Michael Heyland is an actor and retired director, and an arts and events consultant in England. He was Director of Productions 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. The ...

from 1969 to 1978. Later, he was an arts and events consultant for many organizations and managed the

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

for sixteen years, among other projects. As an actor and voice actor, he has appeared on radio, TV and in films.

Early life and career

Heyland was born in Calcutta, where his father was stationed in the Indian army. He studied both music and drama at

Guildhall School of Music & Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, London.Ayre, p. 143 He began his career working in repertory, including ''A Christmas Carol'' at

Theatre Royal, Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose s ...

and ''Brecht's Happy End'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

, London. He also played in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

. He was engaged as Director of Productions of the

from 1969 to 1978. He directed the company's television recording of ''

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, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, whic ...

'' in 1973 and a new production of ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas story, ''An Elixir of Lo ...

'' (1971), which had not been produced professionally in Britain since 1940. He also directed a new production of ''

Utopia, Limited ''Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress'', is a Savoy opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a ...

'' (1975), which had not been revived by the company for over 70 years, at 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 P ...

for the company's centennial celebration. In 1977, he restaged '' Iolanthe'', which later toured Australia and New Zealand. He also restaged the Act 2 finale of ''

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 tog ...

'' and the opening chorus of ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...

''. Heyland directed the company's entire repertoire of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and ''

Cox and Box ''Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers'', is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce '' Box and Cox'' by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic o ...

'' on tour throughout the UK, for the company's annual seasons in the West End and took productions to Copenhagen, Aarhus, Rome, and on tour in North America, including New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Later years

On leaving the D'Oyly Carte company, he formed an events consultancy "Influence" directing Lambeth and Guildford Arts Festivals, National events Consultant to Cancer Research Campaign and Mental Health Foundation. For the Cancer Research Campaign he created "Get Sponsored to the Great Picnic, by Land, Water & Air" at

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for man ...

which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. He managed the

for sixteen years, promoting concerts at the Royal Albert and Festival Halls, and devised tours to France, Poland, Switzerland and Portugal. The Society also made many recordings with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

and RPO in the successful Classic Rock and Hooked on Classics albums with regular broadcasts on Radio 2. With John Burrows, he devised the Capital Radio Christmas Festival at the Royal Albert Hall for seven years. With Tom Hunter he created LBC's London to Paris Treasure Hunts and Fox Fm's Oxford to Paris Treasure Hunt. Later, he devised the Great London Bike Rides sponsored by a series of radio stations from LBC, JazzFm, KissFm & Heart Radio which ran for seventeen years. He also later acted as events consultant at Rougham Airfield near Bury St Edmunds, producing five open air shows a year and expanded his repertoire to commentaries and voice overs.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heyland, Michael British theatre directors People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Living people Year of birth missing (living people)