June - The Noël Coward Society

- for a full list see www.noëlcoward.net Items in red are professional companies
WHAT’S ON?
In the UK...
Production News:
The National Theatre has announced that
PRESENT LAUGHTER will open at the
Lyttleton in October with Alex Jennings.
June 2007
Hay Fever
5 Feb to 18 Jun - UK tour Peter Hall / Bill
Kenwright production with Stephanie
Beacham & Christopher Timothy will be at
the Churchill Theatre, Bromley (0870 060
6620) - from Mon 9th to Sat 14th April.
29 Jun to 7 Jul - Hever Lakeside Theatre
Cavalcade
7 to 9 Jun - The City Lit, John Lyon Performance Hall, London
Cowardy Custard Tour
Tue 5th June 2.30pm
Norwich City College, Norwich
01603 773582
Wed 6th June 7.30pm
Kings Theatre Southsea
023 9282 8282
Thu 7th June TBC
The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury
01295 279002
Sat 9th June 8.00pm
West End Centre, Aldershot
01252 330040
Sat. 23 June
Kings Lynn Arts Centre`
Present Laughter
14 to 16 Jun - Creakes Drama Group, Village
Hall, North Creake, Fakenham, Norf.
Blithe Spirit
22 to 23 Jun - Magpies DG, Village Hall,
Matfield, Kent
21 to 23 Jun - Staines Players, Chertsey Hall,
Cherstey, Surrey
27 to 30 Jun - St James Players, New
Malden, Surrey
Relative Values
6 to 21 Jun - St. Mary’s Theatre Club, Town
Hall, St. Mary’s Isles of Scilly
Red Peppers
Dewsbury Arts Group:
9 Jun - Southport Arts Centre, Southport,
Lancashire
16 Jun - Sheffield Library Theatre
Private Lives
28 to 30 Jun - Actors of North Tawton, Town
Hall, North Tawton, North Devon
This Happy Breed
4 to 9 Jun - Playmakers, Herne Bay Little
Theatre, Herne Bay, Kent
Hay Fever
14 to 16 Jun - Drama 13, Baptist Church
Hall, King’s Heath, Birmingham
July and August 2007
Hay Fever
18 to 21 Jul - Runnymede Drama Group,
The Riverside Barn, Walton-On-Thames
15 to 25 Aug - The Edinburgh Makars, Murrayfield Parish Church hall, Edinburgh
Page 12
Fumed Oak and Red Peppers
6 & 7 Ju - Aldborough Players, Community
Centre, Aldborough, Norfolk - directed by
NCS Secretary John Knowles
Blithe Spirit
8 to 25 Jul - St Austell Players, St Austell
Arts Centre, St Austell, Cornwall
18 to 29 Aug - Medway Little Theatre,
Rochester, Kent
7 & 8 Aug - Rutherglen Repertory Theatre,
Town Hall, Rutherglen, Glasgow, Scotland
The Vortex
13 to 18 Aug - Centre Stage Theatre Coimpany, Diverse Attractions, Edinburgh
Private Lives
Jill Freud & Co - 28 Aug to 1 Sep - Aldeburgh Summer Theatre 6 to 15 Sep - Southwold Summer Theatre
September and October
Private Lives
19 to 29 Sep 2007 - The Maddermarket
Theatre, Norwich
18 to 20 Oct - Barcombe Players, Barcombe, East Sussex
November
Fallen Angels
22 Nov to 1 Dec - Sewell Barn Theatre
Company, Sewwell Barn Theatre, Norwich
In North America...
May and June 2007
Present Laughter
May 18 - June 17, 2007
Victor Garber stars with the Huntington
Theatre Company Boston, Massachusetts
BO: 617/266-0800
Blithe Spirit
4 to 27 May, 2007 - Mount Dora Theatre
Company, Florida
1 to 16 Jun - Theatre Aurora, Aurora,
Ontario
22 May to Jun 2 - Kanata Thtr, Kanata, ON
Aug. 15 – 26 Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire MASS.
August 2007
Bitter Sweet
18 to 26 Aug, 2007 Light Opera Works –
Illinois Music Theatre Cahn Auditorium,
Evanston, IllinoisCall 845/869-6300 or
www.LightOperaWorks.com
Waiting In The Wings
30 Mar to 8 Apr, 2007-Little Theatre of
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Highlighted Production
The Tyrone Guthrie Theatre
Minneapolis, Minnesota
PRIVATE LIVES
July 21 - September 02
For tickets and information
call: 612/377 224
This is one of the most prestigious
regional theatres in America, having been
founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963
Home Chat is the newsletter
of The Noël Coward Society
wholly owned by
Noël Coward Ltd. which is
part of the charitable trust:
The Noël Coward Foundation.
Unless otherwise stated all
images and text are copyright
to NC Aventales AG
All correspondence to:
The Noël Coward Society,
29 Waldemar Avenue,
Hellesdon, Norwich,
NR6 6TB, UK
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1603 486 188
Editor: John Knowles
Ass. Editor:Ken Starrett
Publication and Distribution:
Stephen Greenman (UK)
Ken Starrett (US)
Music Correspondent:
Dominic Vlasto
Contributions are invited from
members of the Society.
The editor reserves the right
to edit all copy, images and
decide on inclusion of items.
Details included in
‘What’s On?’ are as received,
with our thanks, from:
Samuel French UK and
Canada (Play Publishers and
Author’s Representatives),
Ken Starrett (US),
Alan Brodie Representation
(Professional Productions),
NCS members and
theatre companies.
For details of rights for
professional productions:
Alan Brodie Representation
www.alanbrodie.com
For amateur rights
Samuel French Ltd.
www.samuelfrench.com or
www.samuelfrenchlondon.co.uk
For publishing rights:
Methuen
www.methuen.co.uk
For music rights:
Warner Chappell
www.warnerchappell.co.uk
Officers of the Society are:
Chairman: Barbara Longford
Secretary: John Knowles
Treasurer: Stephen Greenman
Public Relations:
Jan Penn and Denys Robinson
North American Director:
Ken Starrett
Representative for France:
Hélène Catsiapis
Australian Representative:
Robert Wickham
T
CHAT
JUNE 2007 - THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NOËL COWARD SOCIETY
FREE TO
MEMBERS OF
THE SOCIETY
Price £2 ($4)
COWARD IN TEN - OPENS AT TEN CHIMNEYS
en Chimneys, the incredible estate in Genesee
Depot, Wisconsin, that belonged to Alfred Lunt and
Lynn Fontanne, opened to the public in May 2003
after years of painstaking restoration. When the
Lunts lived there, many celebrated people in the arts were
welcome guests. Noël Coward, a life-long friend of The
Lunts, was a frequent visitor and had his own room there.
This year on April 27th, the Ten Chimneys Foundation
opened a special exhibition devoted to the friendships, life
and career of Sir Noël Coward. This exhibition was created in
collaboration with The Noël Coward Estate, The Noël Coward Foundation and The Noël Coward Society,
At the opening reception, President of Ten Chimneys,
Sean Malone, welcomed Barry Day, author of many books on
Coward, by presenting him with a cake and candle, as this
was, coincidentally, his birthday. Everyone joined in singing
Happy Birthday. Favorite anecdotes about Coward were related to the audience by Mr. Day. The next guest presented
was Alan Brodie, agent for The Noël Coward Estate, who
gave thanks to the staff of Ten Chimneys for their exhibition
honoring Noël Coward. Mr. Brodie spoke of the sharp Coward quips that he enjoyed. Ken Starrett, North American Director of The Noël Coward Society, followed by telling the
audience how Coward made comic use of brief messages in
telegrams. Sean Malone next welcomed Geoffrey Johnson,
agent and long-time friend of Noël Coward. Mr. Johnson
made a presentation to Mr. Malone of a triptych photo of
Noël, Alfred and Lynn for display in the exhibition. Coward
always kept this photo on his bedside table. Mr. Malone
stated that when the exhibition was finished, the photo would
reside permanently in Coward's bedroom in Ten Chimneys
People attending this reception were able to view the exhibition which includes photographs, playbills, sheet music,
video clips of Coward's films, television appearances, and
personal memorabilia, Mounted on the walls of the room are
ten large photographic panels with text, each presenting a
view of a particular point in Coward's life - The Boy Actor The Daring Playwright - The Blithe Celebrity - The Renaissance Man - The Not-So-Secret Agent - The Dear Friend The Ten Chimneys Guest - The Forgotten Icon - The Reinvented Star and The Master.
Three glass showcases in the middle of the room contain
many fascinatging personal artifacts, such as a pair of slippers given to Coward by Merle Oberon. Sean Malone and his
staff should be justifiably proud of this wonderful exhibition
which will go far in acquainting people with the life and
works of Sir Noël Coward. It will be on display until November 10, 2007.
On the evening of April 28th “Conversation With Geoffrey Johnson.” was presented in the Visitors’ Center at Ten
Chimneys. The audience was charmed by Mr. Johnson as he
spoke of his incredible experiences during the years he
Coward In Ten poster at Ten Chimneys
Artefacts on display at Ten Chimneys
Two of the ‘Ten Cowards’
worked for Noël Coward. Knowing Coward also meant getting to know many of the celebrities who were a part of his
life. Everyone was delighted by a story he told about a cocktail party at Coward's home in Switzerland, when a particular
guest had not wanted to attend. At Coward's emphatic insistence, she appeared and Mr. Johnson got to meet the great
Garbo. At the end of the evening he graciously answered
questions from the audience. This was the perfect occasion
to end two days of paying tribute to The Master.
Ken Starrett
Photographs by Alan Brodie and Ken Starrett
Artefacts on display at Ten Chimneys
Piano at Ten Chimneys
A Celebration of the Life of Sheridan Morley
22 May 2007 - Gielgud Theatre
On a gloriously sunny day in the heart of London’s theatreland one of its strongest advocates, Sheridan Morley was
remembered by those who knew him. In a packed Gielgud
Theatre hundreds of friends and colleagues watched a celebration of everything that ‘Sherry’ held dear.
On a black box set sitting on golden chairs with a backdrop of three large photographs of Sheridan Morley, 25 of his
friends and contemporaries, celebrated his life to a delighted
audience - as his wife Ruth Leon said, “The person who
would have most enjoyed the afternoon was missing - Sheridan himself.”
The celebration started with ‘Spread a Little Happiness’
from the Vivian Ellis musical Mr. Cinders followed by the reflections of Sheridan’s close friend at Oxford, Christopher
Matthew, in an item entitled ‘Sherry’. Ruth Leon welcomed
everyone to the celebration before Miriam Margoyles read
‘School Report, Spring Term 1953’ from Asking for Trouble:
The Memoirs of Sheridan Morley . Lucy Fleming, the daughter of Celia Johnson recalled her friendship with Sherdian as
a child in ‘Childhood in Henley’ followed by Simon Williams
who read ‘Hometown’ written by Sheridan and taken from
The Sunday Times. An old friend to the Society Liz Robertson accompanied by Jonathan Cohen sang ‘If Love Were All’
from Bitter Sweet.
Ruth introduced the man who introduced her to Sheridan,
Brian Winston, who talked of their time all together in Oxford. In customary style Steve Ross, who had flown from
New York to be there, sang ‘Old Friends’ from Stephen Sondhein’s Merrily We Roll Along.
Edward Fox read a hugely funny piece from Punch that
should have been read by Miles Kingston who was, sadly, un- other country.
A common theme in the afternoon was the unique nature
able to attend.
of
Sheridan
as a theatre critic - one of only two it was reJohn Watts had everyone laughing when he read ‘Royal Varicalled
that
anyone
could remember with affection. The actor
ety Performance’ written by Sheridan Morley and from his
Oliver
Ford
Davies
read a piece on the subject ‘Critic’
Debriefing column in Punch. Ruth followed with a piece by
by
Sheridan
from
The
Spectator. Another musical piece folJoan Bakewell, who was unable to be there, on Sheridan’s
lowed
by
Sheridan’s
partner
in their two-man show, Michael
time on the ground-breaking BBC television arts programme
Law.
The
shows
were
produced
by Ruth Leon and took on
Late Night Line-up.
various
forms
according
to
the
place
and time of the performJohn Lahr talked about a letter he had received from
ance
but
usually
included
lots
of
Coward
as well as notable
Sheridan a few months before he died asking his advice on
pieces
from
the
‘great
American
songbook’
all later saved for
whether he should emigrate to New York. In explaining his
posterity
on
CD.
Michael
sang
the
Coward
song
‘Sail Away’.
response John talked about the varous parallels in their lives Jenny
Seagrove,
with
glass
in
hand,
raised
the
passionate
as the sons of famous people - and then like Sheridan he
‘Toast
from
Cavalcade’
before
Rosemary
Ashe
accompanied
wanted to leave his native shores and establish himself in anby Jonathan Cohen sang the Coward classic ‘I’ll See You
Page 2
What Mad Pursuit (1985, w/Carroll Baker, Neil Cunningham,
Paul Daneman)
Disc 4:
Tonight at 8:30
This is a mystery, because the play was made up of several
short ones. The only broadcast using the title I could find
was a 1954 NBC Producers Showcase, including Red Peppers, Still Life, and We Were Dancing. However, this disc
will include Red Peppers (1991, w/Joan Collins, Anthony
Newley).
Disc 5:
Present Laughter (1964, w/ Peter Wyngarde, Ursula Howells,
Joan Benham, Barbara Murray, James Bolam
Star Quality (1985, w/Sussanah York, Ian Richardson, Peter
Chelsom)
Disc 6:
Me and the Girls (1985, w/Tom Courtenay, Robert Glenister,
Nichola
McAuliffe, Tessa Pritchard)
Bon Voyage (1985, w/ Michael Aldridge, Gay Baynes, Ed
Devereaux, Nigel Havers)
Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill (1985, w/Judi Dench, Ian Holm,
Robert Blythe, Amanda Pays
Disc 7:
Suite in Two Keys:
A Song at Twilight (1982, w/Deborah Kerr, Bruce Lidington,
Paul Scofield, June Tobin)
Come into the Garden, Maude (1982, w/Paul Scofield, Bruce
Lidington, Geraldine McEwan, Toby Robins)
Bonus features:
This DVD set is described by the producers as follows:
Noël Coward was a master playwright whose prodigious
talent dominated the theatre of the 1920s & 30s. The Vortex
made him an immediate hit and controversial sensation. Hay
Fever, Private Lives, and Design for Living are as popular
today as when they were first performed. His series of oneacts Tonight at 8:30 which he performed with Gertrude
Lawrence have become a treasure trove for modern theater
companies. This collection features star-studded BBC productions of Coward's full-length plays, one-acts and short stories plus bonus features including several radio plays,
interviews and profiles of Coward. It's a must own collection
for lovers of great theatre!
DVD Features:
Interviews:
Omnibus: Noël Coward - Noël Coward is interviewed on the
occasion of his 70th birthday Noël Coward on Acting (Interview with Noël Coward from 1969)
Other: The Songwriters: Noël Coward - Featuring performances of some of Coward's most popular songs Audio recording of Noël Coward's 1941 Opening Night Speech for Blithe
Spirit in Manchester
Radio Plays: Hay Fever, Private Lives, Post-Mortem, Design for Living, Blithe Spirit, South Sea Bubble .
The ASIN number is: B000QXDEGI
The set can be pre-ordered online at Amazon.
Coward in a world of Electronic publishing...
Coward’s desire to be ‘contemporary’ is well recorded. In
the famous interview with Patrick Garland on BBC TV he responded:
“Quite a lot of people said what a pity that I wasn’t more
significant - that never worried me because I didn’t particularly wish to be significant - I like to be contemporary and as
bright as a button - but I don’t think I was all that keen on
being significant”.
The questions being asked here were about how he would
be remembered and the significance of his work. He replied
with what became his signature response - forthrightness
about the undoubted level of his talent and a self-effacing attitude towards the value of his work - best defined in his
phrase from the song ‘If Love Were All’... ‘The most I’ve had
is just a talent to amuse’.
He might well have railed against the excesses of the current electronic age with its ‘frenzied’ email exchanges where
nine out of ten communications appear to offer assistance to
males who are insecure about their genitalia! But we are wandering... ‘contemporary’... yet one cannot help but feel that
Noël would have used all of it as ideas for a play or novel. A
sort of Nude With Violin for the Internet age. He would have
taken what the Internet has to offer to assist and promote his
work and without any doubt he would have had fun with it!
The electronic resources that have been developed by the
Coward Estate, Coward Foundation and the Coward Society
are: www.noelcoward.co.uk (for the Estate), www.noelcow-
ard.org (for the Coward Foundation) and
www.noelcoward.net for the Society. These three sites provide a family of websites for Coward.
John Knowles has recently been appointed as a Consultant for Electronic Publishing to the Coward Estate. His work
will include the development of the Estate and Foundation websites and the
creation of an online digital resource for
Coward that can be used by professional
agencies and theatre companies as well
as amateur groups to support their productions, events and publications. Other
projects are in the pipeline designed to
support the work of the Estate and the
Foundation especially with young people
and educational bodies in the fields of
drama and theatre. John’s previous jobs include, headteacher
and a local authority advisor and manager of the Primary
School Management Team in Norfolk responsible for training
headteachers, their deputies, school administrative staff and
school governors in some 350 schools. For the past 12 years
John has worked almost exclusively in electronic publishing
and website management and for the last 7 years has been a
volunteer working for the Coward Society. John will be
standing down as Secretary to the NCS committee in December 2007 but will continue to edit Home Chat and the NCS
website.
Page 11
Conversation Piece
G
eorgina Infield writes...I read with interest Mr
Halford’s article about Firefly in the last edition
of Home Chat. However I must correct that statement by Saran that Noël Coward had no interest
in cooking. Here is his Forward to a cookery
book written (well co-written) by his old friend Adrienne
Allen titled ‘Delightful Food’ published by Sedgewick and
Jackson in 1957. Also in his description of the lunch he gave
for the Queen Mother - he made ‘Iced Pea Soup spiked with
mint’.
Members may remember that we gave a copy of Adrienne
Allen’s book to her daughter Ann Massey when she joined
members for our Coward birthday celebrations last December
Here is that Forward:
Among the trends of the present day - the trend towards
Rock 'n' Roll, the trend towards selfimmolation (known as the
Death-Wish among friends), the tendency to drop the H-bomb
on the neighbours etc., far and away the nicest is the trend towards the kitchen. Nowadays everyone, or very nearly everyone, cooks or has a specialité which they can whip up in a
trice, everyone admits the Importance of chives, everyone assumes a knowing look after the first bite or sup - “A pinch of
cinnamon would have made all the difference,” they sayeveryone has at least one recipe handed down from Great
Aunt Laura or given to him by the chef of the remotest
auberge in the Haute Pyrenees; in fact, never has cooking
been such fun. I have never had such fun myself. I have absorbing and heated arguments with bejewelled ladies at Ambassadorial receptions as to the best, the only, way to make a
Yorkshire pudding; exchange deeply cherished recipes with
people under oaths of secrecy much as lovers used to exchange their most sacred vows, and I unmercifully browbeat
my host or hostess into giving away that ultimate ingredient
that makes All the Difference. Which is a far cry from the
days when the Shepherd’s Pie and the Shape were handed
round and consumed in silence.
Of course this trend isn’t new, nothing is under the sun,
and over three hundred years ago Robert Burton said,
“Cookery is become an art, a noble science; cooks are gentlemen," but I am sorry to say that it wasn’t until lately that I
heard the call to come into the kitchen. The year 1956, which
is shuddering to its close as I write, has been an eventful one
for me and not the least eventful part has been devoted to my
culinary adventures. There was the wonderful day when my
first soufflé rose to such heights that it nearly hit the top of
the oven (the oven fortunately had a glass door so that I was
able to watch this phenomenon open-mouthed), the thirty-six
hours I spent first trying to make puff-pastry, during which I
had to cancel all engagements and lost a night's sleep into
the bargain, the evening the Oven Blew Up, the afternoon the
lid flew off the Waring Mixer and sprayed unreachable parts
of the ceiling with chocolate mousse, and the day I said
“Leave the canapes to me” and later found that several of the
guests had taken one nibble and then dropped them, not I
must admit without reason, behind the sofa. I am learning the
hard way but I am proud to say that at the end of my first year
I have more than once turned out a creditable three-course
dinner for six. Up until this year I had always appreciated
good cooking but never tried to cook and the only pronouncement I had hitherto made on the subject was “If it's rissoles I
Page 10
- your letters, thoughts and news...
shan’t dress”, a rule I made in 1929 and to which I still
strictly adhere.
Apart from this lifelong appreciation of good cooking and
my newly awakened Do-It-Yourself interest in it, the fact that
Adrianne Allen is an old and dear friend of mine is, I am
afraid, my only justification for writing this foreword. (It
would not be true to say that I have never met Mrs. Salter because she assures me that, under the name of Heather
Hethrington, she and Miss Allen “appeared in ‘Easy Virtue’
by Noël Coward, playing those jolly girls, swinging our
Dorothy bags and squealing at the gentlemen.” These performances are shrouded for me by the mists of time which is
perhaps just as well, but I will take her word for it.) What I
wish to make clear is that I have never seen Miss Allen and
Mrs. Salter ‘at it’, never heard the whirr of their egg-beaters,
never seen them tenderly placing the creme brûlée in the
bain-marie and thence, with trembling hands, into the oven.
Nor have I tested the hundred and fifty recipes and therefore I
cannot yet vouch for them. What I can vouch for, however, is
that they are bound to be good. All the meals, over all the
years, that I have ever eaten in whatever exquisite house
Adrienne happens to be inhabiting at the moment, have been
superlative. The advent of this book therefore, like an invitation to luncheon or dinner with Adrianne, is a signal for general rejoicing. I shall be among the first to prop it up on the
kitchen table and “take six eggs and a pint of cream ...”
Noël Coward
With thanks to Georgina Infield and Barbara Longford for
both supplying this extract.
Coming WHV/BBC boxed DVD set
THE NOËL COWARD COLLECTION
Due out on September 11 with thanks to Raymond
Stanley for letting us know
and to Bill Rosenfield for
all of the following details
of this 7 dvd set - it looks
like an exciting treat!
Disc 1:
The Vortex (1969, w/
Margaret Leighton,
Alan Melville, Patrick Barr,
Jennifer Daniel
Hay Fever (1968, w/Celia
Johnson, Jane Merrow, Dennis Price, Ian McKellen, Anna
Massey
Disc 2:
Private Lives (1976, w/ Alec McCowen, Penelope Keith,
Polly James, Donald Pickering
Disc 3:
Design for Living (1979, w/Rula Lenska, Clive Arrindell,
John Steiner, John Bluthal
Mrs. Capper's Birthday (1985, w/Avis Bunnage, Patricia
Hayes, Hugh Laurie,
Again’ from Bitter Sweet.
In a location and from the one of the best loved and respected of the theatre impressarios of our age we heard about
‘Theatre Man’ from Cameron Mackintosh before the heartstopping voice of John Owen Jones accompanied by Douglas
White sang the song from Boublil and Schönberg’s Les Miserables, ‘Bring Him Home’. One of our most notable radio
broadcasters, David Jacobs, gave us ‘Broadcaster’ followed
by Corin Redgrave in a moving reading of Shakespeare’s
Sonnet 116. Patricia Hodge accompanied by Jonathan Cohen
sang ‘Come The Wild, Wild Weather’ from Waiting in the
Wings before the penultimate ‘Final Thoughts’ from Asking
For Trouble: The Memoirs of Sheridan Morley read by
Simon Callow who, for many of us, summed up the reason
why the theatrical world looked upon Sheridan as a different
kind of theatre critic - he was more a chronicler of the theatre,
someone who loved it, proud of its traditions and its past,
proud of his family connection through his late father Robert
and his grandmother Gladys Cooper and always passionate
and generous to those whose work was to act and produce in
it.
Sheridan’s own voice was heard again reading one of his
favourite Coward poems about Noël’s own reflections on
death, ‘When I Have Fears’. Ruth Leon thanked everyone
who had taken part in the celebration. The final song, an anthemn to stickability and enduring presence came in ‘I’m Still
Here’ Stephen Sondheim’s song from Follies sung by
Annabel Leventon accompanied by Jonathan Cohen.
The overriding impression people gave of Sheridan was
his larger than life personality, his generosity, his warmth and
his kindnesses to everyone he met and knew. As Ruth remarked amongst all of the thousand or so letters and an equal
number of phone calls she found, in their kitchen, a bunch of
flowers and an expression of affection for her husband - from
their window cleaner.
Ruth wanted to thank all of the following for their help in
putting together this ‘Celebration of the Life of Sheridan
Morley’: Barry Burnett, Linda Christmas, Billy Differ, Sally
Hardy, Annabel Leventon, Christopher Matthew, Anthony
Pye-Jeary, Alan Strachan, Rebecca Walton and ‘most especially Cameron Mackintosh’.
John Knowles
FUTURE UK EVENTS: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
O
The latest Events news from our Chairman Barbara Longford
The Noël Trail and Samuel French, London
Saturday 23rd June, 2007
ur next event on 23rd June, 2007 is now fully
booked by the following members:- Ian Chandler, Robert Gardiner, Stuart Griffiths, Elizabeth
Sutter, Leslie Radford, Jean Radford, Edgar Astaire, Myrna Schroder, Geoffrey King, Jan King, Andrew
Weeks, June Weeks, Richard Wyborn, Judy Shakespear, Reggie Musgrave, Geoffrey Bowden, David Bovey, Katie Bovey,
Michael Greene, Gillian Greene, Stephen Bentley, Douglas Gordon, Zoe Maxine, Rexton Bunnett, Derek Limer,
John Weston, Stephen Greenman and Barbara Longford.
We shall meet up at 9.30 a.m. at Samuel French, 52
Fitzroy Street, London W.1. where our host will be Geoffrey
Skinner. Members will set off for the walking tour at
11.a.m. in two groups, led by our guides Graham Sawyer
and Ken Sephton.
For those who have requested lunch, the upstairs room at
The Stockpot Restaurant, 38 Panton Street, SW1 has been reserved for 30 people to sit down to lunch at 2.p.m. (the room
can accommodate 5 more, if other members would like to
join us for lunch). Please contact Barbara Longford (Tel: 020
7603 7399). The Society plans to arrange other walking/getting to know you tours in the future.
Visit to the Royal National Theatre for a performance of ‘Present Laughter’
and to the launch of our Vice President, Barry Day’s new book ‘The Letters of Noël Coward’
Week commencing Monday 12th November, 2007
Later this year, The
Royal National Theatre is
producing Present Laughter,
with Alex Jennings as Garry
Essendine, and the Society
is arranging a special event
to co-incide with this and
the publication, on 12th November, of ‘The Letters of
Noël Coward’ by Barry Day. The exact evening during the week is not yet confirmed, but we anticipate that it will begin with
a 6.p.m. Platform Performance at the RNT, launching the book, to which all attending members will be special guests. A performance of Present Laughter will follow, for which we plan to block book tickets at a special members’ price.
More information and a booking form will follow in the August edition of Home Chat. For members travelling from outside London, the Society will investigate some special hotel deals.
Some quotes about ‘The Letters of Noël Coward’ by Barry Day:
“A uniquely charming and enticing journey through a remarkable life. Coward's own record is made all the more delightful
by the wise and helpful interpolations of Barry Day, the soundest authority on the Master that there is.”
STEPHEN FRY, Vice President, NCS
Page 3
“Precise, witty, remarkably observed, and gloriously English.”
JUDI DENCH
“Thirty years after his death, it seems increasingly obvious that Noël Coward was the most important English playwright of
the mid-twentieth century. This meticulously edited collection of his letters will excite and amuse anyone interested in him, the
theatre and his staggeringly wide circle of correspondents.”
NICHOLAS HYTNER ,Artistic Director at the National Theatre
“Barry Day has done an excellent job of editing Coward's letters, which provide more insight into this extraordinary man - a
real treat!’”
RICHARD BRIERS
From the publishers:
With virtually all the letters in this volume previously unpublished - this is a revealing new
insight into the private life of a legendary figure. Coward's multi-faceted talent as an actor, writer,
composer, producer and even as a war-time spy(!), brought him into close contact with the great,
the good and the merely ambitious in film, literature and politics. With letters to and from the
likes of: George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo (she wrote
asking him to marry her), Marlene Dietriech, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh,
Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, FD Roosevelt, the Queen Mother and many more, the picture
that emerges is a series of vivid sketches of Noël Coward's private relationships, and a re-examination of the man himself. Deliciously insightful, witty, perfectly bitchy, wise, loving and often
surprisingly moving, this extraordinary collection gives us Coward at his crackling best. A sublime portrait of a unique artist who made an indelible mark on the 20th century, from the Blitz to
the Ritz and beyond.
The Annual General Meeting, Flower-laying at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
and Annual Luncheon
Saturday 15th December, 2007
Due to the unfortunate loss of The Theatre Museum, which we regarded as our
‘London Home’, the Society needed a new venue for the AGM this year. Sir
Cameron Mackintosh is generously allowing us to hold the event at either the The
Noël Coward Theatre or the Ivor Novello Theatre, depending on their production
plans. The AGM will begin at 10.30 a.m.
Alex Jennings, who will be starring in ‘Present Laughter’, has agreed, in principle, to perform the flower-laying ceremony for us this year, at 12 noon at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Lunch will be held at The Ivy, attended by Alex Jennings and his wife, and will
be followed by a special Coward cabaret performance by Guest of Honour, Steve
Ross (picture right).
Noël Coward and death?
an extract from a study guide produced by the Pearl Theatre
Company in 2000 on Coward’s comedy: Blithe Spirit
Sir Noël was quite fascinated with death. One of his hob“a passionate faith that loved ones who, in reality, had been
bies was watching surgeries. “I’ve witnessed death many
blown to pieces in the trenches had passed on to a bourne
times,” he asserted. “I once had a man die in my arms.” In
from which they could not return but which was a place of
Private Lives, a Noël Coward play from 1930, Coward has
happiness and content.”
Elyot say to Amanda, “Death is very
Coward’s genius in Blithe Spirit
I’m here for a short visit only
laughable really, such a cunning little
was to tweak the notion of ghosts as
And I’d rather be loved than hated
mystery. All done with mirrors.” For
sentimental, reassuring figures, by
Coward, death was a lark, something to Eternity may be lonely
creating the vindictive, mischievous
When my body’s disintegrated
be overcome with charm and wit.
Elvira, who is bent on obtaining her
And that which is loosely termed by soul
Ghosts pop up in other Noël Cowown satisfaction after death, at the exGoes whizzing off through the infinite
ard plays as well as Blithe Spirit. In
pense of her living loved one.
Cavalcade and Post Mortem they serve By means of some vague, remote control
Blithe Spirit premiered during the
I’d like to think I was missed a bit.
the function of ensuring reverence for
darkest days of the War. On the openthe dead. In Shadow Play (1936),
ing night of the play (July 2, 1941) a
ghosts of the quarrelling Gayforths ap- Extract from: Not Yet the Dodo and Other
bomb was dropped very near to the
pear in a dream to recall their romantic Verses, 1967 by Noël Coward
theatre. Elegantly attired patrons
past and rekindle their threatened love.
picked their way through the rubble
Certainly death was on every Londoner’s mind in 1941,
on their way to see what would be the most popular comedy
as the blitz raged about them, for ghosts found their way into
of the war. A programme note said: “If an air raid warning be
other plays of the period, as well. Critic Gareth Lloyd Evans
received during the performance the audience will be insees in this rebirth of interest in matters spiritual a hunger for
formed from the stage... those desiring to leave the theatre
reassurance that the sacrifices of the war had not been in vain, may do so but the performances will continue.
Page 4
Beatrice Lillie
B
Barbara Longford looks at what one of Noël’s closest
friends thought of him and of Ivor Novello...
eatrice Lille was godmother to Gertrude
Lawrence's daughter Pamela and speaking of Gertie in her book, Every Inch A Lady, Beatrice begins:
“She had more courage than anyone I've known, except
possibly Noël Coward. She was curiously like him in many
ways. Gertie used to tell how Noël had a phonograph which
she secretly coveted, while she owned a bicycle that he envied, though it was, in his opinion, ‘quite unsuitable for a
girl’. Ultimately it was Noël who really brought to light Gertie's talents and provided her with the greatest chances. But
he struck out when I introduced him to Charlot.
Noël was then a rather condescending young man, paper
thin, with a faint lisp. He was already writing songs, and
songs with a difference. Instead of the usual moonlight and
roses, there was a dash of vinegar. Come to think of it, he
was quite remarkably as he is today – very clever but uncomfortable to be with at times. I had met him somehow as another one of us: young people trying to make their mark in
the theatre. Thanks to Charlot, I’d made my first dent already.
‘Beattie,’ Noël asked, quite understandably, ‘do you think
you could get me an introduction to Charlot? He didn’t want
to try it on his own, a feeling I knew only too well. Uncle
Andre was rehearsing for a new revue, and he’d hired a big
room in Bond Street for the purpose. I’d had to call to rehearse one day, and I knew Charlot would be there, with the
whole cast. I had a few qualms about asking him outright
whether he would like to hear Noël, so I told my ambitious
young friend, ‘Just come up. I’m not going to try to arrange
anything special. You come up and be ready to audition.’
We were in the middle of a production number involving
chorus and singers when Noël walked in, pale and a little bit
twitchy. The piano stopped for a short break. Charlot gave
me a filthy look when I introduced this very nervous young
man and said, ‘I just want him to play you this song he’s written. It’s called ‘Forbidden Fruit.’ You’ll love it.’ The expression on Uncle Andre’s quizzical face said, ‘Want to bet?’
Noël sat himself at the piano and played, Every peach, out
of reach, is attractive….
Though listening politely, Charlot could scarcely wait for
him to finish. He grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously and
walked him to the door, murmuring, ‘Very kind of you.
Thank you very much’. Out went Noël, nudged by a very
subtle cold shoulder. Charlot just stopped short of slamming
the door behind him.
‘How dare you,’ said Dada, turning on me, ‘bring people
here with no talent whatsoever?’ ”
Later in the book Beatrice comments:
“Some of the best parties were given by Ivor Novello,
whose plays and music rival anything Noël has written, in my
opinion; in fact, it’s possible that his music, which is generally more serious than Noël’s, will live longer, particularly
among British audiences, than the more brilliant, witty works
of Noël Coward”.
And towards the end of the book is this:
“As for Noël, I do love him, and I choose to believe he
loves me. We kissed and made up without any trouble, when
he wrote this billet-doux about ‘An evening With’, in which
he detected ‘one of the greatest stars of light entertainment
that the world has ever known’:
Birds of love Divine lie bleeding at her feet, fairies dance
with the heaviness of dragons at the bottom of her garden,
moaning ladies shorn of their lovers descend into the utmost
depths of bathos, all because Miss Lillie decided to turn on
them the piercing lethal beam of her dreadful irreverence and
her implacable humour.
Amidst this holocaust of destruction, it is apparent to the
least perceptive eye that she has subtlety, delicacy, wit and
whether you like it or not, absolute truth. She is as incapable
of a falst note, in her performance as her clear fresh voice is
incapable of singing out of tune. It may be gathered from all
this hyperbole that I am an admirer of Beatrice Lillie, which
is very true. I am also one of her oldest friends, which
doesn’t prejudice me in the least. If I loathed her with every
quivering fibre of my being (which at certain dress rehearsals
I have), I should have to admit that an evening with Beatrice
Lillie is one of the most enchanting things that could ever
happen to anybody.
Quite for a reason, thank you for those kind words, Noëly,
and for all the others, too. Lovingly yours, Lille Bea-dle-dy.”
These extracts are taken from “Every Other Inch a Lady”
by Beatrice Lillie. Copyright Beatrice Lillie & James
Brough, 1972. First British edition 1973.
ISBN 0 491 00683 7
When I have fears, as Keats had fears,
Of the moment I’ll cease to be
I console myself with vanished years
Remember laughter, remembered tears,
And the peace of the changing sea.
When I feel sad, as Keats felt sad,
That my life is so nearly done
It gives me comfort to dwell upon
Remembered friends who are dead and gone
And the jokes we had and the fun.
How happy they are I cannot know
But happy am I who loved them so.
Noël Coward
Page 9
he archives of The Museum of Television & Radio
in New York City provide an absolute treasure
trove of appearances by Noël Coward. For several
years NCS members have enjoyed the chance to
Ken Starrett, Frank Basile and Ms. Celeste Holm
view these items in the Museum's library or at the exclusive
screenings for the Society in the Mark Goodson Theatre,
hosted by Ken Starrett. One of the items in the screening last
December was an hour-long program of Noël Coward chatting with David Frost. On May 3, 2007 another interview
S
NCS Vice President - MOIRA LISTER
at NALEDI THEATRE AWARDS
with David Frost was shown. The audience was highly entertained by Coward's banter with another guest on the show,
Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted
To Know About Sex . Members were next treated to a viewing of the wonderful 1972 documentary by Mr. Charles Castle, This Is Noël Coward. This was a chance to hear an
interview with Coward himself along with many of the celebrated people from his world such as, David Niven, Joan
Sutherland, Richard Burton and Dame Edith Evans. John
Gielgud narrated the film.
Among Society members and their guests in the audience,
Ken welcomed Mr. Geoffrey Johnson, agent and long-time
friend of Noël Coward, Mr. John Fricke, biographer and authority on Judy Garland, and new member Ms. Iva Withers,
who had been the standby for Tammy Grimes in both The
Unsinkable Molly Brown and High Spirits. A very special
guest who joined us on this evening was Broadway and film
star, Ms. Celeste Holm who just a few days before celebrated
an extraordinary occasion. Ken asked the audience to join
him in wishing Ms. Holm a very happy birthday - it was her
90th.
Once again, the screenings at The Museum of Television
& Radio gave members a chance to get to know each other
and see more of the life and works of The Master. NCS
member Richard Holbrook, librarian at the Museum, reports
that as of June 5, 2007 the Museum of Television & Radio
will become known as the Paley Center for Media. It is being
named for the founder of the national radio and television
network CBS and the founder of the Museum, Mr. William S.
Paley.
-
outh Africa's Premier Theatre Awards System - The
NALEDI Theatre Awards has been in existence for three
years and is firmly recognized as the Premier Awards
event on the South African Theatre Calendar. Its Mission
is to recognize and reward individuals, groups and companies within the Performing Arts in Gauteng, and thereby raise the
profile of Live Theatre and create awareness of the abundant talent
alive and well on South African stages.
The NALEDI THEATRE AWARDS covers all Main-Stream professional productions staged in Gauteng from the period 1 January –
31 December each year. In 2005 the judges evaluated over 80 productions in 25 categories. Moira Lister was awarded a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Moira was born in 1923 in South Africa where
her acting career began. There, in 1935, she appeared in Vintage
Wine with Sir Seymour Hicks who was so impressed by her that he
invited her to England to make a film with him. They arrived on the
day that Edward VII abdicated. The film was cancelled. She did,
however, appear, at the age of 14, in Post Road (1936) at London’s
Queen’s Theatre before returning to South Africa to continue her education.
In 1944, she sailed again to England to begin her film career and
was given roles in several productions. The following year, she was
invited to participate in the Stratford-on-Avon Shakespeare season,
playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Desdemona in Othello and Olivia
in Twelfth Night. She then toured Europe with the company playing
in Much Ado about Nothing and King Lear.
For the next 20 years, she was a successful and popular stage,
film and TV actress. She appeared in over 40 films including The
Page 8
by Ken Starrett
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
S
Garber and Ashmanskas Share Present Laughter
tage and screen actor Victor Garber heads the cast of the Huntington
Theatre Company’s staging of Noël Coward's Present Laughter,
which begins previews in Boston May 18. Current Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas is also featured in the company. Huntington artistic director Nicholas Martin (NCS member) directs the Coward
comedy that closes out the Massachusetts company's 25th anniversary season.
With an opening night slated for May 23, the limited engagement will play
through June 17.
Garber portrays the “self-absorbed aging matinee idol Garry Essendine
whose agents, managers, house staff, and paramours create a dysfunctional surrogate family,” according to show materials.
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me's Tony Award-nominated star Brooks
Ashmanskas appears as Roland Maule with Lisa Banes (Arcadia), Nancy Carroll (Huntington's The Rose Tattoo), Alice Duffy (Huntington's Les Liaisons
Dangereuses), Holley Fain (Frank's Home), Pamela Gray (Huntington's Butley), Sarah Hudnut (Huntington's The Cherry Orchard), James Joseph O'Neil
(Huntington's A Month in the Country), Richard Snee (Huntington's The Sister's Rosensweig) and Marc Vietor (Mr. Marmalade).
The design team includes Alexander Dodge (scenic), Mariann Verheyen
(costume), Rui Rita (lighting) and Drew Levy (sound).
Known for his television turns on Alias and Justice, Garber has played on
Broadway in Deathtrap, Sweeney Todd, Arcadia, Art, Noises Off, Damn Yankees, Little Me, You Never Can Tell, Lend Me A Tenor, Two Shakespearean Actors and Off-Broadway in Assassins, Love Letters, Wenceslas Square and
Ghosts. Other credits include the films Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle, Legally
Blonde and the TV versions of Annie and The Music Man. Garber was recently
seen in the City Center Encores! production of Follies, and his new series Eli
Stone was just picked up by ABC.
The Coward work replaced David Rabe's Streamers, which was rescheduled due to director Scott Ellis’ duties on the Broadway musical Curtains. The
Rabe drama will now land at the Huntington for a Nov 9 - Dec. 9 run as part of
the upcoming season.
Tickets to Present Laughter at the Huntington's B. U. Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave. in Boston, MA, are available by phone at (617) 266-0800 or online at
www.huntingtontheatre.org. Copyright © 2002 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
N
Dana Ivey - nominated for TONY
Moira Lister at the awards
Yellow Rolls Royce (1964) with Rex Harrison, and The
Double Man (1967) with Yul Brynner. In the West End,
she starred in many plays, including The Love of Four
Colonels, The Gazebo and Getting Married. She frequently appeared on TV and radio (including the first
series of Hancock’s Half Hour). She retired from the
stage in 1967 and, since then, has made appearances in
film and TV programmes and in her successful onewoman show. She starred with Coward in Blithe Spirit
and in the part of Joanna in Present Laughter.
CS member Dana Ivey has been
nominated for a TONY Award
in the category ‘Performance by
a Featured Actress in a Play’
The contenders are:
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Simon Gray's Butley is a dark comedy
about a literature professor whose world is
crumbling around him. Faced with surprising news from both his wife and his protégé, Butley (Nathan Lane) fights for his
life with his best weapon: his acid wit.
Butley debuted in London in 1971
under the direction of Harold Pinter, with
Alan Bates in the title role. Bates won a
Tony Award for reprising his performance on Broadway in 1972. He also
starred in Pinter's 1974 film adaptation. This production, starring Nathan Lane
(NCS member), directed by Nicholas Martin, originated at the Huntington Theatre in Boston in 2003.
by Ernio Hernandez
PHOTO: Aubrey Reuben
T
CHATTING WITH NOËL COWARD
Victor Garber and Brooks Ashmanskas
star in Present Laughter.
Coward facts
Amongst the documents that we have collected over the years is a catalogue of all
the archive material that was previously
held by the Coward Estate in 1997. No
bus timetable this! - but full of interesting
lists of what has been held and what has
never been found. For example. There is
no known original written or typescript
copy of the following Coward texts:
The Rat Trap; I’ll Leave It To You; The
Young Idea; Mild Oats; Point Valaine;
Ways and Means (Tonight at 8:30); This
Happy Breed and Peace In Our Time,
Unless of course you know different...!
There is also a handwritten text listed for
an unpublished play Nature’s Nobleman
c1918 a one-act play. There is also a listing of all of the contents of the famous
“Mum’s Suitcase” the treasure trove explored by most of his biographers - but
more of this anon...
Page 5
Noël Coward in Ten:
Ten Chimneys Presents Ten Views of the Master
Sir Noël, affectionately known as “The Master,” is considered the best all-rounder of the theatrical, literary, and musical worlds of the 20th
century. Ten dramatic panels that detail his iconic life and career are complemented by music, video clips, and a handful of delightful personal artifcats.
This exhibition is being created in collaboration with The Noël Coward Estate, The Noël Coward Foundation, The International Noël
Coward Society, and a number of Coward experts and enthusiasts. As always, exhibition admission is free. The exhibition will run from
May 1st, 2007 through November 10th. PHOTOS: Alan Brodie
Ten Chimneys President Sean Malone introduces Geoffrey Johnson
Sean Malone and Barry Day marking Barry’s birthday at the event!
Page 6
Ten Chimneys President Sean Malone and Geoffrey Johnson
Alan Brodie, Geoffrey Johnson and Barry Day
Some of the artefacts on display
Ken Starrett speaks at the opening of the exhibition
Barry Day among some of the exhibits
Page 7