1973musicals
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21
JACOB’S JOURNEY &
JOSEPH & THE AMAZING
TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT London run: Albery Theatre, February 17th,
(243 Performances)
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Tim Rice
Director: Frank Dunlop
Choreographer: Christopher Bruce
Musical Director: Alan Doggett/Anthony Bowles Producer: Robert Stigwood
Cast: Gary Bond (Joseph), Alex McAvoy (Jacob),
Joan Heal (Potiphar’s Wife), Gordon Waller (Pharaoh),
Ian Trigger (Potiphar), Roy North (Baker), Peter Blake/Peter
Reeves/Maynard Williams (3 Narrators)
Notes: This was a revised and enlarged version of the production which opened at the Roundhouse on
November 16th, 1972 (43 Performances). In the earlier production it was preceded by “The Genesis Medieval
Mystery Plays”, here replaced with “Jacob’s Journey” with dialogue provided by Ray Galton and Alan
Simpson. The cast was considerably enlarged (to include the Brothers) but Richard Kane, Riggs O’Hara, Julia
McCarthy from the original cast did not appear in this enlarged version.
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA London run: Phoenix Theatre, April 26th (237 Performances)
Music: Galt MacDermot
Book: John Guare & Mel Shapiro
Director: Mel Shapiro
Choreographer: Denis Nahat
Music Director: Ian MacPherson Producer: Michael White & Robert Stigwood
Cast: Samuel E Wright (Valentine), Ray C. Davis (Proteus), Brenda Arnau (Silvia),
Jean Gilbert (Julia), Derek Griffiths (Thurio), Michael Staniforth (Speed),
Benny Lee (Launce),
Songs: Love in Bloom, Summer Summer, Love is that You?, Night Letter, Who is
Silvia?, Bring all the Boys Back Home, Eglamour
Story: The story of two friends in the city of
Verona, the noble Valentine, and the very ignoble
Proteus. On a trip to Milan their lives become
very complicated because of two girls - Julia
(who loves Proteus) and Silvia (who loves
Valentine)
Notes: Originally it was intended to present
Shakespeare’s original play for a series of free
productions in Central Park, as part of the New
York Shakespeare Festival. The director, Mel
Shapiro, suggested adding a rock score to give the
show some contemporary relevance, and
gradually the project was transformed into a
combination of anachronistic colloquialisms,
ethnic references and some of Shakespeare’s
original dialogue. Its success in the open-air
theatre led to a Broadway production and a
London transfer.
1973
Brenda Arnau, Samuel E. Wright & Ray C. Davis
Photo by Laurie Asprey
Gary Bond
Photo by Laurie Asprey
22
NO NO NANETTE (2nd Revival) London run: Drury Lane, May 15th (277 Performances)
Music: Vincent Youmans
Lyrics: Irving Caesar & Otto Harbach
Book: Otto Harbach & Frank Mandel
Director: Burt Shevelove
Choreographer: Donald Saddler
Musical Director: Grant Hossack Producer: H. M. Tennent, Ltd
Cast: Tony Britton (Jimmy Smith), Anna Neagle (Sue Smith),
Anne Rogers (Lucille Early), Teddy Green (Billy Early), Thora Hird (Pauline),
Barbara Brown (Nanette), Anita Graham, Elaine Holland, Jenny Wren, Peter Gale
Songs: Too Many Rings Around Rosie, The Call of the Sea, I Want to Be Happy, Tea for Two, You Can
Dance With Any Girl at All, Where Has My Hubby Gone Blues?, Take a Little One Step
Story: Jimmy Smith, a married New York Bible manufacturer and
the guardian of Nannette, has most innocently been giving financial
support to help the careers of three different girls in three different
cities. Jimmy, his wife and ward, together with family friends Lucille
and Billy Early all gather for a holiday at Jimmy’s Chickadee Cottage
in Atlantic City. Totally unplanned, the cottage is also visited by the
three young ladies. This causes all manner of complications and
misunderstandings, not helped by the presence of the Smith’s family
maid, Pauline.
Notes: The original production was stuck on a USA provincial tour
undergoing re-writes and re-casting, when a facsimile production
opened at London’s Palace Theatre in March 1925 starring Ginnie
Hale and George Grosssmith. The London run lasted 665
performances – twice the New York run when the show finally made
it to Broadway six months after the London premiere. The first
London revival was at the Hippodrome in 1936 with Barbara Vernon
and Shaun Glenville.
The London 1973 production was a revised version which had
originally opened on Broadway starring Ruby Keeler. This time the
position was reversed: the New York show ran for 861
performances, but the London one managed just 277.
KINGDOM COMING London run: Roundhouse, May 21st (14 Performances)
Music: Bill Snyder
Lyrics: Stanley Baum
Book & Additional Lyrics: David Climie & Ronnie Cass
Director: Jon Acevski
Choreographer: Joanne Steuer
Musical Director: Ed Coleman
Cast: Antonia Ellis (Laura), Aubrey Morris (Julius), Michael Howe (Rahvi)
Story: A hippy takes over his father’s business empire and spreads largesse so effectively that the world gets
over-populated and everybody had to be put into deep-freeze until times can cope.
1973
Anna Neagle
Photo by Zoe Dominic
23
GYPSY London run: Piccadilly Theatre, May 29th (300 Performances)
Music: Jule Styne
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Arthur Laurents
Director: Arthur Laurents
Choreographer: Jerome Robbins, reproduced by Robert Tucker
Musical Director: Richard Leonard Producer: Donald Albery, Edgar Lansbury & H. M. Tennent Ltd
Cast: Angela Lansbury (Rose), Barrie Ingham (Herbie), Zan Charisse (Louise),
Debbie Bowen (June), Bonnie Langford (Baby June), Andrew Norman (Tulsa)
Songs: Let Me Entertain You, Some People, Small World, You’ll Never Get away From
Me, If Momma Was Married, All I Need is the Girl, Everything’s Coming Up Roses. Together Wherever We
Go, You Gotta Get a Gimmick, Rose’s Turn.
Story: Mama Rose is determined to escape the humdrum life by pushing the vaudeville career of her younger
daughter, Baby June. When theatre proprietors show no interest, she forms her own vaudeville troupe, aided
by long-suffering admirer, Herbie. But Baby June grows up and elopes with Tulsa, one of the boys in the
company. Rose, undeterred, focuses all her attention on Louise, her elder, less talented and reluctant daughter,
even forcing her to step into the suddenly vacant role of a burlesque stripper. As time goes by, Louise becomes
highly successful as Gypsy Rose Lee, the highest paid strip-tease performer of the time. Rose suffers a
breakdown (expressed through the shattering “Rose’s Turn”) when she realises that she is no longer needed in
her daughter’s career.
Notes: The 1959 Broadway production saw the greatest
performance of Ethel Merman’s career, and the show itself
is regarded by many as one of the most-perfect musicals
ever written. Music, songs and lyrics are superbly
integrated by two of the greatest craftsmen – Jule Styne and
Stephen Sondheim. The London production did not happen
until 1973, when Angela Lansbury gave the most powerful
performance and received the highest praise. Due to other
commitments she left the show after six months, and the
role was taken over by Dolores Gray. In spite of a decent
performance, it seems the magic of Lansbury was missing,
and the show closed a few months afterwards.
THE ME NOBODY KNOWS London run: Shaw Theatre , May 29th (45 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Robert H. Livingstone & Herb Schapiro
Director: Michael Croft
Choreographer: Willian Sean-Hix
Cast: Peter Straker, Angela Bruce, Reginald Tsiboe, Oswald Lindsay, Lorenza Johnson, Andrew Bowen
Songs: Dream Babies, What Happens to Life, Flying Milk and Runaway Plates, If I Had a Million Dollars,
Fugue for Four Girls, Jail-Life Walk, Black, War Babies
Story: There is no plot, but the theme is of children in poor neighbourhoods of New York who are "complex,
introspective characters. Each is an authentic voice saying attention must be paid." The children are self-
assertive in the face of difficult lives. One story is about a 13-year old boy taking heroin for the first time.
Another involves a child shocked to hear a white boy order "milk and a nigger". A boy watches as a drunk
black man is taken away in an ambulance after an accident.
Notes: It began off-Broadway in 1970 and then transferred to Broadway itself. It received the Obie Award and
a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical. The dialogue is taken from actual writings of New York’s
underprivileged children.
1973 Photo by John Haynes
Angela Lansbury
24
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW London run: Theatre Upstairs (Royal Court), June 19th
Transferred to Classic Cinema, Chelsea August 14th
Transferred to King’s Road Theatre, November 3rd
Transferred to Comedy Theatre, April 6th, 1979
Total: 2,960 Performances
Music & Lyrics: Richard O’Brien
Director: Jim Sharman
Musical Director: Richard Hartley Producer: Michael White
Original Cast: Jonathan Adams (Narrator),
Tim Curry (Frank-n-Furter).
Rayner Bourton (Rocky Horror),
Christopher Malcolm (Brad), Belinda Sinclair (Janet),
Richard O’Brien (Riff-Raff), Patricia Quinn (Magenta),
Little Nell (Columbia), Paddy O’Hagan (Eddie/Dr Scott)
Songs: Science Fiction Double Feature, Over at the Frankenstein Place, Sweet
Transvestite, In Just Seven Days I Can Make You a Man, Time Warp, I’m
Going Home
Story: It is a dark and stormy night. Brad and Janet are stranded when their car
breaks down, so they seek refuge in a nearby castle owned by Dr
Frank’n’Furter, a sweet transvestite from Transylvania and staffed by his strange
butler, Riff-Raff, and the very odd Magenta and Columbia. Frank has collected
the appropriate body-parts to make himself the perfect muscle man to serve his
wicked way – a wicked way he also achieves with both Brad and Janet. (Frank’s
previous attempt at making a perfect man is kept in the deep-freeze, since Eddie
turned out to be damaged goods!) Rescue appears in the form of Dr Scott, the
wheelchair-bound former college tutor of Brad and Janet. He gets to the bottom
of the set-up: the inhabitants of the castle are really aliens from the planet Trans-
sexual, controlled by Riff-Raff. Frank has over-stepped the mark and is
exterminated before the others take off in their spaceship. Brad, Janet and Dr
Scott are left behind, having developed a taste for wearing basque, suspenders and fishnets.
Notes: With its first run lasting from August 14th 1973 to September 13th 1980, this was a seven year success story
– starting in a tiny studio theatre, moving to converted cinemas, and finally making it to the West End – where it
received a large cult following on the back of the 1976 film version. Curiously the 1975 Broadway production was
a flop, running just 45 performances – but pre-dating the film. The film version would later become a bigger USA
cult than the British one. The show would then have an amazingly successful UK touring production from 1983 to
1989 in the legendary Kenneth More Theatre/Theatre Royal Hanley production, followed by the same production
touring Europe for six months. Richard O’Brien was finally able to retrieve the rights and re-launch the show in
the West End, where it has had many revivals.
1973 Photos by John Haynes
25
GREASE London run: New London Theatre, June 26th (236 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey
Director: Tom Moore
Choreographer: Patricia Birch
Musical Director: Barry Booth Producer: Paul Elliott & Duncan Weldon
Cast: Richard Gere (Danny Zuko), Stacey Gregg (Sandy),
Jacquie-Ann Carr (Rizzo), Peter Armitage (Kenickie),
Stephen Alder (Teen Angel), Derek James (Doody)
Songs: Summer Nights, Freddy My Love, Greased Lightning, Mooning, Look at
Me I’m Sandra Dee, We Go Together, It’s Raining on Prom Night, Beauty
School Drop Out, There are Worse Things I Could Do
Story: The setting is Rydell High School where the greaser Danny Zuko is attracted to the prim and proper
Sandy Dumbrowski, who eventually learns that in 1950s Chicago there is no fun in being virtuous. The show
is a satirical, bang-on-target look at the dress, manners, morals and music of teenagers at the beginning of the
rock’n’roll era, where kids had little on their minds except hanging out and making out. Underneath it all, the
show mocks individuality and champions eventual conformity with the real world of 1950s America.
Notes: Originally an off-
Broadway show, it
m o v e d i n t o t h e
mainstream for an 8 year
r u n w i t h 3 , 3 8 8
performances. For some
unknown reason the
London production did
not take off and only
managed a mere 236
performances. During
the run Elaine Paige took
over the role of Sandy.
The film version in 1978
made a great difference
as far as London was
concerned, and future
revivals of “Grease”
have been hugely
successful.
WEST SIDE STORY (1st Revival) London run: Collegiate Theatre, July 3rd
(Summer season)
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: Arthur Laurents
Director: Bill Kenwright
Choreographer: Robert Arditti
Musical Director: Ed Coleman Producer: Bill Kenwright (David Gordon Productions)
Cast: Jim Smilie (Tony), Rosamund Shelley (Maria),
Roger Finch (Riff), Michael Howe (Diesel),
Peter Daly (Bernardo), Clovissa Newcombe (Anita)
Notes: This production had come to the Collegiate (now known as the Bloomsbury
Theatre) following a long UK tour.. See Original London Production, Her
Majesty’s , December 1968 (See also Shaftesbury Theatre, December 1974)
Left: Elaine Paige & Paul Nicholas who took over from (Right) Richard Gere
1973
Credit Unknown
26
THE CARD London run: Queen’s Theatre, July 24th (130 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Tony Hatch & Jackie Trent
Book: Keith Waterhouse & Willis Hall
Director: Val May
Choreographer: Gillian Lynne
Musical Director: Ray Holder Producer: Cameron Mackintosh & Jimmy Wax
Cast: Jim Dale (Denry Machin), Joan Hickson (Mrs Machin),
John Savident (Mr Duncalf), Eleanor Bron (Countess of Chell) ,
Millicent Martin (Ruth Earp), Marti Wenn (Nellie Cotterill)
Songs: Nine Till Five, Universal White Kid Gloves, Nobody Thought of It, Moving On, That's the Way the
Money Grows, Opposite Your Smile, Nothing Succeeds Like Success, The Right Man.
Story: Set in the Potteries, this is the story of Denry Machin, a
washer-woman’s mischievous son, who rises to the top of the tree
by luck, guile, initiative, and a fair bit of chutzpah. From his first
job with Mr Duncalf, Denry shows himself to be a bit of a “card,
when he manages to get into the firm’s annual dance and wangle a
dance with the beautiful Countess of Chell. He becomes a rent
collector and money lender, has a romantic entanglement with
Ruth, one of his tenants, and her friend Nellie, rescues some
sailors in a shipwreck in Llandudno and then becomes a lifeboat
owner, and a tour guide for visits to see the wrecked ship. His
other wheeler-dealer exploits include starting up the Five Towns
Universal Thrift Club, buying a local newspaper and boosting the
failing local football club by purchasing the rights to local boy,
Callear, the "greatest centre forward in England". At this point,
Ruth reappears in Denry's life, now the widow of a rich older man.
He considers renewing their relationship, but at the last moment,
realizes that Nellie is the one for him and marries her. His
crowning achievement comes when he is elected the youngest
ever Mayor of Bursley.
Notes: Adapted from the 1909 novel by Arnold Bennett.
THE WATER BABIES London run: Royalty Theatre, July 25th (62 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: John Cooper
Book: John Taylor & Willis Hall
Director-Choreographer: Ross Taylor
Musical Director: Phil Phillips Producer: Tom Arnold
Cast: Jessie Matthews (Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby), Richard Willis (Tom), Jacob Witkin (Mr Grimes),
Kim Williams (Ellie), Hope Jackman, Eleanor McCready, David Morton
Story: The tale of young Tom, apprentice to the unpleasant chimney-sweep Mr Grimes, and his underwater
journey to the End-Of-Nowhere is interspersed with delightful songs by John Cooper. The Water Babies and
underwater creatures were portrayed by a combination of puppets and small children.
Notes: Based on Charles Kingley’s book, this played twice-daily at the Royalty as a summer entertainment.
The large cast included what the Times described as “a mass turnout of the dancing tots of London’s theatre
academies” and the return of 1930s star, Jessie Matthews, now 66 years old.
1973
Millicent Martin & Jim Dale
Photo by Zoe Dpominic
27
DECAMERON ‘73 London run: Roundhouse, August 14th (14 Performances)
Roundhouse, September 25th (55 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Joe Griffiths
Director: Peter Coe
Choreographer: Leo Kharibian
Cast: Raad Rawi, Miquel Brown, Kenneth Gardiner, Cheryl de Grunwald, Tim
Goodman, Susanna Hunt, David Yip
Story: An anthology of eight erotic stories including nine songs performed by a
cast of ten people. After its first short run it toured to Manchester where it
underwent some re-writing, and then returned to the Roundhouse with some new
songs and three more cast members.
THE KING AND I (Revival) London run: Adelphi, October 10th (260 Performances)
Music: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Director: Roger Redfarn
Choreographer: Sheila O’Neill
Musical Director: Reg Cole Producer: Harold Fielding, Paul Elliott, Duncan C. Weldon
Cast: Peter Wyngarde (King), Sally-Ann Howes (Anna), Moyna Cope (Lady Thiang),
Pauline Antony (Tuptim), Valentine Palmer (Lun Tha), Stephen Grover (Louis),
David Morris (Chululongkorn), David Davenport (The Kralahome)
Notes: See original London run, Drury Lane, October 1953
PIPPIN London run: Her Majesty’s, October 30th
(85 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Book: Roger O. Hirson
Director-Choreographer: Bob Fosse
Musical Director: Ray Cook Producer: Robert Stigwood
Cast: Norman J. Calloway (Leading Player),
Paul Jones (Pippin), John Turner (Charlelemagne),
Bobby Bannerman (Lewis), Diane Langton (Fastrada),
Elisabeth Welch (Berthe)
Songs: Magic to Do, Corner of the Sky, Morning Glow,
Simple Joys, On the Right Track
Story: A modern free-wheeling account of the life of Charlemagne’s son, Pépin (Pippin)
who, yearning for glory, becomes involved with war, women and social causes. Throughout
his search for his own “corner of the sky” he is under pressure from rivalry with his brother,
Lewis, and his scheming stepmother, Fastrada. Above all, there is pressure from the
“Leading Player” who sometimes seems to be acting as a representative of Heaven and also
from Hell. Eventually after rejecting the final glory of self-immolation, he takes the advice
of his wise old grandmother, Berthe, and settles down to an ordinary life of domesticity with
his wife Catherine.
Notes: This was an anti-war story in a commedia-dell-arte style, reminiscent of the “flower
power” philosophy of the recent past, and was a great success on Broadway, running for
1,944 performances. The London production was an expensive flop.
1973 Photo by Philip Ingram
Photo by Reg Wilson
Paul Jones
28
ZORBA London run: Greenwich Theatre, November 27th (23 Performances)
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Book: Joseph Stein
Director: Robin Phillips
Choreographer: David Toguri
Cast: Alfred Marks (Zorba), Miriam Karlin (Madame Hortense), Jim Smilie (Nikos),
Angela Richards (Widow), Peter Daly (Pavli)
Songs: Life Is, The First Time, The Top of the Hill, No Boom Boom, Only Love, Y’assou, I am Free
Story: The tale involves the ebullient Zorba and his love for the coquettish French girl, Hortense and the story
of Nikos, a studious young man who has inherited an abandoned mine on the island of Crete. In the course of
the show there are a series of tragic events, including the suicide of a young Cretan boy, Pavli, because of his
unrequited love for a young widow. This is followed by the vengeful murder of the widow by Pavli’s family,
the discovery that the mine is inoperable and the death of Hortense. However, despite it all, Zorba remains
optimistic and determined to live life to its fullest.
Notes: This was rather similar to “Fiddler on the Roof” with a larger-than-life ageing hero and a stage full of
earthy ethnic types, though the story was much darker and the people of Crete much colder and more
threatening than the colourful villagers of Anatevka. It was based on the 1964 film “Zorba the Greek” which
starred Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova. The original Broadway production managed just 305 performances.
The London production at Greenwich came off quickly, having failed to find a West End offer.
COCKIE London run: Vaudeville, December 12th (7 weeks)
Music: Anthology
Director: William Chappell
Choreographer: Sheila O’Neill & Lionel Blair
Musical Director: Alfred Ralston Producer: Peter Saunders
Cast: Avril Angers, Liz Charles, Jill Martin, Patricia Bredin, Eric Flynn,
Janet Mahoney, Max Wall, etc.
Notes: An anthology of scenes from the musical career of Charles B. Cochran, with
music and lyrics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Noel Coward,
Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin and others. The show closed within two months,
having been generally disliked by the critics.
1973
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