Philip Summerscales made his professional stage debut in 1968 singing with the then
famous Max Jaffa Spa Orchestra and the pianist Jack Byfield in The Grand Hall, Scarborough.
Whilst continuing his studies he developed his musical skills working as a "session singer"
with the Royal Opera Chorus and the Ambrosian Singers. During these early years working in
"the business" Philip also performed roles in several West End and Touring Musicals - The Young
Visiters (stet) with Alfred Marks, Anne of Green Gables with Polly James, Nell with Jackie Trent,
and The Great Waltz with Sari Barabas. He also became a regular principal guest artist for Gilbert
and Sullivan for All and World of Gilbert and Sullivan.
His "big break" came in 1973 when he was asked to play the role of Pish- Tush in the BBC Television
production of The Mikado under the baton of David Lloyd Jones.
Other television performances followed most notably in The Yeoman of the Guard and The Edwardians.
Performances for BBC Radio also followed mostly on the Radio 2 programme, Melodies for You.
In 1976 Philip made his debut for Kent Opera on tour at the Schwetzingen Festival, performing the
role of Gross in Alan Ridout's opera The Pardoners Tale. He subsequently sang several roles for Kent
Opera all under the baton of Roger Norrington and including The Bosun in HMS Pinafore, Osmin in Il Seraglio,
and Pistol in Falstaff.
During the 1970's and early eighties Philip continued his career singing several operatic character
roles with The English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera and Opera North. These roles included
Zuniga in Carmen, The Sacristan in Tosca, The High Priest in Nabucco, Braxton in Mines of Sulphur, Monterone
in Rigoletto and many more.
In 1978 and 1979 he sang almost 200 performances of the title role in The Mikado in a West End run of
the operetta produced by the Musical Theatre Company followed by a similar run as Jacob in Andrew Lloyd Weber's
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with Paul Jones (of Manfred Mann fame) playing the role of Joseph.
Top: Philip (far left) as Pish Tush in the 1973 BBC Television production of 'The Mikado'.
Above: Philip (far right), Verdi Requiem at the Villa Marina Royal Hall 2008.
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