- Mr Cinders
Book and lyrics by Clifford Grey and Greatrex Newman. Additional
lyrics by Leo Robin
Music by Vivian Ellis and Richard Myers
Original London cast: Bobby Howes, Binnie Hale
SONGS: Spread A Little Happiness; I'm A One-Man Girl;
Ev'ry Little Moment; On The Amazon
-
- London Revival (King's Head production 1983) cast: Denis
Lawson, Julia Josephs, Philip Bird, Andrea Kealy, Graham Hoadly,
Diana Martin, Nicky Rubin, Zane Stanley, Olivier Pierre, Angela
Vale. Musical director: Michael Reed
SONGS: Tennis; Blue Blood; True To Two; I Want The World
To Know; One-Man Girl; On With Dance; Dying Swan; At The Ball;
Spread A Little Happiness; 18th Century Drag; She's My Lovely;
On The Amazon; Every Little Moment; I've Got You; Honeymoon For
Four
-
- London Revival (Fortune Theatre 1983) cast: Denis Lawson,
Christina Matthews, Steven Pacey, Andrea Kealy, Diana Martin,
Graham Hoadly. Musical director: Michael Reed
as above, plus: Please Mr Cinders, but lacks: Overture; Dying
Swan
-
- Nit-picking may be a crime, as may be looking a gifthorse
- the revival of a nice little 1920's musical that inverted the
story of Cinderella - in the proverbial mouth. But isn't this
diminutive production, done on a postage stamp of a stage in
a Pollock Toy of a theatre with a cast that wouldn't have got
past the first audition of the original casting, a bit of an
apology? If only the Adelphi Theatre edition of February 1929
(529 performances) had been widely recorded, we wouldn't have
to bother about the sometimes lacklustre performances on offer
here - but it wasn't. The best we have is two duets for Bobby
Howes and Binnie Hale, and two solos from each. They combine
to enchant us. 'Spread A Little Happiness' is one of Vivian Ellis's
best inspirations, and Miss Hale's singing of it could not be
bettered (although Sting took it to a latter-day new success
in fine style). 'On The Amazon', with its amazing lyrical list
of malapropisms shows up the witlessness of so many subsequent
wordsmiths - a startling number in a work that portrays itself
as so artless. These are essential recordings. Unfortunately,
the orchestrations of the original recordings are reduced to
piano for the 1983 revival, which premiered at the King's Head
Theatre Club in December 1982 for 60 performances, with Denis
Lawson as Jim (Mr Cinders) and Julia Josephs in the Binnie Hale
role of Jill Kemp. The recording of this production was followed
swiftly by a recording of the production that transferred to
the Fortune Theatre for 527 performances in April 1983. For the
occasion, the orchestrations were slightly souped up, and adjustments
made in the cast, with Christina Matthews replacing Josephs.
Neither of the leading ladies seems about to challenge Hale's
potent way with a song. The lily is gilded by the interpolation
of some material from other sources, notably 'She's My Lovely',
with the classic phrasing of its rhymes, and a Cole Porter-ish
melancholia in its floating melodic line. But the chief delight
of the second revival recording is the appearance of a new number,
the beguiling 'Please Mr Cinders', a captivating addition to
the score written expressly for the occasion - fifty years after
the show's first outing. The new recordings give an impression
of people standing in French windows asking if anyone is for
tennis, with a lot of very put-on accents. Lawson does well as
Mr Cinders, and serves to remind us that an artist with Howes's
pixie-ish qualities wouldn't find much favour today. If Lawson's
attempts at being funny seem effortful, he nevertheless brings
it off. But you'll need to go back to the 1929 pressings if you
want the essential flavour of Mr Cinders.
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