Listen To The Wind

Original book by Angela Ainley Jeans. Revised book by Peter Morris based on an adaptation by Humphrey Carpenter
Music and lyrics by Vivian Ellis

Studio Recording (1956) cast [EP]: Vanessa Lee, Dick Bentley, Joan Hovis, Virginia Somers
SONGS: Naughty Gale Bird; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Timothy's Under The Table; When I Grow Up; The Bread And Butter Song; Listen To The Wind

 

Revival London (1996) cast: Paula Wilcox, Gabrielle Hamilton, James Powell, Naomi Bell, Cameron Blakeley, Steffan Boje, Philip Coleman, Michael Gyngell, Olivia Hallinan, Jane Lesley, Ben McCosker, Vicky Taylor. Musical director: Michael Levine
SONGS: Introductions; When I Grow Up; Who'd Be Governed By A Governess?; Timothy's Under The Table; Bread And Butter Song; Listen To The Wind; I'm A Naughty Gale Bird; Palace Of The Wind; Whistle Down The Chimney; It's Nice To Be Home Again; Miaow!; I Used To Rock; Thunder Song; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Musical Chairs; Statue For Gallantry; When They Grow Up

 

Governesses, pirates worrying about lumpy porridge, mermaids, naughty gale birds, Christmas and rock'n'roll all contribute to the delights of Vivian Ellis's musical play for children. Originally presented in London at the Arts Theatre in December 1955 after premiering at Oxford Playhouse the previous year with a wonderful cast, including Maggie Smith, Ronnie Barker and Vivienne Martin, that didn't get to make a recording. At this time, an EP emerged from a studio recording, but it was only with the King's Head Theatre revival of December 1996 that this entrancing little piece finally got a full airing. This is the Ellis of 'Other People's Babies', a man for whom childhood's nursery held an enduring fascination. It was a love of the naïve, the ordinary and the everyday that found its perfect match in A. P. Herbert; one only has to hear Herbert's lyric for 'When I'm Washing Up' in The Water Gipsies, and to hear the way Ellis's music sets it with direct simplicity, to know that here is a composer who knows something of life. There are one or two numbers that could be dispensed with, but the score of Listen to the Wind is typically Ellisian, cosy, the sort of musical you want to remember when you're by a log fire. Furthermore, the songs never achieve adult status - they always sound as if they're meant for the novice, but the intelligent novice, without ever singing down to their audience. If the cast doesn't shine with names, they clearly thrive on this piece, not least Paula Wilcox, a nominal star brought in to play Miss Lush and the fallen (and finally renovated to love and marriage) mermaid Miranda. The children sound terrifyingly healthy in 'When I Grow Up' and 'Timothy's Under The Table', both of which display Michael Levine's skill with vocal and piano arrangements. The perspective of this Abbey Road Studios production can be expansive when required, as in 'Miaow!', when Lady Serena (the gently persuasive Gabrielle Hamilton) catches Miranda in her net. There's a typically jolly Ellis song in 'Whistle Down The Chimney', with a title and melody that could easily have come from one of his earliest musicals. 'It's Nice To Be Home Again' sings Lady Selena and the children at final curtain as the snow, too, falls, and home is the proper place for this fragile charmer.

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