London Musicals - Over The Footlights

1974
29
OH, KAY! (1st Revival)
London run: Westminster Theatre, March 7th (228 Performances)
Music: George Gershwin
Lyrics: Ira Gershwin , P.G.Wodehouse, Howard Dietz
Book: P.G.Wodehouse & Guy Bolton
Director: William Chappel
Choreographer: Michele Hardy
Cast: Amanda Barrie (Kay Denham), Royce Mills (Jimmy Winter),
Jeremy Child (Earl of Blandings), Ann Hamilton (Constance)
Songs: Dear Little Girl, Maybe, Clap Yo’ Hands, Someone to Watch Over Me,
Heaven on Earth
Story: Kay Denham is the sister of a titled English bootlegger in Prohibition
era America. Her brother, the Duke, has stashed his illegal hooch in the cellars
of the Long Island beach-side mansion of playboy Jimmy Winter - but has a
Amanda Barrie
problem when Jimmy suddenly turns up. Kay manages to get a job as the maid
in Jimmy’s house so she can keep an eye on the cellar. Jimmy is about to get married for the second time, but
discovers he has fallen in love with his new “maid”. Though Kay and Jimmy make their feelings clear in the
duet “Maybe”, and Kay says how she needs someone to watch over her, the couple have to undergo a series of
problems, matrimonial, legal and farcical until they can settle down to the proper kind of happy ending
obligatory for musicals of this era.
Notes: The original London production at Her Majesty’s in 1927 starred Gertrude Lawrence in the same role
she had created the previous year on Broadway. It ran for 214 performances.
BORDELLO
London run: Queen’s Theatre, April 18th (41 Performances)
Music: Al Frisch
Book & Lyrics: Julian More & Bernard Spiro
Director: John Cox
Choreographer: Malcolm Goddard
Musical Director: Alexander Faris
Producer: Carl Denker & Anthony Chardet
Cast: Henry Woolf (Toulouse Lautrec), Stella Moray (Madame), Liz Whiting,
Lynda Bellingham, Judy Cannon, Norma Dunbar, Jacquie Toye
Songs: A Place Like This, Apache Dance, Business Tango, Simple Pleasures, Art
Should be Art, Madame Misia, The Girl in Cabin 54, Belly Dance
Story: Set in a brothel run by the Madame in 1899,
this was a series of more or less erotic sketches
telling the (somewhat fictionalised) life-story of
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The cast consisted of
nine women and one man, plus a young woman who
wanders in mistaking the place for an hotel. She is
then treated to a series of “Madame Blanches’s
Fantasy Theatre” sketches to inform her of the nature
of the bordello.
Notes: It lasted just 41 performances.
Henry Woolf as Toulouse Lautrec
1974
30
BILLY
London run: Drury Lane, May 1st (904 Performances)
Music: John Barry
Lyrics: Don Black
Book: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais
Director: Patrick Garland
Choreographer: Oona White
Musical Director: Alfred Ralston
Producer: H. M. Tennent Ltd
Cast: Michael Crawford (Billy), Avis Bunage (Alice Fisher),
Bryan Pringle (Geoffrey Fisher), Betty Turner (Grandma), Billy Boyle (Arthur),
Christopher Hancock (Mr Shadrack, Gay Soper (Barbara), Elaine Paige (Rita),
Diana Quick (Liz)
Songs: Ambrosia, Some of us Belong to the Stars, It Were All Green
Hills, Is This Where I Wake Up?, The Lady from L.A., I Missed the
Last Rainbow.
Photo by Zoe Dominic
Story: Based on the Keith Waterhouse novel and its subsequent play
version “Billy Liar” by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, this is the
saga of lying, day-dreaming Billy Fisher, an undertaker’s assistant,
who yearns to break away from his drab, middle-class Yorkshire
family and become a successful celebrity. In Billy’s dreams he is
wafted to the land of Ambrosia where he becomes President,
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Captain of the Ambrosian
World Cup football team. His other fantasies see him become both
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in a great Hollywood film, and a rock-nroll singing idol.
Notes: The show was a success because of the highly popular
performance of Michael Crawford in the title role.
Elaine Paige, Michael Crawford, Gay Soper
HAIR (1st Revival)
Credit Unknown
London run: Queen’s Theatre, June 25th (Fixed season to September 28th—111 Performances)
Music: Galt MacDermot
Lyrics & Book: Gerome Ragni and James Rado
Director: Tom O’Horgan
Cast: Demetrius Christopholus (Claude), Gary Hamilton (Berger), Derek James (Woof), Gary Afalo (Hud),
Miquel Brown (Sheila), Patricia Hodge (Jeannie)
Notes: This revival was mounted to
celebrate the 2,000th performance which
had been cancelled at the last moment
when the original hugely successful run
at the Shaftesbury Theatre came to a
sudden end when the theatre roof fell in.
It was a fixed 3½ month run at the
Queens with a hope for an eventual
transfer. However, it seemed its day had
past, and no transfer followed. Gary
Hamilton in the role of Berger was the
only member of the cast from the
original production.
The Revival Hair Cast
1974
31
COLE
London run: Mermaid, July 2nd
Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter
Book: Benny Green & Alan Strachan
Director: Alan Strachan & David Toguri
Musical Director: John Burrows
Cast: Ray Cornell, Lucy Fenwick, Peter Gale, Bill Kerr, Julia McKenzie,
Ron McLennan, Kenneth Nelson, Elizabeth Power, Angela Richards, Una Stubbs
Notes: This was an attempt to cash in on the success of “Cowardly Custard”, with
a series of Cole Porter songs and sketches giving an outline of his life-story. It ran
for a season at the Mermaid.
THE GOOD COMPANIONS
London run: Her Majesty’s. July 11th (252 Performances)
Music: André Previn
Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
Book: Ronald Harwood
Director: Braham Murray
Choreographer: Jonathan Taylor
Musical Director: Marcus Dods
Producer: Bernard Delfont, Richard Mills & Richard Pilbrow
Cast: John Mills (Jess Oakroyd), Judi Dench (Miss Trant),
Christopher Gable (Inigo Jollifant), Marti Webb (Susie Dean),
Malcolm Rennie (Morton Mitchum), Hope Jackman (Mrs Joe Brundit), Ray C. Davis.
Songs: Cameraderie, All Mucked Up, Stage Struck, A Little Travelling Music,
Slippin’ Round the Corner, Darkest Before the Dawn, Stage Door John
Notes: Based on the novel by
J. B. Priestley. During the preLondon tour Celia Bannerman
as Susie was replaced by Marti
Webb, and a lot of re-writing,
re-shaping and cutting took
place. However, it did not
really work. Partially the plot
wandered all over the place and
had no sharp focus; none of
the principals, except Marti
Webb, were known for their
singing ability, and the songs
were pleasant enough but
slowed down the dramatic
pace. Some of the critics found
it “nostalgic and charming”,
others found it laboured and
out of date. It managed a run
of seven months.
Photo by Zoe Dominic
Story: The story is told in a flashback when Morton Mitchum, a newcomer to the song and dance company
learns the background of his fellow performers: Jess Oakroyd, Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant tell their
individual stories of what caused them to leave their original homes or jobs and end up in the Dinky Doos
Concert Party. They rename their company the Good Companions, and the second act tells the story of their
touring life - their success at the seaside, Inigo’s success with his songwriting and his love for the soubrette,
Susie, and the final break-up of the company as they decide to go their separate ways.
1974
32
JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE,
RINGO. . . AND BERT
Producer: Robert Stigwood & Michael Codron
Cast: George Costigan (Bert McGhee),
Bernard Hill (John Lennon),
Trevor Eve (Paul McCartney),
Phillip Joseph (George Harrison),
Anthony Sher (Ringo Starr),
Robin Hooper (Brian Epstein), Barbara Dickson.
Story: The show opens with Bert McGhee, the ever-faithful Beatles fan, coming to watch the Great Reunion –
the Beatles are getting together for a last concert. Bert begins a nostalgic review of their story – a powerful
statement of innocence and corruption as the four most loved, courted, wealthy people in the world stumble
towards their downfall. From Penny Lane to a world where they cannot walk out of doors without bodyguards –
this is a funny and sad story of personal and artistic relationships and the vulture-like hangers-on and moneygrabbers.
Notes: The show contained some original pastiche songs by Willy Russell interspersed
with many of the Beatles own songs – all sung by just one girl’s voice with discreet
backing. The Beatles songs are often used against themselves. “With a Little Help From
My Friends” is not the jolly all-together-now song from Ringo, it’s a slowed down,
despairingly sad accompaniment as Pete Best, the just-sacked Beatles drummer packs up
to leave. Originally produced at the Liverpool Everyman on May 15th with a partially
different cast, this was a surprisingly good piece of theatre. It won the Evening Standard
and London Critics’ Best Musical of the Year Award, but George Harrison greatly
disliked it and walked out on opening night. He withdrew his permission to use his song
“Here Comes the Sun” and it was replaced with “Good Day Sunshine”. The
impersonations of the Fab Four were much praised as was Barbara Dickson’s singing. It
had a brief run in America in 1985, but the sale of the Beatles song catalogue to Michael
Jackson created great copyright problems, and the show has not been revived.
LET MY PEOPLE COME
London run: Regent Theatre, August 19th (c.880 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Earl Wilson Jr.
Director: Phil Oesterman
Choreographer: Ian Naylor
Musical Director: Roger Ward
Producer: Larry Parnes
Cast: Gill Beresford, Helen Chappell, Christine Ellerbeck, Susanna Hunt, Janet Shaw,
Tommie Thompson, Michael Blaise, Michael Cowie, Bill van Dijk, David Mellor,
Miguel Oliver, Johnny Worthy, Adam Russell-Owen
Songs: Whatever Turns You On, Give it to Me, First Year Fellatio, I’m Gay, Linda
Georgina Marilyn and Me, Dirty Words, Come in My Mouth, The Cunnilingus
Champion of Company C.
Notes: First performed off-Broadway in January 1974, this show went on to several world-wide productions and
ran several years in London. Its sexual frankness shocked some, but it was described as a “rollicking and joyous
musical revue which uses the body, often nude, as an affirmative statement on life”. Its score was praised and it
was said to be flashy, fleshy, poignant, and most importantly, entertaining. The song “Cunnilingus Champion of
Company C” was subject to a court case and had to be taken out of the show following a copyright claim by the
writers of the Andrew Sisters wartime hit “The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”. It ran until June 1977
Photo by John Haynes
London run: Lyric Theatre, August 15th
(418 Performances)
Music, Book & Lyrics: Willy Russell
Director: Alan Dosser
1974
33
JACK THE RIPPER
London run: Ambassadors Theatre, September 17th (228 Performances)
Transferred to the Cambridge Theatre
Music: Ron Pember
Lyrics & Book: Ron Pember & Denis Demarne
Director: Reginald Wooley
Choreographer: Doreen Hermitage
Musical Director: Tim Higgs
Producer: Larry Parnes
Cast: Peter Spraggon (Chairman), Terese Stevens (Marie Kelly),
Howard Southern (Montague Druitt), Charles West (Sergeant Coles)
Eleanor McCready (Lizzie Stride), Roy Sone (Daniel Mendoza)
Songs: I’m the Girl You All Know, Ripper’s Gonna Get You, Charlie and Queenie, Half a Dozen Pints, There
Ain’t Any Work Today, Goodbye Day, Step Across the River
Story: Members of a music hall company tell the story of Jack the Ripper in a series of songs and dances and by
each playing several parts. Their premise is that the Ripper is none other than the respectable Montague Druitt
(which was a popular theory at that time.) The music-hall format and scenes where the police officers disguise
themselves as women in order to lure the Ripper helped take away any sense of poor taste, but the skill in the
presentation also created some chilling moments.
Notes: Originally produced at the Players Theatre June 25th with a partially different cast, this was a successful
show. It lost a little of its impact by moving out of the Players Theatre into the Ambassadors, and lost even more
when it transferred to the larger Cambridge Theatre. It did have some future success when it was frequently
performed by amateur companies.
HANS ANDERSEN
Cast: Tommy Steele (Hans), Colette Gleeson (Jenny Lind),
Milo O'Shea (Otto), Bob Todd (Meisling),
Lila Kaye (Madame Meisling), Geoffrey Toone (Max Klaus),
Peter Hall/Christopher Morris (Jonas)
Songs: Thumbelina, Inchworm, Anywhere I Wander,
Wonderful Copenhagen, The Ugly Duckling, No Two People,
The King’s New Clothes
Story: Would-be playwright Hans Christian Andersen is a young shoemaker whose dreams
are scorned by the local schoolmaster, Rector Meisling, and his wife, Louise. But Hans is
encouraged by Otto, an itinerant musician, working as rehearsal pianist for the famous
soprano Jenny Lind. Jenny reads Hans’s play, and despite the mockery of her manager,
Max Klaus, she gently advises him to go back to school to improve his writing skills. After
school he meets Jonas, a young sailor making his way in the world, and together with Otto
they set out for wonderful Copenhagen.
After many adventures, including being thrown into jail, he attends a party in honour of
Jenny Lind, but feels so out of place in this grand company that he relates a story from his
childhood – the story of the Ugly Duckling. Jenny overhears and is enthralled – she tells
him he must write children’s stories and forget the plays
Hans pours out his feeling for her, but Jenny is in love with someone else. Otto appears and
convinces Hans to move on. He does so, and receives fame and fortune, but it is the locket
that Jenny gives him that Hans will cherish for ever.
Credit Unknown
London run: Palladium, December 17th (383 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Frank Loesser
Book: Beverley Cross
Director: Freddie Carpenter
Choreographer: Gillian Lynne
Musical Director: Alyn Ainsworth
Producer: Harold Fielding
1974
34
WEST SIDE STORY (2nd Revival)
London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, December 19th (7 months)
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Arthur Laurents
Director: Bill Kenwright
Choreographer: Roger Finch
Producer: Bill Kenwright (David Gordon Productions)
Cast: Lionel Morton (Tony), Christiana Matthews (Maria), Roger Finch (Riff),
John Alisdair (Diesel), Paul Hart (Bernardo), Petra Siniawski (Anita)
This was the same production which had played the Collegiate Theatre in the summer
of 1973 as part of its ongoing tour. There had been plans to move it to Her Majesty’s,
in the autumn of 1973 but these fell through. Finally the production made it to the heart of the West End ,
being chosen as the show to re-open the Shaftesbury Theatre (closed since the ceiling collapsed after a
performance of “Hair” on July 20th 1973.) “West Side Story” ran until the summer of 1975.
Notes: See original London production, Her Majesty’s, December 1958
First revival: Collegiate Theatre, July 1973