James Conroy-Ward

James Conroy-Ward (born 12 April 1947) is a retired English actor, singer and music publisher best known for performing the Gilbert and Sullivan principal comic roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Biography Conroy-Ward was born at Timperley in Cheshire, England. His grandparents had been entertainers, and Conroy-Ward was exposed to the theatre early on. As a child, he performed puppet shows at children's parties. He was head choirboy at his local church and attended the all-boys Altrincham Grammar School, where he performed female roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and won the Drama Prize. At the age of 12, Conroy-Ward was able to join the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Manchester playing the juvenile roles of the Midshipmite in H.M.S. Pinafore and Ko-Ko's assistant in The Mikado. In 1977 he added the role of Guron in Princess Ida to his repertory. Beginning in 1973, as Reed's understudy, he appeared frequently in all the principal comic roles: J. W. Wells in The Sorcerer, Sir Joseph Porter in Pinafore, Reginald Bunthorne in Patience, the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe, King Gama in Princess Ida, Ko-Ko in The Mikado, Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore, Jack Point in Yeomen, and the Duke of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers. Of these, Conroy-Ward most enjoyed playing Jack Point and Gama but least enjoyed playing Robin. Reed left the company, and Conroy-Ward inherited the principal comic roles, except that he yielded the roles of General Stanley to his understudy Alistair Donkin and Robin Oakapple to Peter Lyon. He continued as the principal comedian of D'Oyly Carte until it closed in 1982, after which he went into telesales before joining a music publishing company.

Recordings Conroy-Ward participated in four recordings with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1976, he sang the Herald in The Grand Duke and Lord Dramaleigh in Utopia, Limited. In 1977, he sang the role of Antonio and also spoke the role of Annibale in The Gondoliers. In 1982, he was a soloist on "The Last Night".