Frederic Lloyd, OBE (1 July 1918 – 27 July 1995), was an English theatre manager. Most notably, Lloyd was the General Manager of the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

from 1951 until its closure in 1982.

Biography

Lloyd was born into an ecclesiastical family near

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. During the Second World War he worked with the

Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

, the precursor of the Arts Council.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' obituary, 23 August 1995 In 1951 he was a director of the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

, and in September of that year he was appointed General Manager of the

and of the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

, in succession to Alfred Nightingale. In addition to his D'Oyly Carte duties, Lloyd was a member of the council of management of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

and played an important part in saving the orchestra's tour of America in 1963 at a critical time in the RPO's fortunes. From 1961 to 1982, Lloyd was also secretary of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust. In 1966 he was elected President of the Theatrical Managers' Association. With D'Oyly Carte's closure, Lloyd retired from theatre management, although he continued to sit on numerous committees. He was chairman of the governors of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

, 1980–83, and trustee and chairman of the general committee of the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...

, 1976-84. He wrote articles on

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, and he collaborated with Robin Wilson on an official history of the D'Oyly Carte Company in 1984. On his retirement, he moved from his London home in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

to the village of Strathpeffer, Scotland, near

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, where he became a lay-preacher at his local church. His wife Valerie died in 1991. They had two sons. Lloyd died in Inverness at age 77.obituary: ''The Independent'' (London), 9 August 1995

Notes

References

*Reid, Charles (1968). ''Malcolm Sargent: a biography''. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd. *Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1961). ''The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas.'' London: Michael Joseph. *Wilson, Robin; Frederic Lloyd (1984). ''Gilbert & Sullivan: The D'Oyly Carte Years - The Official Picture History''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Frederic Opera in the United Kingdom English theatre managers and producers People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan 1918 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople