15

UNDERNEATH THE ARCHES London run: Prince of Wales, March 4th (15 months)

Music & Lyrics: Various

Book: Patrick Garland & Brian Glanville with Roy Hudd & Chesney Allen

Director: Roger Redfarn

Choreographer: Tudor Davies

Musical Director: Clive Chaplin Producer: Bernard Delfont & Richard M. Mills

Cast: Roy Hudd (Bud Flanagan), Christopher Timothy (Chesney Allen),

Julia Sutton (Florrie Forde), Joe Black, Peter Glaze, Tommy Godfrey, Billy Gray,

Don Smoothey (The Crazy Gang)

Songs: Just For

Laughs, Umbrella

Man, Flanagan. The Old Bull and Bush, Hey

Neighbour, Hometown, Siegfried Line, Maybe

it’s Because I’m a Londoner, Strolling

Story: The story of the lives and career of

Flanagan and Allen and their long association

with the Crazy Gang, this was an opportunity

to re-create some of their more famous

sketches – “Well Done Gordon”, “Broken

Blossoms” etc – and to re-introduce most of

the songs associated with the Flanagan and

Allen double act. At some performances the

elderly and somewhat frail Chesney Allen

would make an appearance and join in the

singing.

Notes: The production originated at the

Chichester Festival Theatre.

GUYS AND DOLLS (1st Revival) London run: Olivier Theatre, March 9th

(Repertoire)

Music and lyrics: Frank Loesser

Book: Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows

Director: Richard Eyre

Choreographer: David Toguri

Musical Director: Tony Britten

Cast: Ian Charleson (Sky Masterton),

Julia McKenzie (Miss Adelaide),

Bob Hoskins (Nathan Detroit),

Julie Covington (Sarah Browne),

David Healy (Nicely-Nicely)

This was a National Theatre Production. It received rave notices, and has

become one of the legendary successes of the 1980s. It was scheduled for

a limited number of performances, and was later brought back into the

repertoire, followed by a tour. It then was re-created for the West End in

1985.

Notes: See original London run: Coliseum, May 1953

1982

Joe Black, Tommy Godfrey, Christopher Timothy, Billy Gray, Roy Hudd, Don Smoothey & Peter Glaze

Photo

by

Reg

Wil

son

Julia McKenzie as Miss Adelaide

Photo

by

Cath

erin

e A

shm

ore

16

BOOGIE WOOGIE BUBBLE ‘N’ SQUEAK London run: Mayfair Theatre, March 25th (Very short run)

Music & Lyrics: Various

Director: Stuart Hopps

Cast: Leonie Hofmeyer, Sarah McNair, Michele Maxwell

Notes: Three singers, collectively presenting themselves as the Skirted Issue, sing the past and present

repertoire of a number of girl trios, including The Sisters Andrews, McGuires, Beverleys, Supremes, Pointer,

and the Three Degrees and the Shangri-Las. The show makes satirical fun of the styles and songs, the illusion

of real-life harmony among the girls, the fraudulence of stage allure – and in some unspecified way which

doesn’t quite come off – makes a statement connected with Feminism. It did not receive good notices and was

quickly withdrawn.

BEAUTIFUL DREAMER London run: Greenwich Theatre, April 22nd (Season)

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Foster

Book: Roy Hudd

Director: Roger Haines

Choreographer: Kenn Oldfield

Cast: Simon Green (Stephen Foster), Christina Matthews, Dorothy Vernon,

Ian Burford, Paul Bentley, Harry Dickman

Story: The life-story of Stephen Foster, incorporating much of his musical output.

Notes: This originated at the Haymarket, Leicester.

SONG AND DANCE London run: Palace Theatre, April 8th (781 performances)

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics: Don Black

Director: John Caird

Choreographer: Anthony Van Laast

Musical Director: Kenny Clayton Producer: Cameron Mackintosh

Cast: Marti Webb & Wayne Sleep

with Linda-Mae Brewer, Jane

Darling, Andrea Durant, Linda

Gibbs, Claude-Paul Henry, Andy

Norman, Sandy Strallen, Paul

Tomkinson

Songs: Tell Me on a Sunday, Take That Look Off Your

Face, Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad, Come Back with the

Same Look in Your Eyes

Notes: This was a show in two parts. The “song” half was a

song-cycle called “Tell Me on a Sunday” – a simple tale of a

young English woman in New York and the trials and

tribulations she experiences through a series of unhappy love

affairs. This was performed by Marti Webb. The second half

was called “Variations”, a suite of variations on a theme by

Paganini, and was interpreted in dance by Wayne Sleep and a

team of eight dancers. (During the long run the Marti Webb

role was taken over by Gemma Craven, Lulu and Liz

Robertson. Wayne Sleep’s role was later danced by Stephen

Jeffries, Graham Fletcher, John Meehan and Paul Tomkinson)

1982

Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

17

PIRATES OF PENZANCE ( London run: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane May 26th (17 months)

Music: Arthur Sullivan

Lyrics: W.S.Gilbert

Director: Wilford Leach

Choreographer: Graciela Daniele Producer: Michael White

Cast: Tim Curry (Pirate King),

Pamela Stephenson (Mabel),

George Cole (Major General),

Michael Praed (Frederic),

Annie Ross (Ruth), Bonnie Langford, Louise Gold

Notes: This was based on Joseph

Papp’s New York Shakespeare

Festival Production. It was a

completely “new” look at the show

– a kind of Broadway version of

G&S – and received excellent

notices for its exuberance and sheer

fun (without straying too far from

the original!)

It ran for 17 months, finishing on

October 29th, 1983

BEGGAR’S OPERA (3rd Revival) London run: Cottesloe Theatre, July 1st

Music arranged by Dominic Muldowney

Director: Richard Eyre

Choreographer: David Toguri Producer: A National Theatre Production

Cast: Harry Towb (Peachum),

June Watson (Mrs Peachum),

Belinda Sinclair (Polly Peachum),

Paul Jones (Macheath),

Fiona Hendley (Jenny Diver),

Imelda Staunton (Lucy Lockitt),

David Ryall (Lockitt)

This revival was set in a Victorian Workhouse and was well received

by the critics. It was always planned for a limited run.

Notes: See Aldwych Theatre, July 16th, 1963

First revival: Apollo, September 12th 1968

Second revival: Lyric Hammersmith, August 1980

1982 P

hoto

by

Zoe

Dom

inic

Paul Jones as Macheath Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

Tim Curry

18

WINDY CITY London run: Victoria Palace, July 20th

(250 Performances)

Music: Tony Macaulay

Book & Lyrics: Dick Vosburgh

Director: Peter Wood

Musical Director: Anthony Bowles Producer: Louis Benjamin & Toby Rowlands

Cast: Dennis Waterman (Hildy Johnson),

Anton Rodgers (Walter Burns),

Diane Langton (Mollie Malloy),

Amanda Redman (Esther Stone),

Robert Longden (Earl Williams) ,

Victor Spinetti, Shaun Curry, David Sinclair

Songs: Hey Hallelujah, Wait Till I Get You On Your Own, Waltz for Mollie, Long Night Again Tonight, No

one Walks Out on Me, Perfect Casting, Bensinger’s Poem, Water Under the Bridge

Story: Hildy Johnson, a crime reporter for 15 years, is saying goodbye to his fellow

workers – he is getting married to Esther Stone and moving to New York. They pay

scant attention, eagerly awaiting the hanging of Earl Williams, the “Bolshevick” (an

event which will help re-elect the unscrupulous Mayor.) News breaks: Williams has

escaped! Everyone rushes off, leaving Hildy alone, then, to his surprise, Williams

climbs in through a window. Hildy hides the escapee in a roll-top desk, postpones his

wedding, and calls Mr Burns, his editor – this could be the scoop of a lifetime. What

follows is a comedy of the misogyny of the newspaper world, problems with Mollie

Malloy (the tart with a heart), the corruption of the mayoral office, and the

ruthlessness of newspaper editors.

Notes: Based on the play “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN London run: Donmar Warehouse, September 30th (40 Performances)

Music: Harold Rome

Book: Leonard Gershe

Director: Robert Walker

Choreographer: Stuart Hobbs

Cast: Alfred Molina (Destry), Jill Gascoigne (Frenchy), Nicola Blackman (Clara), Julian Littman

Songs: Ballad of the Gun, I Know Your Kind, Anyone Would Love You, Once Knew a Fella,

That Ring on the Finger

Story: Set in the brawling frontier town of

Bottleneck in the 1890s, with a violence hating

sheriff, Thomas Jefferson Destry, and a tough-

cookie saloon entertainer, Frenchy, this is a

story of the good guys versus the bad guys.

With scenes in the Last Chance Saloon and the

Paradise Alley bordello run by Rose Lovejoy,

this is billed as a “whoopin’, shootin’, hollerin’

“ show

Notes Based on the story by Max Brand, this

began life as a Hollywood film (in fact filmed

three times) most notably with Marlene

Dietrich as Frenchy.

1982

Dennis Waterman & Amanda Redman

Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

Jill Gascoigne & Alfred Molina

Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

19

WILD WILD WOMEN London run: Astoria Theatre, June 15th

(29 Performances)

Music: Nola York

Book & Lyrics: Michael Richmond

Director: Michael Richmond

Choreographer: Marcia King

Musical Director: Stuart Pedlar Producer: Ray Cooney & Laurie Marsh

Cast: James Lister (Clanton),

Marc Urquhart (McLaird),

Marcia King (Sister Priscilla),

Lesley Joseph (Madame Lola),

Steve Devereaux (Bill Tibbs),

Susanna Felowes (Alice Tibbs),

Gordon Reid (Judge West),

Clive Carter

Story: The McLairds and the Clantons have been tearing the Wild West town of Aggroville apart for many

years in a long-lasting feud. But they are forced to re-think when a nun arrives in town, swinging a guitar and

rosary with equal enthusiasm. She persuades the womenfolk to withhold their “marital favours” until all guns

are firmly back in their holsters. This creates a golden business opportunity for Madam Lola and the “soiled

doves” of The Red Candle Saloon. Mixed in with this Lysistrata tale is a Romeo and Juliet tale adding to what

was billed as a “rollickin', whisky swillin', gun-totin', thigh-slapper of a musical”.

Notes: Originally performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, this began as a piece written for students

at Mountview Theatre School. This production at the Astoria was an attempt at creating the American style

“dinner theatre” - where stalls seats were removed and replaced with tables and chairs, and a meal was served

prior to the start of the show.

THE MIKADO (Revival) London run: Cambridge Theatre, September 28th.(4 months)

Music: Arthur Sullivan

Lyrics: W.S.Gilbert

Director: Chris Hayes

Choreographer: Michele Hardy

Musical Director: Ed Coleman Producer: Bill Kenwright & Paul Gregg.

Cast: Murray Melvin (Ko-Ko), Nicholas Smith (Mikado),

Gary Lyons (Nanki Poo), John Hewer (Pooh-Bah),

Stella Goodier (Yum Yum), Eileen Gourlay (Katisha)

Notes: This was a Theatre Royal Plymouth Production.

1982

Eileen Gourlay as Katisha Photo

by

Sve

n A

rnst

ein

Nola York outside the Astoria Theatre

20

ANDY CAPP London run: Aldwych Theatre, September 29th

(99 Performances)

Music: Alan Price

Lyrics: Alan Price & Trevor Peacock

Director: Braham Murray

Choreographer: Sue Lefton

Musical Director: Michael Dixon

Producer: Ray Cooney

Cast: Tom Courtenay (Andy Capp),

Val McLane (Florence Capp),

John Bardon (Chalkie)

Story: A musical story of Andy Capp,

portraying the spongeing, boozing pigeon-

fancier who hasn’t worked for 32 years, and

surrounding him with a group of cronies –

hard-drinking, tart-chasing, sports-mad

husbands avoiding or trying to outsmart their

hen-pecking, hard-working, huge-busted, clannish wives. At the end his long-suffering wife, Flo, actually

walks out on Andy, leaving him to puzzle over the mystery of how toast gets itself cooked in the morning.

Notes: Based on the Reg Smythe cartoon characters as featured in the “Daily Mirror”, the show had a gritty

reality which didn’t sit too comfortably with its musical format, and an underlying bleakness with its portrait of

poverty, unemployment, disillusion, and an irreconcilability between the male and female points of view. For

most of the critics the verdict was - it didn’t work. However, “Plays and Players” gave it their Best New

Musical of the Year Award!

POPPY London run: Barbican, September 25th (in Repertoire – fixed season)

Music: Monty Norman

Book & Lyrics: Peter Nicholls

Director: Terry Hands

Choreographer: David Toguri

Cast: Roger Allam (Lin Tse-Tsi), Jane Carr (Queen Victoria), Tony Church (Tao-Kuan),

Stephen Moore (Jack Idle), Julia Hills (Sally Forth), Geoffrey Hutchings (Lady Dodo),

Bernard Lloyd (Obadiah Upward), Michael Gyngell, Susan Jane Tanner, David Whitaker,

Christopher Hurst, Andrew Thomas-James

Story: This was an indictment of the Opium Wars and the Britain’s treatment of the Chinese during the reign

of Queen Victoria, and described the rape and pillage done by British forces in Peking. However, it was all

told in the style of a

British pantomime: a

principal boy played

by a girl, the Dame

played by a man, a

pantomime horse, and

a song-sheet.

Notes: A revised and

re-written version

opened at the Adelphi

in November 1983.

1982

Tom Courtenay & Val McLane

Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

Julia Hills,

Geraldine Garner, &

Geoffrey Hutchings

Photo

by

Donald

Cooper

21

Kenny Andrews & Paul McGann

MATA HARI London run: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith (Studio), October 19th

(Limited season)

Music & Lyrics: Chris Smith & Les Chappell

Book: Lene Lovich & Les Chappell

Director: Hilary Westlake

Cast: Lene Lovich (Mata Hari), Rory Edwards, Jeremy Gittins,

Peter Leabourne with Stephen Dixon & Simon Hall (Puppeteers)

Story: The story of Mata Hari, the exotic dancer who claimed to

be a Brahmin temple dancer from Southern India and achieved

great success as a performer and notoriety for her numerous and

wealthy lovers. One of her lovers was arrested by the French

security service and Mata Hari’s love of fantasy and the

glamorous world of espionage led to her being (unfairly?) accused

of spying for the Germans, and being executed by firing squad in

1917.

Notes: Lene Lovich was not felt to have anything like the

charisma which must have marked the real Mata Hari and, even

though a lot of money had been invested in staging and costumes

with a view to a transfer, the show quietly came to the end of its

season and disappeared.

YAKETY YAK London run: Half Moon Theatre, November 15th

Transferred to Astoria Theatre, January 18th 1983 (3 months)

Music & Lyrics: Leiber & Stoller

Book: Robert Walker

Director: Robert Walker

Choreographer: Lynne Hockney

Musical Director: Tony de Meur

Cast: Paul McGann (Danny), Steve McGann (Bo), Joe McGann (Joe), Griff Fender, Pikey Butler, Rita Ray,

Duncan Kerr, Natalie Ogle, Nosmo King, Jimmy Compton. (Astoria only: Mark McGann, Kenny Andrews)

Songs: 24 Leiber & Stoller songs including: Yakety Yak, Kansas City, On Broadway, Stand By Me, Three

Cool Cats, I Can’t Say No, Searchin’.

Story: 1950s New York, and Danny comes out of jail to find his kid brother dating his girl, and the middle

brother training to be a priest. In the middle

of all this the boys and girls of the age face

the big questions: to go to College or not?

To hit the road and see life? to get married

and have babies? to get married to the girl

who is expecting your baby?

Notes: With hardly any plot to worry

about, but excellent performances and the

successful band known as “The Darts”, this

was a great night’s entertainment for lovers

of early rock’n’roll. The three brothers

were played by three genuine brothers. The

show underwent some re-writing and some

minor re-casting for the transfer to the

Astoria. Remarkably the cast was increased

with yet another McGann brother – Mark

McGann – and all four brothers were much

praised for their acting and singing.

1982

Photo

by

Ray

Abbott

Lene Lovich

Photo

by

John H

ayn

es

22

CAMELOT (1st Revival) London run: Apollo Victoria, November 23rd

(180 Performances)

Music: Frederick Loewe

Lyrics & Book: Alan Jay Lerner

Director: Michael Rudman

Choreographer: Ronald Hynd

Musical Director: Gerry Allison Producer: Paul Gregg & Lionel Becker

Cast: Richard Harris (King Arthur),

Fiona Fullerton (Guinevere),

William Squire (Merlin),

Robert Meadmore (Sir Lancelot)

Michael Howe (Mordred),

Robin Bailey (Pellinore)

This was described as a disastrous

revival, and one of the worst productions seen in the West End for a long time. Much of

the blame was laid at the feet of Richard Harris who was accused of “walking through” the

part without any effort. The Plays & Players critic said: “There is no denying the potency

of Richard Harris’s personality. It is merely sad to remember that many years ago he was

an actor.”

Notes: See original London run: Drury Lane, August 1964

ANNIE (Revival) London run: Adelphi, December 20th (8 week season)

Director: Peter Walker

Cast: Ursula Smith (Miss Hannigan), Charles West (Oliver Warbucks), Peter Honri, Lorrain Grey,

Neil Fitzwilliam, Petra Siniawski.

This production has been on a UK tour and had played Bristol Hippodrome instead of a pantomime in 1981/2

Notes: See original London production: Victoria Palace, May 1978

NIGHTINGALE London run: Lyric Hammersmith, December 22nd – January 29th

(Christmas season)

Music & Lyrics: Charles Strouse

Director: Peter James

Musical Director: David Firman

Cast: Andrew Shore (Narrator) Sarah Brightman (The Nightingale),

Gordon Sandison (Emperor) , Susannah Fellows (Palace Maid),

Carole Brooke (Mechanical Nightingale),

Jill Pert & Dinah Harris (The Peacocks) Michael Heath, Roy Skelton

Songs: Perfect Harmony, Never Speak Directly to an Emperor, The

Emperor is a Man, A Singer Must be Free, Rivers Cannot Flow Upwards

Story: The Emperor of China owns a nightingale with whom he becomes

good friends, although the nightingale is unhappy at her captivity. One day

the Emperor receives a mechanical singing bird, covered in beautiful

jewels, and this new toy becomes his favourite. The neglected nightingale flies away, and no one notices. But the

mechanical bird breaks down, and the Emperor realizes his mistake: you cannot possess what you love. The

Emperor is dying, so the nightingale returns and her song saves his life. The Emperor asks the nightingale to teach

him the song of life, the greatest gift in the world. The bird tells him that there is a maiden in the palace who has

already given him the greatest gift: her innocent love. The nightingale then teaches them the song, and the Emperor,

the maid and the nightingale all live happily ever after. This “children’s opera”, based on a Hans Christian

Andersen fairy tale, premiered at the Buxton festival then played the Lyric Hammersmith for the Christmas season.

1982

Richard Harris & Fiona Fullerton

Photo

by

John H

ayn

es

Photo

by

Ray

Abbott

23

MR CINDERS (Revival) London run: King’s Head Theatre, December 31st (60 Performances)

Transfer to Fortune Theatre April 27th (527 Performances)

Music : Vivian Ellis & Richard Myers

Lyrics: Leo Robin, Clifford Grey & Greatorex Norman

Book: Clifford Grey & Greatorex Norman

Director: Tony Craven

Choreographer: Kenn Oldfield

Musical Director: Mike Dixon Producer: Dan Crawford

Cast: Denis Lawson (Jim Lancaster), Christina Matthews (Jill Kemp),

Philip Bird (Guy Lancaster), Graham Hoadly (Lumley Lancaster),

Oliver Pierre (Henry Kemp), Angela Vale (Lady Lancaster), Derek Smee ( Sir George Lancaster)

Songs: Tennis, Blue Blood, True to Two, On With the Dance, Spread a Little Happiness, 18th Century Drag,

Honeymoon for Four

Story: Jim Lancaster is an adopted son forced to work as a menial for his snobbish stepmother, Lady Agatha,

and her two foppish sons, Lumley and Guy. Jill, an American heiress, is giving a costume ball in the mansion

of her father Henry Kemp and Lady Agatha sees this as an opportunity to catch a wealthy bride for one of her

sons, but refuses to allow Jim to attend. Meanwhile Jill has disguised herself as a servant girl, “Sarah” and

persuaded Minerva, her poor relation, to pretend to be Jill, while Jim manages to get to the ball in a disguise of

his own. The plot then involves a stolen necklace, mistaken identity, and the discovery of a hat belonging to

the mystery person who captured

the thief. A search for the owner

of the hat shows that it fits only

Jim. He wins the £1,000 reward

and learns that the maid "Sarah" is

actually Jill, and she and Jim

agree to get married. Lumley and

Guy, meanwhile, announce their

own engagements so all ends

happily.

Notes: The original London

production was at the Adelphi in

February 1929, and played 529

performances (including a transfer

to the Hippodrome). This was its

first revival. Later in the run the

leading role was taken over by

skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan.

1982

Steven Pacey, Diana Martin, Andrea Kealy & Graham Hoadly

Photo

by