Bridget D'Oyly Carte
These, together with the refusal of the Arts Council to provide a grant, forced the closure of the company in 1982, although it re-formed after Carte's death and mounted productions up to 2003 and occasionally thereafter.
Her father was Rupert D'Oyly Carte, and her mother was the former Lady Dorothy Milner Gathorne-Hardy (1889–1977), the youngest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Cranbrook.
[4][6] She then resumed her education, enrolling at Dartington Hall in Devon from 1931 to 1933, a school with a long musical tradition, taking courses in dance, teacher training, art and design.
She later told The Gramophone magazine: From 1933 to 1939 Carte was an assistant to her father at the Savoy Hotel, taking responsibility for furnishing and interior decoration, for which she had training and aptitude.
[9] In 1949 she bought Shrubs Wood, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, an Art Deco country house designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff.
A former chorister and small role player, Evans alienated many company members and imposed rigid production methods, described by the principal comedian, Martyn Green, "as a stereotyped plan that results in a clockwork performance devoid of spontaneity".
[14][n 3] He left at the end of the 1951 London season, as did Ella Halman, Richard Watson, Margaret Mitchell, Radley Flynn and twenty-two other artistes.
[18] The historian Tony Joseph writes, "It was the largest single exodus of performers in D'Oyly Carte history, and that was why the sense of sadness that hovered over the season was so marked.
[19] In running the company Carte took steps to keep the productions fresh, engaging a range of artists to redesign the costumes and scenery.
Her old friend Goffin, who had previously redesigned The Yeomen of the Guard and Ruddigore for Rupert D'Oyly Carte, designed a unit set in 1957 to facilitate and reduce the cost of touring.
[21] The theatre historian C. M. P. Taylor, records, "Bridget D'Oyly Carte oversaw all new productions of the opera company with a keen eye for detail, especially in terms of their design.
[26] Carte firmly dissociated herself from that campaign, and even considered disbanding the company when the copyright lapsed, but instead she instituted major changes to secure its future.
[4][31] In 1975 she presented a centenary season at the Savoy Theatre;[n 7] she made a rare public speech at the first night, alongside the then prime minister, Harold Wilson.
"[6] Rising costs led to mounting losses which, together with the refusal of the Arts Council to provide a grant, forced the closure of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1982.
[1] From 1988 to 2003 the new company produced short seasons each year, mounting productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas on tour and in London, as well as operettas by Offenbach, Lehár and Johann Strauss.
[39] The Gilbert and Sullivan operas, nurtured by the Carte family for over a century, continue to be produced frequently today throughout the English-speaking world and beyond.
[40][41] By keeping the Savoy operas popular for so long, the Carte family influenced the course of the development of modern musical theatre throughout the 20th century.
