August

September 2006
Star Quality
Present to 4 Sep 2006 Ian Dickens Productions 19 to 23
Sep - Buxton Opera House
BO:0845 127 2190.
Blithe Spirit
11 to 23 Sep - Ilkley Players, Wharfside Playhouse
Theatre, Ilkley, Yorkshire
19 to 23 Sep - Incisor Productions at the New Theatre
Royal Portsmouth, 023 9264 9000.
WHAT’S ON?
- for a full list see www.noëlcoward.net Items in red are professional companies
In the UK...
August 2006
Hay Fever - present to 5 Aug - Starring Judi Dench
Blithe Spirit
Present to 13 Aug - St Anns Well Gardens, Brighton
Private Lives
Present to 4 Nov - Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
Tonight At 8.30
Present to 2nd Sep - Chichester Festival Theatre
Part 1 The Astonished Heart (Family Album, Red
Peppers, The Astonished Heart)
Part 2 Shadow Play (Hands Across the Sea, Shadow
Play, Fumed Oak) BO:01243 781312 or www.cft.org.uk.
Coward in the 2lst Century: A pre-show talk by
playwright and Noel Coward Society member Marcy
Kahan. Her talk will examine how the Tonight at 8.30
plays form a fascinating compendium of Coward's life,
obsessions and philosophy.Chichester Festival Saturday, 12th August at 11 a.m. Minerva Theatre.
Carry On Coward
16 Aug (7.30 pm) - The Granary, Wells, Norfolk
18th (8.00 pm) & 19th ( 2.30 & 8.00 pm) Aug - The
Auden Theatre, Holt, Norfolk
www.rumpustheatrecompany.co.uk/
Fallen Angels
14 to 26 Aug - Theatre Royal, Windsor.
Star Quality
Present to 4 Sep 2006 Ian Dickens Prod. Ltd:
1 to 5 Aug - The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
Private Lives
Present to 4 Nov - Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
7 to 12 Aug - Dawlish Rep. Co., Shaftesbury Theatre
Dawlish, Devon
Blithe Spirit
8 to 12 Aug - Connaught Productions, Frinton Summer
Theatre
October 2006
Blithe Spirit
5 to 7 Oct & 10 to 14 Oct - Tabs Productions, Chatham
Theatre, Kent
17 to 21 Oct - Cotswold players, The Cotswold
Playhouse, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Private Lives
Present to 4 Nov - Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
Fallen Angels
1 Sep to 31 Dec - Bill Kenwright Ltd, UK Tour
Page 12
November and December 2006
Private Lives
Present to 4 Nov - Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
Blithe Spirit
16 to 25 Nov - Stonegate Amateur dranatic Society,
Village Hall, Stonegate, East Sussex
Fallen Angels
1 Sep to 31 Dec - Bill Kenwright Ltd, UK Tour
2007
The Vortex - Will Young - The Royal Exchange Theatre
from the 17th January to March 10th 2007. Tickets are
available on 0161 615 6815 or 0161 833 9833
Private Lives
19 to 27 Feb 2007 - The Bancroft Players, The Queen
Mother Theatre, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Blithe Spirit
25 to 28 Apr 2007 - Knutsford Little Theatre, Knutsford,
Cheshire
In North America...
July 2006
Design For Living
Jun 15 to Nov 18 - Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont. - The
Shaw Festival opens its 45th season.
Fallen Angels
July 21 and runs Fri/Sat until August 19 with a Sunday
Mat. on Aug.13 and a Thursday. show on Aug. 17.
Orinda Village Starlight Players in an outdoor
amphitheater in the small town of Orinda, California
August to December 2006
Present Laughter
16 Nov to 17 Dec – Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, Florida
Fumed Oak
Mon. Nov. 6 1.00 pm - Food For Thought at The
Players, located at 16 Gramercy Park South, which is on
East 20th Street between Park Avenue and Irving Place
directly across the street from historic Gramercy Park,
New York.
Blithe Spirit
22 Nov to 9 Dec - Belleville Theatre Guild, Pinnacle
Street, Bellville, Ontario
Hay Fever
3 Nov to 4 Dec - Center Stage, Baltimore College
19 to 28 Oct - Borelians Community theatre, Port Perry,
Ontario
Private Lives
Oct. 6-Nov. 30 - Wayne State University Theater, Detroit
Present Laughter
21 Sep to 7 Oct - Stage Centre Productions,
Scarborough, Ontario
2007
Private Lives
13 Jan to 2 Feb, 2007 - Bloor West Village Players,
Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Waiting In The Wings
28 Feb to 17 Mar, 2007 - Victoria Theatre Guild,
Langham Court Theatre, Victoria, BC
In the Rest of the World...
Australia
October and November
Private Lives
19 Oct 2006 - 14 Nov 2006 - Queensland Theatre Co &
State Theatre Co of South Australia, Brisbane
10 Nov 2006 - 2 Dec 2006 - Queensland Theatre Co &
State Theatre Co of South Australia, Adelaide
O
home CHAT
FREE TO
MEMBERS OF
THE SOCIETY
Price £3 ($5)
AUGUST 2006 - THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NOËL COWARD SOCIETY
n a balmy day in the church of St. Paul’s,
Covent Garden, on Friday 30th June 2006, a
congregation drawn from those who perform
and those who watch, and those who loved,
knew and admired Graham Payn gathered to celebrate
his life.
In a remembrance service that recalled both his
professional and personal life, tributes were paid to his
skill as a singer, actor, director and guardian of the Noël
Coward legacy - but it was his personal warmth,
modesty and honesty that was recalled with greatest
affection by those who spoke about him.
This edition of Home Chat joins in that celebration
with transcriptions of the tributes and contributions that
made up the service plus another from Italia Conti.
The music at the Memorial Service was played by
Mark Etherington and Michael Haslam. Michael gave a
piano recital of songs by Noël Coward and Graham
Payn before the service started.
...he was just about the best
friend I ever had in my life...
Graham Payn on Noël Coward
The Reverend Simon Grigg began by quoting:
This would seem to be the moment,
The hour, the place, the height,
The setting is romantic,
The atmosphere is right,
The breeze provides a tune for us,
So let’s make the most of our chances
And hold on tight.
private life and relationships too.
So many stars are shining
And let’s face it if you can’t talk about your boyfriends in this
We couldn’t ask more
church
then where can you (laughter) - just don’t tell the Church of
This seems to be the moment in time
England!
(laughter) There is also an element of love and
We waited for.
celebration
here but also a recognition of the sadness of the parting
The lyric from the song that you just heard, the only
of
death
as
well
as in Christian tradition, hope of resurrection. I
published song that Graham Payn ever wrote, and
invite
you,
in
your
tradition to pray - (after a pause):
indeed this does seem to be the moment.
Father
in
heaven
we thank you because you made us in your
For we have gathered here together to celebrate,
own
image
and
gave
us gifts in body, mind and spirit. We thank you
commemorate and give thanks for the life and career of
now
for
Graham
and
what he meant to each one gathered here. As
Graham Payn. So it is my pleasure to welcome you to St.
we
honour
his
memory
make us more aware that you are the one
Paul’s Church this morning for this memorial service.
from
whom
every
perfect
gift comes including the gift of eternal life
This famous church known throughout the world as the
through
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord. Amen.
actors’ church is the proper place to remember Graham
Dany
Dasto,
Graham’s
friend welcomed everyone:
who made a significant contribution to 20th century
I
am
Dany
Dasto,
Graham’s
friend and Graham and I would
theatre. Partly of course this was as an interpreter of
like
to
welcome
you
here
today.
He
told me this morning, ‘Dany
Noël Coward’s work and of course there is a plaque to
they will leave at the
don’t
be
too
long,
otherwise,
you
know,
Noël in this theatre - I mean this church (laughter) - well
interval’
(laughter).
We
are
here
to
celebrate
a long life and the joy
there are similarities! But the memorial service should
he
brought
to
anyone
who
knew
him.
Thank
you
for coming - I will
be balanced so we will be looking back at not only
be
short!
Graham’s professional life but also at his personal and
Coming in our next issue: ‘Private Lives in Public’ by Ken Starrett and a review of the UK Ian Dicken’s tour of Star Quality
A favourite hymn of Graham’s The Day
they were written. In later years, when Graham
Thou Gavest Lord Has Ended was sung by the
so happily found in Dany the kind of life
congregation.
companion he had been
Sheridan Morley’s
to Noël, we used to
tribute to Graham:
meet either at the Swiss
When Graham died a
chalet or here in
few months ago, the
London and compare
papers all noted not
notes on the people
surprisingly what a
we’d met and the plays
wonderful friend and
we’d seen. When Ruth
companion he had been to
(Leon) and I left our
Noël Coward, but I think it
first marriages and got
matters this morning to
together he was the
recall what a wonderful
first to make us
friend he was to all of us,
welcome, and when we
and, what a wonderful
bought our first house
man he was in his own
he gave her a desk and
right. He also of course
me a leather armchair,
had a long and varied
as if already knowing
career across forty years:
that she’d be there
he was a singer and
doing the work and I’d
dancer in The Lyric
be asleep in the corner.
Revue and The Globe
The Reverend Simon Grigg
(laughter) When I had
Revue and he appeared in
a stroke a year or so
countless Coward
ago he was the first on the phone asking me
productions, everything from Pacific 1860 to
how I was and more importantly how Ruth was
Waiting In The Wings very often in roles
bearing up, knowing as usual that I’d be a
especially written for him by Noël.
hopeless patient. I knew then that we could
Speaking for myself, I have so many
have asked him for anything, and although we
reasons to be grateful to him. We first met
didn’t, just knowing that
almost forty years ago,
he was on the end of a
when I was working on
Swiss phone was
the first Coward
immensely cheering.
biography, A Talent To
It’s perhaps ironic
Amuse, a book which
that the man Noël
could never have been
thought incapable of
written without him. We
hard work spent his last
later-worked together on
years working harder
two other books, Noël
than anyone for the
Coward and His Friends
Noël Coward
which we wrote with
Foundation, but I think
darling Cole Lesley based
above all else what I
on Noël’s own scrapbooks,
shall always recall
and then Graham and I
about Graham is that
co-edited Noël’s Diaries.
more than anyone I
Working on those, I
ever knew he
came across and of course
understood the art of
deleted a passage in
friendship, and that it’s
which Noël was (I
all about giving as well
thought) unusually and
Sheridan Morley
as receiving. Not
unfairly critical of
perhaps in the West End
Graham, describing him
sense, but in private life he was a great star.
as hopelessly lazy and maddeningly unwilling
Richard Briers then spoke:
to work at his career. The next time we met,
Annie and I first met Graham when he and
Graham asked me about the reasons for my red
I played in a revival of Present Laughter at the
pencil; well, I said cautiously, I thought that
Queen’s Theatre in 1965. It starred - a
perhaps as co-editor you wouldn’t fancy seeing
marvellous cast - Nigel Patrick as Garry
in print that kind of description of yourself.
Essendine, Phyllis Calvert, Maxine Audley and
“Nonsense” said Graham; “it’s what Noël
the marvellous Avice Landon and Sheila Keith
thought and believed and of course it must stay
as the Swedish cleaning lady. Graham played
in.” And so we left it in.
the rather thankless part of Garry’s agent and I
In that one moment I saw two things - his
was the mad playwright Roland Maule.
enchanting modesty, and his fiery
Graham was selfless, warm and very funny. He
determination always to keep Noël’s words as
always made us laugh at his story of his first
Page 2
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: johnknowles@noëlcoward.net
Tel: +44 (0)1603 486 188
Editor: John Knowles
Assisted by 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 and images
and decide on the
inclusion of items.
Details of items 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
contact:
Alan Brodie Representation
www.alanbrodie.com
For amateur productions
contact:
Samuel French Ltd.
www.samuelfrench.com or
www.samuelfrenchlondon.co.uk
For publishing rights for Noël
Coward contact:
Methuen
www.methuen.co.uk
For music rights contact:
Warner Chappell
www.warnerchappell.co.uk
Officers of the Society are:
Chairman: Barbara Longford
General Secretary:
Stephen Greenman
General Manager:
John Knowles
North American Director:
Ken Starrett
T
OBITUARIES
he obituaries for Julian Slade, who died in the London
this.’ I once asked him who the most important person in his
Clinic in the early hours of 17 June 2006, said all the
life had been. He replied ‘Dorothy Reynolds’ – with whom he
things that one would have expected, principally that
had written those early musicals. It had been she, after all,
who had been there throughout his own salad days, days for
he wrote nothing of real note beyond Salad Days. The
understanding of British
which he will be forever
musical theatre in its home
remembered.
country is limited, and
To date I have seen only
most of the writing
one obituary of Peter
lamentable. Slade was a
Greenwell, who died at his
much better writer than we
home in Spain on 4 June
have been told, and was
2006. That piece was
especially proud of his
misleading and inaccurate,
many Shakespeare songs, almost unknown
and missed the target by highlighting his career
to the British public. Slade always felt the
as a cabaret performer above his work as a
critics made out he was an unsophisticated
composer. Greenwell was a true musician in a
ninny. Nothing could have been further
way that Slade would never have claimed to
from the truth.
be. I first met him in the 1970s, when – a
He was a scholar, and a composer who
callow student – I wrote what was probably a
struck a chord with mid-1950s hopes that
pretty gushing fan letter, and he invited me to
his house. That meeting went so well that it
made Salad Days the extraordinary
experience it was. The deep melancholia
was over thirty years before I met him again,
that underpins his music has remained
but during that time I never lost my admiration
unappreciated, yet this show alone has three
for his work, not least his music for the 1959
darkly poignant songs ‘We said we
musical play The Crooked Mile.
wouldn’t look back’, ‘I sit in the sun’ and,
This had been a collaboration with Peter
one of the most exquisite he ever wrote,
Wildeblood, based on Wildeblood’s novel
Peter Greenwell
‘The time of my life’.
‘West End People’, and together they went on
I knew Slade well for thirty years, first
to write two more musicals, House of Cards
visiting him at his family’s home in Priory Walk, London, and
and The People’s Jack, after which Wildeblood said that he
later at Beaufort Street, both of which establishments he kept
simply couldn’t go on writing musicals because they took so
in a state of permanent disarray. Even when subsequent
long to work on and then only ran for a short time, and – hey!
success proved hard to come by, he never descended into
– he had to earn a living. So, the British critic and the British
bitterness, and always (how different from some other British
public between them had lost one of the most intelligent and
musical composers one could mention) took a real interest in
promising partnerships of the time: the Two Peters.
new work and young composers. Free as Air has always
The Crooked Mile will stand as a monument to both
seemed to me to be his best score, containing such gems as
Peters’ talent, for it is one of the bravest, most splendid,
‘Nothing but sea and sky’ and ‘Terhou’, but other neglected
inspiring scores one could hope for. Greenwell was delighted
scores (notably Wildest Dreams) await rediscovery.
when the original cast recording was brought back on CD. It
A couple of years ago I asked Slade to write a new work –
led to a renaissance of interest in the show, and in him: a fulla musical lasting about an hour that I could take into the
length programme on Radio 3 and glowing reviews of a show
recording studio, a ‘made-for-CD’ work. He was thrilled to be
that had been all but forgotten. In fact, one of the scores he
asked, and I waved various ideas at him. What about an
wrote for an earlier musical, The Three Caskets, seems to me
adaptation of ‘The Auction Sale’, an autumnal story of English
to be his real masterpiece, written for the Players Theatre
life by C H B Kitchin?; what about a musical of ‘All Night at
where for many years he was an outstanding musical director,
Mr Stanyhursts’, a mysteriously beautiful novella by Hugh
and for whom he wrote other such musicals as Antarctica and
Edwards?; what about, even, a sequel to Salad Days, catching
Twenty Minutes South. It has to be said that the management
up with Timothy and Jane after fifty years?
of the Players’ held faithful to his promise and his work, a
Alas, it eventually became clear that he simply didn’t have
support that had its finest moment in The Crooked Mile.
the will to write anything new. At the end of a life in which he
The sad fact is that for over forty years Greenwell, in a
had fought to establish and keep his reputation, one can
different world, might have produced more scores just as
understand his reluctance to make yet another stand. In 1954
distinctive and appealing as those he wrote in the 1950s.
Leonard Bernstein invited him to write the lyrics for a musical
Eventually Greenwell left England, delighting in writing
he was preparing for Broadway: the show was Candide. Slade
letters or making telephone calls in which he excitedly let you
explained that he couldn’t do it as he had a show in London
know what it was like to be sitting on a balcony staring at the
and couldn’t leave because he was playing the piano for it. It
sea. ‘You have made me feel young again,’ he wrote when I
turned out that Bernstein had thought Slade was a lyricist. He
reissued the original cast recording of Twenty Minutes South a
was, but Slade would have been too modest to describe
few months ago. Like Slade, he never lost his interest in the
himself so grandly. He relished the absurd. After a matinee of
arts, and was passionate about what he believed in, even
Salad Days at the Vaudeville, he was talking to Jack Getty, the
though as the years went by he (like Slade) had to cope with
owner of the theatre who said ‘You know, Julian, I think that
seeing the work of lesser writers find public favour. Both
opening song, ‘The things that are done by a don’, is a
Slade’s and Greenwell’s work cries out for re-evaluation if
masterpiece’. ‘Really Jack?’ ‘Yes, I think it’s a work of
there is to be any real understanding of twentieth century
genius.’ ‘Why?’ ‘It’s such a brilliant way to start a show.
British musical theatre.
Audiences hear it and think, Well it can only get better than
Adrian Wright (www.must-close-saturday-records.co.uk)
Julian Slade and
Peter Greenwell
Page 11
The Various Versions of ‘Uncle Harry’
I
n the June Home Chat, John Knowles told of the recent
acquisition by the Society of a rare, hitherto unreleased
recording of Coward singing ‘Uncle Harry’, and how we
were investigating whether it was lyrically unique. This was
not an easy knot to unravel. ‘Uncle Harry’ has been subject to
more change, not to mention incompleteness in the printed
versions available, than any other Coward song I know: the
combination of lyric and structural changes to the song over
an eleven-year performance period in themselves provide a
fascinating insight into a little-appreciated facet of musictheatre composition – that nothing is ever quite fixed in stone.
In the recorded legacy, this “new” recording was actually
the song’s fourth airing, and the third for Coward himself
(NCR): the first was made with Norman Hackforth’s piano
accompaniment in Calcutta in 1944 (in the form in which it
was then currently being performed, one assumes), the second
was the ‘Original Cast’ recording (OCR) with Mantovani’s
orchestra and Graham Payn as soloist (in the “show form”),
made in December 1946 in London. Coward then did his own
commercial release of the song for HMV a month later, again
with Mantovani’s orchestra, and the Harry Allan Towers NCR
recording came just five months later, and again used
Mantovani and his orchestra.
The song’s next airing was in the Café de Paris cabaret
performances of 1951-54, shortly before the fourth NCR
recording of the song was made, for Phillips Records, in
London in summer 1954, with Wally Stott’s orchestra and
Norman Hackforth again at the piano. Then followed the two
American NCR recordings, both with Peter Matz’s
accompaniments/arrangements, with the Carlton Hayes
Orchestra in Las Vegas and for the TV Spectacular with Mary
Martin, Together With Music, both during 1955. (Curiously
enough, after this there were no further really notable
recordings of the song until Peter Greenwell’s in 1995!)
Readers familiar with the song-form terms Verse and
Refrain can skip this paragraph. If you are not familiar: the
Refrain of a song is usually pretty obvious – it’s the “main”
bit and almost always quotes the title of the song, usually at
its start but often also at its close. Think of ‘Mrs
Worthington’ or ‘Mad Dogs’ for obvious examples. The
Verse section is the “other” section of music, which usually
(but not always) precedes or introduces the Refrain.
Sometimes, as in ‘Mrs Worthington’, a Verse section
(“Regarding yours, dear Mrs Worthington…”) is sandwiched
between Refrains. Verse sections, especially for some of the
waltz love-songs, can be quite complex and extended affairs.
An interesting discovery with ‘Uncle Harry’ is that in its
original form (as in the Calcutta NCR) it had no introductory
Verse section, but kicked straight off into the first Refrain
(“Poor Uncle Harry wanted to be a missionary…”) after a
four-bar intro. The introductory Verse section (“Our family
has traditions, we’ve heard them a thousand times…”) was
added for the show version, and remained lyrically stable
through the production, its OCR and the two subsequent
Mantovani Orchestra NCRs. At this stage, however, this
Verse section said that “our ancestors were unequivocally
right” and “though quite a lot were eaten up, a few of them
succeeded”.
You might think, then, that the OCR and both Mantovani
NCRs are more complete than the Calcutta NCR; but you
would be wrong, because this “omission” of the first Verse on
the Calcutta NCR is more than made up for by it having much
Page 10
by Dominic Vlasto
more than the show version in the Refrains. Basically, the
entire final musical section of both Refrains is repeated to
extra lyrics. In Calcutta, after the first “Uncle Harry’s not a
missionary now!”, to repeated music we get Uncle Harry
thinking that the time had come to make a row “after a chat”
with dear Aunt Mary, and then you get the bit about “they
didn’t brandish knives at him, they really were awfully
sweet”. All this happens before the middle Verse section
(“Now Uncle was just a seeker…”) which in turn is followed
by the second Refrain. Here, the Calcutta NCR preserves a
wartime lyric version in which “The older girls just tossed
their curls and gave the Nazi salute” before tearing their
Mother Hubbards off and winding them around their heads,
and the final section of Refrain is then repeated, where poor
dear Aunt Mary places a flower behind her ear, and, frankly,
exposes her …
Today it seems strange that this extended structure and
more dramatically-integrated lyric was not adopted for the
show and Mantovani recordings, as it makes a firm comeback
for the cabaret performances in 1951, the subsequent
Phillips/Wally Stott recording, and the American
performances, and is probably the version that everyone
knows today. Was it just that in 1946-47 it was still
considered reprehensible to talk about exposing one’s bust in
public (so to speak)? And if so, then were wartime audiences
two years earlier really so different? Perhaps the wartime, full
bust-exposing version was conceived with the knowledge that
the immediate intended audience would react best to a more
obvious, less subtle titillation.
Added to these basic structural differences are also some
other lyric variants: at the time of the cabaret performances
the first Verse section was rewritten (starting “We all of us
have relations, those crosses in life we bear, a gloomy group
of Uncles, cousins and aunts”) and the bit in the second
Refrain where boots and suits are burned and horrible smells
generated is much improved lyrically. You have only to hear
Coward himself delivering the line, “They also burned his
mackintosh, which made a dis-gusting smell” – a great
moment of comic timing – to recognise the improvement.
The main differences – the unique features – of the Harry
Allen Towers recording of June 1947 are mostly in details of
the orchestration: it has a shorter instrumental introduction
than the January version, introduces the “vamp” bars before
the first Verse, and often uses a softer, more delicate
orchestration, with flutes and woodwinds, for example,
playing passages originally scored for brasses. I find it
interesting that Coward clearly took enough of an interest in
how his own music was scored and structured that these
changes happened at all, but that does not identify on whose
initiative they were made.
A footnote: it was said that the Harry Allan Towers recordings
featured “one other female singer who has not as yet been
identified”. Yes, she has. She is Victoria Campbell. A full
(uncleaned) set of Coward’s, Graham Payn’s, Joyce Grenfell’s and
Victoria Campbell’s tracks, compiled onto CDs by Alan Farley, has
for some time been deposited with the main Coward archives.
Coward’s own tracks have been released on CD (but they didn’t have
the proper ‘Uncle Harry’ and re-used the January 1947 version for
that). Very little of the rest has ever been released. You can check the
details on the NCMI, in the Discography sections, where the tracks
are collectively known as ‘NCRP’ the Noël Coward Radio
Programmes.
And in the dark I lay
audition for
That suddenly piercing loneliness, like a knife,
Coward at the
Twisted my heart. for you were such a long long way
Adelphi Theatre for
away.
a part in one of
Noël’s revues in
This is to let you know
1932 when he was
That there are no English words
a very young
That ever could explain
would-be
How, quite without warning, lovingly you were here
performer,
Holding me close, smoothing away the idiotic pain.
fortunately he
wrote it down in
This is to let you know
his book My Life
That all that I feel for you
With Noël Coward.
Can never wholly go.
It is always worth
I love you and miss you, even two hours away,
reading again:
With all my heart.
‘In the front row of
This is to let you know.
the “audience”:
several apparently
There followed a tribute by Geoffrey Johnson who was
disinterested
Richard Briers
Noël Coward’s representative in the US.
theatrical
I am Geoffrey Johnson and I have come from New York
executives,
today to remember my good friend Graham Payn. I first met
including one
Graham in Philadelphia in 1961. I was working on Sail Away
elegantly poised man. (I remember thinking he was smoking
and Graham arrived at the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ midst
his cigarette in a funny way.) On our side of the “footlights”:
great, great try-out confusion. We were in the middle of getting
an upright piano with an elderly lady accompanist who'd seen
rid of one leading
it all before (more than once), and my
lady and blending
mother, aggressively swathed in her best
her role into another
and only fur. And me.
leading lady’s role. I
I was wearing the de rigeur costume
think it was a ‘first’
for any young aspiring male entertainer
in the history of
moving towards puberty: an immaculate
American musicals.
Eton suit and a parting in my hair that
Times were tense but
obeyed all the rules of geometry. The
Graham drove down
words my mother had dinned into me
from New York to
before we entered the theatre rang in my
Philadelphia in this
ears: “There’s not much scope for a boy
jazzy convertible. It
soprano in a show like that...so sing and
was red I think and
dance at the same time.” The moment
anybody who knew
the accompanist rattled the keys, I
Mr. Payn very well
launched into an all-out display of my
L to R: Dany Dasto, Barry Day and Robert Gardiner
knew how much he
singing and dancing prowess.
loved cars of all
Remembering to do both things more or
sorts. In addition to
less together kept me too busy to notice
Graham’s slight
the audience's absolutely stunned reaction. Undoubtedly these
obsession with
theatrical ladies and gentlemen had been exposed to more
cars his other offthan their fair share of child prodigies. But, clearly, never to
stage mania was
one singing “Nearer My God to Thee” while doing a tap
gardening, he was
dance.
Visibly moved, the elegant man got to his feet, turned to his very good at it, or
at least giving
colleagues and declared in clipped tones, “We have to have
Jean-René in
that kid in the show.”’ That was when Noël Coward made the
Switzerland orders
best casting decision of his life!
on what to plant
David Christopher Ragusa accompanied by organist Simon
or not plant or to
Gutteridge then sang Nearer My God To Thee.
un-plant. I only
Simon Callow then read This Is To Let You Know
remembered
recently that Jerry
This is to let you know
Hogan and I had
That there was no moon last night
given Graham a
And that the tide was high
purple lilac tree
And that on the broken horizon glimmered the lights of
for the Chalet
ships
garden. It was his
Twenty at least, like a sedate procession passing by.
Geoffrey Johnson
seventieth birthday
This is to let you know
he was overjoyed
That when I'd turned out the lamp
Page 3
and he sent us photographs - photographs from every angle
when our rights had finally expired. Someone pointed out that
and he assured us that the pictures he sent were a little too
we had achieved something of a record in terms of seed money
pale - not really very good - but he loved that bush. All I can
in trying to make a film that we never quite managed to make.
say is long may those alpine flowers bloom in Graham’s
But as my dear wife Pirjo wisely pointed out, “think of all the
memory.
fun you’ve had in trying to make the film and above all think
Graham always said, “I’ve
of the friendships that
never been much at writing
you’ve made.” Our one
letters” and he took a great
special friendship was of
deal of criticism from Noël and
course with Graham. It
then Coley, who was the great
was based on this that
letter writer of all time. But I’m
Graham asked me to
here to dispute that today. I am
become one of the trustees
a terrible keeper, I save
of his ‘Noël Coward
everything and after we lost
Foundation.’ And as you
Graham I found many of his
may know the Foundation
messages in my files. Most of
contributes funds to a
his messages are very brief,
range of theatres and to
things like: ‘Happy Birthday acting schools and now to
we’ve terrible cards in
the Noël Coward Theatre.
L to R: David Christopher Ragusa, Penelope Keith,
swinging Switzerland!’ or
So I hope you’ll agree with
Richard Briers, Ruth Leon and Sheridan Morley
‘Terribly sorry you’re having a
me that this foundation
boring operation but if you feel
must surely be Graham’s
any strange sensations just know it’s me thinking of you.’
greatest legacy in terms of keeping the flame alight in honour
And there are many more - but we’re in church today!
of his dear friend Noël.
(laughter). I think most of you know that Graham said at one
Finally just one very special occasion stays in my mind.
time that he would like his epitaph to be simply ‘Friend of
We joined Graham and Dany in Dany’s elegant home in
Noël Coward.’ May I add to that dear Graham the last line of
Cannes to celebrate Graham’s 85th birthday, only a couple of
a poem Coley once gave me, ‘Go bravely for where so much
years ago. Dany had very thoughtfully brought some records
greatness and gentleness have been already. You should be
from Les Avants of Graham singing over the years and
glad to follow.’ Farewell
Graham on his 85th
Graham and Noël and Coley.
birthday sitting at this
Thank you.
table of close friends very
The song Come The Wild
quietly and very movingly
Wild Weather was then sung by
began to sing the words
Simon Green.
‘Jean Louis Dominic
There followed a tribute by
Pierre Bouchon True to
Robert Gardiner a trustee of
the breed that bore him...’
The Noël Coward Foundation.
and to us this was our
First let me quote Graham
most treasured memory of
in his own words. ‘Once in
Graham.
Jamaica Noël, Coley and I
There followed a
were messing around the
musical interlude when
swimming pool at Firefly. I
the violinist Michael
was feeling very pleased with
Keelan played Graham’s
life so I performed an
favourite piece of
impromptu song and dance
classical music, Violin
The congregation at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
routine. This gave rise to some
Partita No. 3 in E major
crack from Noël about my
by JS Bach, BWV 1006:
singing so in mock indignation I drew myself up and blustered
Gavotte
I’ll have you know that people have paid good money to see
Penelope Keith then introduced Coward’s verse, When I
me sing and dance. Noël shot back ‘Yes but not very many and
Have Fears.
not for very long.’ (laughter)
Last night I was looking through the Noël Coward Diaries
‘Thoroughly pleased with himself he plunged into the pool
and I found amongst many others, three references to
and I wanted to say - ‘Well it was mostly your material’ Graham’s performances in Sigh No More by Sir Noël. On the
(laughter) but I didn’t. Noël had devised his exit line and I just
10th of July 1945 he wrote, ‘Graham is fine with style in
had to let him keep it.’ For me that’s pure Graham, generous
everything he does.’ And on the 14th November 1946.
totally unselfish in spirit. And yet for many of us here today
‘Graham, is really charming, easy and graceful and unselfthe real joy of knowing Graham was that just when we used to
conscious.’ And on the 23rd January 1947, ‘Graham did his
think this man is so warm and so thoughtful and altogether
speech at the end very charmingly.’ And so he was in life,
too sweet to be true Graham would come out with a wicked
stylish and full of that rare and now sadly diminishing quality
one-liner as ascerbic as any of Noël’s and one would think
‘charm.’ I am now going to read a poem by Sir Noël which he
this man is very, very human after all.
wrote when Graham was away on holiday, away from him and
I first met Graham just after several of us had bought the
it was only discovered after Sir Noël’s death:
rights to make a feature film of Hay Fever. Several years later
Page 4
A
Conversation piece...
a short ramble through the Editor’s activities
weekend to remember - undoubtedly - followed by a
week of activity as I entertained Ken Starrett in
Norfolk. On Thursday 29th June I went to London to
meet Ken and prepare for the Coward events during the next
day. Ken and I were guests of Barbara Longford and her
husband Patrick at their apartment in Kensington. As usual the
hospitality was excellent and suitably fortified we set off the
next morning - a happy trio - in an air-conditioned peoplecarrier to St. Paul’s Church. Such luxury - no struggling with
the heat-conditioned tube - and arriving outside the door ‘fresh
and aspiring’ rather than ‘stale and perspiring.’ My job for the
morning was to make a recording of events at the Memorial
Service for Graham Payn, the results of which can be seen in
this edition.
I set up an expensive stereo microphone (you can tell
expensive microphones because they have a sponge bit on the
end and look terribly professional). People arrived, famous
face after famous face. Testing the microphone and recording
allowed me to hone in on numerous conversations between
theatricals that I promise will never be revealed! Michael
Haslam struck up on the piano and the tunes that Graham
loved or sang held sway until the service began. It really was
a marvellous occasion, carefully crafted by those who love
and care for Graham and Noël and their work. Tributes and
performances intertwined to provide, as Simon Grigg said,
“snapshots” of Graham’s professional and private life - I was
so glad to be there - and to now have the luxury of hearing it
again in the quiet of the Society’s Norwich home.
The official opening of the Noël Coward Theatre seemed
the most natural of climaxes to the day and to all that Graham
had striven for since Noël’s passing. It was a real and warm
welcome from Cameron Mackintosh and his staff. The
hospitality was superb and the work done on the theatre had
truly created a West End home for Noël. The most natural of
games was of course ‘spot the celebrity’. I was delighted to
see Tony and Jen Walton who remembered us from the
Coward events at Christmas in New York and to see so many
who were or are in Coward productions. Pride of place must
go to Moira Lister, the only remaining member of that rare
club ‘Coward’s leading ladies’, who looked wonderful. Those
present included Cameron Mackintosh, Lord and Lady
Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench with Keith Baxter (who
auditioned for Orson Wells at this theatre when it was the New
Theatre and ended up playing Prince Hal in Chimes at
Midnight). Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan, Twiggy,
Nichole McAuliffe, Simon Callow, Donald and Marc Sinden,
Peter Bowles, Dan Stevens, Kim Medcalf, Belinda Lang, Ned
Sherrin, Patrica Hodge and June Whitfield.
At one point quite exhausted and on my fourth glass of
iced tea (they were brought with exceptional regularity by the
same young waiter) I sat with Stephen Marshall who knew
Noël Coward and knows more about him than most. We were
talking about our Coward collections (many will remember
from previous rambles that my wife is of course very
privileged to be living on a daily basis amongst my own
collection) and what we might do with them in preparation for
our eventual demise. The fall-back position is of course to say
well they must go to Birmingham but we collectors suffer
from the belief that what we have is special and needs to be
kept together and seen by everyone, everywhere. To prove a
point here are two of Stephen’s rather special items:
‘When I showed this disc to
Noël he asked:
“Where the .... did you get
this?”
Neither he nor Coley could
remember if it was in their
collection.
The only one in the World!
An album containing the six
12” Decca recordings of
Pacific 1860.
The, now a little battered,
cover is signed by both Noël
and Mary Martin.
THE FIRST
RESIDENTIAL CONFERENCE
OF
The Noël Coward Society
‘Future Definite – a Celebration of the work of Noël Coward’
St. Catherine’s College, Oxford
Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd September, 2006
Full details of the conference appeared in the June edition
of Home Chat and since that time, we are delighted to
announce two additional items. On Saturday night STEVE
ROSS will be entertaining us in a second set of cabaret,
following MICHAEL LAW AND SHERIDAN MORLEY.
Also, on Sunday morning BARRY DAY will present a feature
about Coward’s letters, with readings by professional actors
and musical accompaniment by STEVE ROSS.
Barbara Longford will be writing to everyone who has
already paid their 60% deposit for the conference, giving
additional information. On going to press, we have
approximately 60 delegates staying overnight in college and
an additional 20 delegates attending for just the Dinner and
Cabaret on the Saturday night.
The college have confirmed that they would be able to
release one or two more bedrooms for our use, so we are still
able to take a few additional bookings. If anyone else is
interested in attending, then could they please contact Barbara
Longford as soon as possible and she will send a booking
form. Barbara can be reached during the day on Tel: 020
7937 8692, or by e-mail to [email protected]
Postscript Sheridan Morley’s latest book on Noël Coward
is now available as part of a compact series entitled Life &
Times. Published by Haus Publishing and available at £10.
A Tribute to Sir Noël Coward - poems and readings from his
writings in the Paintings Gallery, Theatre Museum, Covent
Garden - with Elizabeth Sharland. A company of actors will
look at the life of Noel Coward, through readings and
performances. Special guests to be announced. Sunday 6 &
13 August, 15.00-16.00 Admission Free Bookings 020 7943
4750 E-mail [email protected] For further info:
www.theatremuseum.org/insidetheatreland or
www.sharland.com
Page 9
...continued from Page 6
Miss Conti reports on ‘Little Lad’
Which of course gave him plenty of scope. So he tried to sing
it several times and finally said, ‘You’re right - it isn’t strong
enough. I’ll write you another song.’ And I thought, ‘Oh yes,
I’ve heard that before.’
Anyway sure enough he phoned me up a couple of days
later and said you’d better come round and I’ll play you your
new song. Well he only had to play the first few bars and I
knew we had a hit on our hands...
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.
Jean Louis Dominic Pierre Bouchon,
True to the breed that bore him,
Answered the call
That held in thrall
His father's heart before him.
Jean Louis Dominic sailed away
Further than love could find him
Yet through the night
He heard a light
And gentle voice behind him say:
Matelot, Matelot,
Where you go
My thoughts go with you,
Matelot,Matelot,
When you go down to the sea.
As you gaze from afar
On the evening star
Wherever you may roam,
You will remember the light
Through the winter night
That guides you safely home.
Though you find
Womenkind
To be frail,
One love cannot fail, my son,
Till our days are done,
Matelot, Matelot,
Where you go
My thoughts go with you,
Matelot,Matelot,
When you go down to the sea.
Following applause everyone stood for the Blessing.
God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep make us perfect in
every good work to do his will
With the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit be amongst you and remain with you and
all whom you love and care for this day and always. Amen
Michael Haslam then brought the service to a close with a
selection of Coward songs starting with, Has Anyone Seen
Our Ship?
(Ed. Our thanks to all who contributed to this transcription
especially Simon Brocklehurst - the sound engineer who
provided the equipment and the expertise to allow us to make
a recording of the service).
Page 8
When I have fears, as Keats had fears,
Of the moment I’ll cease to be
I console myself with the vanished years
Remember laughter, remembered tears
And the peace of the changing sea.
How happy they are I cannot know
But happy am I who loved them so.
Barry Day then added his tribute:
‘But happy am I who loved them so.’
Noël’s devotion to Graham was total and lasted for nearly
30 years. Noël’s diaries and letters bear ample witness to that.
“I drove Graham to the airport. . . I hated him going, as I
always do . . . He arrived back safely, thank God. I am never
really relaxed when he is between the sea and sky. . . He is a
remarkable character and I love him dearly and forever.”
T
his annual report from the Italia Conti Stage School,
dated Summer Term 1938, and signed by the grand
dame herself has been provided by Barry Day who is
publishing his book, The Noël Coward Letters hopefully by
September this year. This report on Graham Payn was written
when he was in his 19th year and is clearly positive:
“Graham is no longer a student - but his work has broadened
out & become neat & decisive. He has much more colour in
his voice too - I have always believed in Graham - & predict
he will make a success in acting & films.” Italia Conti
The Italia Academy grew out of the first production of the
play Where the Rainbow Ends. Italia Conti, who was already
an established actress and had a reputation for her success in
working with young people, was asked to take over the job of
training the cast. The play was a triumph and the school was
born in basement studios in London’s Great Portland Street in
1911. It has grown into a vast affiliated structure of colleges
offering training in the theatre arts across the country.
The first run of Where The Rainbow Ends was of course
one of Noël’s earliest professional appearances under the
guiding hand of Charles Hawtrey. Stephen Cole says:
‘The fairy tale was so beloved that the public demanded it
be played almost every Christmas for the next 40 years.
During the run, which began on December 21, 1911, Hawtrey
encouraged the children in the show to stage special matinees
of their own device. And it was on February 12, 1912 that 12
year old Noël Coward directed 11 year old Dot Temple’s first
play. Noël, a natural leader, relished nothing more than
pushing people around and creating life on the stage and yet
another of his talents was revealed.’
27 years later Graham Payn received this report that was
written some 6 years after his first audition encounter with
Noël Coward.
But hearts weren't worn on sleeves. That wasn't their way.
Theirs was a loving, teasing relationship. For example, when
Noël was considering Jamaica as a possible haven, it was
Graham who actually found the place to plant the Coward
flag. . .
“Little Lad, with a persistence born of his crude tom-tom
upbringing, went beetling off on his own and found some
land.”
And once they were ensconced in Blue Harbour...
“Graham has become a gardening maniac - he pinches
cuttings right and left, shoves them into the ground, croons to
them and covers them and himself with manure. He is very
busy bashing about and planting things upside down.”
“The jokes we had and the fun.”
Wherever they were there was laughter. Never more so
than when they were painting
“Little Lad, as usual, is at work upon a large ruined
cathedral. he has such a penchant for hysterical Gothic.”
“Little Lad has done a sort of ‘Rose Red City’, which
looks a bit like Golders Green, The effect is dashing but the
architecture is a bit dodgy. I keep on doing lots of people
walking about and I'm sick of them.”
“Little Lad is painting a large picture of a Priest and an
Acolyte in acid moonlight. He suddenly changed the Priest
into a lady in a red dress, which is better really but perhaps
not better enough, She is very tall and the Acolyte is
crouching. It is all a great worry.”
“Little Lad has now done a cherub's head. It had too
bulging a forehead to start with and looked like it had a
gumboil but that, after bitter words, has been rectified.”
And so they really did live happily ever after. They were
true friends for 30 years. Few of us are so lucky. But luck
came to Graham twice. For the last 30 years of his life he had
the companionship of Dany Dasto here.
Dany now has two torches to carry. One for Graham and
one for Noël. It's a big job, Dany, and we are all here to help
you carry them. I think you know that.
It was hard not to love Graham. I knew him for about 25
years, I only wish it had been longer. He was a modest man, a
polite man, a gentleman. He would be embarrassed to think
he'd put us to all this trouble today. He’d be genuinely
surprised at the warmth of our affection. And pleased.
Quite early on I discovered he had the same birthday as
my late father,
“Well, then,” he said, “you'd better call me Dad.”
Being British I never did but it became sort of true. When I
heard that he'd left us, I remembered something from King
Lear and I looked up that passage at the end when Kent says:
“I have a journey, sir, shortly to go
My master calls me: I must not say no,
And Albany replies:
“The weight of this sad time we must obey
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.”
I then sat down and found myself writing a few words of
my own. I wish I'd said them to Graham but then, how often
do we really say what we deeply feel until it’s too late?
I'm sad I never got to say Goodbye
But then, I never really thought you’d go.
It's not that we talked often, you and I,
But then I'd think - “I’ll call and say Hello.”
My Dad and I were quite like that, you see,
“How’s things?” “We’re fine. And you?” “Well, keep in
touch.”
But still, it seemed enough - it was for me,
When friends are friends, the words don't matter much,
And that's just what we were until the end
And seems to me we were right from the start.
So - travel safely on your way, Old Friend,
You’ll always keep your place here in my heart.
Liz Robertson followed by singing If Love Were All
accompanied on the piano by Michael Haslam.
Life is very rough and tumble.
For a humble Diseuse,
One must betray one's troubles never,
Whatever occurs,
Night after night,
Have to look bright.
Whether you're well or ill
People must laugh their fill.
You mustn’t sleep
Till dawn comes creeping.
Though I never really grumble
Life’s a jumble indeed
And in my effort to succeed
Page 5
T
Davids
on
vidso
lan Da
A
:
O
T
PHO
n
here could have been no more fitting finale to a day of
celebration of Graham Payn and his work in maintaining
the memory of his friend Noël Coward than the
renaming of the Albery as the Noël Coward Theatre. Graham
with Dany Dasto and Alan Brodie have led the efforts of the
Coward Estate to establish this physical presence for the
Master in London’s West End. In a generous opening
celebration Cameron Mackintosh, Lord Attenborough and
Dame Judi Dench welcomed a host of directors, producers,
actors and theatre lovers to this newly furbished theatre
home for Noël. The sun shone as guests wandered through
the foyer past the bust of Noël by Clemence Dane
(Winifred Ashton) and the galleries of Coward portraits,
artifacts and photographs celebrating one of the most significant
contributions to theatrical life in the twentieth century. The
generosity of Dany Dasto, the Coward Estate and
Foundation and individual contributors, plus the work of
Cameron’s team of archivists led by Rosy Runciman have
brought together a unique collection of Coward images in his
new West End home. There are original portraits of Coward
that we have only previously been seen reproduced in books
including two of the most famous; one by Norfolk artist
Edward Seago and the other by Derek Hill.
In the coming years as theatre goers enjoy the shows that
pass across the stage here, they will gather a flavour of why
Coward is still such a significant figure in his chosen world.
Shown here are NCS members and theatre stars sharing
the joy of the occasion!
Who’s who?
Far left top: Tony Walton and Lindsay Duncan
Far left bottom: Lord Attenborough and Ken Starrett
Clockwise from bottom left: Dame Judi Dench by torchlight
held by Billy Differ
Barbara Longford and Michael Haslam lead the singing in the
theatre foyer
Jan Penn, Geoffrey Skinner and Stephen Greenman
Moira Lister and Terence Trimmer
Lord Attenborough and Cameron Mackintosh
Alan Brodie, Cameron Mackintosh, Lord Attenborough and
Dame Judi Dench
And Noël himself - the bust by Clemence Dane (Winifred
Ashton) in the theatre foyer.
For Alan Davidson photos see: www.alandavidson.net
Unless indicated otherwise all photos are by Ken Starrett and John Knowles
Graham then talked on record about Matelot:
The next time we would meet up was in his first post-war
revue Sigh No More which of course he also directed.
I had this number with the unfortunate title ‘It Couldn’t Matter
Less,’ and frankly it couldn’t. It wasn’t one of Noël’s by the
way. I just couldn’t do anything with it. So I said that to Noël
and he said ‘Nonsense, it’s a perfectly good number.’ So I said,
‘Alright then let’s see you do it.’ Well you’d think I’d just
sworn in church, everyone went quiet. But the great thing
about Noël was that he would never ask you to do something
Continued on Page 8...
he couldn’t do himself.
Page 6
Cameron Mackintosh opens final testament to the Master’s enduring value to the world of theatre entertainment
: Alan
The Reverend Simon Griggs: Follow that... thanks Liz.
Its snapshots isn’t it? So many different aspects of this
person that one may take away... tap dancing to ‘Nearer My
God To Thee’ is one that is very hard to erase from my
memory. Sir Noël wrote of course ‘...a talent to amuse...’ we
have just so beautifully heard but isn’t it also true that
Graham seemed to have a talent for friendship. What an
extraordinary thing. After the blessing there will be a retiring
collection in aid of The Actor’s Charitable Trust If you would
like to make a donation it is a very simple thing. You take out
your wallet, you take out your donation and you fold it up and
you put it in... (laughter)
...now we have to do the harder thing which is to commend
Graham to his heavenly father most merciful God. Let us
pray:
Father in heaven we give you thanks for your servant
Graham
We praise you as we recollect his life and cherish his
memory
We bless you that in bearing your image he has brought
light into our lives
For we have seen in his friendship, reflections of your
compassion
In his integrity, demonstrations of your goodness
In his fathfulness, glimpses of your eternal love
Grant to each of us, beloved and bereft, the grace to follow
his good example
So that we with him may come to an everlasting kingdom
Through Jesus Christ our Lord who died and rose again
and opened the gate of glory
To whom be praise for all eternity. Amen
Noël Coward Theatre Opens ...
PHOTO
I believe in doing what I can,
In crying when I must,
In laughing when I choose.
Heigho, if love were all
I should be lonely.
I believe the more you love a man.
The more you give your trust,
The more you're bound to lose.
Although when shadows fall
I think if only
Somebody splendid really needed me.
Someone affectionate and dear,
Cares would be ended if I knew that he
Wanted to have me near.
But I believe that since my life began
The most I've had is just
A talent to amuse.
Heigho.
If love were all
avidson
: Alan D
PHOTO
I’ve had to formulate a creed
Page 7