- Follow That Girl - Part 1
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- A re-working of Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds's musical
play Christmas in King Street (which opened at the Bristol
Old Vic 24 December 1952 - this production also contained material
by James Cairncross), Follow That Girl was the third Slade-Reynolds
musical to reach London, following Salad Days and Free
as Air. The production opened 'cold' at the Vaudeville Theatre,
in the wake of Salad Days, on 17 March 1960, closing after
211 performances.
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- The play begins in the present day, with a young author Tom
(Peter Gilmore) discussing a play he has written in which he
and his girlfriend Victoria (Susan Hampshire) feature as hero
and heroine. The characters Tom has invented appear and the scene
changes to Victorian England, where Victoria finds herself the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs Gilchrist (James Cairncross and Patricia
Routledge).
- She also has two highly unpromising suitors, Tancred and
Wilberforce (Philip Guard and Robert McBain). Refusing to marry
either, Victoria leaves home, and falls into a series of adventures
that form the remainder of the story. She is befriended by the
painter Walter Miskin, R.A. (Newton Blick) and his wife Cora
(Marion Grimaldi). In an attempted suicide, she throws herself
off the Albert Bridge but finds herself in the London Aquarium,
where she meets three Victorian mermaids (Bridget Armstrong,
Grazina Frame and Betty Wood) and the Keeper (James Cairncross).
The pursuit of Victoria across London continues, accompanied
by the attentive Constable Tom Blenkinsop (Peter Gilmore), who
is besotted by his quarry. He turns out to be the long lost son
of the Miskins, and is at the last happily reunited with his
parents and with his lover, Victoria.
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