After The Ball

Book, music and lyrics by Noel Coward, based on Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan.

Original London cast: Mary Ellis, Graham Payn, Vanessa Lee, Irene Browne, Peter Graves, Dennis Bowen, Tom Gill, Lois Green, Pam Marmont, Marion Grimaldi, Patricia Cree, Betty Felstead, Anna Halinka, Alisa Gamley md Philip Martell

Oh, What A Century It's Been; I Knew That You Would Be My Love; Mr.Hopper's Chanty; Sweet Day; Crème De La Crème; Light Is The Heart; Why Is It The Woman Who Pays?; London At Night; Aria; May I Have The Pleasure?; All My Life Ago; Faraway Land; Something On A Tray; Clear, Bright Morning

 

It was generally agreed when Coward's adaptation of Wilde's play opened at the Globe Theatre in June 1954 that, pleasing as was Coward's score, Coward and Wilde did not really mix. Indeed, Coward himself jettisoned more Wilde as he revised his work on the piece, but the collaboration was not successful, resulting in a fair run of 188 performances. Its journey to London, throughout a long tour, was troubled. Coward was completely dissatisfied with Robert Helpmann's original production, hated the orchestrations, sacked Norman Hackforth (his musical assistant and conductor) and was disappointed to discover that Mary Ellis, whom he had asked to play the operatic leading role of Mrs. Erlynne, had little left of her once glorious soprano. Much of her music had to be jettisoned and her numbers rethought, but Ellis did not think much of the work anyway.

 

With the recording, there is of course a complete absence of Wilde and a totally Cowardly feel to a piece that yields one of his most attractive scores. Ellis's voice is indeed thoroughly worn, but the presence and starriness has not vanished; there is no doubt, listening to her two, very careful, numbers, that she would have held the stage with no difficulty. Happily, the younger Vanessa Lee is in vibrant voice as Lady Windermere, bringing a pure and dramatic quality to everything she sings, and a high emotional edge in her second act 'Aria'. Her solos, though not among Coward's remembered music, are worth hearing, too, for 'Sweet Day' and 'Clear, Bright Morning' have intelligent lyrics and remorseful tunes. For Graham Payn, playing Mr. Hopper, it was the third time of playing a leading role in a Coward musical play, and perhaps this show found him better suited than any of the others, with his trio of charming numbers that include the relaxed 'May I Have The Pleasure?' (with Irene Browne) and his song for Lady Agatha (Patricia Cree) 'Faraway Land', with its atmospheric closing dialogue.

 

The gentleness and skill of this performance alerts us to Payn's sometimes underestimated talents: he did have a light charm about what he did. The veteran Irene Browne almost steals the record (as she did the show) with her geriatric longing for 'Something On A Tray', a perfect example of a sort of speak-singing never heard today, but there are other delights, including the list of attractions to be found in 'London At Night' and the trio of ladies asking 'Why Is It The Woman Who Pays?'. There is a real theatrical bite to it all, and even the wordy opening in which the audience is told 'Oh, What A Century It's Been' rips along, its rhymes cascading, its music firmly composed.

 

As a score, it is surely one of Coward's finest, and the recording is highly successful. Sadly, Coward's initial belief in the piece evaporated as the run wound down. Happily, we may still enjoy its literate quality and perfumed airs.

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