Whirled into Happiness
Encyclopedia
Whirled into Happiness is a musical comedy
with music by Robert Stolz
, and book and lyrics by Harry Graham
, adapted from Stolz's Der Tanz ins Glück, with a libretto by Robert Bodanzky
and Bruno Hardt-Warden. The work, billed as a "musical farce", was presented in London in 1922.
. The piece opened at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue
on 18 May 1922 and ran for 246 performances, closing on 16 December 1922. The production was taken on tour in the provinces, with Mai Bacon from the original cast, and Derek Oldham
, Winnie Melville, George Gregory and Bert Weston. The J.C. Williamson company presented a production that toured Australia in 1924–25.
A revised version of the show was staged in New York in 1925, under the title Sky High, and ran for 217 performances. Der Tanz ins Glück was also adapted into Italian as "Dance la Fortuna" and French as "Danse vers le bonheur".
where, owing to a striking facial resemblance, the front of house attendant, Matthew Platt, mistakes him for the Marquess
of Brancaster, an intimate friend of one of the Majestic's stars, Delphine de Lavalliere. Horace is shown into the private box reserved for Brancaster and catches the eye of Florence Horridge, who is having a surreptitious night out with some girl friends. Platt introduces Florence to Horace, but their tête-à-tête is interrupted by her father, Albert Horridge, a nouveau-riche hatter. He has visited the Majestic because of his strong interest in Delphine. Horridge is at first indignant to find his daughter in such a place and alone with an unknown young man, but he is quickly won over when he is told that the young man is Lord Brancaster, son and heir of the Duke of Dulchester. He invites the supposed marquess to a party that evening at the Horridges' villa in the suburb of Crouch End
. Horridge later invites Delphine to perform at the party. She readily accepts on learning that Lord Brancaster is to be present, as she feels that he has been neglecting her.
At the party, all goes well until Horridge bids Platt ring the Duke to tell him that his son is engaged to Florence. Delphine has immediately recognised that Horace is not Lord Brancaster, but refrains from exposing him. The imposture is revealed when the Duke and Duchess arrive, along with the real Lord Brancaster. Horace returns to work at the hairdressing establishment, but after a sequence of farcical comings and goings there is a happy ending with Florence and Horace united.
, B. H. Findon praised "the delightful strain of melody that runs through the piece … the charming dances … the merry humours of Billy Merson and Tom Walls, the vocal accomplishment of Lily St. John and Austin Melford, the diablerie of Mai Bacon and the excellent all-round interpretation … a really delightful entertainment." In The Manchester Guardian, Ivor Brown
commented that the music was in the best Viennese traditions, but "naturalisation papers have been taken out for the humour … all-British clowning." The Observer
wrote, "As musical comedy plots go, it is brilliant. The chief people in the cast are extremely good." Reviewing the touring production, however, Neville Cardus
wrote: "The bulk of the score is sheer revue. … It is rather sad to find Mr. Derek Oldham, with his pleasant voice and tasteful manner, thrown away on fustian."
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
with music by Robert Stolz
Robert Stolz
Robert Elisabeth Stolz was an Austrian songwriter and conductor as well as a composer of operettas and film music.- Biography :...
, and book and lyrics by Harry Graham
Harry Graham (poet)
Jocelyn Henry Clive 'Harry' Graham was an English writer. He was a successful journalist and later, after distinguished military service, a leading lyricist for operettas and musical comedies, but he is now best remembered as a writer of humorous verse in the tradition of grotesquerie and black...
, adapted from Stolz's Der Tanz ins Glück, with a libretto by Robert Bodanzky
Robert Bodanzky
Robert Bodanzky, also known as Danton , was an Austrian journalist, playwright, poet and artist. While he became famous for his apolitical poems before the first World War, he turned an anarchist communist afterwards, writing political essays, plays and poems...
and Bruno Hardt-Warden. The work, billed as a "musical farce", was presented in London in 1922.
History
The musical was staged in London by George Edwardes Ltd, a company controlled by the financier James White after the death of its founder George EdwardesGeorge Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
. The piece opened at the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major street in central London, England, named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, that runs in a north-easterly direction from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus....
on 18 May 1922 and ran for 246 performances, closing on 16 December 1922. The production was taken on tour in the provinces, with Mai Bacon from the original cast, and Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham
Derek Oldham was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
, Winnie Melville, George Gregory and Bert Weston. The J.C. Williamson company presented a production that toured Australia in 1924–25.
A revised version of the show was staged in New York in 1925, under the title Sky High, and ran for 217 performances. Der Tanz ins Glück was also adapted into Italian as "Dance la Fortuna" and French as "Danse vers le bonheur".
Roles and original London cast
- Matthew Platt – Billy MersonBilly MersonBilly Merson was an English music hall performer and songwriter. He began his career while working in a lace-making factory, and doing shows in the evenings. It took some time until he could make a living from his stage work. "For five or six years on the stage, I survived on a salary hardly...
- Horace Wiggs – Austin Melford (replaced by Derek OldhamDerek OldhamDerek Oldham was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
from 3 July 1922) - Florence Horridge – Lily St. John (Margaret Campbell from 3 July; Winnie Melville from 3 September)
- Albert Horridge – Tom WallsTom WallsTom Kirby Walls was a popular English stage and motion-pictures character actor, and film director. He has claim to be one of the most influential figures in British comedy.-Early career:...
- Delphine de Lavilliere – Mai Bacon
- Mrs Horridge – Frances Weatherall
- Duke of Dulchester – Hastings Lynn
- Duchess of Dulchester – Gladys Hirst
- Lord Brancaster – Reginald Palmer
- Lily – Wynne Bronte
- Antoine – Frank Atkinson
Synopsis
Horace Wiggs, a hairdresser's assistant, visits the Majestic music hallMusic hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
where, owing to a striking facial resemblance, the front of house attendant, Matthew Platt, mistakes him for the Marquess
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
of Brancaster, an intimate friend of one of the Majestic's stars, Delphine de Lavalliere. Horace is shown into the private box reserved for Brancaster and catches the eye of Florence Horridge, who is having a surreptitious night out with some girl friends. Platt introduces Florence to Horace, but their tête-à-tête is interrupted by her father, Albert Horridge, a nouveau-riche hatter. He has visited the Majestic because of his strong interest in Delphine. Horridge is at first indignant to find his daughter in such a place and alone with an unknown young man, but he is quickly won over when he is told that the young man is Lord Brancaster, son and heir of the Duke of Dulchester. He invites the supposed marquess to a party that evening at the Horridges' villa in the suburb of Crouch End
Crouch End
Crouch End is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Haringey.- Location :Crouch End is in a valley between Harringay to the east, Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green to the north, Finsbury Park and Archway to the south and Highgate to the west...
. Horridge later invites Delphine to perform at the party. She readily accepts on learning that Lord Brancaster is to be present, as she feels that he has been neglecting her.
At the party, all goes well until Horridge bids Platt ring the Duke to tell him that his son is engaged to Florence. Delphine has immediately recognised that Horace is not Lord Brancaster, but refrains from exposing him. The imposture is revealed when the Duke and Duchess arrive, along with the real Lord Brancaster. Horace returns to work at the hairdressing establishment, but after a sequence of farcical comings and goings there is a happy ending with Florence and Horace united.
Critical reception
Lonson reviews were uniformly enthusiastic: In The Play PictorialThe Play Pictorial
The Play Pictorial was an English theatrical magazine which was published in London between 1902 and 1939. It concentrated on providing a pictorial record of West End theatrical productions, each issue being devoted to a single show, with descriptions of the plot, the costumes and the sets, and...
, B. H. Findon praised "the delightful strain of melody that runs through the piece … the charming dances … the merry humours of Billy Merson and Tom Walls, the vocal accomplishment of Lily St. John and Austin Melford, the diablerie of Mai Bacon and the excellent all-round interpretation … a really delightful entertainment." In The Manchester Guardian, Ivor Brown
Ivor Brown
Ivor John Carnegie Brown was a British journalist and man of letters.-Biography:Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, and his wife Jean Carnegie. At an early age he was sent to Britain, where he attended Suffolk...
commented that the music was in the best Viennese traditions, but "naturalisation papers have been taken out for the humour … all-British clowning." The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote, "As musical comedy plots go, it is brilliant. The chief people in the cast are extremely good." Reviewing the touring production, however, Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
wrote: "The bulk of the score is sheer revue. … It is rather sad to find Mr. Derek Oldham, with his pleasant voice and tasteful manner, thrown away on fustian."
External links
- Pathé newsreel film of scenes from Whirled into Happiness
- Sky High at the IBDB database