- the musical life of Edward VIII and the unfortunate Mrs
Simpson…
ALWAYS
-
- Book music and lyrics by William May and Jason Sprague. Additional
book by Frank Hauser. Additional lyrics by Debbie Williams
Original London cast: Clive Carter, Jan Hartley, Shani Wallis,
Sheila Ferguson, David McAlister, Ursula Smith, Chris Humphreys,
Buster Skeggs
SONGS: Long May You Reign; Someone Special; I Stand Before My
Destiny; Why?; Love's Carousel; If Always Were A Place; This
Time Around; It's The Party Of The Year; Hearts Have Their Reasons;
The Reason For Life Is To Love; The Montage; Invitation For Two;
Always; The Abdication Speech
- Call me old-fashioned, but if this score had only accompanied
a totally different plot - definitely not the one that told 'the
ultimate love story' of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the woman
for whom he abdicated the throne of England - it would not have
seemed any worse than many other musicals of the 1960s (even
if this one opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in May 1997).
Always drew derisory reviews and afforded the more discerning
of its patrons a good deal of unkind amusement as it unfolded
its preposterous wares. The recording, technically superb, does
nothing to alter the impression made in the theatre. The authors,
who seem to be writing for a time when commoners were agog at
the wonder of our monarchy, have neglected no cringing obsequiousness.
On record, this forelock pulling is accentuated by the spoken
commentary delivered in reverentially hushed tones by Ian Richardson
(his grovelling performance is nauseous). But by the time Always
surfaced, attitudes to the royal family were drastically changing,
and were indeed to be further affected by the death of Diana,
Princess of Wales, later that year. And this perhaps is the show's
mistake - its 'ultimate love story' is about two apparently selfish,
uninspiring and uninteresting people for whom it is impossible
to feel sympathy. This may make the leading roles something of
a poisoned chalice, and then of course there are the naff lyrics.
Clive Carter does not sound in the least convincing as he impossibly
impersonates the late and not much lamented monarch. His performance
lacks any hint of class. He is also given the worst of the writer's
efforts, having to intone such creations as 'I Stand Before My
Destiny'. In this recording, it is the women who take our interest.
'Love's Carousel', an outrageously kitsch production number for
a glossily-lipped Sheila Ferguson, has to be heard to be believed,
and will surely stand for many years as a supreme example of
the worst sort of theatrical camp. Alas, it is the feisty Miss
Ferguson's only contribution (perhaps exhausted by this exertion,
she spent the whole of the rest of the evening in her dressing
room). Always marked the return of Shani Wallis to the London
stage after many years absence, and only the curmudgeonly would
criticise her mild reappearance here as Aunt Bessie. When she
takes hold of her big number, 'The Reason For Life Is To Love',
you can sense the ghost of a neglected theatrical legend, even
if the song ends just as it gets going. Ultimately, the best
reason to listen to Always is Jan Hartley, performing the songs
of Wallis Simpson with vivid effectiveness. She has the best
of the score and sings it with conviction. When the dreadfulness
of Always gets too much (if you need proof, listen to 'The Party
Of The Year', surely one of the worst 'party' numbers ever perpetrated),
play Jan Hartley's songs. She is the real centre of Always. Writers
with any degree of oomph would have realised that the show should
have been about Mrs Wallis (imagine those brothel scenes in Shanghai),
with poor old Edward allowed a place in the chorus.
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