Johnny The Priest - Part 5

About the Cast

Johnny the Priest was Jeremy Brett's last musical in London. He had already played in Meet Me by Moonlight and in the Alan Melville-Charles Zwar charmer Marigold, neither of which had been substantial hits. Perhaps when Johnny the Priest collapsed after its first full week he thought straight plays might be a better bet. But he was a real loss to the British musical theatre, one of the most handsome, confidently voiced, masculine and attractive actor-singers.
Stephanie Voss had already established herself, having played in the chorus of Guys and Dolls and in the revue Intimacy at 8.30. She starred opposite Brett in Meet Me by Moonlight at the Aldwych, and was in Vivian Ellis's Half in Earnest at the Belgrade, Coventry [see Borrowed and Stolen for a feature on Half in Earnest]. Her most recent stage success had been as Hilaret in Lock Up Your Daughters. Following the closure of Johnny the Priest Voss continued as a leading lady of the British musical in such shows as Instant Marriage, The Four Musketeers and 70, Girls, 70.	Jeremy Brett as the solid Richard Highfield
	Stephanie Voss as Mary Highfield

Bunny May was no stranger to the role of Johnny, having played it at Birmingham for the premiere of R. C. Sherriff's original play (when it was directed by the musical's librettist, Peter Powell), and on radio. May had the dubious distinction of being the first stage Noddy. The Players took him out of the touring production of The Boy Friend to propel him to stardom in Johnny the Priest. Hopefully, they offered him his old job when the show collapsed. He was subsequently one of the schoolboys of Passion Flower Hotel.

Hope Jackman, whose forthright voice and manner was a tonic, went directly from one of the biggest flops of her career to one of the greatest successes, creating the role of Widow Corney in Oliver! a few weeks later. Nevertheless, Johnny the Priest was the first opportunity she had to create a role in London. It was a first (and only) major role for the second leading lady Frances Buckeridge who had spent three years with the Ballet Rambert under Volkova and then fulfilled every great ballerina's dream by doing panto and a season with the Fol-de-Rols. At Christmas 1959 she had been seen in The Demon Barber at the Lyric, Hammersmith, but playing Vi in Johnny the Priest gave her her first acting and singing role. Does anyone know what happened to her? Phillada Sewell was no stranger to musicals, having made her debut in Derby Day and played in Oh! My Papa! at the Garrick and as Miss Prism in Half in Earnest. She had done several plays with Johnny the Priest's director, Norman Marshall. Among the boys and girls of the company were Jenny Wren, a Players stable performer who would appear in many British musicals, and Norman Warwick, another Players favourite, who in the West End never got beyond small featured roles (he was one of the three juvenile delinquents in Ace of Clubs, so delinquency came easy to him). He did get a few lines to himself in Johnny the Priest during 'The Foggy Foggy Blues'. In 1964 Tony Holland played a lead in Instant Marriage at the Piccadilly.

About the Creative Team

Johnny the Priest was the first and only musical to be written by the 'serious' composer Antony Hopkins. The librettist, Peter Powell, had directed Sherriff's play The Telescope at Birmingham, and co-directed Zuleika at the Saville in 1957. Johnny the Priest was his first attempt at book and lyrics. The director Norman Marshall was an intelligent choice, with a reputation for 'people's' theatre. His involvement showed the Players management meant business, just as they had when they brought Jean Meyer from France to direct their production of The Crooked Mile. The resident designer and co-director (with his partner Don Gemmell) of the Players Theatre, Reginald Woolley, had also designed The Crooked Mile. As the programme stated 'Johnny the Priest has, as you will see, presented even greater problems, and he walked around the dock area of London with a camera before starting work on the designs'. Woolley's designs tended to be gloomy, and there is no doubt that he was the perfect choice for Johnny the Priest.

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