Pineapple Poll by John Cranko, music by Sir Arthur Sullivan
Merle Park (Poll), Stanley Holden (Jasper), David Blair (Captain Belaye) – The Royal Ballet
Cast
John Cranko — Choreographer
Merle Park — Poll (a flower-seller)
David Blair — Captain Belaye
Stanley Holden — Jasper (the pot boy)
Brenda Taylor — Blanche (Captain Belaye's fiancée)
Gerd Larsen — Mrs Dimple (her aunt)
Program notes
Pineapple Poll was the first collaboration between Cranko and Charles Mackerras, then the assistant conductor of the Sadler's Wells Opera. Mackerras felt that the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan, which had just fallen out of copyright, would serve admirably as a ballet score. He had conducted countless performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and from close to a dozen of them neatly stitched together a delightful musical setting for Cranko's rambunctious ballet.
Pincipal characters in Pineapple Poll are Pineapple Poll, a flower-seller, Jasper, the "pot boy" at the local tavern and the dashing Captain Belaye of the H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun, which has just docked in Portsmouth. All the girls in town vie for the attention of Captain Belaye, including Pineapple Poll – much to the dismay of Jasper, who has a serious crush on her. But Belaye's eye has been caught by Blanche, a local beauty shepherded by her aunt, Mrs Dimple...
Source: Ernie Gilbert/ICA