Dennis Olsen - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Dennis Olsen
Born: 28 February 1938 (age 73)
Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... , South Australia
Occupation
Actor, singer, pianist
Notable Roles
Ko-Ko in 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... Reginald Bunthorne in Patience Patience (opera) Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the... The Learned Judge in Trial by Jury Trial by Jury Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its... Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe Iolanthe Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan.... Sir Joseph Porter, KCB in H.M.S. Pinafore H.M.S. Pinafore H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical... The Duke of Plaza-Toro / Don Alhambra del Bolero 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... Major-General Stanley in 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... Jack Point in Yeomen of the Guard Yeomen of the Guard The Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard are a bodyguard of the British Monarch. The oldest British military corps still in existence, it was created by Henry VII in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. As a token of this venerability, the Yeomen still wear red and gold uniforms of Tudor... Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore Ruddigore Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan... Antonio Salieri in Amadeus Amadeus Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979... Lord Allcash in Fra Diavolo Fra Diavolo (opera) Fra Diavolo, ou L'hôtellerie de Terracine is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer Daniel Auber, from a libretto by Auber's regular collaborator Eugène Scribe...

Dennis Hans Olsen AM

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

(born 28 February 1938 in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, South Australia), is an accomplished Australian singer, actor, director and pianist.

Professional career

Olsen, who is of Danish descent, is Australia's leading exponent of 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...

operas. He originally trained for a professional career as a pianist, and still occasionally plays piano professionally on stage. He decided to become an actor and attended the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art

National Institute of Dramatic Art

The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...

in Sydney during the 1960s. He has appeared with the following theatre companies: Old Tote Theatre Company

Old Tote Theatre Company

The Old Tote Theatre Company began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and was the precursor to the Sydney Theatre Company.. It was one of the leading Australian theatre companies of the period.The Old Tote began in a converted tin shed on...

, State Theatre Company of South Australia

State Theatre Company of South Australia

The State Theatre Company of South Australia is South Australia's leading professional theatre company. It is based in the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Centre. The current artistic director is Adam Cook...

, Melbourne Theatre Company

Melbourne Theatre Company

The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts...

and Sydney Theatre Company

Sydney Theatre Company

The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....

. Some of the theatre productions in which Dennis Olsen has appeared include: The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...

, The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...

and The Venetian Twins
The Venetian Twins (musical comedy)
The Venetian Twins is an Australian two-act musical comedy. It was translated and adapted from a commedia dell'arte play - I due gemelli veneziani by Carlo Goldoni -, and the lyrics were written, by Nick Enright; the music was composed and arranged by Terence Clarke. It premiered on 26 October 1979...

.

In 1969, Olsen was asked to perform the famous patter roles in the Australian Opera's

Opera Australia

Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...

productions of H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

, Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....

and 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...

, and these roles led to him being invited to join the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company

The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...

in England. In 1970–1971, Dennis Olsen spent a year in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, understudying John Reed

John Reed (actor)

John Lamb Reed, OBE was an English actor, dancer and singer, known for his nimble performances in the principal comic roles of the Savoy Operas, particularly with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...

in the comic roles, as well as being a member of the chorus, and touring both England and the continent during his tenure with the company. He was touted to become John Reed's successor in the comic roles with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, but returned to Australia when it became clear that John Reed had no intention of retiring from the company for some time.

Dennis Olsen is a very successful exponent of the comic roles of Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan

Savoy Opera

Savoy opera

The Savoy Operas denote a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house...

s 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...

(as Koko, The Lord High Executioner), Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...

(as Bunthorne), H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

(as Sir Joseph Porter, KCB), Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....

(as the Lord Chancellor), Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...

(as Robin Oakapple), Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...

(as The Learned Judge), The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...

(as Jack Point) and 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...

(appearing in one production as The Duke of Plaza-Toro, and in another production as Don Alhambra del Bolero, Grand Inquisitor). Most recently Dennis played Major General Stanley in the Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

season of Opera Australia

Opera Australia

's tour 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...

, as well as covering the role for the extent of Reg Livermore

Reg Livermore

Reginald Dawson Livermore AO is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and television presenter.-Childhood:From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts...

's illness during the Melbourne season.

Dennis Olsen directed as well as starred in a State Opera of South Australia

State Opera of South Australia

State Opera of South Australia is a professional opera company in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1976. Each year, the State Opera presents at least three major operatic productions at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as well as producing or supporting other smaller productions in The Opera...

production of H.M.S. Pinafore (as Sir Joseph Porter, KCB). The production also starred Thomas Edmonds (as Ralph Rackstraw) and Judith Henley

Judith Henley

Judith Henley is an Australian opera singer. She sang in the State Opera of South Australia performance of "H.M.S. Pinafore"...

(as Josephine). Dennis Olsen also sang the role of the Lord Chancellor in the production of Iolanthe in the opening performance of the Lyric Opera of Queensland

Opera Queensland

Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...

, in Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

in 1984.

He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill. They are based...

in 1985 to study operetta in Europe, and has directed many stage productions, including Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan

operettas, Countess Maritza by Emmerich Kálmán

Emmerich Kalman

Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition...

, and the Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

operas The Abduction from the Seraglio
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...

and Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....

.

Dennis Olsen also appeared as George Grossmith

George Grossmith

George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades...

(the original Gilbert and Sullivan comic lead), in a very successful one-man Musical theatre show called "A Song to Sing O

A Song to Sing O

A Song to Sing O is a one-man musical play by Melvyn Morrow, with music by Arthur Sullivan and George Grossmith, and lyrics by W. S. Gilbert and Grossmith, about the life of comedian and actor George Grossmith, who originated the principal comic roles for the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas...

", which opened in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

(during June, 1991) — following by a tour including South Australia and Western Australia (both during July, 1991), and the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

and Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

(both during September, 1991).

In October, 2000, in Melbourne, Dennis Olsen appeared in the Production Company's presentation, in association with Melbourne Festival, of "The Gilbert & Sullivan Show", which represented a family party, with some of the family members gathering in a parlour and singing Gilbert and Sullivan songs to entertain the others family members at the party. Accompanying Dennis Olsen were David Gould

David Gould

David L. Gould was a Scottish American soccer player, coach and referee. He coached the U.S. national team at the 1934 FIFA World Cup and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He was born in Galston, Scotland-Player:Gould grew up playing soccer in Scotland before moving to the United...

, Gary Rowley, Roxanne Hislop and Tiffany Speight.

Appearing with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia, Dennis Olsen sang the roles of Major General Stanley in their 2004 production of The Pirates of Penzance and Bunthorne in their 2006 production of Patience. He also appeared in their concert production "An Evening with Dennis Olsen" to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Law Society of South Australia in 2004.

Dennis Olsen is also an excellent exponent of 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...

, and appeared in a one-man combined Noel Coward-Gilbert & Sullivan show, as well as a Coward production, "Marvellous Party!" with Amanda Muggleton

Amanda Muggleton

Amanda Lillian Muggleton is a British-born theatre, television and film actress. She is best known for her role on television soap opera Prisoner.-Early life:Muggleton was born in Stepney, London in 1951 and emigrated to Australia in 1974...

in the Cremorne Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre

Queensland Performing Arts Centre

The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct....

. In July 2006, Dennis Olsen played the role of Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....

in the production of Peter Shaffer

Peter Shaffer

Sir Peter Levin Shaffer is an English dramatist and playwright, screenwriter and author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.-Early life:...

's Amadeus
Amadeus
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...

in Perth.

Dennis Olsen recorded "Gilbert and Sullivan Highlights" with Thomas Edmonds, and also recorded "Together with Music" with June Bronhill

June Bronhill

June Bronhill OBE was an internationally acclaimed Australian soprano opera singer.-Biography:She was born June Mary Gough in the inland Australian city of Broken Hill, New South Wales...

Honours

In 1987 he was appointed a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia

Order of Australia

for services to the performing arts.

In 2008, Dennis Olsen was made a Patron of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia Inc.

Films

The Fourth Wish
The Fourth Wish
The Fourth Wish is a 1976 Australian family film directed by Don Chaffey.-Cast:*John Meillon ... Casey*Robert Bettles ... Sean*Michael Craig ... Dr. Richardson*Anne Haddy ... Dr. Kirk*Ron Haddrick ... Harbord*Robyn Nevin ... Connie...

(1976) as Ross
Break of Day (1976) as Roger
Struck by Lightning
Struck by Lightning
Struck by Lightning is a 1990 Australian film directed by Jerzy Domaradzki. The film was nominated in 4 AFI Award categories, including Best Director and Best Film. It won the film award at the Human Rights Medal and Awards in 1990.-Plot Summary:...

(1990) as Barnabas

Television mini-series

Sara Dane (1982)
Under Capricorn (1983)

External links

Dennis Olsen – Who was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Dennis Olsen, an Australian Legend – Celebrity Artist Biography
Dennis Olsen – Opera Australia
Dennis Olsen – Stage credits as Director and actor
A History of the Arts in Adelaide: Dennis Olsen "An Actor's Life for Me" – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
"A Song to Sing 0" – Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane
An Evening with Dennis Olsen – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of South Australia
Olsen the very model of a Major-General – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of South Australia
Dennis Olsen and Thomas Edmonds – Gilbert and Sullivan Highlights compact disc information
Dennis Olsen and "H.M.S. Pinafore" – Gilbert and Sullivan Discography and review about the State Opera of South Australia's production of the opera
Dennis Olsen – Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Dennis Olsen – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe website
What a piece of work is Hamlet
Dennis Olsen in Amadeus – Perth Theatre company
Artscene

Performance photos

http://www.images.act.gov.au/duslibrary/imagesact.nsf/8574356a230114e8ca256ad500042b9c/92d8af6e1745597e4a256e92001e466c!OpenDocumentDennis Olsen as Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...

in "Percy and Rose"] — ACT Heritage Library
Dennis Olsen as Sir Joseph Porter, KCB in "H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

" — National Library of Australia
Dennis Olsen as Emcee in "Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....

" http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-vn3567121&referercode=ma and http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-vn3567161&referercode=ma and http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-vn3567167&referercode=ma — National Library of Australia
Dennis Olsen as Jesus in "The Wakefield Mysteries" http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-vn3567206&referercode=ma and http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-vn3567208&referercode=ma — National Library of Australia

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