This Year of Grace is a revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

 with a book, music, and lyrics by Noël Coward

Noël Coward

Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...

.

It opened in London on March 22, 1928 at the London Pavilion

London Pavilion

The London Pavilion is a building located on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street on the north-east side of, and facing, Piccadilly Circus in London...

 and ran nearly ten months, with a cast featuring Sonnie Hale

Sonnie Hale

Sonnie Hale was an English theatre and cinema actor and director.John Robert Hale-Monro was born in London, the son of Robert Hale and Belle Reynolds. His father and sister, Binnie Hale were actors. He worked chiefly in musical and revue theatre, but also acted in several films with occasional...

, Maisie Gay, Jessie Matthews

Jessie Matthews

Jessie Matthews, OBE was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period.-Early life:...

, Sheilah Graham and Tilly Losch

Tilly Losch

Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine "Tilly" Losch, Countess of Carnarvon was an Austrian-born dancer, choreographer, actress and painter who lived and worked for most of her life in the United States and United Kingdom....

 among others. Doris Zinkeisen

Doris Zinkeisen

Doris Clare Zinkeisen was a Scottish theatrical stage and costume designer, painter, commercial artist and writer. She was best known for her work in theatrical design.-Early life:...

 was one of the costume designers for the production. Since the revue was still playing to capacity audiences that autumn, Noël Coward and Charles B. Cochran

Charles B. Cochran

Sir Charles Blake Cochran , generally known as C. B. Cochran, was an English theatrical manager. He produced some of the most successful musical revues, musicals and plays of the 1920s and 1930s, becoming associated with Noel Coward and his works.-Biography:Cochran was born in Sussex and educated...

 decided to recruit an entire new cast for the Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 transfer to avoid breaking up the profitable London run, with Coward himself replacing Sonnie Hale, Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie was an actress and comedic performer. Following her 1920 marriage to Sir Robert Peel in England, she was known in private life as Lady Peel.-Early career:...

 taking over Maisie Gay's role, and Florence Desmond

Florence Desmond

Florence Desmond was the stage name of Florence Dawson, an English actress, comedienne and impersonator....

 substituting for Laurie Devine as Coward's partner in "Dance, Little Lady".

Produced by Arch Selwyn, the Broadway production opened on November 7, 1928 at the Selwyn Theatre, where it ran for 157 performances. Several new numbers for Beatrice Lillie (solo or in duet with Coward) were interpolated into the original London score for this new production, while an additional Act II song "Mexico", originally included in pre-London performance, had been dropped before the London opening.

The show is also referred to as "Cochran's Revue" or "Cochran's 1928 Revue" which was its title for the pre-London run. The show contains three enduring Noël Coward songs: "World Weary", "A Room With a View" and "Dance Little Lady".

Songs

Act I

• Waiting in a Queue
• Mary Make Believe
• Try to Learn to Love
• Lorelei
• Lilac Time
• A Room With a View
• I Can't Think
• Teach Me to Dance Like Grandma

Act II

• Lido
• English Lido
• Little Women
• Mothers' Complaint
• Britannia Rules the Waves
• The Legend of the Lily of the Valley
• World Weary
• Dance Little Lady
• Chauve Souris
• Love, Life and Laughter
• Velasquez
• The Sun, the Moon and You
• Playing the Game

The Noël Coward Society, drawing on performing statistics from the publishers and the Performing Rights Society, ranks "A Room With a View" as among Coward's ten most popular songs.

External links

• This Year of Grace at noelcowardmusic.com