phyllis in Follies
at the Royal Festival Hall
(2002). The Observer
wrote, "Louise Gold's Phyllis is versatile and formidable: injured queen one moment, vamp the next." The Guardian
found her "wonderfully acerbic". During the summer of 2003, she performed at Chichester Festival Theatre
, playing the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers
and starring as the fairy characters in The Water Babies
. She then starred as Dotty Otley in Noises Off
at the Piccadilly Theatre
(2003). This was followed by Baroness Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
at the London Palladium (2004–05). Critics noted, "Gold always gives excellent value in musicals: she’s talented, funny and energetic"; and "The highlight of the show for me has to be Christopher Biggins and Louise Gold as Baron and Baroness Bomburst. If they are not the funniest and most outrageous double act in the West End, I would love to see who could outdo them."
Gold had another long run as the tyrannical Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins
at Prince Edward Theatre (2006–08). In February 2008, she was the stoic widow O'Brien in Next Door's Baby
. From December 2008 to January 2011, Gold appeared in Oliver!
, as Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
. She sings these roles on the cast album. On Sundays in August and September 2010, while still performing in Oliver!, she returned to the Discovering Lost Musicals series, as Alice Challice in Darling of the Day
, earning warm reviews. In 2011, she appeared as Montana in Mexican Hayride
, another installment of Discovering Lost Musicals.
, as the reporter, Miss Sullivan, and the 2000 film Topsy-Turvy
, as Rosina Brandram
, one of the original Gilbert and Sullivan
performers, who plays Katisha in The Mikado during the course of the story.
Gold has also done a significant amount of radio and recording work and performs in her own cabaret show, which includes some puppeteering. She returned to television in 2011, guest-starring as a judge on a June 2011 episode of Coronation Street
and as aunt Annie in an episode of the children's TV show Scoop, titled "Come In Digby, Your Time's Up".
Gold lives with the actor James Vaughan. They have one son.
From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
and Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials. She was a founder and lead puppeteer for the satirical television show Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
from 1984 to 1986. She is also known as an actress in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, having starred in numerous shows on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
since 1982, playing such roles as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, Tanya in Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
, Phyllis in Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, Baroness Bomburst
Baroness Bomburst
Baroness Bomburst is a fictional character and one of the antagonists in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in the later stage musical adaptation. The character was created by screenwriter Roald Dahl and did not appear in the original Ian Fleming novel....
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...
, Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (musical)
Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...
, and Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin in Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
.
Biography
Gold was born in London, England, to parents who were active with Unity TheatreUnity Theatre, London
The Unity Theatre was a theatre club formed in 1936, and initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Kings Cross, in 1937 they moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, near St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. Although the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1975 productions...
in London. Her father was John Gold (1920–1998), a journalist, and her mother was an actress, Una Brandon-Jones (1916–2010). Her brother, Max, is also an actor. Gold trained at The Arts Educational Schools
The Arts Educational Schools
Arts Educational Schools, London is an independent co-educational school specialising in the performing arts and based in Chiswick, London in the United Kingdom...
from age 11.
Early career, television and puppeteering
Gold made her professional debut in 1973, while still in her last year of school, in the Christmas pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Dick Whittington and his Cat
Dick Whittington and His Cat
Dick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...
, as Fairy Bowbells, at the Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
Festival Theatre. She played in the musical Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
on tour in Britain in 1974. In 1975–76, she played Rachel in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
Theatre Royal and then on tour (as Rachel and Potiphar's Wife).
In 1977, Gold joined The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
during the show's second season and was quickly trained by Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
as a puppeteer, becoming the only British puppeteer regularly employed on the show. She played several characters during her four seasons with the show, the best-known of which was Annie Sue Pig
Annie Sue (muppet)
Annie Sue Pig is a puppet character on The Muppet Show. Annie Sue first appeared in the background during the second season, where she appeared in a group of hip Muppets. At the time, she had a pink wig instead of the yellow curls that she later wore...
. She also sang on several of The Muppets
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
' albums and was often paired vocally with Jerry Nelson
Jerry Nelson
Jerry Nelson is an American Muppet puppeteer, known for his wide range of characters, singing abilities, and his frequent partnership with Richard Hunt.-Early years:...
. She was a puppeteer in the films The Great Muppet Caper
The Great Muppet Caper
The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 mystery comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and premiered on 26 July 1981. The...
(1981) and The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
(1982), and she appeared in various other Muppet series and specials. Muppet chronicler Christopher Finch wrote that Gold was "the most versatile female puppeteer to work on The Muppet Show [and] the only British member of the cast." During these years, she continued to appear in musicals and plays in between her commitments to The Muppets. Among her non-puppeteering television appearances, Gold was featured as Mrs Tyler, a Goodwife, in the first series episode "Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
" of Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
(1983). The same year, she appeared as Maureen Bedford in episode two of For 4 Tonight, a talk-show spoof. In 1991, she played the domineering Private Elsa Bigstern in two episodes of 'Allo! 'Allo!
From 1984 to 1986, and occasionally thereafter, Gold was a lead puppeteer and voice on the satirical television show Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
and was the lead singer (as Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
) on their first single, "Da Do Run Ron", a pastiche of The Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
' "Da Do Run Run", released in 1984. Gold was the first puppeteer hired for the show and "helped out with the Spitting Image pre-pilot, so she naturally became the 'consultant' for the hiring [and training] of the rest" of the puppeteers. Peter Fluck
Peter Fluck
Peter Nigel Fluck is a caricaturist and one half of the partnership known as Fluck and Law , creators of the satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image.-Early life:...
, a creator of the show, commented, "Louise Gold always did the Queen and the mannerisms and facial expressions she put into it were wonderful. It was very exciting because this lump of clay we modelled with a fairly neutral expression came to life."
Gold's later puppeteering work includes the title character, Fughetta Faffner (and others), in The Ghost of Faffner Hall (1989), a Muppet music education TV Series. She played several of the characters on Roland Rat
Roland Rat
Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously been behind the Mooncat puppet in the Children's ITV television programme Get Up and Go! David worked for Jim Henson, then the second series of The Young Ones...
The Series broadcasts in 1986 and 1988. She also played several characters on Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
in the early 1990s, on Mopatop's Shop
Mopatop's Shop
Mopatop's Shop is a television series that which premiered on CITV in the UK in 1999. 260 ten-minute episodes were made and aired daily. It was a co-production between Jim Henson Productions and Carlton Television.-Production:...
in the early 2000s, and in The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 musical comedy film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, directed by Brian Henson, produced by The Jim Henson Company, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
(1992) and Muppet Treasure Island
Muppet Treasure Island
Muppet Treasure Island is a 1996 American musical film based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. It is the fifth feature film to star The Muppets and was directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson....
(1996). In 1992, Gold played Sally Spook in The Spooks of Bottle Bay
The Spooks of Bottle Bay
The Spooks of Bottle Bay was a children's drama series shown on CiTV between the years of 1993 and 1995 on CITV. The stories behind the show were created by Ian Allen, and the puppets and sets were designed by John Thirtle...
. In 1995 and 1997, she played characters on series 2 and series 3 of Jim Henson's Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, including Tizzy Bee, an early example of a computer generated image puppet. She lent her voice to an Australian puppet television programme in 2006, Five Minutes More
Five Minutes More (TV series)
Five Minutes More is a children's television series co-produced between Australia and the United Kingdom. It was produced by Snow River Media and Buster Dandy Productions, and developed by The Jim Henson Company...
. Gold is featured as a guest puppeteer, portraying the character of Babs (the female termite), on Transmission: Impossible with Ed and Oucho on BBC 2 television. She appeared in episodes 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 24, broadcast from May to August 2009.
Stage roles to 1995
Beginning in 1982, Gold began to appear in West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musicals. The first of these was as Isabel in the Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
production of The Pirates of Penzance
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. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
(1982–83; playing the slightly larger role of Kate in the 1983 film adaptation of the production
The Pirates of Penzance (1983 film)
The Pirates of Penzance is a 1983 musical film based on Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera of the same name. It stars Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, Angela Lansbury, George Rose, Linda Ronstadt, and, Tony Azito...
). Her other stage roles in the 1980s included Divine Dixie Diva in Mrs Cole's Music Hall at The Mill at Sonning
The Mill at Sonning
The Mill at Sonning is a theatre and restaurant , converted from an 18th century flour mill, on an island in the River Thames at Sonning Eye in the English county of Oxfordshire....
(1984–85); Katisha, Countess of Grantham, in MetroPolitan Mikado, adapted from The Mikado
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 operatic collaborations...
by Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
and Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton is a Scottish left wing political satirist, journalist, radio presenter, novelist and television writer. At one point in his career he was also a speechwriter for Gordon Brown....
at Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
(1985); Bev in Angry Housewives at the Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
Studio (1986); Mrs Johnston in Blood Brothers at Watermill Theatre
Watermill Theatre
The Watermill Theatre is an award -winning, professional repertory theatre with charitable status. It is a converted watermill with gardens beside the River Lambourn, in Bagnor, near Newbury, Berkshire, England...
(1986); Maggot Scratcher in Sink the Belgrano!
Sink the Belgrano!
Sink the Belgrano! is a 1986 satirical play by English playwright Steven Berkoff about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to torpedo the Argentinian ship General Belgrano, as it was purportedly retreating during the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina...
at Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
(1986); Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense
Nunsense
Nunsense is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical...
at Fortune Theatre
Fortune Theatre
The Fortune Theatre is a 432 seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, built in 1922-4 by Ernest Schaufelberg for impresario Laurence Cowen. The façade is principally bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof...
(1987; and singing on the original London cast album); Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice was a popular and influential American illustrated song "model," comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show...
and other comediennes in Ziegfeld (1988) at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
(which held the record, according to the Guinness Book of Records, for "Greatest Theatrical Losses"); and Dick Whittington in Poppy
Poppy (musical)
Poppy is a musical comedy play about the Opium Wars. The play takes the form of a pantomime, complete with Dick Whittington , a pantomime dame, and two pantomime horses. The book and lyrics were written by Peter Nichols; the composer was Monty Norman.-Plot:The year is 1840...
at Half Moon Theatre
Half Moon Theatre
The Half Moon Theatre Company was formed in 1972 in a rented synagogue in Alie Street, Aldgate, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Half Moon Passage was the name of a nearby alley...
(1988–89).
Gold next starred as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
at Prince Edward Theatre
Prince Edward Theatre
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster.The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet...
(1990, replacing Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
; and on the 1995 studio cast album). In the summer of 1991 at Open Air Regents Park
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:...
she played Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
and Adriana in The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
(then toured as Adriana; "[W]hen the gleefully statuesque, not-so-pure Gold ripped into the splendid trio of "Sing for your Supper", we would have believed anything"). Throughout the 1990s, Gold was a regular performer in the Discovering Lost Musicals concert productions, taking roles in fifteen of them and singing in associated BBC radio broadcasts. One of these was the British première of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
in 1992, in which Gold sang the title character, which she reprised in another Lost Musicals production at The Lindbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, in 2000. These productions included four Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
musicals in which Gold starred in roles that had been written for Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
.
Gold was Gussie in Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
at Haymarket Theatre (Leicester)
Haymarket Theatre (Leicester)
The Haymarket Theatre was a theatre in Leicester, England, based in the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester city centre. The theatre closed at the end of 2006 and has been replaced by the Curve Theatre...
(1992; and on the 1993 cast album). She next played Sara Jane Moore in Assassins
Assassins (musical)
Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted to assassinate Presidents of the United States...
at Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
(1992–93) and toured in Noël/Cole: Let's Do It, a Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
and Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
revue (1994 and 1995, beginning in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
; and on the cast album). She then played the title role in the stage musical adaptation of Calamity Jane at the Leicester Haymarket (1994–95). Gold appeared in Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good
Our Country's Good is a 1988 play written by British playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel The Playmaker. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, in the 1780s, who put on a production of The Recruiting...
in 1995 as Lieutenant Will Dawes and Liz Morden, together with her brother Max Gold as Captain Arthur Phillip and John Wisehammer, at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
's Royal Lyceum Theatre
Royal Lyceum Theatre
The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658 seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of UK£17,000 on behalf...
. Later that year, with the same cast,at the same theatre, the two performed in The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents....
, with Louise as Tractor Driver and Grusche, and Max as Soldier, Executioner, Blockhead, Lavrenti, Trooper, Blackmailer and Groom.
Stage roles since 1996
In 1996, Gold toured as Mrs Silvia Tebrick, the title character (who transforms into a fox in full view of the audience) in the musical adaptation of Lady into FoxLady into Fox
Lady into Fox was David Garnett's first novel under his own name, published in 1922. This short and enigmatic work won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Hawthornden Prize a year later.-Plot summary:...
. After this, she starred as Dunyasha the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
's production of The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
at Albery Theatre
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre on St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by...
in London and on tour (1996–97), followed by another summer in Regents Park as the title character in Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
(1997). Paul Taylor, writing in The Independent, declared, "Louise Gold is a comically commanding figure – outdoing herself in campy gorge-rising revulsion and contentious, drop-dead postures on each successive verse of 'I Hate Men'. This is... delivered here by performers who really know how to pace the song". She was back at the Fortune Theatre as Lizzie Curry in 110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.Based on Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker, it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
(1999; one of Ian Marshall-Fisher's "Discovering Lost Musicals" series). The Stage commented, "Louise Gold also shines in the role of Lizzie, revealing her emotional torment in 'Old Maid', and an overwhelming joy in 'Is It Really Me?'" The last of Gold's Discovering Lost Musicals roles in the series for almost a decade was as May Daly/Mme Du Barry in DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in November 2001 (which she had also played as part of the series in 1993).
She played Tanya in Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
for two years at Prince Edward Theatre (2000–02) followed by Phyllis in Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
(2002). The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote, "Louise Gold's Phyllis is versatile and formidable: injured queen one moment, vamp the next." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
found her "wonderfully acerbic". During the summer of 2003, she performed at Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, playing the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers
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 , closing on 30 June 1891...
and starring as the fairy characters in The Water Babies
The Water Babies
The Water Babies may refer to:* The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, a novel published in 1863* The Water Babies , a 1978 animated film based on the novel* Water Babies , a 1976 album by Miles Davis...
. She then starred as Dotty Otley in Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
(2003). This was followed by Baroness Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...
at the London Palladium (2004–05). Critics noted, "Gold always gives excellent value in musicals: she’s talented, funny and energetic"; and "The highlight of the show for me has to be Christopher Biggins and Louise Gold as Baron and Baroness Bomburst. If they are not the funniest and most outrageous double act in the West End, I would love to see who could outdo them."
Gold had another long run as the tyrannical Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (musical)
Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...
at Prince Edward Theatre (2006–08). In February 2008, she was the stoic widow O'Brien in Next Door's Baby
Next Door's Baby
Next Door's Baby is a musical with music and lyrics by Matthew Strachan and book by Bernie Gaughan , based on Gaughan's radio play of the same name. Set in 1950's Dublin, it tells the story of two neighbouring families who attempt to reconcile their lives with secrets they have kept to avoid facing...
. From December 2008 to January 2011, Gold appeared in Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, as Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
. She sings these roles on the cast album. On Sundays in August and September 2010, while still performing in Oliver!, she returned to the Discovering Lost Musicals series, as Alice Challice in Darling of the Day
Darling of the Day (musical)
Darling of the Day is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. It is based on Arnold Bennett's novel Buried Alive and his play The Great Adventure...
, earning warm reviews. In 2011, she appeared as Montana in Mexican Hayride
Mexican Hayride (musical)
Mexican Hayride is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The show opened on Broadway in 1944.-Production:...
, another installment of Discovering Lost Musicals.
Other performances; personal life
Gold appeared in the 1985 film Billy the Kid and the Green Baize VampireBilly the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire
Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire is a 1985 British musical film starring Phil Daniels and Alun Armstrong. The film was directed by Alan Clarke and written by Trevor Preston.-Plot:...
, as the reporter, Miss Sullivan, and the 2000 film Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 musical drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and stars Allan Corduner as Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert...
, as Rosina Brandram
Rosina Brandram
Rosina Brandram was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for creating many of the contralto roles in the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
, one of the original Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
performers, who plays Katisha in The Mikado during the course of the story.
Gold has also done a significant amount of radio and recording work and performs in her own cabaret show, which includes some puppeteering. She returned to television in 2011, guest-starring as a judge on a June 2011 episode of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
and as aunt Annie in an episode of the children's TV show Scoop, titled "Come In Digby, Your Time's Up".
Gold lives with the actor James Vaughan. They have one son.