Jennifer Toye

Jennifer Gay Bishop (16 December 1933 – 17 January 2022), known by her stage name Jennifer Toye, was a British operatic soprano best known for performances with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s, including as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance and Yum-Yum in The Mikado. She later performed in musical theatre and opera with other companies.

Life and career

Toye was born in Holywell, Flintshire, in North Wales, the daughter of the professional singer Eleanor Toye and her husband, Joseph Richard Bishop, a lawyer. She had a brother, Francis. Her maternal uncles included Francis and Geoffrey Toye; her use of her mother's family name as a stage name connected her with her uncles' established musical careers. She was educated at Bon Sauveur Convent, Anglesey,

In September 1953, of which her uncle Geoffrey had been musical director in the 1920s. In the 1954–55 season she was given the small roles of Ada and Chloe in Princess Ida. In 1957 she sang the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury, Sacharissa in Princess Ida and Kate in The Yeomen of the Guard, and added Casilda in The Gondoliers the following season.

In May 1960 Toye was promoted to principal soprano in succession to Jean Hindmarsh and took on the roles of Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Lady Ella in Patience and Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard. The following season she added Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Lady Psyche in Princess Ida, and Celia in Iolanthe. She also made occasional appearances as Phyllis in Iolanthe and Zorah in Ruddigore during the 1963–64 season. She continued to perform with D'Oyly Carte until 1965. During the second tour she married a flautist in April 1965. While with the company she also took part in concert performances ranging from Bach's St John Passion to Gilbert and Sullivan miscellanies with D'Oyly Carte colleagues.

After leaving D'Oyly Carte, Toye appeared on a cruise ship for nine months on television with Arthur Askey and the Fol-de-Rols, and in pantomime in the title role in Cinderella, and as the Empress in Aladdin. In the early 1970s she was a member of the chorus of Sadler's Wells Opera (later English National Opera) company, where she sang in a wide range of operas by composers from Monteverdi to Wagner. She left that company in the mid-1970s to care for her father during his final illness. as Celia in the 1960 Iolanthe, as Casilda in the 1961 Gondoliers and as Lady Ella in the 1961 Patience. She also voices Zorah in the 1967 Halas and Batchelor animated film of Ruddigore.