Vanity Fair

from tinkling tunes to the musicalisation of a Thackeray epic

When Julian Slade parted company with his long-time collaborator, Dorothy Reynolds, his regular producer Geoffrey Russell, of Linnet & Dunfee, asked him what he would like to write next. (Don't forget that this was in the days when producers asked questions like this.) Julian's immediate answer was a musical adaptation of Vanity Fair. But who would write it with him?

Michael Aldridge as Lord Steyne, Sybil Thorndike as Miss Crawley and George Baker as Rawdon Crawley

By sheer co-incidence, the then relatively unknown writer Robin Miller had travelled back to London from New York (where he had been working on an early incantation of his soon-to-be phenomenal hit Dames At Sea), with a script draft of a musical version of Vanity Fair under his arm! This draft had fallen onto the desk of Geoffrey Russell - and before long he introduced Julian and Robin, who got on with each other extremely well, and started work on the show.

Trying to resolve the situation by curtain fall: Gordon Boyd, Frances Cuka and the lovelorn Eira Heath

The same happened when both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were independently considering a musical adaptation of Green Grow the Lilacs. Unfortunately Vanity Fair did not have the same longevity or success as Oklahoma!.

Frances Cuka hoping to learn from Sybil Thorndike as George Baker looks on.

For the first time, Julian Slade wrote music only - with Robin Miller providing the lyrics and (in slight collaboration with Alan-Pryce Jones) the book.

There was a great deal riding on this show - and Geoffrey Russell took quite a gamble. He chose a relatively unknown book and lyric writer to adapt a strong and enormous story - which was no easy task (even if this was the period of classic adaptations for the musical stage) and a songwriter who was only known for his light and frivolous shows and 'tinkly' tunes.

Sybil Thorndike comforts herself with a muff in Vanity Fair

Casting was announced: Sybil Thorndyke, as Miss Crawley (at the age of 80) in her first role in a musical; Frances Cuka, (fresh from her hit in A Taste of Honey) in her first musical as Becky Sharp; George Baker in his first musical as Rawdon Crawley. Also top-billed were Naunton Wayne and Joyce Carey, as Mr and Mrs Sedley, Gabriel Woolf as George Osborne and Michael Aldridge as Lord Steyne - hardly Musical Theatre performers! Gordon Boyd as Dobbin, Eira Heath as Amelia and Jenny Johnson (Britain's answer to Yma Sumac) as The Street Singer were the onlysingers among the principals. Even so, the cast was top-notch, looked perfect and was very impressive on the bills. The show was directed by Lionel Harris and choreographed by Norman Maen. The costumes by Motley, lighting by Michael Northen, and sets by Tom Lingwood. The large orchestra was conducted by Michael Moores with orchestrations by Douglas Gamely - not two pianos (as for some of the earlier Slade scores) for this show. There seemed to be no expense spared on the production.

Programme cover design for the Bristol tryout

The production opened at the Bristol Hippodrome. Presumably it was thought this would be a good starting venue for many reasons, but notably because Julian Slade was famous at the Bristol Old Vic for all his shows - and in particular because it was the birth place of Salad Days. However, the audiences for the Hippodrome and the Old Vic were quite different and neither tended to venture from one to the other. The Hippodrome housed an Ice Show the week prior to Vanity Fair opening - unfortunately the ice melted and preparations for technical rehearsals were held up considerably.

Gaiety before the Battle of Waterloo, at the Duchess of Richmond's Ball

Once the show was up and running it toured through Oxford and Brighton. On the way, it was clear that the lack of good singers was a big problem. Everyone seemed to be speaking their songs or singing in their boots. Gradually the peripheral role of Dobbin was built up so that Gordon Boyd could take over the song 'Advice to Women'- initially sung by Gabriel Woolf.

Programme cover at the Queens Theatre

The London opening was at the Queens Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 27th November, 1962. Unfortunately the critics were not kind and although they commended the overall look of the production and the competence of the writing, they criticised the adaptation, the imbalance of roles due to 'star' names and the lack of tunes in the score. The show rumbled on for a short while but affected by the bad notices and the severe winter weather of 1962/3, it closed on 26th January 1963 after 70 performances.

Following the production, some of the cast went into the studio and recorded the main songs on an acetate disc with Douglas Gamely at the piano. Gordon Boyd recorded 'There She Is' and 'Someone To Believe In' on a commercially released 45rpm record - but these have awful 1960's arrangements and do not give a fair representation of the score.

The company gathered for the show's finale

Vanity Fair was not dead. The artistic director of the Cheltenham Everyman Theatre, Malcolm Farquhar, saw the show and felt that it had potential as a small-scale musical. He asked the famous literary adapter, Constance Cox, to re-work the book and for Julian Slade and Robin Miller to contribute some new songs. The result was an old-fashioned, simple production in three acts with box-sets which was perfect for repertory companies.

The 1967 production at Cheltenham featured Vivienne Martin as Becky Sharp and was followed by productions at Liverpool in 1968, Perth Rep in1969, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford in 1971 (starring June Ritchie as Becky Sharp, Patricia Michael as Amelia, Christopher Biggins as Jos Sedley and Joan Heal in one of her last performances doubling the roles of Miss Crawley and Mrs Sedley) and finally at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing in 1974.

There have not been any productions of either version of the show since.

The Theatre Museum Production - 2001

I was interested in this unknown work, and thought that with all the problems of the original show it might be worth studying as a potential revival. I heard the rare recording and jumped at the score - it is tuneful but has an eerie chromatic quality which is absolutely perfect for the subject matter. It was clearly obvious that the score was far too much ahead of its time - especially from the composer of "Salad Days".

The script of the Constance Cox version is deeply disappointing. It seems very dull, lacks imagination and has none of the 'fire' or 'acid' that is so strong in the original novel. I then read the London script and became much more excited. It needed quite a lot of re-working and balancing of roles, but in essence had the tone and feeling of Thackeray's work.

I am very keen to make these 'Forgotten' Musicals live, and therefore I asked Julian Slade and Robin Miller if they would be prepared to re-work and revise the piece. It is wonderful when the original writers are still alive and writing, and I am pleased that they were only too happy to work together again. What is the point in doing 'Forgotten' Musicals that are weak? When a show such as "Vanity Fair" has immense potential that was hampered in its original form, it is a wonderful opportunity for all involved to re-work - and makes a much more interesting and entertaining production. The script and lyrics are undergoing revision and some brand new songs are being written.

The production of "Vanity Fair" took place at the Theatre Museum as part of the Covent Garden Festival on 27th, 29th, 30 & 31St May, 2001 with the following cast:

Briggs Rebecca (Becky) Sharp Lord Steyne Dobbin Sir Pitt Crawley George Osbourne Jos Sedley Miss Crawley Rawdon Crawley Amelia Sedley Mr Sedley Moss The Showman Mrs Sedley

Shirley Barr Suzy Bloom Jonathan Burn Nicholas Charters Rex Doyle Daniel Fine Tim Freeman Josephine Gordon Andrew Halliday Rosie Jenkins John Lyons John Paton James Spilling Rosemary Williams

Ensemble:
Katie Haynes, Chevaun Marsh, Lucy Montgomery, Leanne Rogers, Stephen Carlile, Richard Costello, Matthew Daines & David Emms.

The first performance was preceded by interviews with original cast members: including: Frances Cuka (Becky Sharp in London cast), Eria Heath (Amelia in London cast) and Gabriel Woolf (George Osbourne in London cast). Also taking part in the discussion were the writers: Julian Slade and Robin Miller.

Reviews pronounced that the piece should be seen by a wider audience and praised the casting - particularly Suzy Bloom as Becky Sharp.

Recording of the 2001 London cast
Following the production in the Theatre Museum, the cast were taken to the recording studio and a cast album was made. The recording is the first ever recording of the score. At last the world can hear Julian Slade's only London score not to be recorded.
The CD was made by Bayview recordings and is available in Dress Circle and HMV (UK), Footlight, Colony (New York), Tower, HMV and Borders (US). On-line at www.amazon.com and www.bgyviewrecords.com

Stewart Nicholls

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