Cowardy Custard: Difference between revisions
→Musical numbers: Fit list better on one page |
m →Musical numbers: del <br> |
||
| Line 68: | Line 68: | ||
*I Wonder What Happened to Him |
*I Wonder What Happened to Him |
||
*Miss Mouse |
*Miss Mouse |
||
*Let's Do It (music by [[Cole Porter]]; lyrics rewritten |
*Let's Do It (music by [[Cole Porter]]; lyrics rewritten by Coward "with some additional topical lines") |
||
*Closing medley |
*Closing medley |
||
**Touring Days |
**Touring Days |
||
Revision as of 19:04, 28 March 2009
Cowardy Custard is a musical revue and was one of the last Noël Coward shows staged during his life. It was devised by Gerard Frow, Alan Strachan and Wendy Toye. The term "cowardy custard" is a taunt used by schoolchildren in the UK equivalent to "scardey cat" in the U.S.[1] A book, also titled Cowardy Custard, was published in connection with the revue, similarly celebrating the Coward image.
The biographical revue premiered in London in 1972, running for 405 performances.
Background
The working title of the show was Cream of Coward, but Coward cabled the producers three months before the opening from his home in Jamaica suggesting Cowardy Custard.[2] He vetoed an alternative suggestion, This Is Noël Coward, which he said was too close to "This Was Noël Coward".[3]
Telling the story of Coward's life through song and biographical snippets, the revue was billed as "An entertainment featuring the words and music of Noël Coward". The Coward numbers featured are songs and scenes from Coward's works of the 1920s to the 1960s, including Shadow Play, "Mad About the Boy"; "The Stately Homes of England", "I Wonder What Happened to Him?" and, perhaps most memorably, "Marvellous Party" (sung by Patricia Routledge in the original production).[4] The revue also contains previously unpublished material, excerpts of plays and dialogues, material from Coward's autobiographies and a few of his little-known poems. Sketches featured include scenes from Shadow Play, Present Laughter, and Design for Living.
The original production and opened at the Mermaid Theatre, London, on 10 July 1972 as part of the 1972 City of London Festival and ran for over a year for a total of 405 performances. It was directed by Wendy Toye and employed a cast of twelve (six men and six women), featuring Routledge, Derek Waring, John Moffatt, Elaine Delmar, Una Stubbs, Jonathan Cecil, Peter Gale, Anna Sharkey, Geoffrey Burridge, Laurel Ford, Tudor Davies and Olivia Breeze.
After its run in London, the show toured the UK with different cast members. It has since mostly been produced by amateur groups. Also in 1972, a revue on similar lines, Oh, Coward!, played in New York at the New Theatre, achieving 294 performances.
A recording of the original London production of Cowardy Custard was made by RCA. The production also spawned a book called Cowardy Custard: The World of Noël Coward.[5]
Musical numbers
From Mermaid Theatre programme, 10 July 1972 and sleeve notes to cast recording, RCA SER 5656/57
|
|
|
Notes
- ^ Dunkling, Leslie. A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address (1990) ISBN 0415007615
- ^ The Times Diary, 3 May 1972, p. 16
- ^ The Times Diary, 11 July 1972, p. 14
- ^ The reviewer in The Times, Charles Lewsen, said "Miss Routledge was in glorious voice last night. Her 'Marvellous Party' threatened to stop the show." The Times, 11 July 1972, p. 13.
- ^ Coward, Noël; John Hadfield (ed). Cowardy Custard: The World of Noël Coward, London: Heinemann (1973) ISBN 0434310905
References
- Profile of the show at guidetomusicaltheatre
- Notes to RCA original cast recording SER 5656/57
- Information about the revue at the Samuel French site
External links
- Information about the cast album
- Information about the background of the revue
- Script of Cowardy Custard