Peggy Ann Jones

Peggy Ann Jones (born 1939) is an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. During a fifteen-year career with that company, beginning at age 19, she was particularly known for her interpretations of the title role in Iolanthe, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Phoebe Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard, and Mad Margaret in Ruddigore. She later performed on television, in films and in musicals in London's West End. Jones's best-known recordings include the role of Pitti-Sing on both the 1973 D'Oyly Carte Mikado and the company's 1966 film version of The Mikado.

Jones was born and raised in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Beginning at an early age, she studied the piano. She took diplomas in dress design, interior design and architecture. Continuing her musical studies, she briefly worked for a bank. Jones performed in amateur dramatics as a teenager, playing the title role in Rose Marie at the age of 16. She also appeared in The White Horse Inn and A Country Girl and won prizes at the Nottingham Festival.

Jones joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1958 at the age of 19. She began in the chorus and, in 1960, began playing the small roles Peep-Bo in The Mikado, and Ruth in Ruddigore, as well as occasionally substituting as Fleta in Iolanthe and the principal roles of Phoebe Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard and Tessa in The Gondoliers. The next season, she added to her repertoire Lady Saphir in Patience. In 1962, Jones became one of the company's principal mezzo-sopranos, playing Phoebe and Tessa, as well as Peep-Bo and Kate in The Pirates of Penzance. She also occasionally played the title role in Iolanthe. The next year, she was given two more principal roles, Mad Margaret, in the company's new production of Ruddigore, and Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, giving up the role of Tessa, which, however, she continued to play occasionally. She also substituted from time to time as Lady Angela in Patience.