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"A typically British silly-ass type of peer" - no, no cruel criticism but an American's genuine feeling about Ralph Mason.
This fair-haired, blue-eyed, handsome tenor is in fact not a bit the silly ass he would have us believe by his portrayal of such characters as Lieut. the Duke of Dunstable or the Earl Tolloller; he can also be very down-to-earth as a humble sailor or a Venetian gondolier (although, of course, in each case it must be admitted that he has to touch the heights of glory by assuming Royal dignity or turning out to be not quite so lowly born as he thought).
In fact he was born in Brighton, and went to Brighton Grammar School; as a boy soprano he was in great demand for various roles in school productions of Gilbert and Sullivan.
On leaving school he worked for a time for Lord Montgomery before joining D'Oyly Carte in 1959, when he created a precedent at his audition by dismissing the accompanist and saying he preferred to sing without accompaniment. He was engaged there and then, and, when asked why he had taken this drastic action, explained that he had had other auditions ruined by a poor accompanist so did not wish to run the risk when auditioning for D'Oyly Carte.
It was while a member of the Company that he met and married Anne Sessions. He left in 1963 to join the cast of "My Fair Lady" and appeared many times in the part of Freddy Fynsford-Hill, but the call of Gilbert and Sullivan was too strong for him, and in 1965 he returned to the Company.
On the departure of David Palmer, in 1967, he took over the roles of Box, Defendant, Ralph Rackstraw, Earl Tolloller, Cyril, Duke of Dunstable, Leonard Meryll and Marco - roles that he continued to play until he, finally left the company in 1973.
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