Barry Clark

Barry Clark (born 1950) is a retired English opera singer and actor. Beginning in the 1970s, Clark played tenor roles in the Savoy Operas for over a decade with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. He then sang in various opera companies, including New Sadler's Wells and Scottish Opera, and played in musicals on the West End. Later, Clark concentrated on oratorio and, in later years, appeared with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, among others.

Early life and career Born in Southampton, where he attended Regent's Park Secondary School, Clark made his first stage appearances as an amateur with the Southampton Operatic Society in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He worked for the Ordnance Survey in Southampton, where he felt bored, before commencing his professional singing career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the age of 20, with whom he appeared from 1971 to 1982. There, he began in the chorus and then played small roles and understudied the principal Gilbert and Sullivan tenor roles. His first roles were the First Yeoman in The Yeomen of the Guard, which he played from 1974 until the company closed in 1982. In 1975, he began to play Francesco in The Gondoliers and the leading role of the Defendant in Trial by Jury. As understudy, he occasionally played the principal tenor roles of Alexis in The Sorcerer, Ralph Rackstraw in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Duke of Dunstable in Patience, Earl Tolloller in Iolanthe, Cyril in Princess Ida, Richard Dauntless in Ruddigore, Leonard Meryll and Colonel Fairfax in Yeomen, and Marco in The Gondoliers. Clark sings the role of Francesco on the 1977 D'Oyly Carte recording of The Gondoliers and First Yeoman on their 1979 recording of Yeomen.

During the 1980s he appeared with several leading opera companies, including New Sadler's Wells, with whom he played small roles Scottish Opera, with whom he sang a variety of roles including Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (during which time he met his wife, Julia); In 1986, Clark created the role of the Auctioneer in The Phantom of the Opera and later played the tenor role of Piangi. He then joined Bristol Old Vic to sing Pirelli in Sweeney Todd and toured South Africa as Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow. Also with Carl Rosa, in 2007 and 2008 he played Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard and the Major General in The Pirates of Penzance and in 2008 he played Tolloller in Iolanthe for Carl Rosa at the Gielgud Theatre. Clark also performed with the concert group "The Magic of Gilbert and Sullivan". He continued to perform with the touring company Tarantara Productions, which he co-founded, among other companies, until about 2024, after which he retired, except for some concert appearances.