Jack the Ripper - the Opera

[Lechmere]

I'm surprised no one else heard about this. It was performed by the Loughton Operatic Society (in Essex) on 4 consecutive nights (4th to 7th May 2011). I was due to go on Saturday but had to go up north so I missed it and someone else went in my place! I haven't had a proper review of what it was like. Apparently it was first performed in 1974. I attach some pictures of the program.

[Lechmere]

A couple more - they look too glamorous!

[Sally]

Good Grief Lechmere - whatever next? I take it that this marvel of operatic invention hasn't been performed since 1974? A pity you missed it - I hope you won't have to wait another 37 years for the next opportunity.

As if there isn't enough freakishness out there...

http://http://www.jacktherippermusical.com/

You could always try that as an alternative!

[Lechmere]

I remember the main writer Ron Pember as a character actor.
The show closed in February 1975 after 228 performances so it can’t have been that bad.

http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_j/jack_the_ripper.htm

It was also performed at the Little Theatre, Donnington in Shropshire in 2005 and at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch in Essex in 2006.

Take a look at this You Tube film of a rehearsal of one performance –actor ‘cockney’ accents very much in evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xna_xYjs_vc

He did other plays – I actually went to see his version of Dick Turpin at the Mermaid Theatre in the 1970s when I was a kid. I didn’t know until I checked this link out that it was by him:

http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsP/pember-ron.html

It gets a mention here too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper_fiction

And it’s available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Ripper-Libretto-Musical-Acting/dp/0573080429/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305032655&sr=1-1

I will try and keep my eyes open to see where it might be performed again. I think I missed out.

[ChrisGeorge]

I'm surprised no one else heard about this. It was performed by the Loughton Operatic Society (in Essex) on 4 consecutive nights (4th to 7th May 2011). I was due to go on Saturday but had to go up north so I missed it and someone else went in my place! I haven't had a proper review of what it was like. Apparently it was first performed in 1974. I attach some pictures of the program.

Theatrical presentations on Jack the Ripper take place all over the world at all times, operatic and otherwise. If you really researched it you might be surprised at the number of different productions. The Ron Pember - Denis de Marne show Jack the Ripper was first produced in 1974 and is still going strong, one of the most long-lasting and often performed.

Chris

[Sally]

He did other plays – I actually went to see his version of Dick Turpin at the Mermaid Theatre in the 1970s when I was a kid.

Great stuff Lechmere! He obviously liked the villain, didn't he? Horse thieves (and highwaymen), serial killers - I wonder what else he did?

I confess to being astonished to learn that the JTR opera had so many performances - maybe the story of Jack lends itself to music in ways I hadn't imagined? I suppose it must be so!