This Noel Coward revue opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in
London on August 22, 1945 and ran for 213 performances. It
was written, composed and directed by Noel Coward. It
starred Cyril
Ritchard, his wife Madge Elliott and Joyce Grenfell.
Title | Roles | Performers | |
1 | Sigh No More | Harlequin | Graham Payne |
Singing Silphides | Renee Stocker, Ann Martin, Daphne Anderson, Ann Sullivan, Joy O'Neill, Irlin Hall, Marion Gordon, Gretta Grayson, Mavis Ray, Nancy McNaughton, Barbara Jdanova, Silvia Ashmole, Enid Meredith, Barbara Barrie, Vivien Merchant, Betty Matthews, Sheila Calder, Jean Allison, Zoe Jack | ||
2 | DuMaurier | Society Lady | Joyce Grenfell (music Richard Addinsell; lyrics Joyce Grenfell) |
3 | Parting of the Ways | Lenora | Madge Elliott |
Michael | Cyril Ritchard | ||
4 | Language - French - Troops, For the Use of | by Cliff Gordon (no performer credited) | |
5 | Mother and Daughter | The Mother | Gwen Bateman |
The Daughter | Joy O'Neill | ||
6 | Indian Army Officer | Cyril Ritchard sings "I Wonder What Happened to Him" | |
7 | Music Hath Charms (music & lyrics Norman Hackforth) | Miss Lawson | Madge Elliott |
Miss Freeman | Ann Martin | ||
Mr. Elphinstone | Alan Clive | ||
Two Girls | Daphne Anderson, Irlin Hall | ||
A Boy | Grant Tyler | ||
A Girl | Gail Kendal | ||
8 | Never Again | The Singer | Graham Payn |
Extras | Zoe Jack, Mavis Ray, Barbara Jdanova, Silvia Ashmole, Barbara Barrie | ||
9 | This is the End of the News | Joyce Grenfell | |
10 | Loch Lomond (arrangement Norman Hackforth) | Gail Kendal | |
11 | Pageant | Countess of Fairfield | Madge Elliott |
Herald | Gail Kendal | ||
Housemaids | Daphne Anderson, Betty Matthews | ||
Viking | Lance Hamilton | ||
Spirit of Masque | Cyril Ritchard | ||
Lady Maud Hailsbury | Ann Martin | ||
Mistress Joan | Joy O'Neill | ||
Mistress Alice | Renee Stocker | ||
Sir Guy de Belchamp | John Hugo | ||
Village Girls | Zoe Jack, Mavis Ray, Irlin Hall, Vivien Merchant, Jean Allison, Sheila Calder | ||
Cardinal Wolsey | Alan Clive | ||
Queen Elizabeth | Josephine Way | ||
Lord Belchamp | Howard Gilbert | ||
Charles II's Pages | Silvia Ashmole, Gretta Grayson | ||
Lady Primrose Fairfield | Joyce Grenfell | ||
Nurse to Lady Primrose | Fedora Bernard | ||
Charles II | Graham Payn | ||
Nelson | Cliff Gordon | ||
Lord Fairfield | Frank O'Connor | ||
Lady Fairfield | Daphne Anderson | ||
Lady Hamilton | Marion Gordon | ||
Town Crier | Alan Clive | ||
Nelsonian Villagers | Silvia Ashmole, Gretta Grayson, Barbara Jdanova, Gwen Bateman, Joy O'Neill, Ann Sullivan, Betty Matthews, Enid Meredith, Renee Stocker | ||
Nelsonian Sailors | Charles Russell, Grant Tyler, Leslie Baker, Howard Gilbert | ||
Britannia | Madge Elliott | ||
Neptune | Tom Linden | ||
Part 2 |
|||
12 | Mantovani & His Orchestra | ||
13 | Willy | Willy | Tom Linden |
Good Angel | Madge Elliott | ||
Bad Angel | Cyril Ritchard | ||
14 | Wait a Bit, Joe | Graham Payn | |
15 | Travelling Broadens the Mind | Joyce Grenfell (written by her) | |
16 | Nina | Gigolo | Tom Linden |
Nina | Gail Kendal | ||
Singer | Cyril Ritchard | ||
17 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Mrs. Macadoo | Madge Elliott |
Ladies | Marion Gordon, Rennee Stocker, Ann Martin, Irlin Hall, Daphne Anderson | ||
Private Niven | Cyril Ritchard | ||
18 | Matelot | Graham Payn | |
19 | Blithe Spirit Ballet | Charles | Tom Linden |
Madame Arcati | Daphne Anderson | ||
Edith | Betty Matthews | ||
Ruths | Barbara Barrie, Enid Meredith, Irlin Hall, Mavis Ray, Sheila Calder, Jean Allison | ||
Elviras | Nancy McNaughton, Barbara Jdanova, Zoe Jack, Silvia Ashmole, Gretta Grayson, Vivien Merchant | ||
20 | The Burchells of Battersea Rise | Cyril Ritchard, Madge Elliott, Joyce Grenfell, Graham Payn | |
21 | Finale, Sigh No More | Entire Company |
In Manchester, a sketch, JAPANESE SPIES, with Madge Elliott and Cyril Ritchard was included, but did not make it to London.
Click here for a photo of THE BURCHELLS OF BATTERSEA RISE. My friend John Groushko has kindly provided me with the lyrics for this:
We are those people who seldom make fusses, You see us in tubes and in trams and in buses, We couldn't be classed as 'Noblesse', Nevertheless We're not so humble, Any observer who's really observant Can see how we flinch at the phrase 'Civil Servant', The Government fools us, Bureaucracy rules us, But still we mustn't grumble, We're the class that they take for a ride, Still we say with commendable pride: We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise, We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise, We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise |
We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise And we've written and written and written again To some local official who Dad seems to think Might concede us a permit to build a new sink, We've already had several tries, It's as bad as the Battle of Britain again, Though we've drawn up the plans We shall sit on our cans Till the old bastard replies To the Burchells of Battersea Rise. We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise We're the Burchells of Battersea Rise |
In his autobiography, Alan Melville wrote: The greatest lyric-writers of the past half-century are Coward and Farjeon. In his revue SIGH NO MORE, Coward wrote a brilliant lyric called 'Nina'; it was about a lady from Argentina who was mad about dancing the samba and fell in love with a sailor with a wooden leg. As well as being very funny, it was filled to capacity with double and triple rhymes; it had such a verbal rhythm to it that it hardly needed music; I envied it. (This number was sung by Cyril Ritchard.)
NINA (by Noel Coward) |
|
Senorita Nina From Argentina Knew all the answers, Although her relatives and friends were perfect dancers She swore she'd never dance a step until she died. She said, 'I've seen too many movies And all they prove is Too idiotic, They all insist that South America's exotic Whereas it couldn't be more boring if it tried. She added firmly that she hated She refused to begin the Beguine Senorita Nina |
She said that frankly she was blinded To all their over-advertised romantic charms And then she got more bloody-minded And told them where to put their tropic palms. She said I hate to be pedantic But it drives me nearly frantic When I see that unromantic Sycophantic Lot of sluts For ever wriggling their guts, It drives me absolutely nuts! She declined to begin the Beguine Though they besought her to And in language profane and obscene She cursed the man who taught her to, She cursed Cole Porter too! From this it's fairly clear that Nina There surely never could have been a |
Visit my Joyce Grenfell webpage at http://judyharris.net/grenfell.htm
or my Cyril Ritchard webpage at http://judyharris.net/cyril.htm
or my homepage at http://judyharris.net/index.htm
or e-mail me at foosie@bestweb.net