Our Man Crichton is a musical play based on The Admirable Crichton by J. M. Barrie, with book and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and music by David Lee.
| Our Man Crichton | |
|---|---|
| Music | David Lee |
| Lyrics | Herbert Kretzmer |
| Book | Herbert Kretzmer |
| Basis | The Admirable Crichton by J. M. Barrie |
| Premiere | 22 December 1964: Shaftesbury Theatre, London |
After a season at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, the musical opened at the musical opened at London's Shaftesbury Theatre on December 22, 1964, and ran for 208 performances. It featured Kenneth More, who had starred in a 1957 film adaptation of Barrie's play, and Millicent Martin.[1]
It was one of several musicals set in the Edwardian and Victorian era following the success of Oliver!.
More was approached to do the musical by Bernard Delont. More wrote in his memoirs, "My first reaction was that I couldn't sing, but Bernard talked me into it." He was offered £1,000 a week plus ten percent of the gross.[2]
More had three weeks of singing lessons. He felt that because of this "I could cope with the point numbers, which don’t require much of a voice, but simply a personality and a manner." However he struggled with a love ballad between himself and Patricia Lambert (Lady Mary) saying I was so terrible that I asked the producer to take it out of the show. It was essential for the action, however, so it had to remain. I got away with it on most nights, I think, but only just. Pat has a beautiful voice and she covered me so well that I would just come in now and then with a word or a line or a gesture."[3]
The female star, composer and lyricist came from That Was the Week That Was.
The musical still ran for six months.
Historian Adrian Wright felt "the crux of the musical’s problem" was "Lady Mary, billed well below the title, was demoted to support Tweeny, now inflated to the star role. The trouble was compounded by the fact that the composer and lyricist wrote numbers designed for Martin rather than designed for the character she was playing."[4]
Songs
edit- Tweeny!
- Yes, Mr. Crichton
- Our Kind of People
- Down with the Barriers
- Were I as Good
- London, London ? My Home Town
- Let's Find an Island
- Doesn't Travel Broaden the Mind
- I Tries
- Yesterday's World
- Little Darlin'
- I Never Looked for You
- Oh! For a Husband, Oh! For a Man
- Nobody Showed Me How
- My Time Will Come
Original casts
edit- Millicent Martin as Tweeny
- Kenneth More as Chrichton
- George Benson as Henry, The Earl of Loam
- Patricia Lambert as Lady Mary
- Dilys Watling as Lady Agatha
- Anna Barry as Lady Catherine
- David Kernan as The Hon. Ernest Woolley
- Peter Honri as Reverend John Treherne
- Eunice Black as The Countess of Brocklehurst
- Glyn Worsnip as Lord Brocklehurst
References
edit- ^ "'Our Man Crichton' in London Premiere". The New York Times. December 23, 1964. p. 21. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
moorewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Moore, Kenneth (1978). More or less. p. 202.
- ^ Wright, Adrian (2017). Must close Saturday : the decline and fall of the British musical flop. p. 38-39.
External links
edit- Our Man Crichton at Theatricalia